Spread across a book cover
Was the title: EMERGENCY PRAYERS,
Instantly it caught my attention
And caused me to drop my cares.
At first it was quite impressive
And I feasted on the thought,
But my feast was only temporary
As deeper meaning I sought.
I began to think of emergencies
Of different sorts and kinds
And in my mind, I wondered
About the matter of time.
I could not read the book
But I wondered about the prayers,
How would they address
A sudden threat or fear?
In most emergency cases
There is not lot of time,
Help is needed instantaneously
To get one out of the bind.
It is like a drowning man
And there is no help in sight,
How much time does he have to pray
When he is in such a plight?
I would like to think
Such prayers would be very brief
For the victim would be expecting
Instantaneous relief.
Like the apostle Peter
When on water he walked to Christ,
As he began to sink in the briny deep
Just three words did suffice.
“Lord, save me!” he shouted,
And the Master heard his cry,
Immediately, he was in Jesus’ arms,
It was not his time to die.
There is another emergency prayer
That for me is quite adaptive,
A four-letter word, just one syllable long
In emergencies is quite effective.
"Help!" has become a familiar shout
Whenever we are in distress
And when that shout is made to God
It is praying at its best.
It’s not about the words we say
Or the quantity of time we spend,
No such luxury in an emergency
That’s telling us it’s the end.
But the cry of a sincere heart
That’s in a desperate need of help,
Three short words or even one
Is just how Peter felt.
A book of emergency prayers
Could not be very thick
For whatever the nature of emergency,
That prayer would have to be quick.
With time at one’s disposal
The urgency is reduced,
If there is time to pray and fast
That’s almost like a truce.
A book of emergency prayers
Sounds really, really good,
But to use the book at that urgent time,
I wonder if anyone would.
Stewart Russell © April 2020
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