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MY PRAYER

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 2, 1875

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 46, No. 9.

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MY PRAYER.

I ASKED the Lord that I might worthier be, Might grow in faith and hope and charity; And straight, “Go feed my lambs!” he answered me.
“Nay, Lord!” I cried. “Can outward deeds avail To cleanse my spirit? Heart and courage fail, And sins prevent, and foes and fears assail.”
And still, “Go, feed my lambs!” was all I heard. But should I rest upon that simple word? Was that, indeed, my message from my Lord?
Behold, I thought that he his hand would lay On my sick soul, and words of healing say, And charm the plague-spot from my heart away.
Half wroth, I turned to go; but oh! the look He on me cast—a gaze I could not brook; With deep relentings all my spirit shook.
“O dearest Lord,” I cried, “I will obey, Say what thou wilt! only lead thou the way; For, following thee, my footsteps shall not stray.”
He took me at my word. He went before; He led me to the dwellings of the poor, Where wolf-eyed Want keeps watch beside the door.
He beckoned me, and I essayed to go Where Sin and Crime, more sad than Want and Woe, Hold carnival, and Vice walks to and fro.
And when I faltered at the sight, he said, “Behold I died for such! These hands have bled, This side for such has pierced been.” He said:
“Is the disciple greater than his Lord? The servant than his Master?” Oh, that word! It smote me like a sharp, two-edged sword!
And since that hour, if any work of mine Has been accepted by my Lord as sign That I was following in his steps divine;
If serving others (though imperfectly), My own poor life has worthier come to be, And I have grown in faith and charity,
Dear Lord, be thine the glory! Thou hast wrought, All unaware, the blessing that I sought. Oh! that these lips might praise thee as they ought.
—Sel.