Prayer Poems | Poemist

Popular Prayer Poems

Evening Prayer

by vandana khanna

Two Gods: the one in the closet
and the one from school days
and both are not mine. I opened
the door on God at dusk and closed

him the rest of the day. He perched
on the ledge above my father's shirts
and wool suits, a mandir in every Hindu
house, ours smelling of starch, surrounded

......

How We Pray

by Joe Cyr

The focus of the lesson today
is the manner in which we pray.

Some pray with lips that mouth each proper word;
others do good deeds, ‘though they’re seldom heard.
Some pray too loudly, as if God were unhearing;
many strut proudly, with manner overbearing.
Some criticize others who pray less stylishly,
but isn’t that just a form of unjust hypocrisy?

......

The Soul's Farewell to the Body

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

So we must part forever; and although
I long have beat my wings and cried to go,
Free from your narrow limiting control,
Forth into space, the true home of the soul,

Yet now, yet now that hour is drawing near,
I pause reluctant, finding you so dear.
All joys await me in the realm of God-
Must you, my comrade, moulder in the sod?

......

Author's Prayer

by Ilya Kaminsky

If I speak for the dead, I must leave
this animal of my body,

I must write the same poem over and over,
for an empty page is the white flag of their surrender.

If I speak for them, I must walk on the edge
of myself, I must live as a blind man

who runs through rooms without

......

A Time To Be Normal

by Jeffrey Pipes Guice

Sometimes my head is in the clouds...
Other times my head is in the sand...
Sometimes my thoughts are so jumbled up...
I feel I’m sinking in some far off hinterland...

It’s hard to control my thinking...
A challenge I face every day...
It’s as if my wires are completely crossed...
The mind games that steal me away...

......

Recent Prayer Poems

Hope

by Jonathan Goff

Hope.
A hollow
Word.
Surprise.

Love.
A hug
Or hard truth.
Both.

......

The Call: A Supplication

by Jonathan Goff

here–
how–

help.

heart: a choking thing–
clawing. shallow.
screams with no sound.
nothing–
whispers go unheard.

......

Aluta Continua : Forced Removals

by Ghairo Daniels

ALUTA CONTINUA : FORCED REMOVALS

( Poet’s Note : This poem first appeared in : A Collection of Memoirs on District Six titled District Six Memories, Thoughts and Images/ Attic Press, 2021, as part of a collection of nine poems on Forced Removals )

We willed concentrated power
circled in cobalt blue
fields of strawberries
and dagger beckoned
irrespective of consciousness
a sorry state of affairs when battles

......

A Secret Moment

by Joe Cyr

A secret moment of private thought
perhaps in thanks for mishap averted
or farewell
or supplication for relief of pain
…
some call it Prayer

Prayer

by Joe Cyr

Prayer is how we officially converse
with the majestic King of the universe.
From castle grand or house of sod,
Prayer lets us commune with our God.
To glorify Him Who loves us all;
thank Him for favors large and small.

To ask for patience and strength sustain
for trials ahead - to accept pain.
Prayers are used to seek support

......