I can never take part in life
Black worms have bound me
The chance to break down
The sorrows that weigh me down

I will never see, I will never find
The voice of the deep, lives here
And trickles out in
Conscience-laced streets
Dark beats, the only joy
That escapes through
My cracked surroundings

Set the hatch on ajar
To your innermost chamber
Open for me
Let me fill every crack

I open the sluice, let the water flow in
Water interspersed with sprouts
Grows firmly to my bottom
The interpreter shadows the light
When will it light?

Jesus’ invitation
Can be the solution to this

Remember it was not I
Who stole the peaceful shining
The light inside

A complete surrender
Let the holiness of the Lord
Fill my insides
And the power of the Holy Land renew
My soul, my mind
To the Lord I am raised up

–Extol, “Innbydelse”–

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on Thee.
–Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)–

They that wait upon the Lord 
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles.
–Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)–

They should seek the Lord,
if haply they might feel after Him,
and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us:
for in Him we live, and move, and have our being.
–Acts 17:27-28 (KJV)–

Draw nigh to God,
and He will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners;
and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
–James 4:8 (KJV)–

I will therefore that men pray every where,
lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
–1 Timothy 2:8 (KJV)–

Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world.
–Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:20 (KJV)–

—

Lester Liles, ed. Streams of Healing: A Book of Comfort (Revell, 1958), pp. 76-100.

Thomas à Kempis, Of the Imitation of Christ (Whitaker House, 1981).

Renovaré, Connecting with God (HarperOne, 2006).

—. Prayer and Worship (HarperOne, 2009).

Catherine Marshall, Adventures in Prayer (Ballantine Books, 1987).

—. The Helper (Chosen Books, 1978).

Craig Keener, Suffering: Its Meaning for the Spirit-Filled Life (Baker, 2025).