Prayer XLIX
O Lord, near us when we think not of Thee, near us to pity even when we transgress against Thee, near us to restore and forgive when we turn again to Thee, we would draw near to Thee and hide ourselves from all our weaknesses, from all our guilt, beneath the shadow of Thy wing. ‘We thank Thee that we need not to flee from Thee but rather to flee to Thee when we are most conscious of the gulf between us and Thee, and when we have separated ourselves from our God by our sin. And we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst bring us into that sweet and strong fellowship with Thyself in which we may be careless of outward evils, and laugh at calamity. We pray Thee to strengthen us for all holy living in time to come, and to grant that more and more we may live priestly lives of consecration, and self-surrender, and brotherly mediation, and may walk amongst men representatives of God.
We bring to Thee the whole burden of our manifold evils, and pray Thee to deal with them, for they are too great for us; ’ iniquities prevail against us.’ Blessed be Thy Name! we can go on to say, ‘As for our iniquities, Thou wilt purge them away.’ May it be so! We ask not only for pardon, which we know we have, but we ask for Thy Divine influence, for the life of Christ Himself to dwell in our hearts and lives, and there to work the blessed transformation and cleansing and triumph over our own weaknesses, and all temptations which our waywardness finds in even Thy blessings and our duties. Lord! we come to Thee rejoicing in Thy great Name, and in the assurance that Thou art faithful to that Name, and that all which Thou hast been in past days Thou art this day, and will be to us, if we choose, for ever. Fulfil then, we beseech Thee, the promises whereon Thou hast caused us to hope by Thy past dealings; and be to us Deliverer, and Strength, and Emancipator, and Guide, and Portion, that we too may be able to say that the Lord is our God and we His people.
O Lord! receive our thanks for Thy manifold mercies to us, and for all the gifts of Thy gracious love filtered to us moment by moment through the dealings of Thy providence. And pour upon us in a flood in the one great gift which carries all else in it, the unspeakable gift of Thy dear Son. Help us in this hour of worship that we may be delivered from all our weakness and evil, that we may be able to gather in all our thoughts and desires, and fix them upon Thyself and the things unseen. We bless Thee for the triumphant memories that cluster round this day of the Lord. We thank Thee for a Saviour Who died; yea! rather that is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us.; And we beseech Thee that we may each feel that in Him we, too, triumph over death, and have already died to sin, and risen to a new, a better, and undying life to God.
We pray Thee to manifest Thy presence as we worship here before Thee, and to accept us through Jesus Christ our Saviour.