The Meaning of Prayer

A breath of prayer in the morning

Means a day of blessing sure;

A breath of prayer in the evening

Means a night of rest secure;

A breath of prayer in our weakness

Means a clasp of a mighty hand;

A breath of prayer when we're lonely

Means Someone to understand;

A breath of prayer in our sorrows

Means comfort and peace and rest;

A breath of prayer in our doubtings

Assures us the Lord knows best;

A breath of prayer in rejoicing

Give joy and added delight,

For they that remember God's goodness

Go singing far into the night.

There's never a year nor a season

That prayer may not bless every hour,

And never a soul need be helpless

When liked with God's infinite power.

~ Frances McKinnon Morton

Prayer

I do not undertake to say

That literal answers come from Heaven,

But I know this - that when I pray,

A comfort, a support is given

That helps me rise o'er earthly things

As larks soar up on airy wings.

I do not stop to reason out

The why and how. I do not care,

Since I know this, that when I doubt,

Life seems a blackness of despair,

The world a tomb; and when I trust,

Sweet blossoms spring up in the dust.

Prayer has a sweet refining grace,

It educates the soul and heart.

It lends a luster to the face,

And by its elevating art

It gives the mind an inner-sight

That brings it near the Infinite.

From our gross selves it helps us rise

To something which we yet may be.

And so I ask not to be wise,

If thus my faith is lost to me.

Faith that with angels' voice and touch,

Says "Pray, for prayer availeth much."

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I Needed The Quiet

I needed the quiet so He drew me aside.

Into the shadows where we could confide.

Away from the bustle where all day long

I hurried and worried when active and strong.

I needed the quiet tho at first I rebelled

But gently, so gently, my cross He upheld

And whispered so sweetly of spiritual things

Tho weakened in body, my spirit took wings

To heights never dreamed of when active and gay.

He loved me so greatly He drew me away.

I needed the quiet. No prison my bed,

But a beautiful valley of blessings instead

A place to grow richer in Jesus to hide.

I needed the quiet so He drew me aside.

~ Alice Hansche Mortenson

Copyright 1944

Unity is Strength

One little prayer ascending

From a man bowed low in prayer

Can pierce the highest heavens

And bring down blessings rare.

Where two or three are gathered

(We have it on God's word)

There God is in the midst of them,

Their prayer is surely heard.

Then let us pray together

The greatest prayer, God's own -

Father, who art in heaven,

We cry in suppliant tone.

Forgive us all our trespasses,

Thy holy will be done,

They name we'll spread in every clime

Till all the fold is one.

Give us this day our daily bread,

Temptations keep at bay -

And strength will come with unity,

When all together pray.

~ Rev. Thomas Foy

"I Didn't Have Time"

I got up early one morning

and rushed right into the day;

I had so much to accomplish

That I didn't have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me

And heavier came each task;

"Why didn't God help me," I wondered.

He answered, "You didn't ask."

I wanted to see joy and beauty

But the day toiled on, gray and bleak

I wondered why God didn't show me.

He said, "But you didn't seek."

I tried to come into God's presence;

I used all my keys at the lock.

God gently and lovingly chided,

"My child, you didn't knock."

I woke up early this morning

And paused before entering the day.

I had so much to accomplish

That I had to take time to pray.

My Evening Prayer

If I have wondered any soul to-day,

If I have caused one foot to go astray,

If I have walked in my own wilful way -

Good Lord, forgive!

If I have uttered idle words or vain,

If I have turned aside from want or pain,

Lest I myself should suffer through the strain -

Good Lord, forgive!

If I have craved for joys that are not mine,
If I have let my way wayward heart repine,
Dwelling on things of earth, not things divine -
Good Lord, forgive!

If I have been perverse, or hard, or cold,
If I have longed for shelter in Thy fold,
When Thou hast given me some part to hold -
Good Lord, forgive.

Forgive the sins I have confessed to Thee,
Forgive the secret sins I do not see,
That which I know not, Father, teach Thou me -
Help me to live.

~ Charles H. Gabriel

Daily Prayers Are Heaven's Stairs

The "Stairway" rises "Heaven High" -

The "Steps" are dark and steep,

In weariness we climb them

As we stumble, fall and weep...

And many times we falter

Along the "path of prayer"

Wondering if you hear us

And if you really care...

Oh, give us some assurance,

Restore our faith anew,

So we can keep on climbing

The "Stairs of Prayer" to you -

For we are weak and wavering,

Uncertain and unsure,

And only meeting you in prayer

Can help us to endure

All life's trials and troubles

Its sickness, pain and sorrow,

And give us strength and courage

To face and meet tomorrow!

~ Helen Steiner Rice

To Me

 

To me,

every hour of the day and night

is an unspeakable perfect miracle.

 

~ Walt Whitman

The Smallest Prayer

 

God hears the very smallest prayer,

Nor sends a cross too great to bear,

And though we stumble now and then,

He always picks us up again.

There is no moment day or night,

When we are hidden from His sight,

No wall too high nor door too stout,

To keep His loving care without.

 

His ways are wiser than our own,

His strength remains when ours is gone,

We must not doubt nor question why,

He sends the answers by and by.

And this I know within my heart,

All darkness fades and shadows part,

And that sometime, somehow, somewhere,

God sees and answers every prayer!
 

 ~ Grace E. Easley

This Life Of Mine

 

This life of mine can nothing be
If I don't give it, Lord, to Thee;
For only Thou canst see ahead
How rough the way that I must tread.

And, only Thou new life can give
When I have lost the will to live;
When hope has died and dreams have fled,
When o'er the wreck my tears are shed.

Oh, take it, Lord, this life of mine,
And fill it with Thy love divine;
For only Thou dost know the way
That leads me to eternal day!
 

~ Vera J. Davis

Your Constant Companion

 

Pray without ceasing

God hears what you say

From the moment you rise

To the close of the day

Don't think for a moment

That He turns a deaf ear

Trust and have faith

And you'll never know fear.

 

~ Helen Parker

Gethsemane

 

He sought a place to pray and found,
Upon a slope outside of town,
An olive garden filled with trees,
On which there stirred a restless breeze.

How sad His loved ones never guessed
The weight of anguish in His breast,
Nor heard His sighs, nor saw Him weep,
For watching not, they fell asleep.

Each one of us must bear his share
Of that lone hour's vigil there.
But with it promise of a dawn
Of blessed peace when night is gone.

Compared to Thine, dear Lord I see
How small my own Gethsemane.
 

~ Grace E. Easley

The Prayer Perfect

 

 

 Dear Lord! Kind Lord!
Gracious Lord! I pray

Thou wilt look on all I love,
Tenderly to-day!
Weed their hearts of weariness;
Scatter every care
Down a wake of angel-wings
Winnowing the air.

Bring unto the sorrowing
All release from pain;
Let the lips of laughter
Overflow again;
And with all the needy
O divide, I pray,
This vast treasure of content
That is mine to-day!

 

~ James Whitcomb Riley

A Prayer

 

Our hands are raise to God on high

to offer Him our love,

To seek His aid in all our needs,

His blessings from above.

 

We pray for all who suffer

or who feel the weight of years,

For all whose hearts are weary,

That God may calm their fears.

 

We offer God our thanks for all

the stars in His bright skies,

For flowers and trees and rich green fields,

For hope that never dies.

 

~ Rev. Thomas Foy

In The Quiet Of The Morning

 

In the quiet of the morning,
Oh, how sweet it is to come
Just to talk a bit with Jesus
Ere the crowding duties come.

Just to kneel there for a moment
With your head upon His breast,
All your problems laid before Him,
Every human need confessed.

Oh, the loving strength that surges
From His heart to yours all day;
Like a bright and shining armour,
Just because you knelt to pray!

 

~ Alice Hansche Mortenson

A Man May Feel No Faith

 

A man may feel

no faith in prayer,

and quit it all

with little care;

yet in the throes

of near despair

may find his heart

kneels down in prayer.

 

~ Edward A. Gloeggler