Prayers for the present - from times past

These handwritten prayers were found amongst my mother’s papers after her death in 2014. I cannot say exactly when they were written but, the placing of them at the beginning of the Songs of Solomon, plus some of the words (‘…minds filled with anxiety & dread…’ suggests a date during World War 2 - possibly 1943, when my father was posted to Malta shortly after their wedding. Inspired during the world-shaking events of seventy plus years ago, they seem to me to have the power to speak in the current troubling times.
Mike Evans (Cheddar Methodist Church)

(1) 
Gracious God, 
You seek us at every moment of our lives. 
When the sun is shining it is not too difficult to believe in you & to live thankfully 
But the hardest times are when our minds are filled with anxiety & dread, 
Or when we are tired out with caring for others. 
Give us the wings of your Spirit, 
Not to escape from all that we must do, 
But to face it with a calm mind, 
Aware of your unfailing presence. 

(2) 
We give what we have, but not all – help us to be more generous. 
We serve as we are called – help us to see when you are calling us further. 
We love within our limits – help us to break down those barriers, 
So that we may love & serve you, & give wholeheartedly. 

(3) 
Lord, for the power to be gentle, 
For the strength to forgive, 
For the patience to understand, 
For the endurance to hold on to what is right, 
For the good that overcomes evil, 
For the vision of a new world arising from the ruins of the old, 
We give thanks & pray.