O eternal and most gracious God, who hast made little things to signify
great, and conveyed the infinite merits of thy Son in the water of
baptism, and in the bread and wine of thy other sacrament, unto us,
receive the sacrifice of my humble thanks, that thou hast not only
afforded me the ability to rise out of this bed of weariness and
discomfort, but hast also made this bodily rising, by thy grace, an
earnest of a second resurrection from sin, and of a third, to
everlasting glory. Thy Son himself, always infinite in himself, and
incapable of addition, was yet pleased to grow in the Virgin's womb, and
to grow in stature in the sight of men. Thy good purposes upon me, I
know, have their determination and perfection in thy holy will upon me;
there thy grace is, and there I am altogether; but manifest them so unto
me, in thy seasons, and in thy measures and degrees, that I may not only
have that comfort of knowing thee to be infinitely good, but that also
of finding thee to be every day better and better to me; and that as
thou gavest Saint Paul the messenger of Satan, to humble him so for my
humiliation, thou mayst give me thyself in this knowledge, that what
grace soever thou afford me to-day, yet I should perish to-morrow if I
had not had to-morrow's grace too. Therefore I beg of thee my daily
bread; and as thou gavest me the bread of sorrow for many days, and
since the bread of hope for some, and this day the bread of possessing,
in rising by that strength, which thou the God of all strength hast
infused into me, so, O Lord, continue to me the bread of life: the
spiritual bread of life, in a faithful assurance in thee; the
sacramental bread of life, in a worthy receiving of thee; and the more
real bread of life in an everlasting union to thee. I know, O Lord,
that when thou hast created angels, and they saw thee produce fowl, and
fish, and beasts, and worms, they did not importune thee, and say, Shall
we have no better creatures than these, no better companions than these?
but stayed thy leisure, and then had man delivered over to them, not
much inferior in nature to themselves. No more do I, O God, now that by
thy first mercy I am able to rise, importune thee for present
confirmation of health; nor now, that by thy mercy I am brought to see
that thy correction hath wrought medicinally upon me, presume I upon
that spiritual strength I have; but as I acknowledge that my bodily
strength is subject to every puff of wind, so is my spiritual strength
to every blast of vanity. Keep me therefore still, O my gracious God, in
such a proportion of both strengths, as I may still have something to
thank thee for, which I have received, and still something to pray for
and ask at thy hand.