A Present Salvation

Creator and Redeemer God,

Author of all existence, source of all blessedness,
I adore you for making me capable of knowing you,
   for giving me reason and conscience,
   for leading me to desire you;
I praise you for the revelation of yourself in the gospel,
   for your heart as a dwelling place of pity,
   for your thoughts of peace towards me,
   for your patience and your graciousness,
   for the vastness of your mercy.
You have moved my conscience to know how
   the guilty can be pardoned,
   the unholy sanctified,
   the poor enriched.
May I be always amongst those who not only hear but know you,
   who walk with and rejoice in you,
   who take you at your word and find life there.

O keep me always longing
   for a present salvation in Holy Spirit comforts and rejoicings
   for spiritual graces and blessings,
   for help to value my duties as well as my privileges.
May I cherish simplicity and godly sincerity of character.
Help me to be in reality before you
      as in appearance I am before men,
   to be religious before I profess religion,
   to leave the world before I enter the church,
   to set my affections on things above,
   to shun forbidden follies and vanities,
   to be a dispenser of as well as a partaker of grace,
   to be prepared to bear evil as well as to do good.
O God, make me worthy of this calling,
   that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me
      and I in him.

God Enjoyed

O incomprehensible but prayer-hearing God,

Known, but beyond knowledge,
   revealed, but unrevealed,
   my wants and welfare draw me to you
   for you have never said, "Seek me in vain".
To you I come in my difficulties, necessities, distresses;
   possess me with yourself,
      with a spirit of grace and supplication,
      with a prayerful attitude of mind,
      with access into warmth of fellowship,
   so that in the ordinary things of life
      my thoughts and desires may rise to you,
   and in constantly looking to you I may find a resource
      that will soothe my sorrows,
      sanctify my successes,
      and equip me in all ways for dealings
      with my fellow men.
I bless you that you have made me capable
   of knowing you, the author of all being,
   of resembling you, the perfection of all excellency,
   of enjoying you, the source of all happiness.
O God, be with me in every part of my taxing and trying life journey;
   I need the same counsel, defense and comfort
      I found at my beginning with you.
Let my walk with you be more at the forefront of my mind,
   more observable to those around me.
While Jesus is representing me in heaven,
   may I reflect him on earth,
While he pleads my cause, may I show forth his praise.

Please continue the gentleness of your goodness towards me,
And whether I wake or sleep, let your presence go with me,
   and your blessing attend me.
You have led me on and I have found your promises true,
I have been sorrowful, but you have been my help,
   fearful, but you have delivered me,
   despairing, but you have lifted me up.
Your guarantees are ever upon me,
   And I praise you, O God.

Divine Mercies

O Eternal God,

Yours is surpassing greatness, unspeakable goodness, super-abundant grace;
I can more easily count the sands on the ocean's shore
   than number your favors towards me;
I know only a part, but that part exceeds all praise.
I thank you for personal mercies,
   a measure of health, preservation of body,
   comforts of house and home, sufficiency of food and clothing,
   continuance of mental wellness,
   my family, their mutual help and support
      the delights of domestic harmony and peace,
      the seats now filled that might have been vacant,
   my country, church, Bible, faith.
But, O, how I mourn my sin, ingratitude, vileness,
   the days that add to my guilt,
   the scenes that witness my offending tongue;
All things in heaven, earth, around, within, without, condemn me -
   the sun which sees my misdeeds,
   the darkness which is light to you,
   the cruel accuser who justly charges me,
   the good angels who have been provoked to leave me,
   your face which scans my secret sins,
   your righteous law, your holy Word,
   my sin-soiled conscience, my private and public life,
   my neighbors, myself -
      all write dark things against me.
I deny them not, offer no excuse, but confess,
   "Father, I have sinned";
Yet still I live, and fly repenting to your outstretched arms;
   you will not cast me off, for Jesus brings me near,
   you will not condemn me, for he died in my place,
   you will not mark my mountains of sin, for he leveled all,
   and his beauty covers my deformities.
O my God, I bid farewell to sin by clinging to his cross,
   hiding in his woulds, and sheltering in his side.

The Divine Will

O Lord,

I hang on you; I see, believe, live,
   when your will, not mine, is done;
I can plead nothing in myself
   in regard of any worthiness and grace,
   in regard of your providence and promises,
   but only your good pleasure.
If your mercy makes me poor and vile, blessed be you!
Prayers arising from my needs are preparations for future mercies;
Help me to honor you by believing before I feel,
   for great is the sin if I make feeling a cause of faith.

Show me what sins hide you from me
   and eclipse your love;
Help me to humble myself for past evils,
   to be resolved to walk with more care,
For if do not walk in holiness before you,
   how can I be assured of my salvation?

It is the meek and humble who are shown your covenant,
   know your will, are pardoned and healed,
   who by faith depend and rest upon grace,
   who are sanctified and enlivened,
   who evidence your love.
Help me to pray in faith and so find you will,
   by leaning hard on your rich free mercy,
   by believing you will give what you have promised;
Strengthen me to pray with the conviction
   that whatever I receive is your gift,
   so that I may pray until prayer be granted;
Teach me to believe that all degrees of mercy arise
   from several degrees of prayer,
   that when begins it is imperfect and must grow,
   as dry ground opens wider and wider
      until rain comes.

So shall I wait for your will, pray for it to be done,
   and by your grace become fully obedient.

The Mover

O Supreme Moving Cause,

May I always be submitted to you
   be dependent upon you
   be found in the path where you walk
      and where your Spirit moves,
   be aware of wandering from you,
      of becoming numb to your love.
You do not move men like stones,
   but you give them life,
   not to enable them to move without you,
   but in submission to you, the first mover.
O Lord, I am astonished at the difference
   between my receivings and my deservings,
   between the state I am now in and my past gracelessness,
   between the heaven I am bound for and the hell I have earned.
Who made me to differ, but you?
   for I was no more ready to receive Christ
      than were others;
I could not have begun to love you had you not first loved me,
   or been willing unless you had first made me so.
O that such a crown should fit the head of such a sinner!
   such high advancement be for such an unfruitful person!
   such joys for so vile a rebel!
Infinite wisdom cast the design of salvation
   into the mold of purchase and freedom;
Let wrath deserved be written on the door of hell,
But the free gift of grace on the gate of heaven.
I know that my sufferings are often the result of my sinning,
   but in heaven both shall cease;
Grant me to attain this haven and be done with sailing,
   and may the gales of your mercy blow me safely into harbor.
Let your love draw me nearer to yourself,
   wean me from sin, make me dead to this world,
   and make me ready for my departure hence.
Secure me by your grace as I sail across this stormy sea.

The All-Good

My God,

You have helped me to see,
   that whatever good is in the blessings of being honored and of happiness,
      how good is he who gives them,
      and can withdraw them;
   that blessedness is not so much found
      in receiving good from you and in you,
      but in showing your glory and virtue;
   that it is an amazing thing for you to be seen
      in a creature as you speak, act
      fill, and shine through it;
   that nothing is good but you,
   that I am near good when I am near you,
   that to be like you is a glorious thing:
This is my magnet, my attraction.

You are all my good in times of peace,
   my only support in days of trouble,
   my one sufficiency when life shall end.
Help me to see how good your will is in all,
   and even when it crosses mine
   teach me to be pleased with it.
Grant me to feel you in shelter and food and every providence,
   and to see that your many gifts and creatures
   are but your hands and fingers taking hold of me.
O bottomless fountain of all good,
   I give myself to you out of love,
      for all I have or own is yours,
         my possessions, family, church, self,
      to do with as you will,
      to honor yourself by me, and by all that is mine.
If it is in harmony with your eternal counsels,
   the purpose of your grace,
   and the great ends of your glory,
   then bestow upon me the blessings of your comforts;
If not, let me accept
   your wiser determinations.

The Great God

O Fountain of All Good,

Destroy in me every lofty thought
   Break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds,
Annihilate each clinging shred of
   self-righteousness,
Plant in me true lowliness of spirit,
Humble me to a state of loathing and abhorring my sinful self,
Open in me a fountain of penitential tears,
Break me, then bind me up;
Thus will my heart be a ready dwelling
   for my God;
   Then can the Father take up residence in me,
   Then can the blessed Jesus come with healing in his touch
   Then can the Holy Spirit descend in sanctifying grace;
O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God,
   inhabit me, a temple consecrated to your glory.
When you are present, evil cannot abide;
In your fellowship is fullness of joy,
Beneath your smile is peace of conscience,
By your side no fears disturb,
   no anxieties banish rest of mind,
With you my heart shall bloom with fragrance;
Make me fit, through repentance,
   for your indwelling.
Nothing exceeds your power,
Nothing is too great for you to do,
Nothing too good for you to give.
   Infinite is your might, boundless your love,
   limitless your grace, glorious your saving name.
Let angels sing for
      sinners repenting,
      prodigals restored,
      backsliders reclaimed,
      Satan's captives released,
      blind eyes opened,
      broken hearts bound up,
      the despondent cheered,
      the self-righteous stripped,
      the legalist driven from a refuge of lies,
      the ignorant enlightened,
      and saints built up in their holy faith.
I ask great things of a great God.