Prayer, the Golden Chain Binding the Royally Redeemed to the Throne of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords by Debbie Harris

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Inspired by George Herbert’s poem on prayer.

Prayer, the Golden Chain Binding the Royally Redeemed
to the Throne of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Prayer, the Church’s hidden flame,
A spark from heaven’s boundless forge,
The soul’s soft plea, the heart’s calm balm,
A wing that lifts where tempests gorge.

The merchant’s gain through tides that roar,
The pilgrim’s staff on paths untrod,
The lover’s sigh at midnight’s door,
The watchman’s call beneath the sod.

Prayer, the Golden Chain Binding the Royally Redeemed
to the Throne of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Prayer, the Church’s hidden flame,
A spark from heaven’s boundless forge,
The soul’s soft plea, the heart’s calm balm,
A wing that lifts where tempests gorge.

The merchant’s gain through tides that roar,
The pilgrim’s staff on paths untrod,
The lover’s sigh at midnight’s door,
The watchman’s call beneath the sod.

A golden chain that binds the royally redeemed
To thrones where heaven’s chorus rings,
Where seraphim their worship bring,
A silent stream, a gracious trust,
The key that opes the eternal spring.

The widow’s mite, the orphan’s cry,
The broken reed that still can sound,
A bridge o’er chasms none deny,
A circle where lost joys are found.

The soldier’s shield in battle’s din,
The sailor’s star through storms that rend,
The poet’s muse, the seraph’s hymn,
The Alpha and the world’s great End.

Earth’s voice rising like the flood,
The seal of saints, the martyrs’ crown,
The heart where God Himself will bide,
Prayer—God’s breath and crown.

Thanksgiving’s Radiant Crown by Debbie Harris

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Harvest sunblaze crowns the golden fields,
Abundant life in every heart yields.
Bread and laughter lift our endless song—
Thanksgiving’s victory forever strong!

Thanksgiving by Debbie Harris

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Beneath the amber of November’s dome,
The table groans with harvest’s quiet grace,
Each gathered face a hearth, each shared word home,
God’s plenty shines through every lifted face.

Jesus Christ, Our Healer: Prayer For Wounded Guardsmen And America by Debbie Harris

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Prayer for Wounded Guardsmen and America

A heartfelt prayer mourning fallen guardsmen, confessing national sin, and pleading for healing, justice, and revival through Jesus Christ alone.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Psalm 33:12 (ESV)
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

John 14:6 (NKJV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Amos 5:24 (ESV)
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

2 Corinthians 5:20 (NLT)
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

Psalm 34:18 (ESV)
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Ephesians 4:3 (ESV)
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Habakkuk 3:2 (NIV)
Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.

Proverbs 29:2 (ESV)
When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.

In the shadow of sorrow, where bullets have torn,
Two guardsmen have fallen, their sacrifice worn.
Their blood cries for justice, their lives for our peace,
O Lord, in Your mercy, let healing increase.

A nation divided, with wounds ever deep,
Hate festers in silence, its harvest we reap.
From cities to heartland, the cries rise as one,
“Heal us, O Father, through Your only Son.”

For only in Jesus can true peace be found,
His cross bore our hatred, His grace does abound.
He calmed raging tempests, He healed broken men,
He calls us to wholeness, again and again.

In the shadow of sorrow, where bullets have torn,
Two guardsmen have fallen, their sacrifice worn.
Their blood cries for justice, their lives for our peace,
O Lord, in Your mercy, let healing increase.

A nation divided, with wounds ever deep,
Hate festers in silence, its harvest we reap.
From cities to heartland, the cries rise as one,
“Heal us, O Father, through Your only Son.”

For only in Jesus can true peace be found,
His cross bore our hatred, His grace does abound.
He calmed raging tempests, He healed broken men,
He calls us to wholeness, again and again.

O Christ, Prince of Peace, we repent of our ways,
The pride and division that mark all our days.
Forgive our transgressions, our selfishness shown,
Restore what is broken, make righteousness known.

Send forth Your Spirit like dew on the ground,
Revive weary hearts where Your truth can be found.
Let churches awaken, let neighbors unite,
Let love overcome every shadow of night.

For the guardsmen who served, for their families who mourn,
We lift up our voices, Your comfort we seek.
Wrap them in peace that the world cannot give,
In Your resurrection, let new life begin.

Heal our dear nation, O Lord, we implore,
Through Jesus Christ’s power, forevermore.
Let justice flow downward like waters that pour,
And righteousness spring up from each heart to its core.

We stand on Your promise, Your Word never fails,
“If My people humble themselves and they pray…”
We seek Your face now, turn from wicked ways,
Heal our land, Lord, for all of our days.

In Jesus’ mighty and precious name, we pray,
Amen and amen, lead us in Your way.

May We Never Underestimate the Righteous and Holy Power of Our Risen Savior by Debbie Harris

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Summary of “May We Never Underestimate the Righteous and Holy Power of Our Risen Savior”The poem is a fervent, worshipful warning and celebration: Christians must never reduce, tame, or forget the full, awe-inspiring reality of who the risen Jesus truly is.It begins with a solemn charge—never to underestimate the holy power that conquered death itself. Christ is portrayed not merely as a gentle teacher or moral example, but as the sovereign King who silenced storms, shattered hell’s gates, and rose victorious from the tomb, bearing scars that are now emblems of eternal dominion.Stanza by stanza, the poem contrasts the limitless might and terror of His glory with the frailty of human pride, empires, and darkness. No night is too deep, no heart too hard, no kingdom too strong to withstand the light and love of the Risen One. Every knee will ultimately bow—not by persuasion, but by the undeniable authority of the Lamb who was slain and yet lives forever on the throne.The closing stanzas shift from warning to exultation, calling the soul to awaken and join the angelic anthem: “Worthy is the Lamb!” The resurrection is not a past event to be sentimentalized; it is the present, reigning, returning reality of the all-conquering Christ.In essence, the poem is a passionate plea to behold Jesus in His full biblical majesty—terrifying in holiness, tender in mercy, and absolutely unrivaled in power—so that we worship, fear, love, and live in the light of the One who lives and reigns forever.

May we never underestimate
The holy power that death could not hold,
The King who rose when the morning was late
And turned the grave to a gate of gold.

He spoke, and tempests forgot their rage,
He stood, and iron-barred darkness broke;
The chains of hell fell off like a page
Torn from the book that Satan wrote.

No night so deep but His dawn can rend,
No heart so hard but His love can move;
The proudest knee in the end shall bend
Beneath the scar that is crowned with love.

Let empires boast of their marble and might,
Let tyrants thunder and legions roar—
They crumble to dust in a breath of His light,
For Christ is risen, and reigns evermore.

May we never belittle or tame
The terror and tenderness blended as one
In Him who still bears the print of the nail
Yet sits on the throne when all thrones are gone.

Awake, my soul, and with angels cry:
“Worthy the Lamb upon Calvary slain!”
All heaven thunders the glad reply—
He lives, He reigns, and He comes again!Amen.

The Prodigal Nation: A Cry for America to Kneel Again at Calvary by Debbie Harris

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This prophetic poem is a heartfelt lament and urgent plea for the soul of America. It begins by echoing the beloved line “God shed His grace on thee,” then paints a stark picture of a nation that has received unmatched blessing yet drifted far from its first love, trading truth for pride, liberty for license, and the light of Christ for the darkness of self.

Like the prodigal son, America is portrayed as a wayward child who has squandered its inheritance, yet the Father still calls, still waits, still stands ready with open arms. The poem moves from sorrow over the nation’s spiritual decline to a ringing call for repentance: to fall on its knees at the cross, drink again from Calvary’s fountain, and find forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ alone.

The final stanzas burst with hope and holy urgency. Church bells, steeples, and awakened hearts herald the promise that if America turns back to Christ, revival’s fire is here, ready to fall, ready to burn away the darkness and restore the land to the glory and purpose for which it was graced.

In essence, it is both a mourning for what has been lost and a triumphant declaration that it is not too late: the Shepherd seeks His sheep, the King is near, and revival awaits the nation that humbles itself and comes home.

America, America,
God shed His grace on thee,
From shining sea to shining sea,
Yet shadows veil what once was free.

The crown of brotherhood lies bent,
Our purple mountains turn to dust,
The fruited plain forgets its scent,
And liberty lies stained with rust.

We chased the wind, we crowned the pride,
We called the darkness light by day,
We traded truth for what felt right,
And slowly turned our hearts away.

But hark—a voice still calls thy name,
The Shepherd seeks the wandering sheep,
His arms are wide, His love the same,
Though we have sown what now we reap.

America, America,
Fall on thy knees beneath the cross,
Where mercy flows for every loss,
Where grace redeems what sin has cost.

Repent, return, O weary land,
The altar waits, the Savior stands,
His blood still speaks a better word
Than all the cries of broken hands.

Let church bells ring from coast to coast,
Let steeples pierce the darkened sky,
Let prodigal hearts come home to boast
No more in self, but Christ on high.

America, America,
God shed His grace on thee—
And bids thee now, in humble faith,
Come drink the cup of Calvary.

There find forgiveness, full and free,
There find the life that never ends,
For every soul that turns to see
The Lamb of God who heals and mends.

America, awake, arise,
Lift up your eyes, the King is near.
The night is far spent, dawn is nigh—
Turn back to Christ; revival’s fire is here.

A Hymn of Return: On the Sacred Duty to Fill Every God-Given Talent with Beauty as Our Humble Offering by Debbie Harris

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A Hymn of Return: On the Sacred Duty to Fill Every God-Given Talent with Beauty as Our Humble Offering

The poem presents every human talent (artistic, manual, relational, intellectual) as a small spark of God’s own infinite Beauty, lent to us not for self-glory but to be returned to Him transformed into lovelier praise.

It begins with the quiet truth that God has placed a unique “note” in each person and asks only that we make His beauty endure through our lives. Like a rose that cannot help but give back fragrance, we are to take whatever we have been given (brush, voice, hammer, lullaby, garden, poem) and fill it with reverence and excellence, and offer it back as worship.

Talents are never truly “ours”; they are loans of divine glory meant to increase through use. The poem urges us never to let any gift rust or fall silent, but to polish it until it glows with something more than human, becoming a mirror that flashes one ray of God’s light into the world.

The closing vision is eschatological: when the final day comes and all partial beauties are gathered into the Perfect Beauty, every small act of consecrated craftsmanship will expand into the eternal flame from which it came, and God will delight to recognize Himself in the humble human work offered with love.

In essence, the poem is a lyrical call to stewardship: live and work in such a way that every talent becomes a humble, beautiful gift returned to the Giver, an act of liturgical beauty that prepares us for the unending Beauty of heaven.

The Lord of Beauty lent us each a spark,
A single note to sound within His song;
He shaped the hand, the voice, the eye, the heart,
And whispered soft: “Now make My beauty long.”

Not for our praise, nor for the world’s applause,
But as the rose returns its scent to air,
We take the gift and, trembling at the cause,
Pour loveliness again into His care.

The painter’s brush, the poet’s burning line,
The gardener’s patient, green, and quiet art,
The mother’s lullaby, the carpenter’s design,
Each humble craft a beating of God’s heart.

For talent is not ours; it is a loan
Of glory, lent that glory may increase;
A mirror set beneath the sun alone
To catch one ray and fling it into peace.

Then let no gift lie rusted, mute, or dim;
Let every skill be polished till it shine
With something more than human seraphim
Can claim, till it reflects the borders of divine.

So work, O soul! and sing, and build, and sow,
With fear and love and wonder in your hands;
That when the final beauty shall bestow
Its perfect day, your fragment may expand
Into the endless Beauty whence it came,
And God behold Himself in your small flame.

O Ancient of Eternal Days: A Sevenfold Hymn of Thanksgiving Unto Ages of Ages by Debbie Harris

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O Ancient of Eternal Days: A Sevenfold Hymn of Thanksgiving Unto Ages of Ages
A concise summary in seven breaths (one for each perfect stanza):

  1. Before all time, the eternal God spoke light, seas, and harvest into being; every grain and every season has ever been His gift.
  2. In the bleak beginnings of nations (pilgrims on barren shores, exiles in winter), God spread tables in the wilderness and taught His people the first songs of thanks.
  3. Through every famine, war, and darkness since, His hidden manna and watchful love have never failed a single sparrow or child of the covenant.
  4. Tonight, under this harvest moon, fields overflow and ten thousand tables shine; the earth itself laughs in color because all belongs to Him.
  5. Yet the deepest thanksgiving is not for bread and wine, but for wounded hearts made whole, for sinners called beloved, for redemption that turns every sorrow into song.
  6. Empires fall, thrones crumble, but the feast lengthens eastward and westward until the last stranger and the last unborn child find their place at the everlasting table.
  7. Finally, all praise ascends to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—one God in boundless might—while earth and heaven join in one unending Amen, and thanksgiving itself becomes eternity’s native tongue.

Refrain after every stanza:
“Praise, praise the Giver of all good… All peoples, lift undying praise!”

A hymn that begins before creation and never ends, carrying every generation’s gratitude forward on the same unbroken melody, world without end.

1
O Ancient of Eternal Days,
Before the worlds were framed,
Thy voice called forth the light and seas
And every creature named.
Thy open hand, through endless years,
Hath strewn the heavens with grain;
The seasons turn, the harvest nears—
Thy mercy falls like rain.

Praise, praise the Giver of all good,
Whose love shall never cease;
From age to age Thy mercies flood
The borders of our peace.
Forever, through the length of days,
Let grateful anthems rise—
All peoples, lift undying praise
To God who feeds and supplies!

2
On barren shores our fathers knelt
When winter gripped the land;
Yet Thou preparedst unseen bread
By Thine almighty hand.
A table rose amid the wild,
The cup of mercy ran;
And songs of thanks, by exiles styled,
First sounded among men.

Praise, praise the Giver of all good,
Whose love shall never cease;
From age to age Thy mercies flood
The borders of our peace.
Forever, through the length of days,
Let grateful anthems rise—
All peoples, lift undying praise
To God who feeds and supplies!

3
When enemies who lie and kill
And come to steal, destroy,
Rose like the darkness, fierce and shrill,
To rob Thy people’s joy—
Thy hidden manna fed us still,
Thy wings o’ershadowed nigh;
Through every threat of death and ill
Thy covenant kept us by.

Praise, praise the Giver of all good,
Whose love shall never cease;
From age to age Thy mercies flood
The borders of our peace.
Forever, through the length of days,
Let grateful anthems rise—
All peoples, lift undying praise
To God who feeds and supplies!

4
The golden sheaves now bend and break,
The vintage overflows;
Earth laughs in color for Thy sake
And every field o’erflows.
Ten thousand tables gleam tonight
Beneath the harvest moon—
All gifts are Thine, all hearts unite
To sing one thankful tune.

Praise, praise the Giver of all good,
Whose love shall never cease;
From age to age Thy mercies flood
The borders of our peace.
Forever, through the length of days,
Let grateful anthems rise—
All peoples, lift undying praise
To God who feeds and supplies!

5
Yet not for bread and cup alone
Our trembling praises ring;
For wounded hearts made wholly known,
For every hidden thing
Turned glory by redeeming grace,
For sinners called Thy own—
We bless the love upon Thy face
That claimed us for Thy throne.

Praise, praise the Giver of all good,
Whose love shall never cease;
From age to age Thy mercies flood
The borders of our peace.
Forever, through the length of days,
Let grateful anthems rise—
All peoples, lift undying praise
To God who feeds and supplies!

6
Let empires crumble into dust,
Let thrones in silence fall;
Thy kingdom comes, forever just,
And shall outlast them all.
The child unborn shall taste this feast,
The stranger find his place;
Thy table lengthens, east to west,
Till time gives way to grace.

Praise, praise the Giver of all good,
Whose love shall never cease;
From age to age Thy mercies flood
The borders of our peace.
Forever, through the length of days,
Let grateful anthems rise—
All peoples, lift undying praise
To God who feeds and supplies!

7
To Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
One God in boundless might,
Be glory while the worlds shall rest
And through eternal light.
Amen, amen, let earth reply,
And heaven the song prolong—
Thanksgiving nevermore shall die
But rise, world without end, as song.

Praise, praise the Giver of all good,
Whose love shall never cease;
From age to age Thy mercies flood
The borders of our peace.
Forever, through the length of days,
Let grateful anthems rise—
All peoples, lift undying praise
To God who feeds and supplies!

A Song of the Redeemed: Everlasting Gratitude to Jesus Christ for the Finished, Unending Gift of Salvation by Debbie Harris

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A Song of the Redeemed: Everlasting Gratitude to Jesus Christ for the Finished, Unending Gift of Salvation

This poem is a sustained, joyful portrait of the redeemed in the third person, celebrating the ceaseless, irreversible gift of salvation purchased once-for-all by Jesus Christ.

From the first breath of morning to the last sigh of night, the blood-bought host lives in astonished thankfulness. Every ordinary moment (waking, walking, laughing, eating, sleeping) is saturated with the finished work of Calvary: the curse lifted, death defeated, wrath exhausted, sin forgiven. Nature itself testifies—the sparrow, wheat, rain, and sky all echo the victory of the Second Adam and the broken Bread.

The redeemed laugh like soldiers who heard their Captain shout “It is finished!”, feast like guests whose infinite debt is stamped “Tetelestai—Paid in full” by the Lamb’s own blood, and rest like heirs who can never be disowned. Children run, old men leap, widows sing—every demographic of the saved pulses with resurrection life because Jesus Christ lives, reigns, and keeps giving the gift that never diminishes and can never be revoked.

The poem closes with an eternal refrain: the morning stars and the ransomed host together sing one undying note of gratitude to the risen Lord Jesus—Thank You without end—for the finished, unending salvation that flows ceaselessly from His throne.

They wake before the dawn has traced its gold,
the blood-bought host, and breathe the air made sweet
by Jesus Christ who loved and gave Himself.
Their houses—once cold tombs where death held sway—
now stand with every window flung to light
that streams unearned from Calvary’s finished work.

They walk the streets their feet once dragged in chains;
each step now falls on ground the Savior cursed no more.
The sparrow sings because the Second Adam lives,
the wheat bows low because the Bread was broken first,
the rain descends because the clouds of wrath
were emptied on the Lamb who bore their sin.

See how they laugh—no guarded, timid sound,
but loud and free, like soldiers who have heard
their Captain cry, “It is finished!” from the tree.
They greet with wonder those whom Jesus sought
and bought with blood, comparing scars that match
the prints still open in His hands and side.

At table they need no one bid them thank;
the bread itself proclaims the broken Body,
the cup still glows with blood that speaks a better word.
They eat, and every bite is sealed “Forgiven,”
they drink, and every swallow sings “Alive,”
because their Jesus Christ is risen, reigning, giving.

The children race, the old men leap for joy
as calves released when winter’s chains are shattered;
the widows lift the songs they thought forever lost
because the Bridegroom lives who dried their tears.
Above them bends a sky no longer brass
but poured-out mercy from the wounds of Christ.

All day they praise—no anxious, dutiful strain
for fear the gift might slip from trembling hands—
but steady, astonished, like a host set free
who saw the ledger soaked in royal blood
and read beneath their infinite debt
one crimson word: “Tetelestai—Paid in full.”

When night returns they do not bolt the doors
against tomorrow’s possible reversal.
They sleep as heirs the Son has made His own,
as kings already crowned by Jesus’ victory,
as loved ones held in love that cannot end,
and every heartbeat is a quiet amen
to ceaseless salvation flowing from the throne.

And somewhere deep, the morning stars still sing
the song they learned the day the Lamb prevailed:
the ransomed answer, breath by breath, forever—
“Thank You, Lord Jesus. Thank You without end.”

A Sonnet of Gratitude for the Glorious Victory of Salvation Won for the Redeemed by Debbie Harris

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Summary of the Sonnet
“A Sonnet of Gratitude for the Glorious Victory of Salvation Won for the Redeemed”

This sonnet joyfully celebrates the redeemed believers’ profound thankfulness for the gift of salvation. It portrays them as those who were once enslaved to sin and death but have been gloriously transformed by Christ’s decisive victory. Through His death and resurrection, the curse is shattered, the enemy is defeated, the grave is robbed of its power, and former captives are raised to life, crowned with light, and clothed in righteousness. Every breath of the redeemed now becomes a song of triumph, and their hearts are thrones for the risen Lamb. The poem closes with a resounding call for heaven and earth to echo endless praise, declaring that the saved are not merely rescued—they are forever conquering kings and priests in Christ. The entire sonnet pulses with gratitude for a salvation that is complete, irreversible, and overwhelmingly victorious.

Shall the redeemed compare their souls to spring
That bursts with life beneath the Victor’s sun?
Once slaves to sin, now children of the King,
They stand in robes of triumph He has won.

The curse is crushed; the grave has lost its sting,
The foe lies broken, silenced evermore;
Death heard the shout of resurrection ring
And yielded up its captives to the Door.

See how they rise, once dead, now crowned with light,
Arrayed in glory purchased by His blood;
Their every breath a hymn of boundless might,
Their hearts a throne where reigns the Lamb of God.

Let heaven and earth with endless anthems ring:
Forever saved, forever conquering!