Prayer CXX

We come to Thee, O Lord our Father, to plead with Thee that Thou wouldst remember Thy loving-kindnesses and Thy tender mercies which have been ever of old, and wouldst still manifest Thyself to us in our daily lives and in our inmost spirits as being what indeed Thou art, our Portion and our Life.

We thank Thee for that unceasing stream of light and love which flows from Thee unto all Thy universe. And we beseech Thee that since Thou hast in Thy loving-kindness made us capable of receiving Thy best gifts, Thou wouldst, as a faithful Creator, supply the needs which Thou hast given to us, and fill us with Thyself. Thou art good and upright. We come before Thee darkened with many evils, and conscious of not a few transgressions; but we bless Thee that Thou hast taught us to plead with Thee the very greatness of our transgressions as a reason for Thy dealing with them. Pardon our iniquity, for it is great; too great for us or for any power but Thine to deal with. And the greater it is the more the glory to Thy Name if we are delivered therefrom. Good and upright is the Lord.

We bless Thee that Thou hast taught us to say therefore will He guide sinners in the way. For surely Thy goodness has no greater delight, and no nobler field on which to manifest itself, than to make us, in our measure and degree, partakers of that uprightness. So, Lord! we come to Thee with full confidence, falling back upon Thy Name when coldness, or fears, or indifference to conduct and character may seize us; and beseech Thee that Thou wouldst help us to walk in Thy ways, and find that all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to them that keep His commandments.

Regard us as we have gathered ourselves this morning, we hope in obedience to Thy command, not merely in conformity with a custom. We beseech Thee that each of us here, bringing Christ with us, may find Him in the midst of us. We would gather in Thy Name, in His Name, which is Thine, and beseech Thee that Thy promised presence, with all its quickening.

gladdening, emancipating influences, may be bestowed upon each of us. Help us to leave cares and sorrows and joys and work behind us, or to bring these with us only in so far as they may make us more earnest in our desire to receive the needful blessings from Thyself. We thank Thee for all the aid given to our sluggish faith by outward forms and means this morning; and we beseech Thee that we may be led through them, and beyond them, and be brought, each of us, into Thy own presence, wherein all outward forms and means shall drop away and be forgotten, and the spirit of a man be joined to the Spirit of God.

O Lord! help us in our worship; guide all our thoughts; grant us clear visions of Thyself and of Thy truth; lead us into holy aspirations, sane estimates of our own past and of ourselves. Help us to look above the things that so often engross us in our daily lives, and put our whole selves into Thy loving hands. May we find not only peace but inflowing power and blessedness that shall enrich and enlarge our hearts.

We pray Thee to be near us according to our necessity, to accept our thanks for all Thy great mercies to us, and to help us that if in our remembrances or in our present circumstances there blend plain and manifest blessings with blessings thickly veiled, Thou wouldst give us the clear sight to see behind the veil the Angel face, and so to sing of mercy and of judgment, and to thank Thee for all the way by which the Lord our God has led us. Thou knowest it is very hard for some of us to do that, but we bless Thee that Thou dost help us wisely to look back upon our past, and here and now to praise Thy Name for it altogether.

We beseech Thee to hear us, to bless and keep us, to forgive and answer, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.