Do you ever feel insignificant? Compare yourself to others and come up short? Try hard to look or do better so you can stand out?
I do. But then I pick up the inspired prayers of the Psalmist; I follow the rhythms of the ancient prayer masters. In solitude with my Lord I pray the Psalms and walk in their paths. Day after day, over and over, I pray the same Psalms and walk the same paths, each time seeking to reach a little deeper and go a little farther.
And the One I love speaks to my soul and helps me to hold my head high. This is why I pray. This is why I praise Him. This is why I write to you now.
My Prayer Poem
One of my favorite prayer paths is in the valley below the Prince of Peace Abbey. In the spring it is profuse with flowers. One day God used one wildflower on this path and one verse from Psalm 103:15 to capture my heart: “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field.” I wrote a prayer poem to describe my experience of God’s words to me and to you:
God’s Wildflower
My precious wildflower – smile!
I have clothed you in heaven’s splendor.
Though you’re lost to all in a field of blooms,
You’re seen by me and my sweet society.
Don’t worry about who sees your beauty
Or about how much time you have to bloom.
Be dead to the world and alive to me
For I planted you here and I know your name.
I am your Father smiling over you!
You’re growing in the grace of my Sonlight,
Nourished by my words that fall like rain.
My choirs of angels, birds, and saints
Join me in singing my love song over you;
We delight to dance with you in Spirit breezes.
What joy it brings to us all in my kingdom
When you smile and sing back to me!
Jesus says to you: “See how the lilies of the field grow? Your Father clothes them in splendor. So much more than this he clothes you and loves you!” (Matthew 6:28-30, paraphrase).
You are God’s precious wildflower! You are loved and you are significant to God and the people round you so hold your head high and smile.
More Soul Shepherding
Here’s my devotional story that inspired this poem: “I Felt Inadequate. God Smiled, “Just Be My Wildflower!“
