A Prayer For Young People

I opened a book of prayer and this is what it spoke to me

Thou, my Maker, knowest my life, my thoughts, my conduct.  Thou knowest the longings and ideals, the pains and hopes that urge and impel me.  Thou knowest also that I would make my life acceptable unto Thee, a source of pride to those who care for me, a source of blessing to my fellowmen.

There are moments when the vision of my better self animate my soul.  I dream of a life of character and high achievement, a life of worth and service.  But I also have my hours of temptation and struggle, when the vision fades and the will weakens.  Be with me, O God, in those hours.  Strengthen me, that I may realize the finer potentialities with which Thou hast endowed me.  When in the pressure of daily living, when in the pursuit after pleasure and success, I lose sight of my better self, fortify me with a sense of the purposefulness and holiness of life.  I ask not that my path be easy, that all temptation and struggle be removed from my way.  But I pray Thee to strengthen within me the conviction that I can make of my life what I will.  Cause me to feel that if Thou art with me, sustaining and encouraging me, no victory of the spirit is impossible.  Oh, let me know the joy of moral conquest.

Often I am overwhelmed by the vastness of the world and my own littleness and insignificance in it.  I seem so pitifully small, a mere atom in a measureless world of existence.  I seem unable to find my place in all this bewildering scheme of things.  My life appears meaningless, my work seems useless.  Yet I know that Thou hast placed me here and hast allotted me a task that is useful and necessary.  I beseech Thee, O my God, to reveal to me the high dignity of the part Thou hast assigned to me.  Let me feel that in Thine eyes my efforts are worth while.  Deepen within me the consciousness of the obligation I owe to my friends and loved ones, the responsibility I have to Thee and to my fellowmen.  Give me the strength so to mould and purify my character that my life may be counted a blessing.  I cannot find words to utter all that is within my heart.  Thou art with me, I have no fear.  Amen.

Union Prayer Book II for Jewish Worship  1954
Morning Service For Atonement Day  pg. 218-220