Prayers

Lord, behold our family here assembled. We that Thee for this place in which we dwell; for the love that unites us; for the peace accorded us this day; for the hope with which we expect the morrow; for the health, the work, the food, and the bright skies, that make our lives delightful, Let peace abound in all our company. Purge out of every heart the lurking grudge. Give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere. Offenders ourselves, give us the grace to accept and forgive offenders. Forgetful ourselves, help us to bear cheerfully the forgetfulness of others, Give us courage and gaiety, and a quiet mine. Spare to us our friends, soften to us our enemies. Give us the strength to encounter that which is to come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death loyal and loving one to another.

Creator of all joy and beauty, we bless Thee this morning for Thy bright world, for the sunshine on the hills, for the mists on the rivers, for bird and beast; mountain, plain and forest; all giving glory to Thee in the radiance of the new dawn. We thank Thee that we may look, as Thou lookest, upon all the beauty of the earth. O Master, lover of beauty and joy, make our hearts simple and trustful, make our wills lowly and pure, that we may share in Thy will whereby is created and upheld all the joy and the beauty of this Thy great universe.

Master divine, we bring to thee the tasks of this day-above all, the great task of being the men thou wouldst have us to be, of fulfilling Thy ambitions for us. Grant unto us a zeal to work with thee, to co-operate in Thy purpose for our lives. We know that for each one of us, Thou hast a great and glorious future in store if only we will give Thee freedom to work out that future is us. Help us therefore to give Thee full scope in our lives, that in serving Thee and in serving our fellowmen, we may fulfil Thy ambitions for us.

Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou deservest, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to look for any reward save that of knowing that we do Thy will.

This is my prayer, my lord-strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart, Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service. Give me the strength never to disown those who are poor and weak, or bend my knees before insolent might. Give me the strength to raise my mind high above little things and to learn to live with nobility, with courage and with truth, and give me the energy always to work towards my ideals so that in my life I may reveal some of the glory and wonder that has shone in the lives of the great men of the past.

God of all nations, we beseech Thee to bring that day nearer when our country shall be truly one, when every barrier shall be broken down, when no main shall work for his own selfish good, when no man shall defraud or oppress his neighbour, when no man shall reckon his neighbour worse than himself, when none shall be despised or outcast, but all shall be free to work in equal manhood for Thee and their country.

Grant that we here may be set free from fear; from fear of evil, from fear of weakness, from fear of pain; and may spend the day without dishonour to ourselves or hurt to others, and when evening comes may lie down in peace. Deliver us from mean hopes and cheap pleasures, from seeking favours or from shirking hardships. Have mercy on each in his failings; let him be not cast down, support the stumbling on their way, and give at last rest to the weary.

The day returns and brings us back to our round of duties. Help us to play the man, help us to perform our tasks with laughter and kind faces; let cheerfulness abound with industry. Give us to go blithely on our business all this day, bring us to our resting beds weary and content and undishonoured, grant us in the end the gift of sleep.

Lord, receive our prayers for this School, and this country. Protect the innocent, restrain, the greedy and the treacherous, lead us out of our tribulation into a quiet land. Look down upon ourselves and upon our absent dear ones. Help us and them; prolong our days in peace and honour. Give us health, food, bright weather, and light hearts, If we plan to do evil, frustrate our will; if we plan to do good, further our endeavours. Cause injuries to be forgotten and kindness to be remembered. Let us lie down at night without fear so that we awake and arise tomorrow full of strength and joy.

For our absent loved ones we implore Thy loving kindness. Keep them in life, keep them in growing honour; and for us, grant that we remain worthy of their love. Never let our beloved be ashamed of us, nor we of them. Grant us that, and grant us courage to endure lesser ills unshaken, so that we grow in courage, in confidence in our friends, in generosity to our enemies and in love for all our fellowmen.

We beseech Thee, Lord to behold us with favour, folk of many families gathered together in the peace of this place. Be patient still; suffer us yet a while longer-with our broken purposes of good, with out idle efforts against evil, suffer us a while longer to endure and help us to do better. Be with our friends be with ourselves. Go with each of us to rest; if any awake, temper to them the dark hours of watching; and when the day returns, return to us, our sun and comforter, and call us up with morning faces and with morning hearts-eager to labour-eager to be happy, if happiness shall be our portion-and if the day be marked for sorrow, strong to endure it.

In some ways we are evil. O God, help us to see it and amend. In some ways we are good, help us to better. Recreate in us the soul of service, the spirit of peace; renew in us the sense of joy, the sense of the power of good.

Remember, O Lord, what Thou hast wrought in us and not what we deserve, As Thou hast called us to Thy service make us worthy of out calling.

O Lord, may be we taught not only Thy will but how to do it; teach us the best ay of doing the best thing, we spoil the end by unworthy means.

Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing that Thy living touch is upon all my limbs. I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing that Thou are the truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind. And it shall be my endeavour to reveal Thee in my actions, knowing it is Thy power gives me strength to act.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; where knowledge is free; where the world has not been broken up by narrow walls; where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead-habit; where the mind is led forward by Thee into ever-widening thought and action-into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

Lord of life and death, we come upto Thee to ask for Thy grace this day; that we may go forth to serve Thee all the day long faithfully, humbly, victoriously.

Lord of all nations, grant that, in this our nation, there may be none, high or low, whatever his race or caste, who is bound by the shackles of ancient contempt, and barred form his right of free manhood. Grant that all peoples and tongues may be combined in a new striving for freedom, in a new enthusiasm of humanity, brother working with brother to give all men their full right of common sonship to Thee.

Friend of the helpless and the fallen, be with the needy ones of our nation today. Protect and help those who are starving and naked, uplift those who are down – trodden and despised, put new hope into those who have no hope now and thereafter. Strengthen the hands of all whatever their race or creed, who are working honestly to relieve distress, to clothe the naked, feed the hungry enhearten the despairing. Break down, we beseech Thee, the dark strongholds of ignorance, of hatred, of fear, enlighten the eyes of those who sit in darkness, who know not and care not that light exists in Thy world.

Master, give us life to-day strong and triumphant, life full, free and eternal. Give us the fullness of physical life in these the swift-perishing habitations of Thy spirit. Give us the fullness of mental life in these poor tools whereby we strive laboriously to think Thy thoughts again. Give us the fullness of spiritual life-the abounding glory of the knowledge of Thine own indwelling, whereby in space and time we may live everlasting life which is Thyself.

Creator and Ruler of mankind, we pray Thee this day for our country that her new life may be built up and established in Thyself, that all hatred and malice, all indifference to the suffering of others, all narrow exclusiveness and selfish greed, may be swept away by the breath of Thy spirit; and that public spirit; honour and justice, co-operation in Thy service, self-sacrifice for the good of whole people, may flourish abundantly amongst us. We pray Thee also for ourselves that Thou will forge us into tools meet for the service of our country; burn from us all selfishness and pride; purify to uplift the weak, to sweep away oppression and wrong, to give to every man the opportunity of a full life that may be lived to the glory and to the service of mankind.

Creator of life and light, we bless Thee this day for the beauty of this world, for sunshine and flowers, stormcloud and starry night, for the first radiance of dawn and the last smouldering glow of the sunset. We that Thee for physical joy, for the ecstasy of swift motion, for deep water to swim in, for the goodly smell of rain on dry ground, for hills to climb, and hard work to do, for all skill of hand and eye, for music that lifts our hearts in one breath to heaven, and for the hand-grasp of a friend.

Lord and King, we pray Thee this day for courage to face unpopularity for the sake of truth; for courage to declare boldly our convictions, though they make us despised; for courage to break with evil custom and evil opinion, even though for so doing we are shunned and outcast. Give us strong hearts that will not fear what any man will do unto us, confident in the power of truth give us a spirit of boldness, that we may trample on our fear of our fellows, being strong and very courageous.

Master, give us this day hard work to do, work that will tax us and strain us work that will stretch our muscles and engross our minds work that will employ all our powers of body and intellect and heart. If our work appointed this day be study and training for life, reveal unto us our responsibility for the future; teach us that every faculty of body and mind must be faithfully prepared, so that, when our time comes, we may, go forth fit instruments for service, weapons polished and keen, where with we may fight the battle of righteousness and truth, vanquishing error, oppression and wrong. If our work be the training and teaching of others, then make our minds pure and humble, that no strain of selfishness or lethargy, of mean purpose or low ideals, may mar this weighty and honourable service which has been committed to our charge.

Kings of the world, we thank thee for the beginning of a new day, for the dim twilight, the glowing sunrise, for the new consciousness of Thine abiding care. Give us courage and strength for our work to-day, give us steadfastness of purpose, patience and humility, and help us to speak the truth.

God of all nations, we pray for all the peoples of the earth; for those who are consumed in mutual hatred and bitterness for those who make bloody war upon their neighbours; for those who tyrannously oppress; for those who groan under cruelty and subjection. We beseech Thee to teach mankind to live together in peace, no man exploiting the weak, no man hating the unfettered, self-respecting, fearless. Teach us to be worthy of freedom, free from social wrong, free from individual repression and contempt, pure of heart and hand, despising none, defrauding none, giving to all men-in all the dealings of life-the honour we owe to those who are Thy children.