Prayer CXV
O Lord our God! Thou hast not called us to uncleanness but unto holiness. And we thank Thee for that free Spirit which brings liberty wherever it comes. May we stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be entangled by no yoke of bondage, whether imposed by men or sought to be fastened upon us by our own evil selves. Give us liberty to love, to serve, to grow like Thee; give us liberty to walk at large, knowing no restraints because we love the bonds with which Thou hast bound us. Help us that our wills and our inclinations may ever coincide with Thy will and Thy commandments, and in our natures may the fruits of the Spirit abundantly be found.
We pray for love, peace, joy, righteousness, and all the graces with which Thou art so willing to adorn our spirits. And whilst we thus ask, we beseech Thee that our daily efforts may coincide with our prayers and with our lives too — in dependence upon Thee, and in lofty estimation of the best things; may be prayers that Thou wouldst bestow upon us the good things which Thou knowest how to give, and especially that Holy Spirit which they who believe on Christ shall receive. May we thereby have the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of supplication, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of burning, the Spirit of power, the Spirit of love and of a sound mind, and may we be kept from the lusts of the flesh.
Grant us Thy gracious presence and blessing as we remain here, seeking in outward form, at all events, Thy face. And grant that our inmost desires may correspond with our outward engagements; and we be not feeling after Thee if haply we may find Thee, but going straight to Thee because we know where Thou art, and are sure that they who seek Thee earnestly shall find Thee.
Give us Thy gracious presence, O Lord; speak to us, speak in us. May the word of the Lord be glorified among us. May Thy message be felt by each of us to be with power, and to be directed to us individually. May we be helped by our service of to-day to live more as those ought to do who have such great things given, and yet greater things promised from Thy full store.
We commend one another to Thy care. We pray Thee to comfort and solace any in special need of Thy sustaining, consoling influences. We commend one another, in all the variety of our callings and characters, to Thy gracious care; and beseech Thee that for each of us life may be the means of leading us on to that which is better than life, and which endures and persists through, and after, the death of the outward life.
Graciously be with us as we worship; accept us and answer us, through Jesus Christ our Saviour-Lord.