In the Father’s presence
we pray in the silence
an awe so quiet we
don’t know when it began;
a fire in our hearts
that almost breaks the chest.
We utter in the passive voice
a soaring petition
asking the active God
to make his real identity known
to cause his name to be revered
to be regarded as holy
to cause God to be God
to us, even through us
and to the world.
Hallowed be your name.

DAS

Sometimes I rush
toward a lessening future
or ache for an imagined past
when what I desperately need
is to turn aside into
the wonder of the burning bush
into the brightness
filled with a holy presence
that seems to be transient
but is, in truth, the eternity
that waits for me. I am
most myself as I respond
to something already given
to someone always here.

DAS

In the place of prayer

my soul is stretched taut

upon the wisdom of form

the plummet measuring the depth

of heaven and earth.

Simple phrases

expectant with life

keep me attentive

guiding me into a fullness

adequate for the time being

enabling me to live what I know;

to serve the world I’ve been given.

DAS

At present
Jesus prays for us;
in one sense, all
we really need to know.

 
I pray from that center,
learning to breathe
as fully immersed in God
as in this Texas weather.
I pray our prayer as mine,
becoming my true self
in this world of revelation
where God is at work.

 
We bend our knees with others
within the blazing awe
of Triune communion,
surprised by the wonders
of “Our father in heaven.”

DAS

The thing to remember is how
unimpressed he is with prayer as theater.
He sees that behind the piety lurks the pride
of those who love not prayer, but applause.

 
Remember, too, he does not want mere babbling
of words while the heart is not engaged.
He sees those who think they prove their sincerity
by the volume of words prayed and the
hours spent in praying them.

 
The necessity he wants is a solitary place;
the door shut to counterpoise disturbance
and distraction, the prying eyes of others.
He wants us to know who he is; who meets us there;
almighty, eternal, majestic, a consuming fire,
the unchanged absolute holy God.

 
He teaches us prayer at its foundation
is not a matter of mathematics but
its essence is the converse of Father
with child. Repeated tarriance in holy space
deepens existing intimacy, nurtures obedience;
becomes our way of living with him
who knows what we need before we ask.

DAS