Prayer XXIII
O Lord our God, grant, we beseech Thee, that earthly vanities may depart as we draw near in outward seeming to Thyself, and may the light divine be kindled in our hearts, and our eyes behold the Fountain of life and fire. Accept our praise, O Lord, for all Thy past mercies to us, for the light of a new day, for the sun that shines upon Thy world, for the peace and quiet of this day of the Lord, for all the associations and remembrances that it brings to us of past times when we have gone up to the house of the Lord, and for the yet more blessed remembrances that it brings of that day when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, the Conqueror for us all. We beseech Thee that, as we draw near to Thee, we may indeed find that it is no vain thing to wait upon the Lord. We thank Thee for the assurance we have that however feeble our desires, Thy heart is full of love, and Thy hands full of blessing. And we pray that Thou wouldst help us to open our hearts for the reception of what Thou dost infinitely desire to bestow upon us, and to widen our desires to the measure, if it may be, of Thine immeasurable gift.
O Lord! we bring to Thee many weaknesses, many which we do not know, and many which we do know. We bring to Thee sins, errors and practices, habits that are contrary to Thy holy will. We bring to Thee our feeble aspirations after good, and the often-broken resolutions which we make. We come to Thee as circled with temptations which have allies in our own weak hearts. We come to Thee knowing that we ought to long very much for what we long for verylittle. And yet we pray that Thou wouldst consult not so much our wishes as Thine own great heart of love to us, and that Thou wouldst ‘look upon the face of Thine Anointed’; for His sake receive us, cleanse us, make us more desirous of the best things, and less desirous of the inferior ones. Help us day by day to live as we pray when we are wisest and nearest to Thee.
O Lord! we come to Thee with thanksgiving and with confession. We feel in some measure our weakness, but alas! how difficult it is for us when we speak to Thee to see it as clearly as Thou seest it, and as we sometimes see. We pray Thee to make our confessions and all our supplication very real and simple and earnest. We beseech Thee that we may not deceive ourselves, or transgress against Thee, by saying the conventional words that we have learnt from others, but may speak out of our own experience and hearts. O Lord! forgive, we pray Thee, for there is much to forgive; quicken, for there is much that is dead. Help us to be earnest, for we are often unconscious hypocrites. Teach us Thy holy will, and make that will very sweet to us; and bow ours to the glad acceptance of its yoke, and may we find it easy because it is laid upon our necks by love, the love that helps us to bear. O Lord, we pray for enlightenment, for emancipation, for new vigour to be given to what is good in us, for Thy holy and gracious Spirit to help us to suppress all that is contrary to Thy will. Teach our faint desires to rise, and may we pass through forms and the outward signs and ceremonies, and come into the secret place of the Most High, and feel that God is near us of a truth.
And do Thou shed Thy blessing upon us in all our worship of this morning. We confess much lack of proportion of heart and mind. We feel that what is meant to be help is often hindrance, and we tarry amongst the visible things, and listen to men’s words, when we ought to be passing beyond all these and coming into Thy Presence. O Lord! do Thou shed abroad Thy grace upon us as we are gathered here together, and make this service full of spiritual impulse and power to each of us. May none of us come without desire, and none of us depart without possession.
We thank Thee for all Thy great mercies to us in days gone by. We bless Thee that we can cast our care upon Thee, and we pray for grace to live as those ought to do who, though they have no continuing city, have an abiding God, and feel His presence all the more, the more they realise that here they are strangers and sojourners. Be near us now, we beseech Thee; grant us Thy help in our worship; accept our prayer, our praise, and our act of confession; and take us to Thyself, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.