Prayer

Lean on thyself until thy strength is tried;
Then ask God's help; it will not be denied.

Use thine own sight to see the way to go;
When darkness falls ask God the path to show.

Think for thyself and reason out thy plan;
God has His work and thou hast thine, oh, man.

Exert thy will and use it for control;
God gave thee jurisdiction of thy soul.

All thine immortal powers bring into play;
Think, act, strive, reason, then look up and pray.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet, born on November 5, 1850, and died on October 30, 1919. She was known for her works expressing optimistic views and moral lessons. Her most famous book was 'Poems of Passion'. Her poem 'Solitude' contains the famous lines, 'Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone'. Over her career, Wilcox became popularly known as a 'people's poet'.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The Foolish Elm

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Dual

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

Now

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

My Flower Room

Ella Wheeler Wilcox, Simple Poetry

English

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Prayer

I do not undertake to say
    That literal answers come from Heaven,
But I know this - that when I pray
    A comfort, a support is given
That helps me rise o'er earthly things
As larks soar up on airy wings.

In vain the wise philosopher
    Points out to me my fabric's flaws,
In vain the scientists aver
    That "all things are controlled by laws."
My life has taught me day by day
That it availeth much to pray.

I do not stop to reason out
    The why and how.    I do not care,
Since I know this, that when I doubt,
    Life seems a blackness of despair,
The world a tomb; and when I trust,
Sweet blossoms spring up in the dust.

Since I know in the darkest hour,
    If I lift up my soul in prayer,
Some sympathetic, loving Pow...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

God's Answer

Once in a time of trouble and of care
I dreamed I talked with God about my pain;
With sleepland courage, daring to complain
Of what I deemed ungracious and unfair.
'Lord, I have grovelled on my knees in prayer
    Hour after hour,' I cried; 'yet all in vain;
    No hand leads up to heights I would attain,
No path is shown me out of my despair.'

Then answered God:    'Three things I gave to thee -
    Clear brain, brave will, and strength of mind and heart,
    All implements divine, to shape the way.
Why shift the burden of thy toil on Me?
    Till to the utmost he has done his part
    With all his might, let no man DARE to pray.'

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Assistance

Lean on no mortal, Love, and serve;
(For service is love's complement)
But it was never God's intent,
Your spirit from its path should swerve,
To gain another's point of view.
As well might Jupiter, or Mars
Go seeking help from other stars,
Instead of sweeping ON, as you.
Look to the Great Eternal Cause
And not to any man, for light.
Look in; and learn the wrong, and right,
From your own soul's unwritten laws.
And when you question, or demur,
Let Love be your Interpreter.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

A Prayer

Just as I shape the purport of my thought,
Lord of the Universe, shape Thou my lot.
Let each ill thought that in my heart may be,
Mould circumstance and bring ill luck to me.

Until I weed the garden of my mind
From all that is unworthy and unkind,
Am I not master of my mind, dear Lord?
Then as I THINK, so must be my reward.

Who sows in weakness, cannot reap in strength,
That which we plant, we gather in at length.
Great God of Justice, be Thou just to me,
And as my thoughts, so let my future be.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Prayer

Lord, let us pray.

Give us the open mind, O God,
    The mind that dares believe
In paths of thought as yet untrod;
    The mind that can conceive
Large visions of a wider way
Than circumscribes our world to-day.

May tolerance temper our own faith,
    However great our zeal;
When others speak of life and death,
    Let us not plunge a steel
Into the heart of one who talks
In terms we deem unorthodox.

Help us to send our thoughts through space,
    Where worlds in trillions roll,
Each fashioned for its time and place,
    Each portion of the whole;
Till our weak minds may feel a sense
Of Thy Supreme Omnipotence.

Let us not shame Thee with a creed
    That builds a costly church,
But blinds us to a brother's need...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Keep Going

Is the goal distant, and troubled the road,
    And the way long?
    And heavy your load?
Then gird up your courage, and say 'I am strong,'
    And keep going.

Is the work weary, and endless the grind
    And petty the pay?
    Then brace up your mind
And say 'Something better is coming my way,'
    And keep doing.

Is the drink bitter life pours in your cup -
    Is the taste gall?
    Then smile and look up
And say 'God is with me whatever befall,'
    And keep trusting.

Is the heart heavy with hope long deferred,
    And with prayers that seem vain?
    Keep saying the word -
And that which you strive for you yet shall attain.
    Keep praying.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox