Devotional exercises; Devotional literature; Prayers; Spiritual life -- Christianity
I have in myself no might, no power, no sufficiency, to do any of
these things. My sufficiency is of Thee. Do Thou make Thy grace
sufficient for me, and perfect strength in weakness. Keep me from all
evil that would be likely to grieve me. Wean me from all that is
fleeting and perishable here, and may all Thy dealings towards me
issue in the confirmed habit of a holy life. If Thou sendest
affliction, let me regard it as Thine own way of dispensing spiritual
blessing, and bow with lowly submission to Thy sovereign appointments.
Bless all my beloved friends. Keep them as the apple of Thine eye.
Hide them under the shadow of Thy everlasting wings. Sanctify trial to
all in sorrow. Let the widow and the fatherless put their trust in
Thee. Succor the poor and him that hath no helper. Support the aged.
Sustain the dying. May we all bear one another's burdens and so fulfil
the law of Christ.
As the pillar of cloud has been with me by day, so may the pillar of
fire be with me this night. Watch over me during the unconscious hours
of sleep, and when I awake may I be still with Thee. And all I ask is
for the sake of Jesus Christ, my only Saviour. Amen.
"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS
INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS
AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."
FOURTH EVENING.
FOR SANCTIFYING GRACE.
"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth."--John xvii. 17.
Blessed Lord, do Thou bend Thy pitying eye of love and mercy upon me
this evening. Draw Thou near to me as I venture once more on praying
and on pleading ground. I desire to feel that I am one night nearer
glory. Oh, enable me to feel, as night after night is silently
stealing over my head, that my seasons and opportunities of grace are
fleeting fast away, and that soon the night cometh, wherein I can work
no more.
Alas! O God, how little have I improved the time that is past! I am a
wonder to myself, that with all my deep ingratitude and utter vileness
I am yet permitted to approach Thy footstool: I have sinned against
light and love--warning and mercy--grace and privilege. The retrospect
of life is a retrospect of guilt. I mourn over my manifold
shortcomings--the alienation of my heart from Thee--the fitfulness of
my spiritual frames--the ebbings and flowings in the tide of my love.
When tried by the lofty and unerring standard of Thy law, how are my
best actions and duties marred with defilement! How much self-seeking
and self-glorying--how little animated by the predominating motive of
love to Thee, and singleness of eye to Thy service!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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