05 May 2009

Prayer origin?

Does anyone know the origin of prayer 193 in LSB, in the pew edition on page 311? There it is labeled "For guidance in our calling." It is also in LW in Evening Prayer page 262 (prayer 176).

"Lord God, You have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out in good courage, not knowing where we go but only that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Stephen Starke has a nice version of it in stanza 6 of his hymn, "Saints, See the Cloud of Witnesses" LSB 667.

Lord, give us faith to walk where You are sending,
On paths unmarked, eyes blind as to their ending;
Not knowing where we go, but that you lead us--
With grace precede us.

2 comments:

Rev. Robert Franck said...

Charles Henrickson responded to my question on another forum with the following data:

As far as I can find out, it was written by Eric Milner-White (1884-1963), an Anglican clergyman. It may have appeared in his book, "Daily Prayer" (1941, 1959), and it was first picked up and used in a Lutheran hymnal in "Service Book and Hymnal" (1958).

Pastor Zip said...

Philip Pfatteicher in his Commentary on the Lutheran Book of Worship says it "is from Eric Milner-White and George Wallace Briggs's Daily Prayer" (London: Oxford, 1941) p. 14.

Pax, Steven+