Prayer: Ephrem the Syrian: Prayer as Poetry

Ephrem the Syrian (d. 373), known as the "Harp of the Holy Spirit," composed thousands of hymns and poems as prayers to God. He believed that poetic language could reach depths that prose could not. He wrote: "Lord, refine my feelings and my thoughts so that I may have the sensitivity to perceive You and the capacity to sense Your nearness." Ephrem used vivid imagery from nature, daily life, and Scripture to make prayer come alive.

Ephrem taught that the entire created world is a revelation of God and therefore a prompt for prayer: "The eye hidden in the pupil of the eye sees the great circle of the sky. Thus through a small opening a man may gaze at the entirety of heaven." Every detail of creation could become an occasion for praise and thanksgiving.

Practical application: Write a prayer-poem of your own. It need not be polished -- simply describe your relationship with God using images from your daily life. Compare God's faithfulness to something you have experienced: the reliability of sunrise, the persistence of spring, the warmth of a fire on a cold night. Ephrem teaches that creative expression in prayer opens channels that formal language cannot reach.