Jesus, Please Take Us from
This Grandstand World

Jesus, please take us from this grandstand world
It's time we got into the game
We're so tired of this grandstand world
Where feelings never seem to change

Sometimes this world seems so unjust
I think we'll find
I hope we'll find
That through Your Mind
The sidelines aren't for us

We're going to play the game of love
There are no rules but give Your love
We're going to play the game of faith
There are no rules but have no fear…Mmmm

Jesus, please take us from this grandstand world
The construction is getting rather thin
I think once we're taken from this grandstand world
We'll know the troubles we've been in
We'll be glad we're leaving once we've been

I don't think we're going to miss this grandstand world
For now that we're playing we'll win
Now that we're playing we'll win
Jesus, with You, we'll always win

Hum

Written probably in 1968 or 69 when I was a New Ager.
It used to say, "Please let ME take you from this Grandstand World."
Now it is correct with a slight word change. Jesus, please take us
from this grandstand world. It is not we, but the Father within who
does the work. We however, must be willing to step off the grandstands
and onto the playing field.

A Prayer Can Change the World

A prayer can change the world
If you believe it will
As you pray, believing
Something makes your world still

A hush falls over everything
The wind becomes a breeze
Enveloping your consciousness
As God fulfills you needs

Before you pray, our Father-God
Knows what's in your mind
Verbalizing helps YOU keep
Your priorities in line

What about the world? Do you
Need to be forewarned?
If you mix the hot and cold
Your mind becomes lukewarm

The world will give you cold hard facts
But God's Spirit is hot in you
You can help the world best
By praying through and through

Reality is deeper than
The headlines you may read
What's reported in the news
Will not fulfill your needs

When you pray believing
There's a change within your mind
A tiny bit of light bursts forth
And from your eyes, it shines

And if reporters could be there
Reporting what they see
What a difference it would make
For us eternally

Where two or more are gathered
In the name of Christ, you'll see
Your prayers will lift the world
toward a better place to be

My heart is grateful to Julia Ecklar and her melody entitled Lullaby for a Weary World which I found at Music.Mevio.com

I wrote "Leaving the Grandstand World" just before spending a few months in a mental institution (sort of like James Taylor did, maybe). I was grateful that I remembered the words and music after that experience. I do feel it is an important song, a motivating song, to remind us that we are not just physical beings living by the hand of fate, taking what life brings us and that is all. We are children of God, for Pete's sake (and for ALL of our sakes). We have been given the gift of life, of thought, of love and it is our purpose to share those gifts in order to keep them. Sharing them is how we step out of the Grandstand World and into the playing field.

It is helpful to remember (or know, if you are hearing this for the first time) that whatever we give spiritually, we keep. That is the opposite of physical gifts. When you give them away, you lose them. So if we give love, maybe not right away, but we will receive love. Conversely, if you give negative spiritual qualities, you will receive them as well. Matthew 7:2 God will be as hard on you as you are on others.

I have no recollection of when or how I wrote A Prayer Can Change the World but I am so glad I found Julia Ecklar's beautiful music to play under it. The words go with it perfectly!