Prayer XIX
O Lord, we thank Thee that though Thou art the High and Holy One, far above, and separate from, our lowliness and limitations, we can come near to Thee, and draw close to Thy presence, and find our Home in Thy heart. We, too, would sing of the mercy of the Lord for ever, and bless Thee for all the manifestations of Thy loving heart which Thou dost make to us; and would pray for eyes to see, and hearts to welcome, the revelation of Thyself, the open secret that is all around us. May we never be of those who walk in darkness even when drenched with Thy light. May we never, for lack of
o insight and sympathy, look upon Thy works and see nothing of Thee in them. May our hearts be more and more filled with God, and may Thy great Name interpret for us all difficulties, strengthen us for all duties, be the very life of our joys and our consciousness.
We come to Thee with thankfulness for the many mercies which we have each received from Thee, and for the common blessings which belong to us all. And we pray that Thou wouldst help us to-day, whatever may be our special circumstances, or the burdens that any of us may have to carry, to enter into the fulness of the rest of God, and to make our own the abundant blessings stored for us in this day and in this service. Be near each of us, we pray Thee, and make our worship this morning full of power and blessing for us. May we be drawn nearer to Thee, may our eyes be opened that we may behold the things that are unseen and eternal, and so be delivered from the tyranny and the misery of the things seen and temporal.
We pray, O Lord, that Thou wouldst teach all our hearts as we bow here before Thee, and wouldst help us to enter into all the blessedness which Thou dost mean us to find in our gathering of ourselves together thus. Thou hast been our help in days that are gone by; and we would look forward with quiet hope, knowing that whatsoever the future may take away it cannot take Thee away, and knowing that from whatever we may be parted by the changes of life, and the great change of death, neither life nor death, nor things present nor things to come, can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. May we be thus indissolubly united to that great force which moves the Universe, and may we there find our true life, our peace and joy.
O Lord! be near each of us this morning; accept us as we come to Thee now; in Thy great mercy forgive all our sins, and grant us the help of Thy Divine Spirit that our meeting together may not be in vain because it is in the Lord. Hear us, accept and answer us, we beseech Thee, for our Saviour Christ’s sake.