A Prayer for Strength

Eternal God, our Father, since last we came to Thee, so much has happened. We need time for worship and renewal with Thee. The world is so much with us: Temptations assault us--so many voices cry to us that we mistake the voice of the deceiver for the voice of God--Many false prophets have gone out into the world, even as we have been warned. So we come because we are in need. We come because we believe that God is a mighty fortress, a bulwark never failing, and that Thou art our helper amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.

May we hear the sound of a trumpet that awakens us from our lethargy and alerts us to life. Show us what we are, O Lord, and call us to what we can be! Lay upon our hearts the place of service in thy Kingdom which waits to be filled by us. Help us to leave our selfish pursuit of the things that pass away, and to give ourselves to the things that will always remain---faith, hope, love.

We know it is not possible to give words to all the prayers in our hearts. Some of us are confused---some of us feel guilty---some of us have a false sense of security---some of us are proud---some of us are afraid: afraid of ourselves and afraid of others; afraid of what we see happening in our world---in our homes, our schools, even our churches. We hardly know how to give expression to our prayers. So we only pray that everyone of us will know the promise of thy Word, that "whoever believes in Him will never be disappointed".

So, O Lord, strengthen our faith--our belief--and help us to take that next step of acting in love, believing that He who has begun a good work in us will carry it on until it is finished in the day of Jesus Christ. All that we ask is in His name. Amen