Prayer CXXXIX
O Lord! we thank Thee that we do not need to say ‘Lord! evermore give us this Bread,’ but only to ask Thee that Thou wouldst help us to take it. Thou hast not waited to be asked, blessed be Thy name! else Thou wouldst have waited for ever. But when we had no such desires Thou hast bestowed upon a world, that knew not its hunger nor its food, the Bread of God.
O Lord! may we all of us live more and more by Jesus Christ, and make Him the Source and the Aim and the End and the Nourishment of our whole being. We thank Thee that Thou hast had pity upon our poverty, and compassion upon our hunger and our sore need; hast given us all that heart can desire, all that any part of our being requires in that great Lord of all our souls. O Lord! may none of us be spending our money for that which is not bread, or starving in the presence of such bountiful supplies, bread enough and to spare in our Father’s house.
O Lord! regard us here, the children of so many blessings, and yet needing so continually the supply from Thine own gracious hands. Help us all to realise more fully where our strength, and our righteousness, and our joy, and our peace are. May we not be our own worst enemies by breaking the sweet bond that unites us to Thee, nor setting up our own inclinations, our own wills, as our lords and guides.
We pray Thee be with each of us according to our different necessities and circumstances. We wotild crave the guidance of Thy wise Spirit, as well as the monitions of Thy providence. And we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst help us at all times to understand what the will of the Lord is, in regard even of the smallest circumstances of our daily lives.
O Lord! be with each of us, according to our present necessities. Breathe Thy peace into the sad hearts that are here this morning. May the oil of gladness be above the water of affliction. O Lord! some of us have heavy tasks to perform; fit the back for the burden, and give us a joyous spirit, unsubdued by toil and labour, we pray Thee.
Some of us may have special cause for thanksgiving this morning. If there be such in Thy presence, do Thou help us to find what we need in the one safe place where all the necessities of all men are more than supplied.
Look upon us now, and in Thy mercy be near us, keep, and bless us, for our Lord Christ’s sake.