Mary Sullivan

Give to me a pure heart, Lord, a humbled heart contrite.
Bless me with a pure heart, Lord.  In my soul, shed Your light.
Have mercy on me, loving Lord; wipe out my offense.
Wash me, O Lord, from my guilt.  Of sin, let me be cleansed.

Give to me, a clean heart, Lord, a heart filled with Your love.
Give to me, a clean heart, Lord, with grace from above.
Put a steadfast spirit in me.  Let my soul be renewed.
Keep me in Your presence, Lord.  All sin may I eschew.

My sacrifice to You, My God, a spirit quite contrite.
My sacrifice to You, My God, a soul that seeks what’s right.
Guide me towards humility.  From You, may I learn.
It is a humbled heart, my Lord, that never will You spurn.

And give our loved ones too, Lord, a pure and humble heart.
May loved ones ever seek Your will.  From Your will, not depart.
Put a steadfast spirit in each one, a spirit seeking truth.
Grant to us all humility; help us find true love in You.

(Based on Psalm 51)

We may be perplexed.  But to despair we are not driven.
We can be but thankful for all we have been given.
Persecution comes our way. Yet we are not abandoned.
By the One who loves us so—our Defender and Companion.

Our trials we endure.   We conquer by God’s power.
Struck down we may find ourselves. But from there we flower.
In Him there’s no destruction.  In Him, we are not destroyed.
In Him, there is but glory.   In Him, there is true joy.

For the One who raised our Lord, will one day raise us too,
And place us in His presence.  All things will be made new.
Let us persevere for Him. Let us now soldier on.
Let us fight the fight before us.  His armor, let us don.

Until that day of glory, when all is truth and light.
Until we reach our final end—let us fight the good fight.

“…Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”  (Luke 9:58)

Lord, make my heart a nest of love,
A nest of love for You.
That You may come and dwell therein,
Today and each day through.

Make my heart a nest for love.
A love where truth will shine.
Make of my heart a nest for You.
For You, may my heart pine.

Lord, make my heart a nest for You.
A place where You find rest.
Make my heart like unto thine.
Take my heart as Your nest.

Chaos in this world today.
Yet, my soul You still.
Come and rest in my heart, Lord,
As I rest in Your will.

Grant me grace to love You, Lord.
May my love for You shine,
As light for what is good and true.
Make my human heart divine.

I give You all that I have.
Make my love ever true.
May my heart be Your dwelling place,
My heart a nest for You.

Jesus Himself was teaching.  From every village people had come,
From Judea and from Galilee.  Some came from Jerusalem.
On a stretcher, men had brought in, a man paralyzed.
To bring him before the Lord, they would improvise.

There seemed no way to bring him in.  The crowd’s size was so great.
They made their way up to the roof, not wanting to wait.
He was lowered through the roof and placed in front of Christ.
The Christ who came to die for us, for us sacrifice His life.

When Jesus saw their faith, He told the man, forgiven were his sins.
The Pharisees had never heard, to such a thing akin.
The Pharisees erupted.  They may have become livid.
“Who is this who blasphemes? Who but God can sins forgive?”

Jesus knew what they were thinking, so He put to them a task.
“Which is easier” was the question, which to them He asked.
Is it easier to say that sins have been forgiven?  With them, Christ had this little talk.
He inquired if perhaps it might be easier to just say “rise up and walk.”

But that the Son of Man can sins forgive, that all now might see and know,
He told the man once paralyzed to rise, home now he could go.
The man no longer paralyzed, then did exactly that,
He rose and went home, after he’d picked up his mat.

With astonishment, all were completely seized.
And they gave glory unto God.  His healing helps us to believe.
Jesus, so many loved ones cannot see You in their midst.
And there are other loved ones now swayed You don’t exist.

In spirit they are paralyzed, they lay on unbelieving mats.
We cannot get them into church.  They think they’ve had enough of that.
They cannot comprehend Your ways or understand Your love.
They don’t see Your blessed plans for them, from heaven above.

We bring them to You Jesus; through the roof, we lower them to You.
We ask You to touch their hearts, heal hearts through and through,
Show to them Your love that’s deeper than the deepest ocean.
Help them, Lord, to trust in You, with humbled devotion.

The faith of the man once paralyzed, is not really known.
But of those who brought him to You, their faith was clearly shown.
Faith of loved ones may be lacking.  This we do not deny.
Look upon our faith, Lord.  To ourselves we seek to die.

Use the grace of our faith, use all our sacrifices,
To forgive our loved ones’ sins, to wipe out all their vices.
Help them rise above their sins, seek good in all they do.
Help them to pick up their mats, seek only to serve You.

Help them find the way to You, no matter where they’ve roamed.
Though their hearts be crippled, help them walk toward their eternal home.
Help them dear, sweet Jesus.  The hour now runs late.
Go to them now, dear Jesus.  Make haste, dear Lord, make haste.

(Based on Mark 2:1-12)

…there was a man full of leprosy in one of the towns where Jesus was;
And when he saw Jesus, he fell prostrate, pleaded with Him and said:
Lord if You wish You can make me clean.
Jesus stretched out his hand, touched Him and said,
“I do will it.  Be made clean.”  And the leprosy left him immediately.
(Luke 5:12-13)

Lord Jesus, we have loved ones, deep in the throes of sin.
They’ve rejected the Gospel or given it some senseless spin.
We surrender our lives to You.  We trust You with our every need.
We give to You all that we have.  To You, we now plead,
Go now to our loved ones, Lord.  Help them upon You lean.
Jesus, if You wish, You can make our loved ones clean.