I know I don’t need to tell you, Lord,
how warm it is, how hazy, hot and humid…
But it’s July:
summertime in a climate-changed world
– what else should I expect?
How grateful I am for my light schedule
and AC cooled places to escape to for comfort…
But for some, for many,
heat intensifies every experience
with little prospect of respite,
so for these brothers and sisters, Lord,
I plead and pray tonight…
The midday heat sweats the worker’s frame
and doubles the burden of labor…
Heat heightens the raw emotions
of those who are grieving, afraid and worried:
heat rises in troubled hearts
like mercury filling the glass…
Heat sharpens hunger and thirst:
starving and parching the empty bellies
of millions of homeless children…
Heat piques our resentment and anger
and magnifies even the smallest annoyance…
Heat steams, simmers and stews
in our tender, vulnerable hearts;
it chafes our precious memories,
disturbing our peace of mind…
And so, Lord:
at the end of this hot and humid day,
I pray some precious respite
for those whose burdens intensify
as the Celsius and Fahrenheit rise…
Send your Spirit’s strong and gracious breeze
to cool and refresh,
console and comfort,
soothe and relieve,
nourish and calm,
revive and cheer,
restore and lift up
all whom the heat has laid low:
who long for the shade
of your outstretched arms
by the cool, deep stream
of your mercy flowing
swift and sweet and sure…
Send your Spirit, Lord, to quench the thirst
of all souls parched and dry,
withering ‘neath the sun that burns
in the barren day-to-day desert
that life can sometimes seem…
Refresh us, Lord!
Send your rain to slake our thirst,
to bathe us in your peace!
Cool us with your Spirit’s wings
beating all around us,
filling us with life again,
with hope and peace and joy…
Protect us, Lord while we’re awake
and watch over us while we sleep
that awake, we might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace…
Springs of Life by Ginny Owens
How many days, Lord, have I walked in this wilderness?
A thirsty pilgrim with no water to drink.
And this barren place is making me crazy,
In my desperation, I am forced to think.
Seems like I have spent so much time searchin’
In a dry and weary land where there’s no Truth.
But I think I’m finally realizin’,
That my only hope of water is the well that comes from You,
So, rain down Your love upon me
Pour out Your mercy on me
Please won’t You take me to Your springs of life
‘Cause I’m dying for deliverance, only You can save me,
Oh, I’m waitin’, please won’t You take me,
To Your springs of life.
Oh God, You are my God,
And my spirit seeks You,
But my flesh has failed You time and time again.
And now I’ve chosen this desert when Your love was waitin’,
But Your stubborn child longs to understand
So I’ll not waste another minute searchin’
In a dry and weary land where there’s no truth,
‘Cause I think I’m finally realizin’
That my only hope of water is the well that comes from You,
So, rain down Your love upon me
Pour out Your mercy on me
Please won’t You take me to Your springs of life
‘Cause I’m dying for deliverance, only You can save me,
Oh, I’m waitin’, please won’t You take me,
To Your springs of life.