A Prayer

My mother and I always loved to go to Estate Sales. I would hit the bedrooms where the old linens and maybe laces and fabrics would be and she would go straight to the dining room where mostly silver and crystal was laid out.

One of the Estate Sales was magical for me. The lady that had passed away left small yardages of lace and tatting that she carefully wrapped up in small paper bags. I almost felt sad as I went through all her carefully saved treasures. She also had beautiful white work that fell apart in my hands as I took it out of its hiding place. The brutal heat and humidity in this part of North Carolina was not nice to this delicate handwork. I did save all that I could and I thought about the lady who had carefully put away all this beautiful lace. In one of the little brown bags was a note, written on what looked like adding machine tape turned brown with age. The note turned out to be a beautiful prayer that seemed to be meant for me. As I read it, I could almost see this lady as she carefully wrote out this prayer.
This is the prayer that I found:

My Moments With God
Dear God, help me tonight to relax, to rest with an untroubled mind. Let me sleep in the knowledge that Thy love enfolds me. Let Thy healing power renew me for the day to come.

Where my efforts have failed, let me redouble them tomorrow. Where new beginnings are required, give me strength to make them; where new problems must be met, the knowledge to solve them.
If I lie awake, let the quiet hours bring awareness of Thee, for such awareness brings it's own rest.
Fill the empty places of my heart with love, the dark rooms where none but Thee can enter. Teach me this truth; that no heart can be lonely when it tries to help one lonelier still.

Tomorrow let me help, however little, each one I meet; for in doing so I help myself and Thee. Let me offer help thoughtfully, since those who need it most are often least able to accept.

Help me to desire what is right, to show fully what Thy love has meant to me. Help me each day to come closer to my best, that I may truly be a child of God. Through the day to come, let me show my joy in Thy love by sharing it with others. And every day let me show Thy teaching, that our acts tomorrow are far better prayers than our words tonight. Amen