Prayer CXLVIII
Thou saidst, ‘Seek ye My face! ‘May our hearts say unto Thee ‘Thy face. Lord, will we seek!” Hide not Thy face far from us.’ Blessed be Thy Name! Thou never dost hide from seeking souls. Thou hast not spoken in secret. Thou hast never said to any of the seed of Jacob, Seek ye My face in vain. Therefore, O Lord, we come to Thee now, lowly and yet confident, and believe that Thou wilt ever answer us, and that they who seek Thee earnestly shall find Thee.
O prepare our hearts, for the preparation of the heart and the answer alike come from Thee. Draw us, and then we will run after Thee. Help us to see some glimpses of Thy sufficiency and goodness which may slacken earth’s hold upon us, and let some beam of Thy own uncreated and ineffable light shine into our hearts that shall darken the glories of all besides.
We bless Thee for all which Thou hast given us to know of Thyself. But, O Lord, the more loftily we think of Thy great and continuous revelation of Thyself to us, in all ways and at all times, the more ashamed we are of our own slowness of apprehension. ‘Thou hast been so long time with us, and yet we have not known Thee.’ Forgive! we pray Thee, all the blindness of our indisposition to avail ourselves of the light of Thy glory shining down upon us for ever.
And draw us by the sacred attractions of Thy Touch into the innermost place, where we may dwell alone with God.
We bless Thee that Thou hast a house ever open to us. May we more and more make Thee our strong habitation, whereunto we continually resort. And may all the duties of our daily lives, and the various occupations and scenes through which we pass, aval? not to break our fellowship with Thee; but may all things, rightly used and subordinated, tend to make us feel more our need of Thee and Thy sufficiency for us. Help us thus to live on high, that we may all the more earnestly and patiently do Thy work in the valley.
We beseech Thee for Thy blessing as we are gathered here in Thy presence; and with our prayer we would blend our thanksgiving for all the help which Thou hast stored for us, even in outward things, by the requirements of this day with its memories.
May we feel that it is not only we that are seeking God, but God Who is seeking us. O Lord! help us to worship Thee in spirit and in truth, knowing the great and wondrous truth that Thou seekest such to worship Thee. We would come into Thy presence in the great Name before which all barriers melt, and all closed gates open. We would come through Jesus Christ our Lord, and beseech Thee that joining ourselves to Him by humble faith and loyal obedience we may be joined to the Lord, and receive what He possesses, and sit with Him in heavenly places at Thy right hand. May it be so for us, even as we pass through the changing scenes and pressing duties of our daily lives. And may it be eminently so in such an hour as this when, in outward form, we draw near to Thee. We thank Thee for the T momentary cessation of earthly duties, for the loosened grip of earthly cares, for the diminished attraction of earthly joys.
Help us all this morning to rejoice in Jesus Christ, and worship God in the Spirit. Hear us in our supplication, and of Thy great mercy answer and forgive, through Christ our Lord.