VERSE 1 Father full of love You have not dealt with us according to our sins Father full of love You have shown mercy mercy for Your children
For You know that we are merely dust in the wind And You know that we are weary from this world that we live in
PRE-CHORUS But You are strong and You are mercy Great are You here in this place You are love and You're forgiving You've turned this world around by the pouring of Your grace
CHORUS Bless the Lord O my soul Bless His holy name all the earth Bless the Lord O my soul You are worthy You are worthy
VERSE 2 Father full of love You wrap us up in grace crown us with compassion Father full of love You heal our sicknesses every single one
BRIDGE You are worthy of blessing and honor Glory and power wisdom and thanks
Dear God, I started singing along with this song this morning, and I just go overwhelmed with worship for you. It was almost too much. In fact, I found myself having to throttle it back a little. Oh, how I do love you. I do need you. There are times when I get upset at myself for not praying to you more in supplication, but I think one of the reasons I struggle with intercessory prayer is that I don't necessarily think of you as this great "hander out of favors in the sky." You are God. I'm here. Yes, I need help with my family. Yes, I need help with my work. Yes, our community, state, nation, and world need help. We need you. I need you. But what I really need, above all, is relationship with you. I want to be more like David in purusing and wanting to know you, as opposed to Saul who just wanted to revere you. Yes, I revere you, but I want to know you, be known by you, and worship you.
Father, full of love. You have not dealt with me according to my sin. Father, full of love, you have shown me mercy and mercy for all of us. You know that I am merely dust in the windn. You know I am weary from this world. But you are strong, and you are mercy. Great are you here in his room right now. You are love. You are forgiving. You turned this world around by the pouring out of your grace. Help us know how to live into that. And let me close by saying, bless the Lord, oh my soul. Bless his holy name, John. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. You are worthy, Father. You are worthy.
In a room without a view, a new mother smiles and holds The tiny fingers of her brand new baby girl. Her husband takes her by the hand, so unsure about the future Have no money can they make it in this world? And they pray, Lord all we have to give is love Then they heard a gentle voice like an echo from above,
I have been there. I know what fear is all about. Yes, I have been there and I’m standing with you now. I have been there And I came to build the bridge oh so this road could lead you home. Oh I have been there.
He’s been a pastor twenty years But tonight he sits alone and broken hearted in the corner of the church He tried to change a fallen world With his words and with his wisdom but it seems like it is only getting worse And he cries, Oh Lord I just don’t understand Then he felt the hand of grace, and he heard a voice that said
I have been there, I know what pain is all about Yes I have been there, and I’m standing with you now I have been there, and I came to build a bridge Oh so this road could lead you home Oh I have been there.
An older man up on a hill Holding flowers but he can’t hold back the tears. Oh he has come to say goodbye. He thinks about the life she lived, Thinks about how hard it’s been to live without her Sixty years right by his side And he cries, oh Lord I loved her till the end And he heard a gentle voice say you’ll see her once again
I have been there I know what sorrow’s all about Yes I have been there and I’m standing with you now I have been there, and I came to build a bridge Oh so this road could lead her home, the road could lead her home
Oh I have been there, You know I overcame the cross, yes I have been there So her life would not be lost Oh I have been there, and I came to build A bridge so this road could lead you home The road could lead you home
Dear God, I haven’t done two of these prayer journals in one day in a long time, but today seemed like a good day.
In 2005, I was unemployed for about six months. One of the things I did back then was make a CD of songs that comforted me. Several years later, since CDs are much of a thing anymore, I made a playlist with those songs and saved them to my iTunes. I came across that playlist today. Coincidence? Maybe not. It feels like something the Holy Spirit led me to. The songs have been great and brought back some memories. Here’s a list of the songs, in order:
All of these songs are a comfort to me. They are a touchstone to a time when I was very sad, scared, down, and even a little depressed. I’m grateful for this list.
With all of that said, “I Have Been There” by Mark Schultz is the one that brought tears to my eyes. There is nothing I can experience you haven’t experienced. I wish I could find it, but there was something fictional I heard someone read about 35 years ago that still sticks in my brain. I’m sure the person who wrote it would be flattered that it made that much of an impression on someone. In this case, it was people lining up to say what they thought you should have to experience, as God, to understand us better. These are me paraphrasing some of the things. It’s been a long time, and I only heard it once, but it was something to the effect of:
One person said that God should have to be poor so he can understand what it’s like to struggle without anything.
One person said that God should have to have to endure scandal in his family so he would understand what it’s like to be gossiped about and rejected.
One person said he should have to know what it’s like to be rejected for his nationality and be a foreigner.
One person said that God should have to lose his son and watch him die a terrible death.
The list went on and on, ultimately ending with that God should have to die to know what it’s like to fear death. Then, one by one, the people walked away because they realized you did all these things through Jesus.
So as I sit here now, feeling rejected by some, there is nothing I can experience you haven’t experienced. Like the song from Mark Schultz says, “[You] have been there.” As I stopped and listened to this song closely, playing it back a second time, I teared up. I felt you comforting me, Holy Spirit. You have been there. You know what I’m going through right now, and you have been there.
Father, I’m sorry for the times I have been a source for your sorrow. I am sorry I have caused you to be there. Thank you for comforting me. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being a God who left no stone unturned so that you might know everything about me, including what it’s like to be me.
Emails to God 