www.servingjesuspoetry.com
  • Author's Testimony & Introduction--FAQS
    • Table of Contents
  • 1 His Kingdom to Prepare
  • 2 My Choice Companions
  • 3 Companions
  • 4 Companions II
  • 5 A Mother's MTC Farewell
  • 6 Who Will Dare for Christ
  • 7 To a Chosen Generation
  • 8. I Feel Such a Strangeness
  • 9. Not Me
  • 10. My Brother's Father
  • 11. Not Far Away
  • 12. Questions for Our Leaders
  • 13. Questions From Our Leaders
  • 14. The Visit
  • 15. Show and Tell
  • 16. Within Our Slumber We Will Dream
  • 17. Servants in the Shadows
  • 18. Joya Escojida/Chosen Jewel
  • 19. Las Aguas Del Senor/The Waters of the Lord
  • 20. Come Fasting to the Meeting House
  • 21. As Voices Join in Sacred Sabbath Worship
  • 22. A Child's Baptismal Day
  • 23. In Temple White
  • 24. Temple Hill
  • 25. This Precious Day
  • 26. The Translators
  • 27. I Your Husband Who Have Fallen [First Poem of The Repentance Trilogy.]
  • 28. The Wife's Song
  • 29. Remember Not Past Years
  • 30. A Priesthood Lullaby
  • 31. The Season of Our Need
  • 32. Cherished Daughter, Valiant Servant
  • 33. Daughter, Hear and Heed Your Savior's Voice
  • 34. Bird Mom
  • 35. Eric's Song
  • 36. A Wedding Song of Praise
  • 37. Testimonies to My Daughters
  • 38. Prayer for a Caring Granddaughter
  • 39. Firstborn Son and Firstborn Daughter
  • 40. Father's Day
  • 41 The Hospital
  • 42. The Children of the World
  • 43. For the Healers of the World
  • 44. Simple Heroes of Our Day
  • 45. To This World So Prone to Peril
  • 46. Somewhere
  • 47. Servant of Servants
  • 48. We Wish That You Were Here
  • 49. The Teacher
  • 50. To Protect Marriage and Family
  • 51. Earth's Unborn Children Weeping
  • 52. Prayers for the Peacekeepers
  • 53. That Patriot Dreams Will Come to Pass
  • 54. We Would Do It All Again
  • 55. So Much More
  • 56. Passage and Pilot
  • 57. Because of the Son
  • 58. Growing Up
  • 59. The Olive Leaf
  • 60. Until All Are One With Him
  • 61. Death Has Not Won, But Lost
  • 62. Call to Arms
  • 63. When All Is Done
  • 64. How Rarely Have I Come This Way
  • 65. At a Place So Very Different
  • 66. My Best Years Lie Ahead
  • 67. Sons of Zion, Jesus Calls You
  • 68. Come, Sing Your Song to Me
  • 69. May It Be Always So
  • 70. Until Safe in Heaven's Embrace
  • 71. Seek the Spirit
  • 72. Undertow
  • 73. If I Am Given Time
  • 74. Sons and Daughters, Heirs of Promise
  • 75. Wrestling for a Call
  • 76. When Everything is Ready
  • 77. One Thousand Times
  • 78. Tearful and Fearful I Prayed Through the Evening
  • 79. Tell Us, How Do Servants and Teachers Like You Come Along?
  • 80. Blessings for Beloved Servants
  • 81. Our Gayla's Free at Last
  • 82. I Am a Witness of Your Worth
  • 83. I'll Live With You Again
  • 84. Brother, Friend, and Fellow Servant
  • 85. Grieve Not for Him
  • 86. Press On From Payson's Hill
  • 87. The Righteous Live in Me
  • 88. Homecoming
  • 89. In Honor of My Friends Unseen
  • 90. [An Invitation] We Call to You
  • 91. Fellow Americans, Let Us Talk
  • 92. Brothers and Sisters, Fulfilled Together
  • 93. What We Have Lost in Our Digital Paradise
  • 94. Running Out of Time
  • 95. Ere You Hear the Sound of Battle
  • 96. 21st Century Gadiantons
  • 97 The Setting Apart
  • 98. What Do You Say?
  • 99. To a Woman of Tempered Steel
  • 100. A Correction Soon Begins
  • 101. The Quiet of the Morning
  • 102. Slippery Slope
  • 103. Stormy--We've Got to Stop Meeting Like This
  • 104. Warriors of the Mind and Soul [Poetic Process Discussion]
  • 105. He Wrote Just as He Lived
  • 106. Life Singer
  • 107. Zion's Daughter Leanore
  • 108. Does Your House of Worship Now Seem Lonely
  • 109. Crucify the "Old Man of Sin"
  • 110. We Loved Them Once
  • 111. Winter's Mothers God Holds Most Dear
  • 112. Lord, Please Forgive Us Anew
  • 113. Patriot's Faith Will Triumph Yet
  • 114. Indexing
  • 115. I Am Liberty
  • 116. The Beauty
  • 117. To Aid the Innocents Abused
  • 118. A Noble Bugler Has Returned
  • 119. The Music of the Lord
  • 120. Frog Cat
  • 121. God's Storms
  • 122. The Daughters of the Lord
  • 123. Come Back, Before Our Souls for Error Yearn
  • 124. Don't Tell Me That My Time Has Come
  • 125. From the Dust [Comes The Book of Mormon]
  • 126 To See the Sun Again
  • 127. Mourning America
  • 128. For Baby Adam
  • 129. Despedida Ansiosa/Anxious Farewell
  • 130. Between the Lines
  • 131. Will You Ever Ask the Questions
  • 132. The Days I Spent With You
  • 133. For Nelda
  • 134. The Covenant Path
  • 135. Heartland Dream
  • 136 We Sent Our Very Best
  • 137. Sisters of the Covenant, Daughters of God
  • 138 Sisters Share Their Cheerful Hearts
  • 139 God Looketh On the Heart
  • 140 What of Me?
  • 141 The Return
  • 142 Latter-day Defenders
  • 143. "Come and See, Come and Help, Come and Share"
  • 144. The Best of Father's Seed I've Known
  • 145. [Complete, but pending.]
  • 146. When the Days of Wait Are Over
  • 147. Red Kettles and Silver Bells
  • 148. Victory
  • 149. He Lacks Not Faith
  • 150. "Am I a Friend of Jesus?" [Spring 2020 Semi-Final Examination]
  • 151. Christ is Our Refuge Once Again
  • 152. Until We Kneel at Our Savior's Feet
  • 153. Where You Stand, You Should Still Lift
  • 154. No Day Shall Pass nor Night Shall Fall
  • 155. We Pray for You
  • 156. Bountiful Harvest
  • 157. A Message of Peace and Love
  • 158. Israel, Israel God Shall Save Thee
  • 159. For Those Who Wait
  • 160. Friends Who Intercede
  • 161. Young Women's "Frog Camp"

155.  We Pray for You 

[A Variation on a Theme--See No. 52.]
PictureChurchofJesusChrist.org




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Motivation and Background:

The "Cookie Crusade" continues, as reports of "new waves" of COVID infections inspire international "hand wringing" and dire pronouncements by America's "talking head" news and pundit corps about their anticipation of the death of our nation by a disease with about a 97% survival rate--we've had worse flu seasons in our past.  Frankly, the situation has so devolved into farce and political warfare that I made a promise to myself weeks ago to ignore all political, social, or economic news until after the election some weeks hence.  Thus far, this promise has proven wonderfully liberating.  [Now, if I could only rid myself of the FLOOD of IM texts demanding money for various causes!]

However, with General Conference approaching I felt a renewed need to "get a message of hope and trust out" to our Ward members.  Thus, I "retread" No. 52 into the following, and baked many more brownies: 

# 155:  We Pray for You 


It’s been long since we have seen you,
But your face is in our hearts,
And we’ve prayed that Father keep you,
In His care while we’re apart.
Cruel disease has kept us distant, (1)
“Ne’er to touch or even meet.
But our love for you won’t falter,
Till we meet at Jesus’ feet. (2)
 
Despite crises that surround us,
And the cries of doom and gloom.
When we kneel and speak to Father,
We can feel Him in our room.
For that being, most exalted,
Who created all we know,
Has assured us He still listens,
To each humble prayer below. (3)
 
Knowing all “from the beginning” (4)
Jesus saw our troubled days.
And with perfect love and wisdom
Planned for griefs which will not stay.
Thus, our worship has not ended
Just because our chapel’s closed.
In our homes we now still worship,
And our love for others grows. (5)
 
Everywhere and every hour,
In your neighbors homes each day,
Families kneel in true devotion,
And the children learn to pray.
Hear their parents as they teach them,
How to ask God to impart
Peace, and love, and joy, and safety,
To the members in their hearts.
You are always in our hearts. (6)


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NOTES:
 

1.     We have entered into the eighth month of the “lock down” which has prevented us            from meeting to worship and socialize.  Yet we remain confident that this period of            harsh and unwelcome testing will soon be over.  

2.    
The immortal words of “God be With You Till We Meet Again” are printed below to              remind us of this comforting truth—we shall yet meet before our Savior if we obey            His laws and love as He did.  

3.    “Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul. Think of it: the                   absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage,             encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our                 Father. . . .It matters not our circumstance, be we humble or arrogant, poor or rich,             free or enslaved, learned or ignorant, loved or forsaken, we can address Him. We               need no appointment. Our supplication can be brief or can occupy all the time                   needed. It can be an extended expression of love and gratitude or an urgent plea for         help. He has created numberless cosmos and populated them with worlds, yet you           and I can talk with Him personally, and He will ever answer.” Richard G. Scott,                    “Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer,” Liahona and Ensign, May 2007, p. 8  

4.    The Lord said to Abraham, “My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the                      beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee” (Abr. 2:8).  

5.    “Home Centered, Church Supported Worship” was announced in 2018, and                         thereafter, the entire focus of the Restored Church was shifted to prepare us for our           troubled times. 

6.    We are encouraged to pray for one another individually, as families, using Temple             Prayer Rolls, and to fulfill the commandment to “Love one another” See, John 13:34:         “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved
       that ye also love one another.” (KJV)
 


 1.  God be with you till we meet again;         2.      God be with you till we meet again;
By his counsel’s guide, uphold you;                      When life’s perils thick confound you,
With his sheep securely fold you.                           Put his arms unfailing round you.
God be with you till we meet again.                        God be with you till we meet again.
 
3. God be with you till we meet again;           Chorus: Till we meet, till we meet,
Keep love’s banner floating o’er you;                           Till we meet at Jesus’ feet,
Smite death’s threat’ning wave before you.                 Till we meet, till we meet,
God be with you till we meet again.                               God be with you till we meet again
 
Text: Jeremiah E. Rankin, 1828–1904
Music: William G. Tomer, 1833–1896


AFTERWARD: 

It has taken us months, but we finally "got the message" to "share the message digitally".  We now have ZOOM devotionals every Sunday (!) together with a full schedule of (a) Sunday School Lessons (!); (b) Relief Society Lessons (!); and (c) Elders Quorum Lessons (!).  More and more, our Ward Members are visiting one another; giving little gifts; sharing hand made cards; and delivering notes of love and encouragement. 

​More and more we are skyping and texting and calling one another to share news and convey testimony and love.  Yes, it took us a while to "catch the vision", but I believe we are now on a better path of discipleship.  By New Year's I expect to conclude the Cookie Crusade with a great change of heart about the importance of sociality and communication with other Saints outside of our formal meetings​:  "Home Centered, Church Supported Worship"--what a gloriously inspired concept!