Prayer XXIX
O Lord, we would come with thanksgiving for that Angel of the Covenant in Whom Thou hast set Thy Name. And we bless Thee that in that Name which is above every Name we have all and abound. We beseech Thee that in mind and heart we may more and more explore and possess the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, grace and peace, power and patience, liberty and love, and joy, which are laid up for us in Christ our Lord. And we ask Thee to help us this morning that we may bring ourselves, with all our needs and emptiness, into contact with Thyself, with Thy fulness and all-sufficiency. Give us, O Lord, we pray Thee, strength for our weakness, light in our darkness, liberty in our bondage, life in our death, and all that we need. And help us to take the things that are freely given to us of God, and to experience more and more how true it is that Christ, and God in Christ, have more than enough for heart and mind, for will and strength.
We come to Thee, O Lord, with thankfulness for all Thy manifold mercies to us, by which Thou dost brighten every day, by which Thou dost reveal Thyself to us, if only our eyes were open to behold Thee, at every moment, and in every circumstance. We confess that we have often stayed our thoughts and vision on Thy creatures and Thy gifts, that we have often allowed these to shut Thee out from our thankfulness and from our hearts. But we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst help us in time to come to see through the things that are seen and temporal, and by their help to see more clearly the things that are unseen and eternal, instead of finding that the present is a veil to hide from us the realities at Thy right hand. We acknowledge our shortsightedness, and how often we have yielded to the temptation to forget Thee in Thy works, and lose sight of the Giver in the very enjoyment of His gifts. But we ask Thee that Thou wouldst draw near us, and help us to keep ourselves near to Thee, that the world may be more and more filled with God to us; and a very common sight be, as it were, the bush that burned and is not consumed, aflame with God.
O Lord, regard us here before Thee this morning. We thank Thee for permitting us to gather together thus, and we believe that Thou wilt draw near to seeking souls as Thou ever hast done. And we pray that in our minds and hearts there may be the desire and the feeling after Thee which is no more ’ if haply we may find Thee,’ but is the assured search of those who know where to get what they seek, and know that what they seek they will assuredly find. May it be so with us. We are not straitened in Thee, we know, but we have often limited Thy power to give Thyself to us by the narrowness of our desires, the feebleness of our expectations, the coldness of our confidence, the tremulousness of our faith. We beseech Thee to forgive all these imperfections in our seeking after Thee, and to shame and surprise us by the large gifts which Thou dost give even to us; that we may have Thee in full possession, and rejoice in the possession, and be thereby quickened and heartened to expect more from Thee, and to seek it in Thy own appointed way.
O Lord, forgive our many sins; we beseech Thee to draw near to us now; in Thy grace and mercy quicken and help us that our worship may be of real service to ourselves, and truly acceptable to Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.