A prayer for a friend

I found this in some old files I was going through. I love the inspiration that God gives when we are willing to listen. I wrote this for a friend who was in a great struggle and thought I would share it on my blog:

To My Friend

The depth of your pain is so vast, that I fear I cannot touch it. My words seem like chaff, drifting away, unable to touch that place of darkness inside of you.

You ask for a word; you ask for a touch; you ask for encouragement. Though these things I offer, they are no longer within your grasp to hear or feel.

Your feelings are like a raw, open wound. Could my words cut you deeper? Could my advice be like salt to your bleeding soul? Your bones are brittle and thin. Could my touch be that thing that breaks you? Your spirit is parched. Could my prayers shrivel you up?

In my insecurity, I look to the Word for a morsel to offer your starving soul. My friend, what I find there might surprise you:

Seek to preserve your life, you’ll lose it.
Complain that you are ruined; he offers to sear your flesh.
Tell Him you want to follow Him, forget your family.
You want to be wise; he wants you to be like a child.
You want to walk on water; you’ve got to learn about sinking.
You want to be rich; he offers poverty.
You desire a wide open road to travel; he shows you a narrow foot path.
The tears will not stop; He weeps with you.
You are looking for the door; He turns you to the altar.
Death promises to consume you; He will guide you through it.

The prayers He has inspired, I fear you may not be able to comprehend:

Lord, my friend is weary. Exhaust her to the point of deliriousness.
She has cried her last tear. Offer her a portion more.
She wants a counselor. Shut the mouths of her mortal companions.
She seeks for relief from the pain. Wound her.
She looks for strength. Weaken her.
My friend is lonely. Send her companions away.
She is parched. Bring her to the desert.
She fears she is loosing her mind. Make her simple and foolish.
She wants to be filled up. Pour her out.
She wants her life back. Wreck it.

I pray these prayers in secret for you my friend. They seem to be heartless and cruel. The Father has let me know that while He consumes your flesh, He will inflate your Spirit. Like air filling an infant’s lung for the first time, He will breathe into you the breath of life. It pains me that you must go through this dark and lonely time. I pray you do not wriggle away while He holds you to the altar. May you scream out to Him who is your only salvation.