Prayer LXXXVIII
O Lord! Who hast taught us to think of Thee as our help and our shield, strengthen us now that our hearts may indeed wait upon Thee, and in still dependence may draw from Thee rich blessing suited to the several conditions of each of us. We thank Thee for that great fullness to our emptiness. We pray that we may not hinder, by anything in us, the communication of Thy grace and strength. May our hearts lie open to the sunshine, and ever be turned to the noontide, that into our souls there may pass all that we need of Thy grace, strength, wisdom, purity, and blessedness.
We acknowledge before Thee, O Lord! that we have not held our hearts quiet that Thy grace may flow into them, and since the cup has been unsteadily held much of the precious gift has been spilt. We pray that we may, in time to come, ask nothing doubting, and so receive of the Lord. May we not contradict and neutralise the desires that we sometimes have, and put into prayer, by the daily life which makes it impossible for Thee to answer the supplications we present.
Help us to bind ourselves to Thee by the strong curbs which Thou dost supply to us. May we, in simplicity and continuity of dependence, walk through life before God, with God, and draw from Thee whatever we need. We thank Thee for the helps to such daily living which this day has often given us in the past. We thank M
Thee for any illumination or impulse to holier and better things of which we have sometimes been conscious when we have gathered together here; for the many hours in past days and years of communion with Thyself, and with one another, which Thou hast granted to us. And we pray that to-day we may all be helped, and all be brought into contact with that great truth, and that great Lord of truth, by Whom our falsities may be scattered, and Who, dwelling in our hearts, makes life and peace there.
May Jesus Christ, the ‘Conqueror renowned,’ abide in our souls increasingly, conquer all our evil, scatter our vanities, and shine in us with His own truth. And help us in our worship to lift up our hearts to Thee, and pass beyond the mere forms into the reality of communion with God. We bring to Thee very much weakness; may we know it more. We bring to Thee many sins, many tendencies to evil, much that is averse to God, and too indolent to lay hold, and keep hold, of the things that belong to our peace. We pray that the sluggishness of our spirits, and the wanderings of our desires, and the feebleness of our wills, and the strength of the distractions that tear us away from Thee, or try to do it, may all be taken in hand and cured and helped by Thy good Spirit that the life of Jesus Christ in us may make us free from the law of sin and death.
Lord! look upon us coming with many thanksgivings, with lowly petitions, and with faith that does reach out to Thee, however tremulously, and grant large blessings which shall make us ashamed of our small desires. Let Thy mercy be upon us, not ’ according as,’ but since ’ our trust is in Thee,’ however imperfect that trust may be.
Hear us; grant Thy gracious presence and all-sufficient help, for our Lord Christ’s sake.