Oh my Father,

   let me thank you for your mercies shown to me,

   that you have drawn me to yourself with cords of love.

What can I offer to the Lord for all his goodness?

I would fulfill my promises to him this day.

I would dedicate my life to him.

I would live with a single mind to his service.

Yet, O my Savior, you who have borne our human nature

   know how weak we are,

   how utterly unable to do anything of ourselves.

You will pity me and support me.

Oh my Father in heaven

   enable me daily to offer up

   fervent prayers to your throne of mercy

   from which no one ever went away empty.

Enable me to feel that what you have promised

   you will surely perform.

Lord, who can we trust, if not in you?

Mary Ann Randolph Custis Lee, 1807-1873, wife of Gen. Robert E. Lee

Seasons of Devotion, freely modified