My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
1Jo 4:1 ¶ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jo 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
Within ourselves, we can not tell good from evil. We need a standard. That standard is Jesus christ and the revelation of Him in Holy Scripture.
I would think that any good prayer similar to the one exampled would include an aspect of this Scripture.
Don
Singer/songwriter Kate Campbell has a wonderful arrangement of Merton’s prayer for voice and piano accompaniament. I think the CD is entitled “For the Living of These Days.”