Punk prayers is an attempt to write common prayers in a raw and real way. There is no swearing – swearing is too easy – but the language can be harsh and uncomfortable. I feel that my relationship with God, at its heart, is about the union of a perfect entity with a very broken one. Of course, however naïve they may be, even these words are refined and don’t reflect the groans, sighs and frustrated silences that often go with what passes for communion with God for me. If they’re not for you, I get that, but if you’re struggling with prayer as you know it, maybe there’s something here that can help. I hope so.
Praise
You are bigger than I am
You are bigger than my desires, my wants, my needs
You are bigger than my pride and my ego
You are bigger than my day, bigger than my dreams, bigger than my purposes
Wherever I turn you are there
Wherever I go you are there
You are in my past, my present, my future
You are in those I meet and in my very self
You are even where I dare not look
You are bigger than my idea of who you are, what you are, what you can do
You are bigger than my explanations, my rituals, my names for you
You are bigger than my senses, than my intuition, than my capability to understand
You are bigger than my knowledge
You are bigger than my imagination
You are bigger than all things and so much more.
You are bigger
Confession
Yes, it was me
I could make excuses but we both know the truth
What I hide from others is like hiding the brightest star for you
You see all
Yes, I’m here again
Same stuff
It must be tedious for you, we go through the same things ever time
You know all
I do mean it though
As I sit, here and now, I do mean it
I am sorry
I do want to put right what I can put right
I do want to do things differently next time
I do want to break the old patterns and triggers and habits
This is not a bargaining process
Or a smooth side stepping
Or a meaningless ritual
I have done wrong
I have been selfish
I have hurt and neglected others
Please forgive me
Thankfulness
For breath and life and love
For the green and the blue
For the endless path and the now
For memories and dreams
For hope and joy
For those close and those closer
For the smile of a stranger
For a common path
For the most and the least
For the more and the less
For the day and the night
For the dark and the light
For the dapple and the babble
For the known and the unknown
For identity and reason and purpose
For forgiveness and peace
For the dance and the song
For the palette of life
For nourishment of all kinds
For the unexpected, gentle breeze
For the still small voice
I thank you God
Intervention
I come, reluctantly and not often enough
I put aside myself for a while
And I think of others and their needs
So many hurting, so many lost
So many hungry, so many homeless
So many depressed, so many in despair
So many in need
Be as near as breath to them
Hold them close
Whisper comfort to them
Ease their pain
As I break this pause
As I return to my life
Help me follow your lead
And not turn away.
Offering: One
As I look in the mirror, My God
I see the flaws and the scars and the weariness
I am not what I could be or even what I should be
I am what I am
If the mirror reflected more than skin deep
There would be darkness and disappointment and frustration
My better self would be wrestling with my vanity, my obsessions, my selfishness
But this is what I am, what I try to hide, what I try not to be
This is the raw me
Tentatively, I offer you this reality because I have nothing else
I offer no false promises of self-improvement or bragging self-delusion
I offer you only what is at this moment
Take this clay, this base metal, this raw pigment
Make what you will
I will try not to resist your will
I will try not to fight you
Make what you will
Offering: Two
I give you all I am, all I could be
All I will be, all I was
All my dreams and ambitions
All I remember, all I have forgotten
All I can do and all that I can’t
All that I value and all I try not to hate
I give you all my frustrations, all of my fears
All I think I own
All of my grief, all my reluctance
All my darkness, all my pride
All my hurts and all I have hurt
All those I love and those I strive to love
Offering: Three
I have little to offer and less as the years go by
What was of value is now dust, what was permanent is ephemeral
What was important is of no consequence
You are so BIG and my offering so small
A dandelion for the Eternal Gardener
A scribble for the Painter of Galaxies
A pebble for the Sculptor of Worlds
But I will stand with broken pencil, with blotting ink, with balding brush
And scratch boldly of my love for you
Because in my heart, I know this
It will be enough
Communion
Grain and soil and water and sunlight
Reaping and refining and mixing and heat
Seed and soil and water and sunlight
Vine and harvest and treading and time
Thorn and whip and nail and darkness
Breath and tears and joy and light
Heart and mind and body and spirit
Gathered and forgiven and remembering and loved
Lament
I cannot lift my head or meet your eye
I no longer see colour or hear music or notice beauty
I am lost in myself
Everything is rubbish upon rubbish
Tears are long gone and now there is only void
Reach out your hand and lift my chin
Look into my eyes
Breath life into me once more.
A Prayer for the Morning
This is a new day, a fresh piece of paper not quite blank
There are many things carried over from yesterday
Things I should put right
Things I need to do
Better choices I need to make
Some days I see you clearly
And run towards your open arms
But on other days I can’t see you because my head is down
And, if I’m honest, I’m trying to avoid you
As if that were possible
Help me to raise my head this morning
Help me to begin this day well
Help me to be my better self
And to make the journeys of those I meet a little easier
A Prayer for the Evening
The day is done
The light is gone
The night reaches out to enfold the world
Today’s choices are made and never return
Only their consequences linger
I hope I did good today
I hope I eased someone’s day
I hope I brought light and colour and love and joy into the world
And where I didn’t, forgive me
As I sleep, watch over me and those I care for
As I wake, be my inspiration
youintheblue 