"I die daily."--1 Cor. xv. 31.
O God Almighty, Father of all mercies, God of all grace, I beseech
Thee to look down upon me at this time in Thy great kindness; let me
feel it to be good for me to draw near unto God.
I desire to come acknowledging my great unworthiness. Forgive,
gracious Lord, my many, many sins of thought, word, and deed; wash out
all the defilements of the day. If I were to be tried by the doings of
any single hour, how would I stand condemned! I am a miracle of mercy;
kept, sustained, upheld, moment by moment, by the power of God.
Blessed Saviour! where could I have been this night _but_ for _Thee_?
Thou art praying for me, as for Thy faltering disciple of old, that my
faith fail not. I _do_ rejoice to think that the same hand that was
once outstretched for me on _the_ cross is now lifted up in pleading
love before the Throne, and that He who is _for_ me is greater far
than all that can be _against_ me! Oh strengthen me with all might by
Thy Spirit in the inner man. Subdue my corruptions, crucify all
remaining sin. Let me die to the world; let me not imbibe its false
maxims, conform to its sinful tastes, or accord with its evil
practices. Let self in all its manifold forms be crucified, and God
exalted. Come, Lord! search me, try me, prove me, and see if there be
any wicked way in me. Let me maintain a constant and habitual hatred
of those sins that do more easily beset me; may I exercise a holy
jealousy over my own heart. Let no prosperity be strengthening my ties
earthward, and weakening my ties heavenward. If Thou givest me much of
worldly good, may I write upon it all, "the things which are seen are
temporal." May it be my exalted ambition to use it for Thy glory. If
Thou sendest trial, let it issue in the peaceable fruits of
righteousness, producing a child-like acquiescence in Thy present
dealings. Let me never forget my pilgrim attitude. Let me be ever
looking forward to that joyous time when, "clean escaped" from the
corruptions that are in the world, I shall stand "faultless before the
Throne." Meanwhile, make me more heavenly-minded, copying the example
of Him who was meek and lowly in heart.
Let me be gentle and forgiving, let me not harbor unkind suspicions of
others, but consider myself, lest I also be tempted. O give me the
_character_ of Heaven on this side of death, that when I come to pass
through the swellings of Jordan I may be prepared for the joyous
welcome awaiting me on the shores of glory, "Enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord!"
Have mercy on a world lying in wickedness! Pity the careless; arouse
the slumbering; support the weak; succour the poor and those that have
no helper. Bless Thy Church everywhere. May Thy ministering servants
hide _themselves_, that their Lord may be exalted.
Take the charge of me and of all near and dear to me this night. Keep
me, O keep me, King of kings, beneath Thine own Almighty wings. Lying
down in Thy fear may I awake in Thy favor, fitted for all the duties
of a new day; and all I ask is for Jesus' sake. Amen.
"LET MY PRAYER BE SET FORTH BEFORE THEE AS
INCENSE: AND THE LIFTING UP OF MY HANDS
AS THE EVENING SACRIFICE."