Prayer CLVII
O Lord! Who hast appointed that ’ every transgression and disobedience shall bear its just recompense of reward,’ and dost gather Thy ministers of retribution wheresoever corruption is, we thank Thee that that is not all that we know about Thee; and we bless Thee that Thou not only dost vindicate Thy righteousness, but Thou dost manifest, in yet more blessed and wondrous fashion. Thine infinite love and Thy pitying mercy. We would cast ourselves on Thee.O Lord! We know that in this there is much that may bring down Thy chastisements. But we thank Thee that we can think of all our demerit and all our evil, and yet not be afraid in Thy presence, but rather court Thine eye. For surely Thou lovest yet better than Thou knowest, and surely Thou art willing to purge away whatsoever Thou seest in us, and which unpurged might need Thy rod.
We beseech Thee that the mighty power of Thy revealed love in Jesus Christ, the attraction of His Cross, the cleansing of His blood, the indwelling of His Spirit, may purify our hearts and minds, and make us more and more, every day we live, victors over any evil tendencies within us, and lords of all temptations without.
We pray Thee that entering into the fulness of that reconciling heart we may be the friends of God, and able to look forward to the Day of the Lord with joy. May we be of those who are not in the darkness that that day should overtake us as a thief. May we be children of the light and of the day, the day that is, and the Day that comes. And so may we walk as children of the light in all purity, casting off the work of darkness, and bracing on the armour of light.
Go with us, we beseech Thee, through our daily lives; and in all the frequently-recurring trifles which make these up may we be able to bring to bear the highest principles of love to Jesus Christ, and the desire to be like Him; so that nothing may be too small to be offered by us upon Thine altar, even as nothing thus offered is too small to be acceptable to Thee. We thank Thee that Thou dost care for the trifles that Thy children bring. We beseech Thee that our poor work may find a place in that wonderful storehouse where Thou dost keep and treasure cups of cold water, and widows’ mites, and we thus live consecrating all that we have to Thine own Self, and realising in the consecration the fuller and more blessed possession of whatsoever we thus offer.
We come to Thee, O Lord, with humble thanksgiving for all Thy great goodness to us. Surely we have to say that we will sing * of mercy and of judgment,’ and we have to embrace both mercies and judgments, in our song of praise, and believe that they are all coming from the one hand, and all meant for the one end. May we not murmur, may we not waste our time and weaken our minds by vain regrets for good that is irrevocably past. May we be children of the future, and not only of the past, and believe that, loving Thee, ’ to-morrow,’ and right away on to the end of the days, ‘shall be as this day, and much more abundant.’
We thank Thee, O Lord, that Thou hast not exhausted Thy blessings by the past blessings that Thou hast given us. We thank Thee that the fountain is as full as when it began to flow. We thank Thee that as of old Thy servants sung, so in all generations Thy people have still to acknowledge that Thy ‘mercy endureth for ever.’ And we pray that as Thy mercy so our trust and praise may be continual, and last as long as our lives shall last. Help us to go on day by day very quietly, very peacefully, and rejoicingly, having learnt in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content, because in it we have, and know that we have, the fountain of all goodness in the life of God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We beseech Thee to bless each of us, to go with us in all the variety of our occupations, circumstances and work. Guide us by Thy counsel in the paths of daily life, and help us to set the Lord always before us, that so none of the agitations that shake our souls to their very centre may greatly move us. We beseech Thee to give us wisdom to understand the beckonings of Thy hand, and the motions of Thine eye, in the providences of our lives, and may none of us waste our afflictions or our joys.
Comfort any amongst us that are in sadness, draw near to any who may especially need the consolations of our God, and manifest Thyself to such as the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.
We pray Thee to give us Thy blessing as we are assembled now. Help us to meditate upon Thy truth and to take it into our hearts and wills, as well as into our minds. And may our days witness that we profit, having received with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save our souls.
O Lord! we thank Thee for all Thy past goodness to us in our times of worship here; for all the blessings, that some of us have received for many years during these services. And we pray that Thou wouldst be with us still, and teach us more and more of Thy ways; and grant, we pray Thee, that the loving Spirit of Jesus Christ may dwell in us as a church, and in us individually, and that here the provisions of Thy house being blessed, and Thy poor being filled with bread, the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be advanced abundantly.
Hear us in these our prayers, and in Thy mercy forgive and accept us, for our Lord Christ’s sake.