Prayer LXXXV
Thankfully, O Lord, we draw near to Thee, for surely the closer we are to Thee the sweeter and the nobler our lives, and the more blessed our hearts, and the stronger we are to do and to bear Thy will. We need Thy pardon because, though we know all this, we so often forget it, and stray away from the guardianship of Thine hand, and from the sweet security of Thy presence, in the midst of the struggles and legitimate objects of our daily work. So we thank Thee that Thou hast had pity upon our weakness, and given us the public ordinances of this day wherein even sense may help the spirit, and we may come the closer to Thee because of our surroundings and our associates.
O shed abroad upon us Thy gracious influences, without which these very helps of Thine appointing will, by our weakness, become hindrances. May we pass through the forms into the realities, and may this be a true hour of worship for each of us, wherein we maysee clearly what is so often wrapped in mist and darkness; and what we so often do not care to look at, though it shines around us. May we feel that we are very near to God Who is our life. May we learn all the sweetness and the power in that Name, ‘Our Father in Heaven.’ And may we come like children, glad to be beside Thee, and having rest in Thy presence even though no word pass.
O Lord, how manifold are Thy mercies. Thy loving-kindnesses close us round day by day, and moment by moment. Thy punctual goodness brings us not only each day our daily bread, but each instant our needed blessings. We beseech Thee to make us more observant of these things that we may understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. And we beseech Thee to help us in the strength of the assurance that we are Thy beloved children, to pass on through all our days, and have them brightened by the light of Thy face and the love of Thy heart.
O Lord! receive our gratitude for any special blessings which any of us may, during these past days, have had from Thine hand. If Thou hast heard any of our prayers, if Thou hast answered not by terrible things in righteousness but by gracious things in love, we would praise Thee, and beseech Thee that Thy mercies, like Thine afflictions, may not be wasted upon us. And we pray Thee for Thy help to go with us through all the variety of our circumstances and duties. Thou knowest what may press most upon each of us here to-day. The heart knoweth its own bitterness; blessed be Thy Name. Thou art not a stranger who cannot intermeddle with its joy and its grief alike. So we would spread out our words and our lives before Thee, O
Lord! and implore, as the greatest of all our blessings, that Thou wouldst lighten and fill every corner of our being with Thyself.
Thou hast put a great prayer into our lips when Thou hast led and bidden us ask that we may ’ be filled with all the fullness of God.’ And we pray that it may be so with us. O Lord! help us, day by day, in our tasks. May we do them for Thee, and by Thee, and in fellowship with Thee. And so may all the things that are seen and temporal help us to a clearer perception, and a more entire possession even here and now, of ’ the things that are unseen and eternal.’ For us too may all the diversities of our life’s engagements be summed up in doing this one thing, ’ pressing toward the mark for the prize.’ May we look up to Thee this morning in our meetings, and pray that Thou wouldst help us, not only in our words to Thee, but in our words to one another.
O Lord! give us, we pray Thee, some message from Thyself that shall have the demonstration of the Spirit’s power in it, and shall find a witness in the hearts of all that hear. And do Thou help hearers and speaker alike to forget the human element, to look to God and to listen to Him. And grant, we beseech Thee, that this morning, by our service, faint hearts may be strengthened, and wandering souls be brought back, and the Kingdom of Jesus be advanced in our hearts. May such blessings rest upon this congregation, upon Thy dear servant its pastor; and may like mercies be granted to all our brethren, of every communion and name in our city. We pray that the people of the Lord in this place may more and more be conscious of the responsibilities and privileges to be witnesses for Christ here; and that in their lives and in their work, in their words from pulpits, and schools, and places of instruction, and by their efforts as citizens of no mean city, and the members of this mighty nation, that the righteousness which exalteth a community may spread among us.
We desire to commend very tenderly to Thee any that are in sorrow or trouble; and beseech Thee to draw near to darkened homes, to empty hearts, and to pour Thy grace, and the consolations which are neither few nor small into such.
And now we commend ourselves to Thee. We beseech Thee to hear and answer and forgive all our sins, and accept us through Jesus Christ our Saviour.