Friday, February 20, 2009

What Can I do for You today, Lord?

WHAT CAN I DO FOR YOU, TODAY, LORD?

Lord, day after day,
you tirelessly hear and answer my prayers.
Today, I humbly bow before you, asking,
"What can I do for you today?"

Is there some poor soul
who needs to be clothed?
Surely, Lord, there is someone
who is hungry and needs to be fed.
There must be someone in prison
that needs to be visited.
Does some individual
need to be encouraged?
Lord, I know that somewhere,
someone is thinking of ending their life,
show me where they are, Lord,
so that I, through you, can rescue them.

Some child, some mother,
some father, some widow -
someone needs a special touch
from your righteous and loving hand.
Let me be the voice
that whispers in the darkness,
“I am with you always,
even until the end of the world.”

Lord, let me be your eyes,
show me where that young person is
who is in mortal trouble,
use my feet and my legs
to run swiftly to them.
Let me be the hand
that reaches out to hold
and shelter someone
from the cold and windy world
that strains relentlessly
to destroy our souls.

All too often
I think of what I need
and what I want; use me today, Lord,
to help someone else
who is in more need than I.

Naomi R. Butler Arthur