God and Myself

Lord God Almighty,

Your understanding is unsearchable and infinite,

Your arm cannot be restrained,

Your activity extends through limitless space,

All works hang on your care,

With you all time is a present now.

Holy is your wisdom, power, mercy, ways, works.

How can I stand before you

   with my numberless and flagrant offences?

I have often loved darkness,

   embraced empty lies,

   shunned your given mercies,

   trampled underfoot your beloved Son's name,

   mocked your blessings,

   flattered you with my lips,

   and broken your covenant.

It is only because of your compassion that I am not consumed.

Lead me to repentance, and save me from despair;

Let me come to you renouncing, condemning, loathing myself,

   but hoping in the grace that flows even to the chief of sinners.

At the cross may I contemplate the evil of sin, and abhor it,

   look on him whom I pierced,

      as one slain for me, and by me.

May I never despise his death by fearing its ability to save me.

And whatever cross I am required to bear,

   let me see him carrying a heavier one.

Teach me in health to think of sickness,

   in the brightest hours to be ready for darkness;

   in life prepare me for death.

Thus may my soul rest in you, O immortal and transcendent one,

   revealed as you are in the Person and work of your Son,

      the Friend of sinners.

The Cry of a Convicted Sinner

O Righteous and Holy King,

In whose hand is my life and whose are all my ways,

Keep me from fluttering around the life of faith;

   fix me firm in it,

   for I am non-committal;

   my decisions are smoke and vapor,

   and I do not glorify you,

   or behave according to your will;

Please do not cut down my life before my intentions grow into actions,

   and the budding of my soul into full flower,

   for  you are forbearing and good,

   patient and kind.

Save me from myself,

   from the trickery and deceits of sin,

   from the treachery of my perverse nature,

   from denying your charge against my offenses

   from a life of continual rebellion against you,

   from wrong principles, views and aims;

   for I know that all my thoughts, affections,

      desires and pursuits are alienated from you.

I have acted as if I hated you, although you are love itself;

   have striven to tempt you to the uttermost,

   to wear our your patience;

   have lived wickedly in word and action.

Had I been a ruler

   I would long ago have crushed such a rebel;

Had I been a father

   I would long since have rejected my child.

O, Father of my spirit,

   King of my life,

      cast me not into destruction,

      drive my not from your presence,

      but wound my heart that it may be healed;

      break it that your own hand 

         may make it whole.

The Convicting Spirit

Blessed Spirit, Author of all grace and comfort,

Come, work repentance in my soul;

Show sin to me in its hideous colors that I may hate it;

Melt my heart by the majesty and mercy of God;

Show me my ruined self and the help there is in him;

Teach me to behold my Creator,

   his ability to save,

   his arms outstretched,

   and his heart big for me.

May I confide in his power and love,

   commit my soul to him without reserve,

   bear his image, observe his laws, pursue his service,

   and be through time and eternity

      a monument to the efficacy of his grace,

      and a trophy of his victory.

Make me willing to be saved in his way

   seeing nothing in myself, but all in Jesus:

Help me not only to receive him but

   to walk in him,

   depend upon him,

   commune with him,

   be conformed to him,

   and follow him,

      imperfect, but still pressing forward,

      not complaining about work, but valuing rest,

      not murmuring under trials, but thankful for my state.

Give me that faith which is the means of salvations,

   and the main producer of all godliness

May I be saved by grace through faith,

   live by faith,

   feel the joy of faith,

   do the work of faith.

Finding nothing in myself, may I find in Christ

   wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption

The Awakened Sinner

 O my forgetful soul,

Wake up from your wandering dream;

   turn from chasing empty things

   look inward, forward, upward

   view yourself,

   reflect upon yourself,

      who and what you are, why you are here

      what you must soon be.

You are a creature of God

   formed and furnished by him,

   housed in a body like a shepherd in his tent;

Do you not desire to know God's ways?

 

O God,

You injured, neglected, provoked benefactor

   when I think upon your greatness and your goodness

   I am ashamed at my dullness,

   I blush to lift up my face,

   for I have foolishly erred.

Should I go on neglecting you,

   when every one of your rational creatures should love you

   and take every care to please you?

I confess that you have not been in all my thoughts,

   that the knowledge of you as the end of my being has been strangely overlooked,

   that I have never seriously considered my heart-need

But although my mind is perplexed and divided,

   and my nature is perverse,

   yet my secret dispositions still desire you.

Let me not delay to come to you;

Break the fatal enchantment that binds my evil affections

   and bring me to a happy mind that rests in you,

   for you have made me and cannot forget me.

Let your Spirit teach me the vital lessons of Christ,

   for I am slow to learn;

And hear my broken cries.

The Gospel Way

Blessed Lord Jesus,  

No human mind could conceive or invent the gospel.  

Acting in eternal grace, you yourself are both 

   the gospel messenger and the gospel message, 

   lived out on earth through infinite compassion, 

   applying your life to insult, injury, death, 

   that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed. 

Blessing be to you, O Father, for devising this way, 

Eternal thanks to you, O Lamb of God, for opening this way, 

Praise everlasting to you, O Holy Spirit, for applying this way to my heart. 

Glorious Trinity, impress the gospel on my soul, 

   until its virtue pervades every aspect of my life;  

Let it be heard, acknowledged, professed, felt.

Teach me to do everything needful to secure this might blessing; 

Help me to give up every darling lust,

   to submit heart and life to its command,

   to have it always in my will,

      controlling my affections, 

      molding my understanding;

   to keep strictly to your ways,

       not departing from them in any instance,

       even if doing so would enable me to escape the evil of others, inconvenience or danger. 

Take me to the cross to seek glory from its infamy; 

Strip me of every pleasing pretense that I am making my own righteousness. 

O gracious Redeemer,

   I have neglected you too long,

   often crucified you,

   crucified you afresh by my unrepentant ways, 

   put you to open shame.

I thank you for the patience that has borne with me so long,  

   and for the grace that now makes me want to be yours.  

O unite me to yourself with inseparable bonds,

   that nothing may ever draw me back from you, my Lord, my Savior.  

The Spirit's Work

O God the Holy Spirit,  

You who proceeds from the Father and the Son, 

   have mercy on me. 

When thou first hovered over chaos, order came to life,  

   beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth.  

Move, I pray, upon my messed up heart; 

Take away the sickness of out-of-control desires and hateful lusts;  

Lift the mists and darkness of unbelief; 

Brighten my soul with the pure light of truth; 

Make it fragrant as the garden of paradise,  

   rich with every good fruit, 

   beautiful with heavenly grace,  

   radiant with rays of divine light. 

Fulfill in me the glory of your divine ministries; 

Be my comforter, light, guide, sanctifier;  

Take of the things of Christ and show them to my soul;

Through you may l daily learn more of his love, 

   grace, compassion, faithfulness, beauty;

Lead me to the cross and show me his wounds, 

   the hateful nature of evil, the power of Satan;  

May l there see my sins as 

   the nails that pinned him there, 

   the cords that bound him, 

   the thorns that tore him, 

   the sword that pierced him.  

Help me to find in his death the reality and immensity of his love.  

Open for me the wondrous volumes of truth in his, ‘It is finished’.  

Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of 

   atonement achieved, payment completed, 

   satisfaction made, guilt erased, 

   my debt paid, my sins forgiven, 

   my life redeemed, my soul saved, 

   hell vanquished, heaven opened,  eternity made mine.  

O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons. 

Write them upon my heart, that my walk would be sin-hating, sin-fleeing, and Christ-loving;  And allow no snare of Satan to beguile or deceive me.

The Spirit of Jesus

Lord Jesus Christ,

Fill me with your Spirit

    that I may be occupied with his presence.

I am blind - send him to make me see;

   dark - let him say, ‘Let there be light’!

May he give me faith to behold 

   my name engraved on your hand,

   my soul and body redeemed by your blood,

   my sinfulness covered by your life of pure obedience. 

Replenish me by his revealing grace, 

   that l may realise my unbreakable union with you;

   that I may know you have married me to yourself for ever,  

      in righteousness, love, mercy, faithfulness; 

   that l am one with you, 

      as a branch with its trunk, 

      as a building with its foundation. 

May his comforts cheer me in my sorrows,

   his strength sustain me in my trials,

   his blessings revive me in my weariness,

   his presence render me a fruitful tree of holiness,

   his might establish me in peace and joy,

   his promptings make me ceaseless in prayer,

   his enlivening kindle in me undying devotion.

Send him as the searcher of my heart,

   to show me more of my corruptions and helplessness

   that I may flee to thee,

      cling to thee

      rest on thee

   as the beginning and end of my salvation. 

May I never grieve him by my indifference and waywardness,

   grieve him by my cold welcome, 

   resist him by my hard rebellion.  

Answer my prayers, O Lord, for your great name's sake.