Lead Us, Lord — a prayer for God’s Guidance (CCAR 1951)

Contributor(s):

Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Unknown and Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

Shared on:

16 March 2026 under the Creative Commons Zero (CC 0) Universal license a Public Domain dedication

Categories:

Yom Kippur Qatan, Rosh haShanah (l’Maaseh Bereshit), Rosh Ḥodesh, Rosh Ḥodesh Av (אָב), Rosh Ḥodesh Tevet (טֵבֵת)

Tags:

20th century C.E., 58th century A.M., Crowning, English vernacular prayer, leadership

Contribute a translation	Source (English)
	O lead the hands that grope in darkness, Take the heart that yearns for Thee! Take, we pray Thee, take the soul That fain would find Thee And in triumph follow Thee.
	Thou alone shalt be our master And Thy word shall be our Law Lead us, Lord, and we shall serve Thee, Thee alone for evermore.

“Lead Us, Lord” (also called, “God’s Guidance”) is the thirty-seventh prayer in the “Meditations” section of the Union Home Prayer Book (CCAR 1951), p. 201. It is one of only three new prayers found in this section (the others having been reprinted from CCAR’s 1923 collection of teḥinot). Unfortunately, as with so many of the prayers published as a result of CCAR committees from this period and earlier, we cannot yet attribute this prayer to any known author. (If you know, please leave a comment or contact us.)

Source(s)

Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)

Unknown

Sometimes the best we can do in attributing a historical work is to indicate the period and place it was written, the first prayer book it may have been printed in, or the archival collection in which the manuscript was found. We invite the public to help to attribute all works to their original composers. If you know something not mentioned in the commentary offered, please leave a comment or contact us.

Central Conference of American Rabbis [CCAR]

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada.

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו׃ (תהלים צ:יז) · "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." (Psalms 90:17)

Lead Us, Lord — a prayer for God’s Guidance (CCAR 1951)

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