Prayer CXI
O Lord our God, let Thy light shine in us and through us, we beseech Thee. And may it so shine as to show Thee, and not us, to every seeing eye. We thank Thee for these great promises; we pray that Thou wouldst help us to fulfil the conditions. May we be poor in spirit, mourning, meek, merciful, peace-bringing, and living the Christ-life in the world. May we possess the Christ-given blessing, and have to-day, and not only in some distant future, the Kingdom of Heaven, which is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, for our treasure.
Help us, we pray, to war against everything in ourselves which is against Thee, and so against our own highest good; and give us Thy grace that, day by day, as Thy faithful servants, we may delight to do Thy will, and as Thy soldiers fight the good fight of faith.
We beseech Thee for help in all our changing circumstances. Lead us by Thy counsel in any difficulty or perplexity which comes to us in the ordering of our daily lives. May we never be at a loss as to what duty is, and having docile hearts may we be ever taught, and knowing these things may we possess the blessing of those that do them. Keep us from letting our actions stray away from the control of our deepest principles. Keep us from letting the things which we profess to believe lie idle in our minds. May we live our faith, and may all our days be penetrated and enlightened by the strength that we believe. May all our work be worship. And if any of us have special burdens of sorrow to carry, and surely there are some here this morning with heavy hearts, may they find that yielding to Thee brings peace; and when the will melts, unseen by any but themselves, blessing begins to come. May it be so with us all, in our various trials and difficulties.
Give us a blessing, O Lord, as we seek to renew our faith, and deepen our love by our service now. Give us some word to speak that may be Thy word, and have power in all our hearts and consciences to move our wills, to enlighten our understandings, to guide us into the perception and the practice of the truth as it is in Jesus.
We beseech Thee to hear us, and to bless all who, in like manner, are drawing near to Thee to-day; and to shed abroad Thy gracious influences upon all their hearts and ours, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.