Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian known for his opposition to National Socialism. He was executed by hanging at the Flossenbürg concentration camp on 9 April 1945 just weeks before the collapse of the Nazi Regime. He was 39 years old.
His theological writings are regarded as classics throughout the Christian world.
O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you;
I can’t do this alone.
In me there’s darkness,
But with you there’s light;
I’m lonely, but you don’t leave me;
I’m feeble in heart, but with you there’s help;
I’m restless, but with you there’s peace.
In me there’s bitterness, but with you there’s patience;
I don’t understand your ways,
But you know the way for me.
O Heavenly Father,
I praise and thank you
For rest in the night;
I praise and thank you for this new day;
I praise and thank you for all your goodness
and faithfulness throughout my life.
You have granted me many blessings;
Now let me also accept what’s hard from your hand.
You will lay on me no more than I can bear.
You make all things work together for good for your children.
Lord Jesus Christ,
You were poor and in distress, a captive and forsaken as I am.
You know all man’s troubles;
You abide with me when all men fail me;
You remember and seek me;
It’s your will that I should know you and turn to you.
Lord, I hear your call and follow;
Help me.
O Holy Spirit,
Give me faith that will protect me
from despair, from passions, and from vice;
Give me such love for God and men
as will blot out all hatred and bitterness;
Give me the hope that will deliver me
from fear and faint-heartedness.
Amen.