Prayer XCIV

Lift up our hearts, we beseech Thee, O Lord, and give us strength to lift them upwards. May we enter into the secret place of the Most High; and now, not in word or in outward form only, but in the depths of our own hearts, and in the submission of our own wills, hold fellowship with Thee. Truly when we know what is good for us we do turn away from Thy creatures which do bring to us good meant for us by Thee, and we turn to Thyself from Whom they get all their power to bless us, and in Whom there is all that each and all of them lack.

We thank Thee, O Lord, that Thou dost not put us off with the imperfect joys that come from created things, but that the feeblest of us, and the least worthy, may come joyfully, confidently, closely unto Thyself, and touch Thee heart to heart and mind to mind. May it be so with us this morning, whatever may be our history, whatever our present condition, whatever the burdens that any of us bear, whether of tasks or sorrows or sin; may none of these come between us and Thee, nor anything have power to hinder us from yielding our whole selves to thy sweet and strong influences, drawing us to thyself. May we all hear the great voice calling to us to come up hither, and may we yield to the gracious invitation.

We thank Thee, O Lord, that we can rise above ourselves when we hold by Thy hand which lifts us. And we beseech Thee that Thou wouldst come near to each of us now, and in Thy great mercy bow Thy heavens and speak to our hearts.

We bring Thee our praise for all Thy blessings. Surely showers and crowds of these have entered into our daily lives, but alas! we pass through the things seen, and instead of making them means of seeing and coming to the things unseen and eternal, how often our own weakness makes these barriers between us and our true good and wealth.

We thank Thee for Thy mercies; we pray Thee that we may so use them that they may be mercies to us by the might and the magic of love to God. May we constrain all things to work together for our good. We cannot but feel how much we have to confess in the matter of our handling of the things temporal. Strengthen us more and more that we may live as those to whom the Eternal is the real, and the temporal is only the transient.

We ask Thee for Thy gracious help day by day in duties, in tasks, in struggles. We beseech Thee that Thou wouldst hold up our goings that our footsteps slip not. May we compel all things to minister to our true progress and well-being. We ask for strength to do, for patience to bear, for cheerful faith, that all which we behold is full of blessing. And may we come into the world as those who bear with them a charm and a secret which changes all things; and come in from the world unto our home in Thy presence all the better fitted for the great joys of communion with God, because in the market-place and in the street we have been true to Him.

Bless us in our worship this morning; draw near to each of us, O Lord! Breathe Thy grace over this gathered congregation. Thou knowest all our hearts, all our secrets, all our needs. We beseech Thee that Thou wouldst come to each of us with that gift which we most require, whether we know what it is or not; that we may find Thee, and be found of thee, which is better. And whether we have come seeking Thee or no, may we apprehend Thy presence even if it comes to us as a surprise.

O Lord, answer these poor petitions, through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.