Did you think to pray?” This simple question from a 19th-century hymn reminds us to offer thanks and seek divine guidance, comfort, and peace each day. Is there anyone who does not need such divine intervention?
“Oh, how praying rests the weary,” the familiar hymn continues. “Prayer will change the night to day.”1 These are powerful promises in our challenging world. Each of us faces situations we cannot handle alone, problems we cannot solve alone, weaknesses we cannot overcome alone.
Abraham Lincoln, wearied by the division of our nation at the time of the Civil War, humbly spoke these words: “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all around me, seemed insufficient for the day.”2
Prayer can be our lifeline. When tragedy strikes a community, citizens gather in churches, synagogues, mosques, and homes to pray and draw strength from God. Family prayer brings parents and children together. One 15-year-old whose turn it was to say the family prayer paused and looked from one face to another. He then asked quietly, “Does anyone need anything?” What an immeasurable gift we give when we pray in behalf of another.
Humble prayer can prompt in us a desire to be better—to be a little kinder, more generous with others, more patient and forgiving. Whether spoken aloud or carried silently in our souls, each sincere prayer reaches to heaven. It draws down from heaven the strength to press on, the ability to see beyond today, and the willingness to trust God’s answers and His will in our behalf.
“So, when life gets dark and dreary, don’t forget to pray.”3
Program #3985
1. Mary A. Pepper Kidder, “Did You Think to Pray?”
2. In The New Dictionary of Thoughts: A Cyclopedia of Quotations, comp. Tryon Edwards, rev. ed. (1959), 540.
3. Mary A. Pepper Kidder, “Did You Think to Pray?”