O God,
Help me not to waste my time. Don’t let me always be in a hurry and a fuss, but help me to go on quietly and without haste, filling every minute with the work which is given me to do.
Help me not to waste my strength. help me to see quite clearly the things which matter and the things which don’t matter. Give me a sense of proportion that I may not get all hot and bothered about things which are of no importance, and so make myself too tired and exhausted to do the things which really matter.
Help me not to waste my money. Don’t let me be mean and miserly, but help me to spend wisely and to give generously, and to try to use everything I have remembering that it belongs, not to me, but to you.
Above all, help me not to waste my life. help me to use that talents you have given me, to seize the opportunities you are sending to me, so that some day you may be able to say to me: Well done!
You are the Lord and Master of all good life; hear this my prayer and help me to live well: through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
- That I May Not Waste the Precious Things of Life. More Prayers for the Plain Man. William Barclay, 1962.