Margaret Bird Steinmetz

Prayer Guide

As a deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God! 

— Ps 42:1 NET

Rivers to the ocean run,
Nor stay in all their course;
Fire ascending seeks the sun;
Both speed them to their source;
So a soul that’s born of God,
Pants to view his glorious face,
Upward tends to his abode,
To rest in his embrace.
— Robert Seagrave

 

As the bird trims her to the gale
I trim myself to the storm of time;
I man the rudder, reef the sail,
Obey the voice at eve obeyed at prime;
Lowly faithful, banish fear,
The port well worth the cruise is near
And every wave is charmed.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

My Father, I pray that if I meet with difficulty, I may not go backward, nor stand still, and fear to go forward. Unfold to me the depth and breadth of the ideal and beautiful, that I may not be content to succeed in the shallowness of life: but may I aspire to the height of the soul, even if I fail to acquire great things. Amen.

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Daily Prayer Guide

Then your light will shine like the sunrise; your restoration will quickly arrive; your godly behavior will go before you, and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard.— Isa 58:8

Prune thou thy words, the thoughts control
That o’er thee swell and throng;
They will condense within thy soul,
And change to purpose strong.
— John H. Newman

Think truly, and thy thoughts
Shall the world’s famine feed;
Speak truly, and each word of thine
Shall be a fruitful seed;
Live truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.
— Horatio Bonar

We ought to love everybody and make everybody love us. Then everything else is easy.
— Alice Freeman Palmer

Almighty God, look upon me with pity; so often I have obeyed the thoughts that have been misleading and profitless. Make me more careful of what I think and say, and may I learn from my mistakes the forbidden paths. Help me to keep my mind in unity with thy will. Amen.

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Daily Prayer Guide

May you give support to the one you have chosen, to the one whom you raised up for yourself! Then we will not turn away from you. Revive us and we will pray to you!

— Ps 80:17-18 NET

God will keep no nation in supreme place that will not do supreme duty.
— William McKinley

Reputation is what men and women think of us; character is what God and the angels know of us.
— Thomas Paine

The reward of one duty is the power to fulfill another.
— George Eliot

My Father, I pray that I may be just and be given to kindness. May I be conscious of my virtues, and use them to overcome my faults. May I hear clearly thy call that I may be sure of the way as I lead others to duty and happiness. Amen.

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Daily Prayer Guide

He brought me out into a wide open place; he delivered me because he was pleased with me. — Ps 18:19 NET

The sun withholds his generous beam;
Athwart my soul the shadows stream;
The weird winds boisterously blow,
And drift the melancholy snow.

When I, in sorrow and despair,
Expect the storm, with tender care
He rends the clouds and through the blue
The glorious sun breaks forth anew.
— M.B.S.

So with the wan waste grasses on my spear,
I ride forever seeking after God.
My hair grows whiter than my thistle plume
And all my limbs are loose; but in my eyes
The star of an unconquerable praise;
For in my soul one hope forever sings,
That at the next white corner of the road
My eyes may look on Him.
— G.K. Chesterton

Loving Father, if I may be discouraged to-day, strengthen my faith. May I not weary of waiting for thee, but trust in thy promises. Amen.

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Streams in The Desert

Waiting is Hard

When the cloud remained over the tabernacle many days, then the Israelites obeyed the instructions of the Lord and did not journey.

[Num 9:19 NET]

This was the supreme test of obedience. It was comparatively easy to strike tents, when the fleecy folds of the cloud were slowly gathering from off the Tabernacle, and it floated majestically before the host. Change is always delightful; and there was excitement and interest in the route, the scenery, and the locality of the next halting-place. But, ah, the tarrying.

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Daily Prayer Guide

Do not fret because of evil people or be envious of wicked people,

[Prov 24:19 NET]

The heart which boldly faces death
Upon the battlefield, and dares
Cannon and bayonet, faints beneath
The needle-points of frets and cares.
The stoutest spirits they dismay—
The tiny stings of every day.

Ah! more than martyr’s aureole
And more than hero’s heart of fire,
We need the humble strength of soul
Which daily toils and ills require.
Sweet patience, grant us, if you may
An added grace for every day.
~ Adelaide A. Procter ~

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea.
~ Alfred Tennyson ~

My Father, I pray that I may not be dismayed over life, and its trifles. Help me to master difficulties great and small, and give me patience through all until I reach the untroubled way. Amen.

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Prayer Guide

But he must ask in faith without doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. since he is a double-minded individual, unstable in all his ways.

[Jas 1:6,8 NET]

Unless there is a predominating and overmastering purpose to which all the accessories and incidents of life contribute, the character will be weak, irresolute, uncertain.

~ Frances E. Willard ~

Life is not an idle ore,

But iron dug from central gloom,

And heated hot with burning fears,

And dipt in baths of hissing tears,

And battered with the shocks of doom

To shape and use.

~ Alfred Tennyson ~

O God, help me to be positive. May I not want to be in so many places, and in so many things, that I can never be found in anything. Help me to know that a purpose secured is worth many attempts, and that to have a character I must build it. Amen.

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