Margaret Bird Steinmetz

Daily Prayer 🙏 Guide

Trust in Jehovah, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.

~ Ps 37:3

’Tis weary watching wave by wave,

And yet the tide heaves onward;

We climb, like corals, grave by grave,

That pave a pathway sunward.

We’re driven back, for our next fray

A newer strength to borrow;

And where the vanguard camps to-day,

The rear shall rest to-morrow.

~ Gerald Massey

Be like the bird, that, pausing in her flight

A while on boughs too slight,

Feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings,

Knowing that she hath wings.

~ Victor Hugo

Eternal God, help me to realize that life is not only endless but, whether I live in love and obedience, or wait in neglect and indifference, that I can never separate myself from thee. May I be diligent in worthy endeavors to do my best for thee. Amen.

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Prayer 🙏 Guide

And the glory which thou hast given me I have given unto them.

~ John 17:22

All truly wise thoughts have been already thought a thousand times; but to make them truly ours we must think them over again honestly, till they take firm root in our personal experience.

~ Gothe

The light that fills thy house at morn

Thou canst not for thyself retain;

But all who with thee here are born

It bids to share an equal gain.

The wave, the blue encircling wave,

No chain can bind, no fetter hold;

Its thunders tell of Him who gave

What none can ever buy for gold.

~ Jones Very

Father of love, I thank thee for thy daily love and for thy daily bread. May I feel that thy gifts are for all, and not mine to keep and store from those who are in need. Help me as I say, “Thy will be done to me,” to so will it to others. Amen.

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Prayer Guide

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts.

~ Zech 4:6

I never saw a moor,

I never saw the sea;

Yet know I how a heather looks

And what a wave must be.

I never spoke with God,

Nor visited in heaven;

Yet certain am I of the spot

As if the chart were given.

~ Emily Dickinson

I don’t want to possess a faith; I want a faith which will possess me.

~ Charles Kingsley

My Father, may there be no room in my soul for doubt. Help me to be cautious and careful that my own neglect and carelessness may not cause the loss of my faith. May I be trustful as I look for the great light that guides me over the uncertain way. Amen.

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Daily Prayer Guide

A friend loveth at all times; And a brother is born for adversity.

~ Prov 17:17

I wrestle not with rage

While fury’s flame doth burn;

It is vain to stop the stream

Until the tide doth turn.

But when the flame is out

And ebbing wrath doth end

I turn a late enraged foe

Into a quiet friend.

If I can lend

A strong hand to the fallen, or defend

The right against a single envious strain,

My life though bare

Perhaps of much that seemeth dear and fair

To us on earth, will not have been in vain.

Gracious Father of us all, if I may have cause to be provoked to-day, help me to rise above my angry passions, and not from weakness plunge into that for which I may be sorry. Make me self-forgetful, that I may be willing to make peace with those whom I may have displeased. Amen.

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Prayer 🙏 Guide

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.

~ Isa 26:3

How comes it to pass, then, that we appear such cowards in reasoning, and are so afraid to stand the test of ridicule?

~ Earl of Shaftesbury

He that of such a height hath built his mind,

And reared the dwelling of his thoughts so strong,

As neither fear nor hope can shake the frame

Of his resolved powers; nor all the wind

Of vanity or malice pierce to wrong

His settled peace, or to disturb the same:

What a fair seat hath he, from whence he may

The boundless wastes and wilds of man survey?

~ Samuel Daniel

O Lord, it is not that I am ashamed to ask thee for the truth that I do not more diligently seek it, but it is because I fear the sacrifice that may follow in obtaining it. I would that I could understand that thy strength is given in the sacrifice. Make me braver as I seek to live in the truth. Amen.

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Prayer Guide

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, That spoil the vineyards; For our vineyards are in blossom.

~ Song 2:15

In love, if love be love, if love be ours,

Faith and unfaith can ne’er be equal powers:

Unfaith in aught is want of faith in all.

It is the little rift within the lute

That by and by will make the music mute,

And ever widening slowly silence all.

The little rift within the lover’s lute,

Or little pitted speck in garner’d fruit,

That rotting inward slowly molders all.

It is not worth the keeping: let it go:

But shall it? Answer, darling, answer no.

And trust me not at all or all in all.

~ Alfred Tennyson

Loving Father, help me to put away the distractions and cares that make me discontented. Grant that I may not set myself in “gilded pride” and keep out the precious things of life. Help me to abandon doubt and suspicion, and keep the faith that is happy to believe and willing to forgive. Amen.

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Daily Prayer 🙏 Guide

Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest.

– Exod 23:12

This is the gospel of labor—ring it,

Ye bells of the kirk—

The Lord of Love came down from above

To live with the men who work.

This is the rose he planted, here

In the thorn-cursed soil;

Heaven is blest with perfect rest, but

The blessing of earth is toil.

~ Henry van Dyke

No man is born into the world whose work

Is not born with him. There is always work

And tools to work withal, for those who will;

And blessed are the horny hands of toil.

~ James Russell Lowell

My Father, I pray for the love of work, and the desire to cultivate life. Stir me, that I may be ambitious. May I not stare at life in an everyday way and forget that others are watching for the surprises. Help me to be considerate and kind in all that I do. Amen.

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