Prayer LXII
O Lord! Who dwellest in the high and holy place, we thank Thee that though Thou art lifted so high above us we can draw near to Thee, and claim our place in Thy heart, and in Thy thoughts, and our share in Thy merciful deeds to a universe. We bless Thee that notwithstanding all that hang upon Thee we can come with our little cry, with our small wants. And we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst help us, whatever may be our special present condition, to come to Thee with true hearts in full assurance of faith, believing that of a truth it is no vain thing to call upon the Lord. Let not our oblations be vain, we beseech Thee. May our hands be clean and our hearts pure, that Thou mayest hear us. Teach us what we need most; give us the wisdom that shall desire most earnestly the most necessary and best things, and honour our confidence and faith with Thy love on the great sacrifice of Thy dear Son, on His intercession before the Throne, and on Thy assurance that Thou wilt give Thy Holy Spirit to them that ask Thee, that it may correct our foolish desires, and coax our wishes and inclinations and longings and petitions to flow in the channels marked out for them by Thy holy will.
O Lord! whatever burdens we may have on our hearts we dare not ask Thee to take them away unless it be Thy will to do so, but we dare to ask Thee to fit us to carry the load, and to get out of it good. And grant that if clouds and darkness may, in any measure, wrap our faith or our minds these may only be the background on which the light of the love of a present God may be the more brightly displayed. We thank Thee even for the depths of the mysteries of Thy providence which have often made us stagger, which may be darkening some of our hearts now. And we pray, O Lord! that we may more and more rise into a higher region where there is light only; and being taught of God may be able in some measure to look upon all His providences as He does; and to realise not only in thought but in experience the great purpose for which Thou dost send all Thy varying dealings and gifts, that we may be partakers of Thy holiness, and out of the ways of Time may gather the treasure that shall never pass.
O help us, of Thy great mercy, that drawing near to Thee of a truth we may find ourselves ever coming nearer and more blessedly near to the great Light, the great Love, the great Peace. We thank Thee that we can thus bring our poor selves, our petitions and desires to Thy Throne. And we pray Thee to help us to-day in all our public worship, in all our various duties, in our private meditations, in our solitary prayers; and to grant that from this day’s peaceful rest and cessation from ordinary avocations, and from the memories and the hopes of a risen Saviour and a resurrection of all that sleep in Him, and from all the associations and habitudes of this day of public worship, we may gather some blessings that shall deepen our faith, confirm our confidence, warm our love, and make more thorough-going and more operative in our lives the resolve to do Thy holy will and to please Thee.
We pray Thee to be near us all, to forgive our many shortcomings, our errors of judgment and of practice. Enlighten us, we pray Thee, by Thy continual illumination, and may we never quench nor darken that light by clouds rising from our own evil hearts; but that Thou wouldst help us, having light, to rejoice in the
Light, and to walk by the Light, that we may all be children of the Light. Hear us, we beseech Thee; mercifully forgive and accept and bless us, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.