Wisdom of Solomon 16:28

While we beseech you to guide our wayward steps in the twilight.

Let the sun of righteousness shine upon us at noontime,

Give us this day the vivifying forces of light,

That we may do your will on this sphere as angels do your bidding in light.

Guide us ever upward in the pathway of light;

To grant us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies,

Hear these our prayers for your own sake;

14. Jesus warned his followers against thinking that their prayers would be rendered more efficacious by ornate repetitions, eloquent phraseology, fasting, penance, or sacrifices. But he did exhort his believers to employ prayer as a means of leading up through thanksgiving to true worship. Jesus deplored that so little of the spirit of thanksgiving was to be found in the prayers and worship of his followers. He quoted from the Scriptures on this occasion, saying: “It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to the name of the Most High, to acknowledge his loving-kindness every morning and his faithfulness every night, for God has made me glad through his work. In everything I will give thanks according to the will of God.”

“Father of all, whose Son we honor, look down upon us with favor. Deliver us from the fear of all save you. Make us a pleasure to our divine teachers and forever put truth on our lips. Deliver us from violence and anger; give us respect for our elders and that which belongs to our neighbors. Give us this season green pastures and fruitful flocks to gladden our hearts. We pray for the hastening of the coming of the promised uplifter, and we would do your will on this world as others do on worlds beyond.”

For I know that in the fullness of time and the glory of your name