“Make My Life a Prayer to You” by Melody Green

Make my life a prayer to you
I want to do what you want me to
No empty words and no white lies
No token prayers. No compromise

I want to shine the light you gave
Through your son you sent to save us
From ourselves and our despair
It comforts me to know you’re really there

Well I want to thank you now for being patient with me
Oh, it’s so hard to see when my eyes are on me
I guess I’ll have to trust and just believe what you say
Oh, you’re coming again, coming to take me a way

I want to die and let you give
Your life to me so I might live
And share the hope you gave to me
A love that set me free

I want to tell the world out there
you’re not some fable or fairy tale
That I’ve made up inside my head
You’re God the son. You’ve risen from the dead

Oh, I want to thank you now for being patient with me
Oh, it’s so hard to see when my eyes are on me
I guess I’ll have to trust and just believe what you say
Oh, you’re coming again, coming to take me away

I want to die and let you give
Your life to me so I might live
And share the hope you gave to me
I want to share the love that set me free

Dear God, this song is just great. The lyrics are really a perfect prayer.

I was lying in bed right after I woke up and I read the verse for the day from Bible Gateway (Phil 2:9-11) and, frankly, it really didn’t do anything for me. So then I started looking at YouTube to see if there was anything interesting there while I kind of killed a little time before getting out of bed. As it turned out, a live video of Keith Green playing this song came up and I watched it. I hadn’t heard this song in a long time. He introduced it by saying that his wife wrote it, and it was really something to be able to sing your wife’s song. It made me think I should probably look for opportunities to read my wife’s poetry out loud–even if it’s just for me.

So I listened intently to the words and sang along (I’ve known this song since the 80s). Like I said, it really is a perfect prayer.

Make my life a prayer to you, I want to do what you want me to

Of course. My life as a living prayer. If that were to happen at a 100% level, what would that look like?

No empty words, and no white lies

How much of my communication with others throughout the day is just empty, thoughtless words? I don’t know that white lies are a problem, but certainly empty words are.

No token prayers, no compromise

Yes. I want my prayers to be meaningful, thoughtful, and consistent. I want to live a life that is completely surrendered to you and does not look out for myself.

I want to shine the light you gave through your son you sent to save us from ourselves and our despair. It comforts me to know you’re really there

That’s what it’s all about. When people see me, they should see you and they should see something that they want in them.

Oh I want to thank you now for being patient with me. Oh, it’s so hard to see when my eyes are on me.

Yes. You are patient. You are loving. You expect a lot from me, but you know better than I do the journey I am on in discipleship. If I can turn my eyes from myself to you then I will be able to see a lot more around me.

I guess I’ll have to trust and just believe what you say. Lord, you’re coming again. Coming to take me away.

I have very little thoughts about you coming back in rapture form during my living life, but I will say that I have every confidence that you’ll be there to take my soul when my earthly time is done.

I want to die and let you give your life to me so I might live. And share the hope you gave to me. A love that set me free

Again, this is a song about just getting over myself. I can only imagine what was going through Melody Green’s mind when she wrote this, but I know it must have been a beautiful moment between the two of you.

I want to tell the world out there you’re not some fable or fairy tale that I’ve made up inside my head. You’re God the Son, you’ve risen from the dead.

I am so weak and talking about who you really are and boldly proclaiming you. But may that come as I continue to learn to make my life a prayer to you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen