PRAYING HANDS

There are hands that help and comfort,
Hands that plan and teach,
Hands that rest and hands that strive
For a goal just out of reach,
Hands that grasp and hands that give,
Hands that work and play,
Friendly hands and loving hands
That soothes life's cares away.
But praying hands are dearest
In the sight of God above
For in their sweet and earnest clasp
Are reverence and love.
No hands can do an unkind act
Nor cause another care
Nor sin against Our Father's love
When they are clasped in prayer.
Author Unknown

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds.
James 3:17

Leave results to God.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The almighty has His own purposes.
Abraham Lincoln

I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man. 
George Washington

To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man. 
William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Self-respect knows no considerations. 
Mahatma Gandhi

No man who is occupied in doing a very difficult thing, and doing it very well, ever loses his self-respect.
George Bernard Shaw

Self-respect cannot be hunted.  It cannot be purchased.  It is never for sale.  It cannot be fabricated out of public relations.  It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth we have spoken it. 
Whitney Griswold

If you want to be respected by others the great thing is to respect yourself. 
Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you. 
Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I never did, or countenanced, in public life, a single act inconsistent with the strictest good faith; having never believed there was one code of morality for a public, and another for a private man. 
Thomas Jefferson, 1809

Would that there were an award for people who come to understand the concept of enough.  Good enough.  Successful enough.  Thin enough.  Rich enough.  Socially responsible enough.  When you have self-respect, you have enough. 
Gail Sheehy

Never violate the sacredness of your individual self-respect. 
Theodore Parker

To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness. . . .
Ecclesiastes 2:26

Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue. 
John Herschel

It is the highest form of self-respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them.  To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character. 
Dale E. Turner

Dear Lord, help me to see you moving in the day-to-day activities of my life. When the pace becomes frantic, slow me down and give me perspective. Please lift me up keeping me steady and sure. When I become weary, let me persevere turning to You. You are my strength and my protector. Whatever my circumstances, let me look to You for my strength and salvation. Amen

A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. 
Mark Twain, "What Is Man?", 1906

They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them. 
Mahatma Gandhi

The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart. 
Alexander Solzhenitsyn

In all men is evil sleeping; the good man is he who will not awaken it, in himself or in other men. 
Mary Renault

The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.
Proverbs 11:5

One does evil enough when one does nothing good.
German Proverb

Men are not punished for their sins, but by them. 
Elbert Hubbard, A Thousand and One Epigrams, 1911

Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect. 
Marcus Aurelius

Conscience is that still, small voice that is sometimes too loud for comfort. 
Bert Murray

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
James 1:5

I care not so much what I am to others as what I am to myself.  I will be rich by myself, and not by borrowing. 
Michel de Montaigne

You can stand tall without standing on someone.  You can be a victor without having victims. 
Harriet Woods

The foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
1 Corinthians 1:25

I thank Thee first because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth because it was I who was robbed, and not I who robbed. 
Matthew Henry

Have no fear of robbers or murderers.  They are external dangers, petty dangers.  We should fear ourselves.  Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the real murders.  The great dangers are within us.  Why worry about what threatens our heads or purses?  Let us think instead of what threatens our souls. 
Victor Hugo

He that respects himself is safe from others; he wears a coat of mail that none can pierce. 
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it.  Autograph your work with excellence. 
Author Unknown

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.
Proverbs 12:15

Our names are labels, plainly printed on the bottled essence of our past behavior. 
Logan Pearsall Smith

If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had done. 
John Lubbock

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 16:3

My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people:  those who work and those who take the credit.  He told me to try to be in the first group; there was less competition there. 
Indira Gandhi

My country is the world, and my religion is to do good. 
Thomas Paine

Be always sure you're right, then go ahead. 
Davy Crockett

It takes less time to do a thing right, than it does to explain why you did it wrong. 
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Goodness is the only investment that never fails. 
Henry David Thoreau

Rule #1:  Use your good judgment in all situations.  There will be no additional rules. 
Nordstrom's Employee Handbook

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Psalm 139:3

If a man is not rising upwards to be an angel, depend upon it, he is sinking downwards to be a devil. 
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

If honor be your clothing, the suit will last a lifetime; but if clothing be your honor, it will soon be worn threadbare. 
William Arnot

There is no man so good that if he placed all his actions and thought under the scrutiny of the laws, he would not deserve hanging ten times in his life. 
Michel de Montaigne, Essays, 1595

I have found some of the best reasons I ever had for remaining at the bottom simply by looking at the men at the top. 
Frank Moore Colby

You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.
2 Samuel 22:29

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong. 
William J.H. Boetcker

This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it - the LORD is his name: "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."
Jeremiah 33:2-3

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. 
Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes.  What matters is not what I think of him; it is what he thinks of himself.  To undermine a man's self-respect is a sin. 
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Every human being has... an attendant spirit.... If it does not always tell us what to do, it always cautions us what not to do. 
Lydia M. Child

"I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble," says the Lord.
Proverbs 4:11–12

Remember, if you’re headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns! 
Allison Gappa Bottke

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."
Isaiah 30:21

The purest treasure mortal times afford is a spotless reputation.
William Shakespeare

Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.  Try to be better than yourself.
William Faulkner

The only guy I have to get better than is who I am right now. 
M*A*S*H, Colonel Potter

Your life may be the only Bible some people read. 
Author Unknown

A good life is the best sermon.
Author Unknown

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28

God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless. 
Chester W. Nimitz

Silently, invisibly, another day appears. Thank you Lord for the gift of life and the stopovers between youth and growing old. Thank you for the yesterdays and the tomorrows. Thank you for family and for friends. Thank you for memories and for dreams. Thank you for courage and for hope. Thank you for taking me down known paths and for leading me into the unknown. Thank you for the projects that you throw in my lap. Thank you for working in my life and calling me to work. Increase my vision, Lord. In the brightest moments and the darkest hours, help me to give thanks. In the face of fortune and misfortune, let me give thanks. In the presence of pleasure and pain, remind me to give thanks. You have thought me that lessons and blessings are found not just in the light – but in the darkness.  Amen

Your word, O Lord, is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105

Learn to take our every problem to the Bible. Within its pages you will find the correct answer.
Billy Graham

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you, says the Lord.
Psalm 32:8

God will not let your foot slip – he who
watches over you will not slumber…
The Lord watches over you –
The Lord is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The Lord will keep you from all harm –
He will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121: 3, 5–8

Those who trust in the Lord for help
will find their strength renewed.
They will rise on wings like eagles;
they will run and not get weary;
they will walk and not grow weak.
Isaiah 40:31

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13

I see your hand, Lord, in everything around me, and in every aspect of my life, I seek your will. I see your plan, Lord, in all the years behind me, and in the days and years to come – I’ll trust you still.
Jeremiah 29:11

Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts
they perform for us in our time of need.
I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

You go no where by accident.
Wherever you go, God is sending you.
Wherever you are, God has put you there.
He has a purpose in your being there.
Christ who dwells in you has something
He wants to do through you where you are.
Believe this and go in His grace and love and power.
Richard C. Halverson, Chaplain of the United States Senate

O God, help me to touch someone today with my eyes,
my words, my smile, my voice, my laughter, Your word.
Change my life, so I can make a difference.
Let my actions bring someone closer to you.
Help me to make Christmas last all year.
Help me to use my gifts for Jesus.

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