Test me, Lord, and give me strength

To meet each test

unflinching, unafraid;

not striving nervously to do my best,

not self-assured, or careless as in jest,

but with Your aid.

Purge me, Lord, and give me grace to bear the heat

of cleansing flame;

not bitter at my lowly lot, but mete

to bear my share of suffering and keep sweet,

in Jesus’ Name.

Taken by permission and adapted from “Ruth Bell Graham’s Selected Poems,” by Ruth Bell Graham. ©1977, 1992, 1997. The Ruth Bell Graham Literary Trust.