Prayer for Patience

Lord, teach me to be patient --
with life, with people, with myself.
I try to speed things along too much,
and I push for results before the time is right.
Teach me to trust Your sense of timing rather than my own,
and to surrender my will to Your greater and wiser plans.
Help me let life unfold slowly,
like the small rosebud whose petals unravel bit by bit.
If I hurry the bloom along by pulling away petals,
I destroy the bud and all the potential for beauty therein.
Instead, let me wait for the flower to unfold in its own time.
I will appreciate all stages of its opening,
until it becomes the massive rose whose fragrance fills my home
for days.
Each moment and state of growth contains a unique loveliness.
Teach me to slow down enough to appreciate life.
Teach me that patience which Mary seemed to exhibit as she waited
thourgh the years, fully experiencing her vow of commitment,
"Let Your will be done in my life, according to Your word."

- Marian Prayer Book