We cannot merely pray

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end war;
For we know that You have made the world in a way
That man must find his own path to peace
Within himself and with his neighbor.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end starvation;
For you have already given us the resources
With which to feed the entire world
If we would only use them wisely.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to root out prejudice,
For you have already given us eyes
With which to see good in all men.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end despair,
For you have already given us the power
To clear away slums and to give hope
If we would only use our power justly.

We cannot merely pray to You, O God, to end disease,
For you have already given us great minds with which
To search out cures and healing,
If we would only use them constructively.


Therefore we pray to You instead, O God,
For strength, determination, and willpower,
To do instead of just to pray,
To become instead of merely to wish.

JACK RIEMER,
Likrat Shabbat



This is an eye opener for most of  us who keep on praying which is within our power so as to spare us the obligation of doing it.

Sometimes we pray too much and take actions less.

We cannot merely pray. We need to take actions and start it within ourselves even though we are surrounded by the world filled with pain, suffering and discouragement.