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TOPIC: MacDuff, John - Gates of Prayer (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 27 Day 27
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27th Morning—VISION AND FRUITION
"As for me, I will behold your face in righteousness—I shall be satisfied, when I awake with your likeness." Psalm 17:15
God Almighty, who are ever good and doing good—Father of all mercies and God of all grace—I thank You for the gladsome return of day. I thank You for the glories of sunshine—for the varied delights of this beautiful earth—for its summer and winter—its seed-time and harvest—its grateful alternation and vicissitude of season. You have never left Yourself without a witness, in that You are continually doing us good; giving us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and with gladness. Your tender mercies are over all Your works. Do grant me Your benediction, as I wait upon You anew at the Gates of the morning. Shine upon me, O better Sun of Righteousness, with the brightness of Your rising. May no cloud of sin or unbelief be suffered to obscure Your radiance, or to dim the sense of Your favor and love.
I desire to make a full and unreserved acknowledgment of all my many offences. You know how apt I am to offer vain excuses for my faults; to plead my inability, when it is my unwillingness—to call that my misfortune, which is my sin. Truly I have no palliation or extenuation for my transgressions. Enter not into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight shall no man living be justified.
I bless You that in Your dear Son, You are waiting to be gracious; that in Him I can even now behold Your face in righteousness. My own heart condemns me, and You are greater than my heart. But let Your hand be upon the Man of Your right hand, on the Son of Man whom You have made strong for Yourself. Behold, O God, my Shield, and look on the face of Your anointed.
And while I turn to His cross for pardon and reconciliation—I would pray that Your Holy Spirit may fulfill within me all the good pleasure of Your goodness, and the work of faith with power. May it be my habitual and constant endeavor to aim after that holiness of heart and life, without which no man can see You or enjoy You. Keep me from, and keep from me, all that would be detrimental to my soul's interests. Deliver me from hardness of heart, from worldliness and uncharitableness, from those absorbing anxieties of earth which tend to dim and impair the spiritual vision. Make me a more loving and obedient follower of the Great Exemplar; seeking daily to walk in His blessed footsteps, and to imbibe His blessed spirit; and thus rising to the true dignity and greatness of redeemed humanity, to become gradually more and more fit for His full vision and fruition, when I shall be like Him, for I shall see Him as He is.
While I pray for myself, I would pray, also, for all whom it is alike my privilege and duty to remember at the throne of the heavenly grace. May the voice of rejoicing and salvation be heard this day in the tabernacles of those I love. Shield their households from danger, and their souls from sin. Beholding now Your face in righteousness—may they, too, at last wake up from the dream of earth in the morning of immortality, wearing Your likeness, and tasting the joys of Your own beatitude—"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
Have mercy on the sick, the sorrowing, the bereaved; those who have secret, unspoken afflictions, with which no stranger—no friend—can intermeddle. If they see not yet any bright light in the cloud, may they take comfort in the promise—that "at evening time it shall be light."
Bless Your Zion everywhere. Hasten the coronation day of the Church triumphant. Let the Year of Your Redeemed speedily come, when all wrongs shall be redressed—all calumnies and aspersions wiped away. Return and visit the Vine which Your own right hand has planted, and the branch You have made strong for Yourself.
I put myself this day under Your gracious care. I would re-enter the battle of life girded with Your strength, clothed with the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. Let me engage in nothing that will violate the dictates of conscience, or do despite unto the Spirit of Grace. May I seek that—my hands may be clean—my heart pure—my words kind—my actions unselfish. May I, and all near and dear to me, live and walk and act, from day to day and from hour to hour, as we would wish we had done, in a dying hour. With the glorious prospect of at last beholding You face to face, may this urgent question exercise over us an ever-present influence, "What kind of people ought we to be, in all holy conversation and godliness; looking for, and hastening unto the coming of the Day of God?" Oh may we be diligent, that we may be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless.
Hear, O God, in Heaven Your dwelling-place, these my morning supplications—when you hear, forgive, and grant me an answer in peace; for the sake of Him whom You hear always—Jesus Christ, my only Lord and Savior. Amen.
27th Evening—THE GRAND PERSUASION
"For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." 2 Tim. 1:12
Almighty God, Father of all mercies, draw You near to me in Your infinite loving kindness, as I now commend myself, soul and body, to You in well-doing, as unto a Faithful Creator. The shadows of night have again gathered around me. I would close the portals of another day with the golden key of prayer; rejoicing that You are more willing to hear than I am to ask. I would retire to rest with Your blessing and benediction breathed upon me. May He who came of old to His disciples at eventide, and said unto them, "Peace be unto you," abide with me, "for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent."
I desire to look, blessed Savior, with the unwavering eye of faith, to Your completed work and unchanging promises. I know whom I have believed. You are all I need, living or dying. I commit my temporal as well as my everlasting interests to Your keeping—all that concerns alike this world, and the next. I rejoice that they are in safe custody in Your hands. To whom can I go but unto You? You have the words of eternal life.
Deepen within me the sense of my solemn responsibilities. Keep me ever mindful of "that Day"—that the Great Being who is now my omniscient witness, will shortly be my Judge. I rejoice to think that He who is then to be exalted on a Throne of glory, is that same gracious Redeemer who is now seated on a Throne of grace. "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!" O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world—who has done all, and suffered all, and procured all on my behalf—and out of whose infinite fullness I have the promise of receiving grace for grace—do strengthen me with might by Your Spirit in the inner man. Defend me from every snare and danger which may beset my path. Be my Shield in prosperity—my Refuge in adversity—my Comforter in sorrow—my Light in darkness—my Hope in death—my Defender and Vindicator in judgment—my Joy and Portion through all eternity.
Forgive, Lord, whatever I have said amiss, or done amiss this day. If in my worldly occupations there has been any turning aside from the path of duty or rectitude—any tampering with temptation and sin—any exhibition of temper or passion inconsistent with my Christian profession—any impurity of thought or selfishness of motive—Lord, forgive me. Sprinkle my erring heart anew with the covenant token. Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins, and allow them not to have dominion over me. Come, Lord, and search me; try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. May the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, expel whatever is unholy, and transform me more and more into the image and likeness of Your dear Son.
Every blessing I ask for myself, I implore in behalf of all near and dear to me. May they too be led to make this sacred, everlasting deposit, into the hands of the Great Redeemer. O forbid that His advent should overtake any of us as a thief. May we be looking for it, longing for it, preparing for it, living for it. The Lord grant unto us that we may find mercy of the Lord on that day.
Let the wanderer be brought back to the fold. Let the impenitent and stouthearted be subdued and humbled; and let those who love You be as the sun when he goes forth in his strength. Support the sick and the distressed. Pity the careless—reclaim the backsliding. Comfort the widow, the orphan, the fatherless, the poor also, and him who has no helper. May trial result in the quickening and sanctifying of Your true people. May the dying be prepared for their great change—may the light of Your love cheer them in their passage through the dark valley—may the hour of departure be to them the birthday of glory everlasting. And may those who have recently committed their loved ones to the silence of the tomb, exult in the assurance which robs Death of its sting and the Grave of its victory—that this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal immortality; and that those who sleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him.
I would lie down to rest this night, at peace with You, and in charity with all mankind. O Shepherd of Israel, who never slumbers, be around my pillow during the unconscious hours of sleep. If spared until tomorrow, may I awake refreshed and invigorated for the duties of another day, and for renewed consecration to Your will and service. Through Jesus Christ my only Lord and Savior. Amen.