Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Daily Prayer

Artwork entitled "Prayer" by Helge Boe
Used with permission

Before Thy throne, O God we kneel,
Give us a conscience quick to feel,
A ready mind to understand,
The meaning of Thy chastening hand.

Whate'ver the pain & shame may be,
Bring us O Father nearer to Thee
Search out our hearts and make us true
Wishful to give to all their due.

From love of pleasure, lust of gold,
From sins which make the heart grow cold,
Wean us and train us with Thy rod
Teach us to know our faults O God.

For sins of heedless word or deed,
For pride, ambitious to succeed,
For crafty trade and suble snare
To catch the simple unaware

For life bereft of purpose high
Forgive, forgive, O Lord we cry!
Let the feirce fires which burn and try,
Our inmost spirits purify.

Consume the ill, purge out the shame,
O God, be with us in the flame,
A newborn people may we rise
More pure, more true, more nobly wise.

Prayer by
William Boyd Carpenter 1841 - 1918

10 comments:

Susanne said...

Haaloooo?! Is anybody out there? :)

Barb said...

You're cracking me up Susanne. I was on my way over here anyway and now you'll think I just feel sorry for poor pitiful LONELY you. :-)

What a beautiful prayer. Where on earth did you find this? Written almost a hundred years ago. I so envy people who can write like this. Thank you for posting it. This is worth printing out and looking at daily.

There, there. All better? :-)

Girl Raised in the South said...

I've read before that there are books of prayers of the saints of old, and that to read them is great way to grow spiritually. Thanks for sharing this.

Heather Smith said...

This is a beautiful prayer, Susanne. Things we should all pray for daily! Thanks for sharing!

Donnetta said...

Oh my goodness I just love that picture! I have never seen it before. Beautiful!

Ms. Kathleen said...

What a beautiful photo and prayer! God Bless you BUNCHES!

Anonymous said...

What a great photo, and a wonderful poem as well!

Barb said...

Whew! Comments!

(You do know I'm teasing you, right?)

Susanne said...

Barb: that's hilarious. Thanks for coming to see little ol' me! Doing much better now! :D I've had this prayer in my bible for I don't know how long. Haven't a clue where I got it.

Bev: I'd love to get ahold of a book like that.

Heather: I thought you'd like that!

momrn2: It is beautiful. Helge is a Norwegian artist.

Kathleen Marie: Thank you and thanks for coming by

Kili: I love them too!

Barb: of course! I'm still giggling! :vD

rena said...

Beautiful. Love the prose of those old days.

Your post on Looking to Hope was excellent. I recall with a bursting heart what Gander and other Canadian towns did that day. One of my fondest memories though was of a little 20 something tour guide from Victoria..she personally drove a van load of elderly Americans stranded in Victoria all the way to NY, because they were so anxious to get home to their loved ones...that story aired locally here within a couple of days of 911 and somehow it helped me bear the grief much easier...perhaps if US TV had of aired all the same stories, Americans would have seen hope much sooner?? I wonder.