Prayer XX
O Lord, our gracious God, Who dost give strength to them that desire it to run in the way of Thy commandments, with enlarged hearts, come to us, and give us the power to do Thy will. We beseech Thee that all these great injunctions which we have been reading may be the very guides of our lives, and may shape and mould not only our doings but our inmost selves. May our lives indeed be hid with Christ in God, and the deep roots of them strike far beneath the things that are on the earth. Help us that day by day we may increasingly set our affections and our minds by it; and seek, by effort and aspiration, the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
O Lord! look upon us here before Thee now; give to each of us from Thine own great storehouses the special gifts that we may require not only for this hour of worship, but for the struggles and the difficulties of daily life. If any of us have any special burdens laid upon us, of endurance or of toil, do Thou help us in our work; and in our suffering give the patience which never murmurs, give the courage which never falters; may we run the race set before us; and however rough the road is, may our eyes be fixed upon Christ, Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, and despised the shame.
Help us day by day, and do Thou be near us in all the variety of our conditions and circumstances. We pray for all the sad and the burdened, for all the weak and the weary, for all the glad and the hopeful, and for each in Thy presence, that we may each hold communion with Thee, and in fellowship with Thyself may find all that we require. Give us strength for our daily duties, of whatever kind these may be, and abide with us in all the changing circumstances, that we may have the unchanging treasure in Thyself.
And now. Lord, we would commend to Thee all whom we love; all our brethren in the faith of every communion and of every land; and we beseech Thee that Christ’s people may understand Him and one another better, and may be drawn nearer to each other, and may be led more and more to live the lives that He would have them live, and to show forth the praises of Him that hath called them out of darkness into His marvellous light. May all Thy professed servants be mirrors and imitators of Thee, and show forth Thy holy Name. Take us into Thy care; bless us as we wait before Thee; accept our thanks for all Thy past mercies, and still be near us and keep us, for Christ our Saviour’s sake.