Heart and Mind
When God Meets Us in Prayer
This poem traces a journey many believers know well. The mind races. The heart bows. The words stumble. And still—God meets us.
In God’s love, prayer is not performance. It is presence.
Even when we feel nothing…
Even when silence stretches long…
God is still working—forming, shaping, loving—often beyond what we can see or feel.
What comforts me most is this truth: God does not wait for perfect prayers.
A dear friend Mike Kelly passed away in mid-November 2025 and I credit him for much of my growth in prayer.
I wrote this poem after reading a book he recommend to me by Sister Ruth Burrows, Essence of Prayer.
Heart and Mind
Again I feel my humanness
Prayer-time wrecked by all my stress
My earthly mind, it wanders so
From stars above to squirrels below
Yet this is what I bring today
A list of needs I need to say
My scattered, racing frame of mind
This I give to Thee divine
The prayers I cite now in my head
Are weights of life I long to shed
I know You want my every prayer
My heart and - yes - my mind's affairs
Yet my heart bows more to You
This is where my prayer seems true
It's where You touch just like a dart
In the silence of my heart
It's in my heart You meet me square
And touch me deep, and that is rare
Yet seldom do I see Your hand
Your Presence shifts like grains of sand
In prayer I slowly disappear
Fall in to You, no way to steer
My heart no longer lost at sea
Now found in You as it should be
So, take this heart and make it Yours
Take it to Your unknown shores
Let it soak in silence there
Oh let Your life become my care
Keep me in this hidden place
Even when I feel no grace
Help me trust what I can't see
Your work in me, pure love of Thee.