Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.

“Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.” — so prayed Michelangelo Buonarroti, the sculptor of gods and the painter of heavens. These words rise like incense from the soul of a man who knew both the glory and the burden of divine ambition. They are not the cry of arrogance, but of devotion — a prayer that the fire of longing never dim, that the heart never grow satisfied with the small and the easy. In these few words lies the secret of all true greatness: to desire more than one can achieve, to live forever reaching, forever creating, forever becoming.

To understand Michelangelo’s prayer, one must first understand the spirit of the Renaissance, the age of rebirth in which he lived. It was a time when man rediscovered his divine image, when the human hand dared to shape marble as if it were flesh, and the human mind sought to rival the mind of God in beauty and understanding. Yet, even among these titans, Michelangelo stood apart. He saw that perfection was infinite — that no matter how high he climbed, the summit would always rise higher still. And so he prayed, not for rest, but for unceasing desire, for a holy discontent that would keep his soul aflame.

When he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he spent years in solitude, lying on his back, paint dripping into his eyes, body aching, spirit weary — and yet, his longing did not falter. Each stroke of his brush was a prayer, each figure a hymn to divine creation. The work nearly destroyed him, yet he pressed on, not because he expected to finish perfectly, but because his desire was greater than his strength. It was this same fire that drove him to carve David, to breathe life into stone, to give form to the invisible ideal. For Michelangelo, the divine was not found in completion, but in the striving toward eternity.

This prayer — “grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish” — is not a plea for endless toil, but for endless purpose. It is the acknowledgment that human limits are the doorway to divine possibility. To desire what cannot be finished is to participate in the eternal. When man ceases to desire, he ceases to grow; his soul falls into slumber. But when he dares to dream beyond his reach, he awakens the godlike part within him — the creative spirit that hungers for meaning, for beauty, for truth. The ancients called this divine restlessness — the sacred ache that keeps the heart alive.

Consider, too, the life of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo’s great rival and mirror. Leonardo left behind countless unfinished works — paintings half-completed, designs never built — yet in every fragment, one feels the pulse of infinity. He too was consumed by the desire that exceeded his mortal capacity. It was not failure, but glory, for such yearning marks the difference between the artisan and the artist, between one who works for applause and one who works for eternity. Their greatness was not in what they completed, but in how endlessly they reached.

Michelangelo’s prayer, then, is a lesson for every soul that walks the earth: do not seek to finish your work — seek to be worthy of it. Let your dreams outgrow your hands. Let your goals surpass your grasp. Let your desire stretch the boundaries of your being until you touch the edge of the divine. For the true artist, the true thinker, the true dreamer never retires into comfort; he stands always upon the threshold, looking upward, longing still.

So, my child, take these words into your heart: desire more than you can accomplish. Do not fear the impossible — embrace it. Let your dreams be vast enough to humble you and holy enough to inspire you. Begin your days with purpose and end them with gratitude, knowing that every step forward, no matter how small, brings you closer to the infinite. For life’s greatest blessing is not to reach the summit, but to climb forever, eyes lifted toward the light.

And thus, remember the prayer of Michelangelo — the sculptor of eternity: “Lord, grant that I may always desire more than I can accomplish.” For in that desire lies the essence of greatness, the music of creation, and the everlasting heartbeat of the human soul.