FAMILY PRAYERS
BY John MacDuff, 1885
CHOICE EXCERPTS
We look forward with joyful hearts to that better
world, where we shall have no contrariety of mind to You, when we shall be
with You, and like You; serving You without distraction; and where sin and
sorrow will be no more felt or dreaded.
* * * * * *
The shadows of night have again fallen around us in
peace. We thank You for the continuance of health and strength, and many
outward blessings. We thank You for the crowning mercy of all--Jesus,
Your unspeakable gift! Thousands of needy, outcast sinners have repaired
to Him, yet still the Fountain of His grace is as free as ever. This is
still His name and memorial, "Mighty to save!" Lord, we come to You, with
all our sins, casting ourselves on His infinite and all-sufficient
righteousness. Wash every guilty stain away.
* * * * * *
There is not a corruption we have within us,
which Your grace is unable to subdue. There is not a cross or
trial, or care, but Your grace will enable us to endure. It is Your
all-powerful grace alone which, from hour to hour, averts from us
temptations we could have no strength in ourselves to resist. Hold us
up--and then alone we shall be safe. To You we look for everything.
* * * * * *
May we view every dark providence as an errand
of love in disguise--a messenger sent from the Eternal Throne, to minister
to us, who are heirs of salvation. May we live as pilgrims on the earth.
* * * * * *
Whatever Your leadings may be, let us cheerfully
confide in their wisdom and faithfulness. We are poor judges of what is
good for us, but we can trust You in all things--in what is great and what
is small; what is dark and what is bright; what is joyous and what is
grievous. We rejoice that all is in Your hands, and all is for the best!
* * * * * *
May we ever regard sin as our greatest trial.
When temptation assails us, grant us power to resist it. May our lives,
our tempers, our affections, our desires--be regulated by the example of
our divine Lord and Master. Give us His meekness of spirit--which no
provocation could ruffle. Give us His forgiveness of injuries--amid
ingratitude and scorn. Give us His calm, unmurmuring submission to Your
holy will.
* * * * * *
We bless You especially for the tokens of Your mercy in
Jesus. We bless You for His full, free, everlasting Redemption. Oh set us
in the Clefts of the Rock—and hide us there! Let us feel the
all-sufficiency and security of His covenant love. For our infinite
need--there is Your infinite fullness! For our infinite danger--there is
Your infinite salvation! Lord, give us grace to live worthy of our high
calling. Enable us to adorn the doctrine of our God and Savior. Let His
love be the animating principle in our actions. Let our chief delight
be to serve Him. May our greatest pain be to vex and grieve Him. May our
affections be more elevated--our eye more single--our lives more
consistent--true religion more the one thing needful.
* * * * * *
May we rest in the confident persuasion that You do
all things well--and nothing but what is well. Enable us to exercise a
child-like acquiescence in all Your dealings. These may at times be
mysterious; but when Your purposes of love are at last unfolded, we shall
dwell with adoring gratitude on all the way by which You have led us. Give
us grace, meanwhile, to be living as dying creatures. Let us never forget
our pilgrim character, nor dream away, in guilty unconcern, our fleeting
moments. Enable us to take You as the strength of our hearts and our
portion forever. Keep us from the absorbing power of earthly things. May .
. .
Your Spirit be our teacher;
Your Word be our guide;
Your sovereign will be our motive;
Your glory be our ultimate end.
* * * * * *
Enable us to rely on Your guiding arm, and to merge our
wills in Yours. Hold us up--and we shall be safe. O God, forbid that, in
the midst of earth's cares and pursuits, we should ever lose sight of our
immortal destinies. Let us imbibe more of the pilgrim spirit; having our
eye upwards, and our footsteps onwards. Give us grace to manifest the
power of a holy life.
* * * * * *
We desire to make acknowledgment of our unworthiness
and guilt. We will not cloak nor disguise our manifold and multiplied
transgressions. Discover to us the depths of our depravity; unveil to us
the secret pride and selfishness and worldliness of our hearts. Deliver us
from our besetting sins. Let us see our vileness—in the cross of Your
dear Son.
* * * * * *
We renounce all dependence on ourselves. Wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked—we take Jesus as all our
salvation and all our desire.
* * * * * *
May we seek in every providence to hear Your voice; and
in every event to read Your will. May we live conscious of the
predominating motive of love to You. May we feel Your favor lightening
every cross and lessening every care.
* * * * * *
May all our duties be gladdened with a sense of Your
presence and love. May we have a single eye in all we think, and say, and
do—to the glory of our adorable Redeemer. As pilgrims and strangers on the
earth, may we declare plainly that we seek a better country.
* * * * * *
We rejoice to believe that we are entirely in Your
keeping. If You send us prosperity, Lord, hallow it. If You send us
adversity, Lord, sanctify it. May all things work together for our good.
We put ourselves, blessed God, into Your hands.
* * * * * *
Sanctify affliction to all in sorrow. Let Your
suffering people rejoice in the assurance that Your chastisements are the
dealings of a Father; that the furnace is lighted to purge away the dross,
and refine and purify for glory. Direct, control, suggest, this day, all
our thoughts, purposes, designs, and actions—that we may consecrate soul
and body, with all their powers, to the glory of Your holy name. And all
that we ask or hope for, is for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.
* * * * * *
We come, acknowledging, that it is of the Lord's
mercies we are not consumed. We are nothing and we have nothing. By nature
and by wicked works, we could expect nothing but indignation and wrath,
tribulation and anguish. Each day is a witness against us. We confess our
proneness to depart from You, the living God. We confess our reluctance to
render to You the tribute of our undivided homage and love. Lord, we bring
our sins and lay them on Him, who, as our Surety-Substitute, was wounded
for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities. We bring our
weakness to His Almighty strength. We bring our insufficiency, that we may
receive from Him, the promised "all sufficiency in all things." We
rejoice, blessed Savior, to think of You, as sympathizing with us in all
our trials and perplexities and temptations; keeping us as the apple of
Your eye, and feeling what is done to Your people as if it were done to
Yourself.
* * * * * *
Enable us to repose in the infinite fullness of Your
grace and mercy; to experience the blessedness of an unreserved,
unwavering trust and confidence in Your dealings. Let us confide to You
the allotment of all that befalls us. Let us harbor no suspicions of Your
faithfulness or love. Let us commit the unknown future to Your better
wisdom, saying, "Teach us the way wherein we shall walk, for we lift our
souls unto You."
* * * * * *
May we walk in the light of Your countenance. Your
favor is life. Nothing but the possession of Your infinite love can
satisfy the longings of our souls. Whom have we in heaven, O God, but You?
and there is none upon earth we would desire besides You.
* * * * * *
The Lord reigns! Nothing befalls us but what is the
dictate of infinite wisdom and everlasting love! Let every heavy-laden one
know that it is Your gracious hand that appoints every burden.
Often would we choose what would be detrimental to our best interests. You
choose for us. Let us rejoice in You as a rich Provider, and an all-wise
Provider; who will give us nothing, and deny us nothing, but what is for
our good. May all Your poor afflicted ones take refuge in the assurance
that You are the God of Providence; that whatever befalls them is Your
doing; and that the sunshine of Your countenance can make up for every
loss. O Source of all consolation, draw near to the afflicted. Abundantly
sanctify Your dealings.
* * * * * *
We desire anew this night to repair to His cross. We
disown all trust in ourselves. Other refuge, other righteousness, we have
none, and we need none. We cleave, in simple dependence, to the work of
Jesus. We are safe only when clinging to the horns of the
blood-besprinkled altar.
* * * * * *
Every blessing, temporal and spiritual, we desire to
connect with Your favor. Every rivulet of providential or gracious
mercy--we would trace to Yourself—its great fountain-head. Every cross and
loss we would submit to—as the appointment of Your wisdom. We would tread
the roughest path--if You lead us there! May all Your dealings toward us
issue in our sanctification. May our hearts be becoming holier and purer.
Transform us more from day to day, and from week to week—into the image of
Your Son.
* * * * * *
Through another night, be pleased to grant us Your
guardian care. Shepherd of Israel, may Your wakeful, sleepless eye be upon
us. May the shadows of this night's darkness be to us only as the shadow
of Your wings. Shield soul and body by Your mighty power. Lying down in
Your fear, may we awake in Your favor, fitted for the duties of a new day.
All this we ask for the sake of Jesus Christ, our only Savior. Amen.
* * * * * *
Preserve us from the snares of a wicked world.
Strengthen us in seasons of weakness.
Protect us in the hour of temptation.
* * * * * *
Never for a solitary moment, have You withdrawn Your
hand of love from us. Take these hearts of ours and make them Yours. May
our inmost thoughts, and desires, and purposes—be dedicated to Your glory.
Pour Your rich grace into our hearts. Let us not fall a prey to the
allurements and enticements of this present evil world; but may we walk as
seeing You, who is invisible.
* * * * * *
God of all consolation, bind up their wounds. Keep them
from a murmuring spirit, under dark dispensations. Let them know and
believe—that infinite love is in all Your arrangements—that finite wisdom
has no place in Your chastisements—that He with whom they have to do,
cannot do wrong. Lord, give us all this lowly spirit of submission to Your
will. Whether You chasten us, or gladden us; whether prosperity or
adversity be our portion--oh bring us nearer Yourself! May Your dealings
serve to trim the lamp of faith and keep it brightly burning.
* * * * * *
O Lord our God, we desire to bow this night at the
footstool of Your Throne, adoring You for all Your great goodness. What
are we--that we should be permitted to come into Your presence, or
take Your thrice blessed name into our sinful and polluted lips? You have
not dealt with us after our sins—but according to Your rich and undeserved
mercy. What mercy it is in You—to bend Your ear to our feeble lispings of
praise, and to listen to the pleadings of such unthankful and unholy
hearts. We could not have ventured to approach Your footstool--but for
Your great love to us in Christ Jesus. Through Him alone it is, that the
words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts are rendered
acceptable in Your sight! In Him we are pardoned, justified, adopted,
saved! In Him we are kept, sanctified, sealed. In Him we shall at last be
presented without fault before Your throne. Blessed Savior, we may well
entrust our eternal all to Your keeping. Our needs are numberless, but
Your help is infinite! You are waiting to dispense needed grace, for every
time of need. Lord, we feel that we require grace for everything!
There is not the hour or moment we can live independent of You. Carry on
Your own work within us. Hold us up--and then alone we shall be safe.
* * * * * *
Most Blessed God, You have again permitted us to see
the beginning of another day. We desire to accept every new morning as a
fresh gift of Your love. We are the constant beggars on Your bounty.
If Your sustaining arm be withdrawn--we instantly perish. We rejoice
to look back on the way by which You have hitherto led us; protecting us
from danger, supporting us in trouble, disappointing our fears, and
realizing our hopes.
* * * * * *
It is our desire, blessed God, to lie passive in Your
hands. Whether prosperity or adversity be ours, whether You chasten us or
gladden us--oh bring us nearer Yourself. When we cannot understand Your
dealings—may faith repose in Your unchanging faithfulness. May we feel
assured that all things are working together for our good; and that what
is mystery here--will be unfolded and unraveled hereafter. Now, we
see through a glass darkly—but then face to face. Meanwhile, may we walk
less by sight and more by faith. May we bow to Your will. Let us see no
hand in our trials but Yours; while we say, in lowly submissiveness, "The
Lord gave, and the Lord has a sovereign right to take away." May we
cheerfully submit to whatever You see fit to appoint. May we murmur at
nothing that brings us nearer to You. Loving You supremely, take what You
will away--we must be happy.
* * * * * *
Make us like Jesus--patient and meek, thankful and
forgiving. Take away all pride, vainglory, and hypocrisy--all absorbing
love of the world. Set our affections on things above.
* * * * * *
O Lord, we desire to draw near into Your gracious
presence, in the name of Him whom You hear always, and in whom You are
ever well pleased. Give us grace to approach You, under a deep sense of
our unworthiness. We have nothing to plead in extenuation of our guilt. We
have sinned against light and privilege, warning and mercy. We mourn our
deep-rooted depravity, our constant proneness to depart from You, the
feebleness of our faith, the coldness of our love, the imperfection of our
best services, the mingled motives in our holiest duties. We come anew,
casting ourselves on the infinite fullness of our adorable Redeemer. In
Him is all our hope. Give us, out of His inexhaustible treasury, grace
upon grace. Transform us into His image. May we seek to walk in His
footsteps, and to copy His example.
* * * * * *
All that we are, and all that we have, is derived from
You. There is nothing we possess that we have not received from You. Oh
give us grateful hearts; feeling that the least blessing we enjoy—is
unmerited on our part, and a gift of free grace on Yours.
* * * * * *
Enable us to feel our sins—to have a deep and heartfelt
consciousness of their heinousness in Your sight. We are apt to cloak and
mask them; we are reluctant to make a frank and unreserved confession of
them all. Lord, give us grace, in true penitence and contrition of heart,
to cast ourselves—all unworthy—on the infinite worthiness of Him who is
all-worthy. For His sake, receive us graciously--love us freely. We
rejoice to meditate on the love which He had for us from all eternity. We
rejoice to think that it is the same at this hour that it was
then—unchanging, everlasting.
* * * * * *
Lord, subdue within us whatever is inconsistent with
Your mind and will. Put a sanctified restraint on our thoughts. Repress
all vain imaginations. Crucify every remaining sin. May our hearts become
holy temples, and our lives living sacrifices.
* * * * * *
We commend all belonging to us to Your sovereign care.
May Your love reign paramount within us--may there be no competing
affection. May we seek to show by our pure lives and consistent walk—that
we have been imbibing the Savior's spirit. Take these unworthy, erring
hearts—sanctify and seal them for Yourself. Make them Yours—Yours only,
and Yours wholly, and Yours forever!
* * * * * *
Let us live as the expectants of a glorious
immortality. Lord, may we habitually remember, that here we are
pilgrims and strangers. Oh be our constant Guide in all our
journeyings. Let us never go but where You direct. Let us never hesitate
when and where You call us. Let us not arraign the allotments of Your
infinite love. May we feel that all the circumstances of life---its joys
and its sorrows--its comforts and crosses--are ordained by You in adorable
wisdom. Our way might have been hedged up with thorns, but it has been
full of mercy.
* * * * * *
Lord, we mourn over our dullness, and coldness, and
lukewarmness. We look forward to that day, when there shall be nothing to
mar the joy of entire and undivided devotion to you, and consecration to
Your service.
* * * * * *
O God, we come into Your blessed presence this evening,
anew to thank You for the unmerited tokens of Your love and mercy. On You
we are dependent for all the temporal bounties of our lot, and for all our
higher and more enduring spiritual privileges. If we have been enabled
this day to resist temptation, and to fight against sin, it is Your grace
which has enabled us to do so. We are weak and helpless. Our hearts are
ever dealing treacherously both with ourselves and You. The good that we
would do--that we don't do. And the evil that we would not do--that we do.
Nothing else but the merits of our blessed Redeemer can save us. We take
refuge in the fullness of His grace—in the completeness of His finished
work. Our souls would magnify the Lord, our spirits would rejoice in God
our Savior; for He who is mighty has done great things for us--holy is His
name.
* * * * * *
We take refuge anew at the foot of Your cross,
bringing our infinite unworthiness to Your infinite merit and
all-sufficiency. Wash us, blessed Savior, in the fountain opened for
sin and for uncleanness. Receive us graciously. Love us freely. Preserve
against the world's snares, and dangers, and temptations.
* * * * * *
May all worldly thoughts, and cares, and disquietudes,
be laid aside, that we may enjoy a foretaste of the everlasting
blessedness which is at Your right hand. We come, gracious Lord, relying
on Your mercy and love in Jesus. We would direct the undivided eye of
faith to His finished salvation; rejoicing that it is as free as ever, and
as efficacious as ever.
* * * * * *
Fill us with a deep and humbling sense of our guilt.
May we mourn an erring past, and receive grace for an unknown future. We
would seek this day anew to enkindle our love at Your holy altar. Inspire
us with resolutions of new obedience. May we no longer live unto
ourselves—to the world—to the creature—to sin. May the great Creator and
the adorable Redeemer occupy, without a rival, the throne of our
affections!
* * * * * *
We approach You, acknowledging our great unworthiness.
Fill us with a deep sense of our guilt. We have not the humbling
consciousness we ought to have of our exceeding vileness. We are apt to
plead vain excuses for our sins. Forgive us, O Lord—forgive us all, for
Your dear Son's sake. Wash these crimson and scarlet stains away,
in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. Blessed Lord, make
these unworthy hearts of ours Your temple—holy altars of gratitude and
love. May our lives form a continued thank-offering for Your manifold
mercies. May we count it our highest privilege, as well as our sacred
duty, to walk so as to please You.
* * * * * *
Almighty God, we desire, on this the morning of a new
day, to approach the footstool of Your Throne of grace. You are glorious
in Your holiness, fearful in praises, continually doing wonders. Your
eternity, no finite mind can fathom. Your purposes no accident can alter.
Your love no time can impair. We adore You as the God of our life; moment
by moment we are dependent on Your goodness; if You withdraw Your hand, we
perish. And yet, O Lord, we have not been living habitually mindful of
You. We have too often taken our blessings as matters of course. We have
had unthankful hearts in the midst of Your daily tokens of unmerited
mercy. Above all, we have been living in guilty forgetfulness of Your dear
Son. We have not been remembering as we ought, that but for Him and His
wondrous grace, we must have perished everlastingly! We have not felt, as
we ought, the attractive power of His cross. Other lords have had
dominion over us. Your love, which ought to have reigned paramount, has
been displaced by other affections. We have been "minding earthly things;"
too often anxious, and troubled, and concerned—about things that will
perish with the very using. Lord, have mercy upon us. Melt our hard and
obdurate hearts; renew them by the indwelling of Your gracious Spirit.
* * * * * *
All our hope is in Jesus. Help us, blessed Savior, else
we die! Give us to see the adaptation of Your character and work to all
the wants and weaknesses the trials and difficulties—the sorrows and sins
of our fallen and suffering and tempted natures. There is infinite
merit in You to meet all the magnitude of our infinite guilt. May we
exhibit more willingness to renounce all dependence on ourselves, that You
may be enthroned in our hearts, as Lord of all. Make us more heavenly
minded—more pilgrim-like. Our graces are feeble—-Lord, sustain them. Our
affections are lukewarm—Lord, revive them. Search us—try us—lead us. Use
whatever discipline You see best: may it all result in our growing
sanctification, in endearing to us Your favor, and bringing us to live
under a more constant and realizing sense of the things which cannot be
shaken.
* * * * * *
O Lord, our Heavenly Father, by whose good providence
we are spared from day to day—enable us to come this night into Your
presence, with hearts filled with gratitude and thankfulness for all Your
mercies. We would be deeply humbled on account of our unworthiness. What
are we—that we should be permitted to take Your name into our polluted
lips? We have sinned—what shall we say unto You, O preserver and Redeemer
of men? We have erred and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have
followed too much the devices and the desires of our own hearts unto evil.
We have been rebellious, and wayward, and selfish, and unthankful. We have
been living in the enjoyment of countless blessings without any due
acknowledgment of Your giving hand. Your kindness has too often been
abused, Your grace resisted. We have been worshiping and serving the
creature more than the Creator, who is God over all, blessed forevermore.
Lord, we flee anew to the clefts of the Smitten Rock—hide us there,
from that wrath and everlasting condemnation which these our manifold sins
have justly merited.
* * * * * *
What encouragement we have to trust Your love and
mercy! We can fear no evil when You are with us. We rejoice that we are in
Your hands; that all that our concerns are at Your disposal. Enable us to
rest, in calm composure, in Your infinite wisdom. Give us lowliness and
gentleness; kindness and unselfishness. May our own wills be merged in the
higher will of our Father in Heaven. Whatever be the discipline You
employ, may we meekly submit to it. May we watch all Your varied
teachings, and get profit and sanctification out of them all. May they
bring us nearer Heaven and nearer You.
* * * * * *
O Lord, we desire to draw near into Your blessed
presence on this the beginning of a new day. Accept of our morning
sacrifice. Enkindle our souls with a live coal from the inner sanctuary.
Throughout the day may our minds be stayed on You. May a sense of Your
favor and love be intermingled with all its duties—hallowing all its
pleasures, and softening all its trials. Lord, we have received our being
from Your hands; may the lives imparted by You, and sustained by You, be
consecrated to Your praise. May we feel the happiness of Your service, and
regard nothing that this world can give, as comparable to the enjoyment of
Your friendship and love. We thank You, above all, for the provisions of
the everlasting covenant. Gracious Savior, Shepherd, Guide, and Portion of
Your people—give us the assured sense of pardon and forgiveness through
the blood of the Cross. May we have no trust in anything but in Your
matchless work. May simple faith be followed by holy obedience. May we
know the blessedness of a holy life; of affections once alienated from
God, now alienated from the world. May no spiritual foe be permitted to
obtain the victory over us. May no idol to usurp Your place in our
souls.
* * * * * *
We adore You, gracious God, as the source of all our
happiness—the Author of all our blessings. Forbid that we should allow any
created good to dispossess Yourself from the supreme place in our
affections. May our one animating wish and longing be—to live, and walk,
and act, so as to please You.
* * * * * *
What are our lives—but testimonies to Divine
faithfulness? We look back with gratitude and thankfulness on a
wondrous past—the innumerable mercies which have been showered upon us,
and that, too, in the midst of our ingratitude and sin. Bless the Lord, O
our souls, and forget not all His benefits! Where would we now have been,
but for Your great love to us in Christ! On Him our every hope of pardon
and acceptance is built.
* * * * * *
Lord, enable us to manifest our love to You, by a holy
walk and life, adorning the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Give
us a tender conscience, a broken spirit, filial nearness, purity of heart,
consistency of conduct, uprightness of life. Bring us under the power
of renewed natures and purified affections. May all that is earthly
and carnal, all that is unamiable and selfish, all that is unkind and
unholy—be displaced by what is pure, elevated, lovely, and holy. Above
all, may we live under the influence of unseen realities. With our faces
Zionwards, may we feel that our true home is above.
* * * * * *
May Your sorrowing people be enabled to trust You in
the dark. May they look forward to that joyous period when they shall come
to stand in Your presence, and trace for themselves all the wisdom of Your
now inscrutable dealings.
* * * * * *
Most Blessed God, we desire to approach Your sacred
presence on this, the close of another day. Let our prayer come before You
as incense, and the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice.
Enable us to have a realizing view of Your Divine Majesty. Glory be to
Your Holy Name, that though Heaven is Your dwelling-place, You condescend
also to make every lowly heart Your habitation. Though You are the
greatest of all Beings, You are the kindest of all, and the
best of all. We come, weak and helpless and burdened, to that cross
where alone there is shelter and peace for the guilty. We will not
cloak nor mask our manifold sins and wickedness before the face of You,
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father. We would confess them with a humble,
lowly, penitent, and obedient heart. May Your love exercise a paramount
influence over us.
* * * * * *
We come, poor and needy, pleading Your own gracious
promise, to give "all sufficiency in all things" to those who seek You. We
have no offering of our own to present at Your footstool—we have
everything to receive. There is nothing between us and everlasting
destruction—but Your mercy in Jesus. Wandering in the wilderness, in a
solitary way, hungry and thirsty, our souls fainting within us—we would
drink of the streams of abundant grace which flow from the Smitten Rock.
Bring us to live, more and more every day, under the constraining
influence of Your love.
* * * * * *
Give us fresh victories over our secret corruptions.
May the power of evil wax weaker and weaker; and the power of Your grace
wax stronger and stronger. May we know, by joyful experience, the
happiness of true holiness.
* * * * * *
Give us reverential and child-like submission to Your
will. The lot may be cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is
of the Lord. Finite wisdom has no place in Your dealings. Not only are all
things ordained by You, but ordained in ineffable wisdom and love. May the
end of Your dispensations be our growing sanctification.
* * * * * *
O God, You are great—and greatly to be feared. Your
greatness is unsearchable. Heaven is Your throne—the earth is Your
footstool. Before You, cherubim and seraphim continually cry—'Holy, holy,
holy, is the Lord God Almighty!' Heaven and earth are full of the majesty
of Your glory. You are the sovereign controller of all events. You do
according to Your will in the armies of Heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. The Lord reigns. Man proposes—but You dispose! And You
dispose wisely and well.
* * * * * *
Whatever be the sphere in which Your good providence
has placed us, may it be our earnest endeavor to use our time, and
talents, and opportunities for You. May it be our highest desire—to walk
so as to please You. May it be our heaviest cross and trial—to incur Your
displeasure. In the performance of every-day duties, let us seek to make
this the directory of our conduct, "How would Jesus have acted here?"
* * * * * *
We come anew to You this night, weary and heavy-laden,
beseeching You to grant us the blessed sense of Your forgiving mercy. We
lament that we do not feel, as we ought to do—the burden of sin. Bring us
in poverty of soul—in self-denying, self-renouncing lowliness, to cry out,
"God be merciful to us, sinners." Show us the infinite adaptation of the
Redeemer, in His Person and work, to meet all the necessities of our tried
and tempted natures. May His name be as ointment poured forth. May His
blood be our only plea—His love our animating principle—His glory our
chief end.
* * * * * *
In Christ we are as secure as everlasting power and
wisdom and love can make us!
* * * * * *
How, Lord, shall we come into Your presence? Our very
prayers are enough to condemn us. Our purest services, if weighed
in the balances, would rise up in judgment against us. We come anew in the
name of Your dear Son, confessing, and desiring deeply to feel as we
confess—that we are sinners and the chief of sinners. We look to Your
grace abounding over all our sin—to Your infinite merit abounding over our
infinite demerit—to the everlasting righteousness and faithfulness of a
tried Redeemer, coming in the room of our imperfections. We would place
all our sins on the head of the immaculate Substitute. He alone can bear
them away into a land of oblivion, so that they can rise up to condemn us
no more. We bless You that He ever lives and reigns for our justification.
We rejoice to think of Him as our Great High Priest, with the names of His
covenant people engraved on His heart, bearing them along with Him in His
every approach to the throne. All power in Heaven and in earth is
entrusted to His hands!
* * * * * *
We desire anew to bless and praise You for Your
unspeakable gift—Jesus, the Son of Your love. There is not a ray of hope
which visits our souls—but emanates from His cross. He is the channel
of every blessing. We rejoice to think that at this moment He is
bending upon us a gracious eye from the Throne, and, with undying and
undiminished love, pleading our cause. Lord, we come, casting ourselves on
the fullness of Your grace in Him.
* * * * * *
May even trials and crosses become easy to us, when
borne in a spirit of tranquil submission. Let us be living as pilgrims on
the earth—weaned from what is uncertain and transitory here—and having our
affections fixed on the things which cannot be shaken, but remain forever.
Oh that Your love might be enthroned more than it is, as the ruling
passion of our souls—and Your glory more the end and aim of our being.
We adore you for Your free, sovereign, unmerited love in Jesus!
* * * * * *
We often confess with the lip—what the heart does
not feel. We often appear to be humble, when we are not humble—when our
hearts are full of self, and pride, and vainglory. We desire to come anew
into Your presence, casting ourselves on the free grace, and love, and
mercy of Jesus. We rejoice that in His cross all Your attributes have been
magnified.
* * * * * *
Known unto You are all our varied circumstances, our
peculiar trials, and temptations, and perplexities. Our every burden we
cast on a faithful God. Our souls, our lives, our cares—we leave entirely
in Your hands, saying, "Undertake for us."
* * * * * *
It is in the name, and trusting in the merits of Your
dear Son alone, that we can have any confidence in approaching You. We
rejoice that we have always a safe shelter at the foot of His cross.
We rejoice that there, every attribute of Your nature, and every
requirement of Your law, have been vindicated and magnified. Myriads are
now in glory to bear witness to the power and love of an all-gracious
Savior. Save us, else we perish! There is not a sin but You can
cancel—there is not the unsanctified heart which Your promised Spirit is
unable to convert into a Temple of the living God. Keep us from evil;
preserve us from temptation.
* * * * * *
May our weakness drive us to Almighty strength.
Keep us, by Your grace, from an uneven walk, from inconsistency of
conduct. May we be gentle, and lowly, meek, and forgiving. May we overcome
evil with good.
* * * * * *
We pray for all in sorrow—may they look to the hand
which was pierced for them, to bind up their bleeding wounds. May He who
graciously said of old, "I know their sorrows," be near, with His own
exalted sympathy, to minister to their varied experiences of trial.
* * * * * *
Give us grace to look away from our guilty selves
and our guilty doings—to Him who has done all and suffered all, and
procured all for us! Give us a deep and abiding sense of our vileness and
unworthiness. May every sin which has usurped the throne of our affections
be cast down, that God Himself may be our all in all. May we seek to
imbibe more of the spirit, and to copy more of the example, of our Divine
Redeemer. May we feel it to be our joy to serve Him, our
privilege to follow Him, our sorrow to vex and grieve Him.
* * * * * *
O Lord, we desire to approach the footstool of Your
Throne, adoring You as the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the
ends of the earth, who neither faints, nor is weary. Your wisdom never
fails. Your resources never exhaust. The kindness of the kindest knows a
limit, but Your kindness knows no limit. With Your friendship, and favor,
and blessing—we are rich—whatever else You may take away.
* * * * * *
We come unto You this morning in the name of Your dear
Son. Our sins reach unto the clouds. Blessed Savior, we would bury all our
transgressions in the depths of Your forgiving mercy. We seek no other
refuge, and need no other refuge—but You. Relying on Your finished work,
we can look calm and undismayed on the unknown future. We can cast all our
cares, as they arise, upon You, feeling not only that You care for us—but
that You make these cares Your own.
* * * * * *
During the past day, You have been compassing our
path—shielding us from danger, and guarding us from temptation. None is so
able, none is so willing, as You are—to befriend and guide us in every
perplexity. We can experience no real deprivation, and mourn no real
loss—if we have You. May we ever be near the atoning fountain;
continually hidden in the clefts of the Rock.
* * * * * *
We have nothing of our own but our sins; all that
is good in us comes from Jesus. Have mercy upon us, for His sake, in whom
You see no iniquity.
* * * * * *
We desire to take Jesus as our pattern in all things.
When in need of direction or guidance in any duty, or under any
perplexity—may this be ever our inquiry, "How would the Savior have
acted here?" May we imbibe His unselfish spirit. May life be a more
constant effort than it has been, to crucify self and to please God.
* * * * * *
Sanctify sorrow to the sons and daughters of
affliction. Let them not murmur under Your Fatherly chastisements. Let
them own Your Sovereignty, and take comfort in the thought that You do all
things well; seeing no hand but Yours in the bestowing and removing the
gifts of Your bounty. "The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad!"
* * * * * *
How unworthy are we to come to Your footstool. There is
enough of coldness in our prayers, of insincerity in our repentance, of
imperfection in our best attempts to serve You—that were we tried by
these, we must have perished forever! Our prayers themselves require
forgiveness. In You alone are our persons and our services rendered
acceptable. We flee to the foot of Your cross. Here we are safe,
though everywhere else we be in danger. Let us exercise a simple
confidence and trust in Your completed work. We bring every sin to Your
atoning blood. May we have You in all, and for all the
duties and difficulties and trials of life.
* * * * * *
Your thoughts are not as man's thoughts. Had they been
so, the sinner, with all his deep depravity, and unutterable vileness, and
base ingratitude, would not have been thus welcomed, pardoned, accepted,
loved. Bring us to live more constantly and habitually under the
constraining influence of Your Redeeming love. May these souls of
ours, ransomed at such a price—be dedicated to Your service.
* * * * * *
Keep us from pride—the master passion of our fallen and
corrupted natures.
* * * * * *
Our wishes, our desires, our interests, our joys, our
sorrows, our friends—we leave entirely to Your sovereign care and
disposal.
* * * * * *
May we be melted under a sense of our own great
unworthiness, and of His amazing love.
* * * * * *
May sin be more dreaded, and holiness more loved.
* * * * * *
Lord, break the world's alluring spell; strip it of
its vain fascinations! May we give evidence to all, that we are living
under the power and influence of gospel principles and renewed affections.
And even though trial and sorrow should at times be our allotted portion,
may we seek to show that the grace of God can impart an inner sunshine
which no outward darkness can obscure. May we increasingly experience—that
the way of holiness is the way of happiness.
* * * * * *
O Eternal, Everlasting God, Fountain of all happiness,
God of all grace--we desire to acknowledge anew with grateful hearts, Your
undeserved mercies. You have made our cup to overflow with
blessings. From the very threshold of our being, You have been our
Protector and Guardian. You have shielded us from unknown dangers. You
have warded off unseen calamities. No earthly friend could have loved us
and cared for us, like You! Helpless, hopeless, friendless, portionless by
nature, we cast ourselves on Him who is help and hope and friend and
portion--to all who seek Him. We have no trust but in His work. Sprinkle
these polluted hearts with His pardoning, peace-speaking blood. Hide us in
the clefts of the smitten Rock. Safely sheltered there, we can make the
triumphant challenge, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" We
mourn our distance and estrangement from You, our guilty departures, our
coldness and insensibility. Let Your wondrous patience and kindness lead
us to repentance. Turn us, Lord, and we shall be turned! Draw us and we
shall run after You! May every thought, and affection, and feeling, and
temper--be brought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus. May we love
what He loves, and hate what He hates. May we know the happiness of true
holiness; and rejoice in doing Your holy will.