Disturb us, Lord – a prayer by Francis Drake
As you think about the new year, here’s a prayer worth memorizing. It’s author, Sir Francis Drake, an adventurer, wrote it as he departed to the west coast of South America.
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wilder seas
Where storms will show Your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push back the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain,
Who is Jesus Christ.
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LOVE this … Amen. Make it so, Lord Jesus.
Wow, that is great. I have never seen it, and did not know that Sir Francis Drake was a brother in Christ.
Good one! I’ve never seen this before either.
Oh how I love this prayer and pray it!
What daring and life-filled words! Love this.
love it!
The greatest disturbances are those internal when we stop focusing on “me”, empty flesh and vain imaginations.
No one ever enters the Kingdom of God with an attitude.
Just a broken heart.
“I must decrease so He may increase”.
The formula is pretty simple and the “decreases” have to come in every area of our being.
I know many followers of Jesus who “dream big” but the visions are not God birthed and they leave dead bodies in their wake.
Simplicity. Authenticity. Silence. Solitude.
Catholics have an eye on things I’ve needed for a long season. I have been so thankful for the reading time recently to discover the gems.
I like the poem by the way. But without the bedrock of “firmer foundations” it could be a section from “Your Best Life Now” or rhetorical content from motivational guru Tony Robbins.
Love you friend.
for some reason, I’m crying at the end of this. you get me all messed up sometimes. ….thanks.
I love that this prayer wasn’t written by some armchair philosopher.
This is my prayer today.
Thank you for posting this. The prayer speaks my heart today (‘today’ being this season of the life God has given me). I have learned things through these responses; much to think about and pursue.
I SO stole this poem from you. Thanks!
This is really nice! I read this in a Youth Encounter, its like a retreat. And I believe that in these times, we,people are too busy for the worldly things that we forget our Lord. Disturb us o Lord!
This is a wonderful, moving prayer. How is it that a hardened ship captain (Sir Francis Drake) can find time – and be moved – to put together a prayer like this.
What do we know about his history relative to this prayer?
thanks,
Bill
Thanks !
Drakes plee for boldness took him all the way to the West coast of Africa where he pioneered the brutal practice of forcibly removing & enslaving the local populace.
so moving.. i heared this through our parish priest ..immediately when i arrived home ..i try to find.. Absolutely he is right…
Kind of a bummer to introduce that point, but it’s a very valid one. Still, let’s remember not to throw out the beautiful baby along with the dirty bathwater.
WOW! That’s powerfull. I can understand now why he felt close to heaven wherever he was. Disturb us Lord.
How nice is this prayer, i heard it from the homily of our Parish Priest at Our Lady of the Anunciation and Shrine of the Incarnation, and i asked him, can i have a copy of it, and so he told me, find out in google.Upon reaching home i immediately opened my computer.
Thank you so much.
Well done! You have a heart and a mind for missions and both are needed!
MiMi and I will help support you.
Love
Granddaddy