Father of Light! great God of Heaven!
Hear'st thou the accents of despair?
Can guilt like man's read more

Father of Light! great God of Heaven!
Hear'st thou the accents of despair?
Can guilt like man's be e'er forgiven?
Can vice atone for crimes by prayer?

Pray to be perfect, though material leaven
Forbid the spirit so on earth to be;
But if read more

Pray to be perfect, though material leaven
Forbid the spirit so on earth to be;
But if for any wish thou darest not pray,
Then pray to God to cast that wish away.

Prayer is the spirit speaking truth to Truth.

Prayer is the spirit speaking truth to Truth.

In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

But maybe prayer is a road to rise,
A mountain path leading toward the skies
To assist read more

But maybe prayer is a road to rise,
A mountain path leading toward the skies
To assist the spirit who truly tries.
But it isn't a shibboleth, creed, nor code,
It isn't a pack-horse to carry your load,
It isn't a wagon, it's only a road.
And perhaps the reward of the spirit who tries
Is not the goal, but the exercise!

Every wish
Is like a prayer--with God.

Every wish
Is like a prayer--with God.

And from the prayer of Want, and plaint of Woe,
O never, never turn away their ear!
read more

And from the prayer of Want, and plaint of Woe,
O never, never turn away their ear!
Forlorn, in this bleak wilderness below,
Ah! what were man, should Heaven refuse to hear!

They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright!

They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright!

God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers,
And thrusts the thing we have prayed for in our face,
read more

God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers,
And thrusts the thing we have prayed for in our face,
A gauntlet with a gift in 't.