[Spiritual Practice] Writing a Hymn or Poem - Love Does That | Christian Spiritual Director Kari Bartkus

Hey, my friends. Welcome to another bonus episode of Let’s Encourage One Another.

If you’re new here, bonus episodes are where I like to introduce you to different spiritual practices. Because we often hear about the so-called “big” ones of reading the Bible, praying, and so forth, but there are so many ways we can meet with God and connect with Him.

This month, I want to explore the idea of writing to meet with Him. But this time it’s a little different, because when I normally talk about writing, I talk more specifically about journaling. Today, however, I want to talk about writing poetry or even a song.

In school right now, my daughter has been tasked with writing a hymn. How would you feel if I invited you to do the same? What would you write about? What aspect of God would you want to focus on? How has He been revealing Himself to you lately? How are you longing for Him to reveal Himself to you?

Introduction to My Poem

While there are many different ways to write a poem or a hymn, I’d like to tell you a little bit about how I wrote this one.

When I was younger, I used to write a lot of poetry. It was a way I found to express what was going on in my heart, leaving plenty of room for both description and mystery, because really, so much of what goes on in our hearts feels like a mystery, doesn’t it?

I don’t remember when or why this poem was created, but I do remember wanting to focus on God’s love for me, despite all my sin and the shame I carried around, and I remember wanting to use words from Scripture throughout it.

Maybe it was because I didn’t have any words of my own. Maybe it was because I needed to remind myself of what God said in the Bible about His love for me. Maybe a mix of the two.

So I researched all the different verses, and then I started putting pencil to paper. And this is what I wrote.

And before I start, I’ll state that I’ve shared this poem in writing with others before, but not ever out loud. So, this is a first for me. I know that a powerful part of writing is also sharing it with others when the time is right. I hope and pray that God uses these words to remind you of His love, just like it reminds me.

My poem is called, “Divine Whispers.”

My Poem: Divine Whispers

It is in those moments of stillness, as
the moon rises high and the world
goes to sleep, that I find myself engaged
in a most private and intimate
conversation with the King of kings
and Creator of the universe.

His eyes – so pure and bright – look deep
into mine, piercing the shadows of my heart
and examining my secret motives.
Every sin within me is exposed and
I am reduced to a lowly beggar, a
bleeding soul who only longs to
touch the precious hem of His robe.
My accuser hands Him the deadly stones,
and I bury my face in the dirt, ashamed.

Yet as I fall to the ground, He kneels down
to wrap His arms around my
trembling shoulders. His breath
tickles my ear as He whispers
sweet words to me – words of such a
passionate love that I close my eyes in
fear that this is just a fanciful dream, that I will
soon be awakened by the rooster’s crow.

But page after page, I read of His faithful
pursuit of me. Prayer after prayer, He
reminds me of His abundant grace.

It’s the whisper of a love so divine
that no thunderstorm can quench its
flames, nor can any river drown it.
It’s the whisper of a voice so glorious
that it makes the deserts quake
and the mountains skip like calves.

Though my love vanishes like the morning
mist and disappears like dew in the
sunlight, His remains as faithful as
the dawning of the sun.

Oh, that I would stop trading His fountain of
living water for broken cisterns of my own…

Bible Verses + Your Own Hymn

God’s love is pretty incredible, isn’t it? If you want to look up any of those Bible verses for reference, I’ll put them in the show notes below.

So what do you think? Will you take me up on my invitation to write a hymn or poem of your own? It can follow a rhyming pattern or a certain number of syllables in each line, but it certainly doesn’t have it. Use the structure if it helps you, and if it doesn’t, just let it go and write what comes to mind.

Use it as a way to praise God and worship Him, or as a sort of prayer during difficult seasons, a chance to cry out to God.

Invitation to Journal Gently

If you want to learn more about writing to meet with God, I’d like to invite you to join the Journal Gently program. It is an 8-week program designed to help you process grief, trauma, and hurt together with God, and we talk a lot about creating space to meet with God, setting a writing routine or schedule that works well for your season of life, and experimenting with different types of writing to see what might work best for you. It has been so incredibly powerful for those who have gone through it. You can learn more and sign up at lovedoesthat.org/journalgently.

Okay, that is all for today, my friends. Thank you for being here with me today for this bonus episode. Until next time, let’s encourage one another.