Thomas Merton's prayer

Thomas Merton (1915-1968) was an American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion.

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 that 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 will I 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.

(From Thoughts in Solitude)