Prayer LXXIV
O Lord our God, we bow before Thee with reverence and trust and godly fear. And we dare to thank Thee that Thou art a consuming fire, for so we have hoped that Thou wilt burn away all our dross, and melt all our hearts, and help us to be as flaming spirits before Thy Throne, having the fire of God within us. Baptize us in that fire of Thy Holy Spirit, and help us to draw near with confidence to Thee, rejoicing in all Thy majesty and in all Thy gentle love, and casting ourselves on that great mercy which none have ever sought in vain. May it be true of us, O Lord, that we come to the Judge of all, and to the Mediator of the new covenant, and to that blood of sprinkling which speaketh better things than that of Abel. Coming thus, may we have all our sin purged away, all our iniquity forgiven, all our deadness quickened, and ourselves made more worthily to dwell with Thee, and to walk in the light of Thy face. And we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst help us day by day to live as those who have indeed come unto Mount Zion, and even whilst we are sojourners and pilgrims here below do, in the depths of our being, dwell in our true home, and sit with Jesus Christ in the heavenly places.
We thank Thee, O Lord, for that blessed union with Thyself, through Thy dear Son, and the outpoured spirit of Thy grace by which we can bring Heaven round us whilst we hear and possess as well as desire the fullness of joy that is at Thy right hand. And may our daily experience be more like what Thou dost wish it to be, and we more continually and deeply and calmly possessors of, as well as hoping for, the inheritance which is ours.
We thank Thee that we not merely shall be, but are, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. And though it doth not yet appear what we shall be, we live here by the faith of joys to come. May we also live by the joy of knowing that now we are the sons of God, and Thou art with us as our Father. Help us, we beseech Thee, to carry such brightening and quickening thoughts into all the difficulties and duties of our daily life; and if, as is perchance the case, some of us may have special burdens to bear to-day, do Thou give special gifts to such, and help each of us to find in that great truth which belongs to us all the message that we each require. May Jesus Christ be more and more the Object of all our desires, the Home of our hearts, the Goal of our efforts. And by Him and for Him may we live, and ever be journeying towards Him.
We beseech Thee to bless us now. May Thy loving hand be upon each of us, and Thy Spirit open our minds to understand, and our hearts and wills to receive and to obey the great message of Thy salvation. We bless Thee for all the assurance we have that Thy word shall not return unto Thee void, and we pray that nothing in us may be able to make it void, neither imperfection of hearer nor of speaker; but that we, weak as we are, may yet be brought closer together to our Father in Heaven, and made to carry away for some operative influence in our lives the great words of Thy truth and our salvation.
Be merciful to all of us according to our several requirements. Guide each of us in our daily duties; help us to put Thy love into them; and however small they may be, and however often we may have had to do them, and however often symptoms of monotony may be likely to breed discord or contempt, may we gather ourselves together for our smallest tasks, and let nothing be done except for Thy sake. And help us to win the victory over our own foolish weak selves. May the old man be more and more depressed in each of us, and the new man exaltedi) May the life of Christ drive out the life of self, and may the joy of the Lord abide in us to make us fruitful.
O Lord, accept us as we come to Thee now. Bless all our brethren, present or absent. Be with any of them who may be in sick-chambers or on sick-beds. And to watchers and to those tended do Thou give the consciousness of Thy presence as the great Physician Who heals the spirit even when the body is decayed. We beseech Thee to bless all Christian people, all communities of such, and all the work of Thy servants throughout the world, done imperfectly, we know, and with very mingled motives, and with much folly and weakness, but yet in some measure done for Thy dear sake, and to spread the glory of the Lord Whom we love. We beseech Thee that He may more and more be recognised by men as what He is, the Saviour of the world; and that Thy people may understand better, and realise more in their own daily experience the abundance of the wealth and the all-sufficiency of the power which they have in Christ their Saviour, in Whose Name we pray Thee to hear us now.