Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1924-06-05
Prayer

The modern civic club trans
men for service in many ways.
One of its customs is the open
ing of each luncheon with a
prayer by one of its members.
In one Of the local clubs, the
president starts at the top of the
roster and follows it through in
alphabetical order.
The prayer offered by these
business men are usually short
and TO the point. Many of
them are most inspiring in their
beauty and simplicity, as you'll
agree from the following re-
Gently heard here
"Our Heavenly Father, we
thank Thee this day for the food
we are about to partake and for
the health and happiness pre-
vaient in this club.
May we ask forgiveness for
our sins and beseech Thee, our
Lord, to care for the poor and
those in trouble and in need.
May whatever humble good
and uplift represented by this
club and its members be spread
throughout the community and
let its harvest be Christianity al
ways and prosperity everlasting.
We ask for Christ's sake.p
Many prayers of vastly great
er length have said less than
this from the lips of an unpre-
tentious business man. Pulpit
orators often have failed to
embody more beauty and SIM
pie eloquence.
We recall Bourck Whites
famous Prayer of the Man in
the Street" the petition Of one
who knew he was weak and de-
sired strength; one who believ-
ed himself a coward and want
ed to occupy the place of man;
a lonely man desiring compan-
ionship and comfort. He pray
edzA
Lord, want to be strong. I'm
a weakling | don't stand on
my feet. | shuttle along, hid
ing my principles, lodging this
way and that.
The trouble with me is, TIM
a coward. I'm not playing the
man. I'm one bundle of evasive-
ness and fearings and triviality.
I'm ashamed of it. And so |
come to You, the Maker of man
" men. You delight in my
strength, You look with pity
on weakened folk. But You
give Yourself freely to people
who stand for Something
therefore, be my companion,
God of the strong and unafraid
that / may learn from You
how to hold myself straight up;
how to walk with a resolute
stride, and to speak out with
resonant tones. Make over I'M
to me Your quality of courage
business. Teach me to look life
square in the face, and to fear
nothing in erath or hell but You.
Then know I'll count for
something. At present count
for nothing-a cipher; a mere
zero in the arithmetic of the
ages. Build a bony framework
of principles inside of me, to
the end that may be an up
standing fellow man with
strong men will comrade.
Fiber me into moral courage.
Strengthen me, and I shall be
strong. Strengthen me, and
shall be straight. Prop me up
to stand for the right when the
right is unpopular.
And so l shall begin to live.
/ will fear neither death, nor
poverty, nor public opinion.
And the world will behold in me
an erect soul, mighty with the
mightiness of manhood. Amen!
In your scrap hook or back
in memory's vaults you, too,
have prayer stored away-a
petition, the repeating of which
gives you comfort. Be you
Protestant, Jew or Catholic,
when your back is to the wall
there's an involuntary cry that
ascends for aid.
But to the heart of the Av-
erage Man there's no prayer
that brings so much satisfaction
as those lines we learned at
mothers knee. taught LsPing
lips from her whose love comes
first and last through Eternity
a prayer repeated by the great
and the famous, the lowly and
the obscure
Now lay me down to sleep,
/ pray Thee Lord my soul to
keep.
If / should die before wake,
!. A pray. Thee Lord my soul to
take. 'fisss 49, 4
From the tiny bedside of mill
lions Of children that age-oId