"O Lord, in the morning I will direct my prayer to You."
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right
spirit within me."—Psalm 51:10
Almighty God, who has mercifully preserved me during the
unconscious hours of slumber, I desire to dedicate my waking moments and
thoughts to You. Pre-occupy my mind with hallowed and heavenly things. May I
be enabled throughout this day, by the help of Your Holy Spirit, to exclude
all that is vain and frivolous and sinful, and to have my affections centered
on You, as my best portion and chief joy. As Your Spirit of old brooded over
the face of the waters, may that same blessed Spirit descend in all the
plenitude of His heavenly graces, that the gloom of a deeper moral chaos may
be dispersed, and that mine may be the beauty and happiness and gladness of a
soul that has been transformed "from darkness to light, and from the power of
sin and Satan unto God."
Forbid, blessed Lord! that I should be resting in anything
short of this new creation. May my old nature be crucified; and, as one alive
from the dead, may I "walk with Jesus in newness of life." May the new life
infused by Your Spirit urge me to higher attainments and more heavenly
aspirations. May I be enabled to see the world in its true light—its pleasures
fading, its hopes delusive, its friendships perishable. May I be more solemnly
and habitually impressed by the surpassing magnitude of "the things not seen."
May I give evidence of the reality of a renewal of heart by a more entire and
consistent dedication of the life. May my soul become a temple of the Holy
Spirit; may "Holiness to the Lord" be its superscription. May I be led to feel
that there can be no true joy but what emanates from Yourself, the fountain
and fullness of all joy—the God in whom "all my well springs" are.
Whatever maybe the discipline You are employing for this
inward heart-transformation, let me be willing to submit to it. Let me lie
passive in the arms of Your mercy, saying, "Undertake for me." May it be mine
to bear all, and endure all, and rejoice in all—adoring a Father's hand, and
trusting a Father's faithfulness—feeling secure in a Father's tried love.
Blessed Jesus! anew would I wash in the opened Fountain.
The new heart, like every holy blessing I can ask, is the purchase of that
blood which You so freely shed. May it be sprinkled on my guilty conscience.
May I ever know what it is to be living on a living Savior, bringing
all-emptiness to all-fullness—the unworthiness of infinite demerit to the
worthiness of all-sufficient, all abounding, grace and mercy.
Shine upon my ways. May I this day get nearer heaven. May I
feel at its close that I have done something for God—something to promote the
great end for which existence was given me—the glory of Your holy name. Bless
all my beloved friends. Unite us together in bonds of holy fellowship here;
and at last, in Your presence, may we be permitted to drink together of the
streams of everlasting love. And all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen.
"Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, for
in You do I trust."