God of Our Weary Years (1921)

This poem from James Weldon Johnson's pen should have a familiar ring to it.

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way.

Thou who wast by Thy might
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray;

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.

Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand
True to our God, true to our native land!

From Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans, by James Melvin Washington, Ph.D.

Precious Lord, Take My Hand

"Precious Lord, take my hand,
Lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;
Thru the storm, thru the night,
Lead me on to the light,
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near,
When my life is almost gone,
Hear my cry, hear my call,
Hold my hand lest I fall;
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.

When the darkness appears and the night draws near,
And the day is past and gone,
At the river I stand,
Guide my feet, hold my hand;
Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home."

James Melvin Washington, in Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans, says that Thomas Andrew Dorsey wrote these words in 1932 not long after his wife, Nettie, and son, Thomas, Jr., died during childbirth.

A Pastoral Prayer of Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Oh, God, our Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this golden privilege to worship thee, the only true God of the universe. We come to thee today, grateful that thou hast kept us through the long night of the past and ushered us into the challenge of the present and the bright hope of the future. We are mindful, O God, that man cannot save himself, for man is not the measure of things and humanity is not God. Bound by our chains of sins and finiteness, we know we need a Savior. We thank thee, O God, for the spiritual nature of man. We are in nature but we live above nature. Help us never to let anybody or any condition pull us so low as to cause us to hate. Give us strength to love our enemies and to do good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us. We thank thee for thy Church, founded upon thy Word, that challenges us to do more than sing and pray, but go out and work as though the very answer to our prayers depended on us and not upon thee. Then, finally, help us to realize that man was created to shine like stars and live on through eternity. Keep us, we pray, in perfect peace, help us to walk together, pray together, sing together, and live together until that day when all God's children, Black, White, Red, and Yellow will rejoice in one common band of humanity in the Kingdom of our Lord and of our God, we pray. Amen."

From Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans, by James Melvin Washington.