In the poem, William Wordsworth makes the prayer on behalf of his sister, Dorothy. As he has often remembered the beauties of the particular natural landscape to which he is now returning, he has aged and come to a deeper understanding of what nature in general means. This has become intertwined with his religious convictions. When he was younger, nature was enough for him; it “was all in all.” Now, however, his apprehension extends into a more metaphysical comprehension.

And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused.

Within sun, ocean, air, sky, and the human mind, Wordsworth experiences

A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.

These insights into nature are the substance of the prayer the poet offers for his sister. Nature, he tells her, is incapable of misleading those who behold it. Nature will always guide them spiritually and thereby protect them from other people’s evil words and deeds.

And this prayer I make,
Knowing that Nature never did betray
The heart that loved her.

As long as they remember the truth that is nature, they are safe and blessed; nothing

Shall e'er prevail against us, or disturb
Our cheerful faith that all which we behold
Is full of blessings.