O Thou that hearest prayer, teach me to pray.

I confess that in religious exercises the language of my lips and the feelings of my heart have not always agreed;

that I have frequently taken carelessly upon my tongue a name never pronounced above without reverence and humility;

that I have often desired things which would have injured me;

that I have depreciated some of my chief mercies;

that I have erred both on the side of my hopes and also of my fears;

that I am unfit to choose for myself, for it is not in me to direct my steps.

Let thy Spirit help my infirmities, for I know not what to pray for as I ought. Let Him produce in me wise desires by which I may ask right things, then I shall know Thou hearest me.

Adapted, The Valley of Vision, Arthur Bennett (1915 – 1994)