I knelt to pray when day was done.
And prayed, "O Lord bless everyone;
Lift from each saddened heart the pain
And let the sick be well again"
And then I woke another day
And carelessly went on my way.

The whole day long I did not try
To wipe the tear from any eye;
I did not try to share the load
Of any brother on my road;
I did not even go to see
The sick man just next door to me.

Yet once again when day was done
I prayed, "O Lord, bless everyone."
But as I prayed, into my ear
There came a voice that whispered clear:
"Pause, hypocrite, before you pray,
Whom have you tried to bless today?

God's sweetest blessings always go
By hands that serve him here below."
And then I hid my face, and cried,
"Forgive me, God, for I have lied;
Let me but see another day
And I will live the way I pray."