Prayer XLIII

We thank Thee, O Lord, that Thy thoughts are not as our thoughts, but high above them as the heavens are above the earth. And we humbly confess that our ways are not as Thy ways, but have wandered far from the paths which Thou wouldst have us to walk in; and yet we come back to Thee, rejoicing in the assurance that Thou dost abundantly pardon when we forsake our ways and thoughts, and make Thine ours and ours Thine. So we pray Thee that Thou wouldst help us to turn our back upon all that has been evil and contrary to Thy holy will in our characters and lives, and that Thou wouldst help us to lay hold upon Thy great mercy, the abundant pardon, and the unstinted love which Thou dost give to all that seek it. We beseech Thee to pour out upon us to-day the Spirit of grace and of supplication, that we may indeed draw near to Thee, and be raised above our ordinary selves, and brought into closer fellowship with Thee; and taught to think more wisely, and more as Thou wouldst have us to think, of Time and Eternity, of Earth and God, of ourselves and of our Saviour.

We bless Thee, O Lord, for all Thy great mercies to us in days gone by, and for all the thousand benefits which flow in an unbroken stream of light from the Father of lights. Truly every good and perfect gift is from above, and nothing but what is good and perfect comes from Thee. And we bless Thee that we need fear no exhaustion either in Thy will or in Thy resources, for with Thee is no variableness, nor shadow of turning. Help us then to think of Thee always with gladness and peace as the giving God Who giveth unto all men liberally.

We bless Thee that Thou dost not upbraid. We thank Thee that unworthiness does not provoke Thee to withhold. We thank Thee that in all our wanderings Thou dost follow us with benefits, and dost seek to bring us back to Thyself. And we pray Thee to help us that, moved by the mercies of God and most of all by that one great mercy which holds all the rest, the unspeakable gift of Thy dear Son, we may yield ourselves living sacrifices, and be holy and acceptable to Thee. Cleanse our hearts, O Lord; strengthen in us any feeble good, subdue any ruling evil, take away from us all divergence from Thy will and purpose, all slothf ulness in keeping Thy commandments, all the blindness which so often sees but the things that are nearest to us, and sees them wrongly. May we not be of those who cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that they have been purged from their own sins.

Help us, we beseech Thee, in our daily lives to adorn the teaching. Give us grace to subdue ourselves, to aspire after Christ, to follow in the footsteps of the Shepherd. And grant that in our obedient and striving hearts there may ever sound the great voices that call us to come up hither, forsaking that which is beneath, and leaving it behind. May we ever be steadily tending towards Thyself, and receiving into our open hearts more and more of the life and the fullness of God. Accept, O Lord, we pray Thee, our thanksgivings and petitions. We acknowledge before Thee our many evils and sins. We cast ourselves on that great mercy, sealed and conveyed to us in the gift of Thy dear Son. And we beseech Thee that Thou wilt accept us now; bless us in our worship here before Thee, and ever be to us our Light and our Salvation, the strength of our hearts and our portion for ever. Hear us in Christ our Lord, we beseech Thee.