Prayer for the Day
O God, early in the morning I cry to you. Help me to pray And to concentrate my thoughts on you: I cannot do this alone. In me there is darknesss, But with you there is light; I am lonely, but you do not leave me; I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help; I am restless, but with you there is peace. In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience; I do not understand your ways, But you know the way for me... Restore me to liberty, And enable me so to live now That I may answer before you and before me. Lord, whatever this day may bring, Your name be praised. --Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), in Prayers , ed. Peter Washington (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995), p. 64.