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TOPIC: MacDuff, John - Family Prayers 1885 (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 05 Fourth week
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SUNDAY MORNING
We will extol You, our God, O King, we will bless Your name forever and ever; every day will we bless You, and we will praise Your name forever and ever. We thank You for the return of another Sabbath. Again have You permitted us to awake in safety, and not suffered our eyes to sleep the sleep of death. May it prove a holy day of rest to each of us; a rest from sin and a rest in God. May we welcome with gladness of heart the return of these peaceful hours. May all vain and worldly thoughts be set aside; and may we be enabled to worship You in the beauty of holiness.
But how, Lord, shall we come into Your presence? Our very prayers are enough to condemn us. Our purest services, if weighed in the balances, would rise up in judgment against us. We mourn our guilty insensibility to sin; we do not sufficiently see its vileness; we have no depressing consciousness, as we ought to have, of the plague of our own hearts. We have little realizing sense of the infinite purity of Your holy, righteous law. We come anew in the name of Your dear Son, confessing, and desiring deeply to feel as we confess, that we are sinners and the chief of sinners. We look to Your grace abounding over all our sin—to Your infinite merit abounding over our infinite demerit—to the everlasting righteousness and faithfulness of a tried Redeemer, coming in the room of our imperfections. We would place all our sins on the head of the immaculate Substitute. He alone can bear them away into a land of oblivion, so that they can rise up to condemn us no more. We bless You that He ever lives and reigns for our justification. We rejoice to think of Him as our Great High Priest, with the names of His covenant people engraved on His heart, bearing them along with Him in His every approach to the throne; that all power in Heaven and in earth is entrusted to His hands!
Nothing befalls us but by His direction; nothing is appointed us but what He sees to be for our good. Lord Jesus, we commit our temporal and our everlasting interests, to Your keeping. We rejoice that to You we can confidently entrust them. Undertake You for us. Carry on within us Your own work in Your own way. Keep us from all evil that is likely to grieve us. May we know the truth of Your own gracious promise, "As your day is—so shall your strength be."
We pray for all in sickness and distress; for those laid on beds of languishing; for those deprived of beloved relatives, and who are mourning those who have died. May it please You to bind up their wounds, and to soothe their sorrows: direct the unwavering eye of faith to that better world, where every weight of suffering shall be exchanged for the exceeding weight of glory, and where God shall wipe away all tears from off all faces.
Bless our own family and friends, both present and absent. May the invisible chain of Your covenant-love bind us all together. Bless our children; may they be led to remember their Creator in the days of their youth, and to know that the way of holiness is the way of happiness. Strengthen this day the ministers of the everlasting gospel; may great grace be imparted to them; may they come forth fully fraught with the blessings of the gospel of peace. May all Your churches, walking in the fear of God and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, everywhere be multiplied. Promote unity and concord among Your true people. May that predicted period soon arrive, when Ephraim shall not vex Judah, nor Judah vex Ephraim; when all shall see eye to eye and heart to heart.
Take us now under Your care, and enable us, whether waking or sleeping, to live together with You; and all that we ask, is for the sake of Him whom You hear always; and in whose most precious name and words we pray.
SUNDAY EVENING
Most blessed God, whose nature and whose name is Love, we desire to draw near into Your gracious presence on this the close of another Sabbath. We thank You for all the tokens of Your mercy we have been permitted to enjoy. Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. Under the realizing sense of Your presence and nearness, we would compose ourselves to rest, with our minds stayed on You.
We desire anew to bless and praise You for Your unspeakable gift—-Jesus, the Son of Your love. There is not a ray of hope which visits our souls but emanates from His cross. He is the channel of every blessing. We rejoice to think that He is as willing as He is able to save "to the uttermost," that at this moment He is bending upon us a gracious eye from the Throne, and, with undying and undiminished love, pleading our cause. Lord, we come, casting ourselves on the fullness of Your grace in Him. Sanctify us wholly, in body, soul, and spirit. Subdue our wills. Bring them in righteous subordination to Your own. When You call us to any duty, may we be ready with the response, "Here I am." May even trials and crosses become easy to us, when borne in a spirit of tranquil submission. Let us be living as pilgrims on the earth—weaned from what is uncertain and transitory here—and having our affections fixed on the things which cannot be shaken, but remain forever. Oh that Your love might be enthroned more than it is, as the ruling passion of our souls—and Your glory more the end and aim of our being.
May we give no sleep to our eyes nor slumber to our eyelids, until, in our hearts, we find a place for the Lord—a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Fulfill in our experience Your own gracious promise "I will dwell in them and walk with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." Follow with Your enriching blessing all the services of the sanctuary. May Your word be quick and powerful—forbid that impressions be allowed to die away—fasten them as a nail in a sure place. May the Sabbath duties and employments diffuse their solemnity around us throughout the week.
We remember, with affectionate sympathy, the poor, the destitute, and "him that has no helper"—the sick—the bereaved—the dying. Lord, draw near to all such; let them know that You have grace in store for their every time of need, and that there is no lack to those who fear You. We desire for our friends Your benediction and blessing. May You watch between them and us when we are absent one from another. O omnipresent God, show that no distance can sever from You—give them every token of Your love—preserve them from danger—guard them from temptation—number them with Your saints in glory everlasting.
Bless the lambs of the flock—more especially those now before You. Shepherd of Israel, make them Yours. Bring them to the fold of grace on earth—and to Your heaven of glory hereafter. Bless that branch of Your Church with which we are connected; bless Your holy Church universal. Have mercy on those who are still sitting in darkness and in the region and shadow of death. May a lifted-up Savior, by the attractive power of His cross, draw all men unto Him. We commend us, blessed Lord, to You, and to the word of Your grace. Watch over us during the unconscious hours of sleep. May we awake in the morning in Your favor; that so every new day being spent to Your glory, may find us better fitted for entering on the joys of Your everlasting Kingdom; through the merits of Jesus Christ, our only Savior. Amen.
MONDAY MORNING
O God, You are the Infinite, Eternal, Unchangeable Jehovah. You are exalted far above our adorations and praises. Angels and archangels veil their faces with their wings in Your presence, and cry out, "Unclean, unclean!" We acknowledge our great unworthiness; we mourn our many sins. Your law has been set at nothing by us; Your love has been slighted; Your Spirit grieved; Your sovereignty disowned. We have been unmindful of You in prosperity. We have been prone to repine at Your righteous ordinations in adversity. We have not endeavored to hallow all life's duties with Your favor. We have not sought Your glory with singleness of eye. We have too often indulged in feelings and desires, in tempers and affections, inconsistent with our profession as followers of the Lord Jesus. Not only do our iniquities, but our best services, testify against us.
We come, casting ourselves on Your free grace and mercy in Christ. We rejoice that for the greatest sins there is a great and all-sufficient Savior. There is no load of sin which we have, but He who bore our transgression is able and willing to remove it. We will rejoice in the Lord, our souls will be joyful in our God, for He has clothed us with the garments of salvation, He has covered us with a robe of righteousness. Enable us to walk as it befits Your children. Give us a holy fear of offending You. May we feel all sins to be grievous in Your sight—and may it be our special desire to gain fresh victories over our besetting sins, and to be more and more fortified against the assaults of temptation. Strengthen us with might by Your Spirit in the inner man. Make Your grace sufficient for us, and perfect Your strength in our weakness.
We pray not for ourselves only, but for all whom we ought to remember at the Throne of grace. If there be any in whom we are interested who are still far from You, bring them near by the same precious blood. If any are still loitering and lingering, may they hear Your voice, saying, "Escape for your life, lest you be consumed." If there be any backsliding; Lord, reclaim them. If there be any sorrowing; Lord, comfort them. Bind up their broken hearts. Give them Yourself—the better portion which never can be taken from them. Your way is often in the sea, and Your path in the deep waters. But "the Lord reigns"—may this quiet all doubts. May we wait in patience the great Day of disclosures, when "in Your light we shall see light." Look down in mercy on our family and household; let it be a garden which the Lord has blessed. May we live in the unity of the Spirit, and in the bond of peace. Vouchsafe to keep us this day without sin. Be our Shepherd, and we shall not lack any good thing. Keep us from, and keep from us, all that would be detrimental to our souls' interests. And, when time shall be no longer, may we meet in the unclouded sunshine of Your presence; through Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Savior. Amen.
MONDAY EVENING
Most Gracious God, Father of all mercies, You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords! The Heaven, even the Heaven of heavens, cannot contain You. Myriads of blessed spirits are continually casting their crowns at Your feet. How shall we, dust and ashes, presume to lift up our eyes to the place where You dwell in glory? Adored be Your name, for Your free, sovereign, unmerited love in Jesus. We desire to flee to Him as our only Savior—we have no other we need no other. His finished work and complete righteousness is our glorious ground of confidence. It has been tried by countless multitudes; and the blood that has cleansed their guilty souls, has an undiminished efficacy and all-sufficiency for us.
To You, O God, we commit the keeping of our temporal and eternal interests. We cannot be in better hands than in Yours. Whether it be to do, or to bear Your will—may it be ours meekly to say, "Even so, Father!" Whatever may most conduce to Your glory and our good—appoint for us. Be ever near us—not as a wayfaring man that turns aside to tarry for only a night, but gladdening us with the continual sense of Your presence and favor.
Give us grace always to realize how transient and fleeting existence is. Let us feel the precarious tenure by which we hold earth's best blessings. We cannot tell what a day or an hour may bring forth. Whatever our hand finds to do, may we do it with our might, remembering that there is no device, nor work, nor labor, in the grave where we are going.
Bless all our dear friends; let them be related to You in the better bonds of the everlasting covenant; preserve their bodies from danger, and their souls from sin. May our household be a household of faith; may its lintels have sprinkled on them the blessed symbol of covenant love.
Bless those in sorrow; may they feel that all are "need-be" trials. Let this be their comfort in their affliction, "If we suffer with Him, we shall be also glorified together." Let them look forward to that hour, when their sorrow shall be turned into joy; when God Himself shall be with them and be their God, and when all tears shall be wiped from off all faces. Give each of us grace to be so living, that ours at last may be an "abundant entrance" into Your everlasting Kingdom. Keep us waiting; keep us watching; that when the cry shall be heard in the midst of the heavens, "Behold, the Bridegroom comes!" we may be able joyfully to respond, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!"
Before we lie down to sleep this night, renew to us the gracious sense of sin forgiven; and if spared until tomorrow, let us rise refreshed for duty, and fitted for Your service. And all that we ask, is for the sake of Him whom You hear always, and to whom with You, O Father, and You, O blessed Spirit, one God, be everlasting praise, honor, and glory, world without end. Amen.
TUESDAY MORNING
Almighty and Everlasting Jehovah, You are the heart-searching and thought-trying God. You are of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; evil cannot dwell with You; fools cannot stand in Your presence. You have solemnly declared that You can by no means clear the guilty. It is only because of Your mercies in Christ, that we are not consumed, and that You have not executed against us the cumberer's awful doom. We bless You for all that Jesus has done—and for all that He is willing to do. We bless You that He is now exalted as a Prince and a Savior; that having purged our sins, He has forever sat down on the right hand of God; and that there He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.
Our earnest prayer is, that each of us may be personally and everlastingly interested in His great salvation. May He be precious to us in all His offices—as our Prophet, Priest, and King; ruling over us and within us; making our hearts the habitations of God through the Spirit. Spare us, good Lord, spare Your people, whom You have redeemed with Your most precious blood; and be not angry with us forever. Seeing You have loved us with an everlasting love, may we not requite You with coldness and unthankfulness, or give You the wrecks of a worn and withered life. May the best of our thoughts, and the best of our lives, be surrendered to Your service.
We would cast all our cares, and every individual care, on You; knowing and rejoicing that You "care for us." Let us trust You in everything; let us see Your faithfulness in every event in our chequered and changing histories. How You have smoothed our way in the past! By You, our crosses have been lightened; our fears disappointed, our fondest hopes fulfilled. We will trust You in the future. Let us feel that the great Shepherd, who gave His life for the sheep, cannot lead us wrong.
Bless our dear friends; may the Lord be their keeper; may the sun not smite them by day, nor the moon by night. Preserve them from all evil, in their going out and in their coming in, from this time, henceforth, and even for evermore. Be merciful to the family of affliction; those laid on beds of pining sickness; or those bereaved of beloved relatives. May it please You to help, support, and relieve them. May they know Your own blessed name, "The Consolation of Israel." May they take comfort in the assurance, "the Lord will provide." Be with us throughout this day; sanctify all its duties; go with us where we go, dwell with us where we dwell. Guide us, while we live, by Your counsel, and afterwards receive us into Your glory. Hear us, gracious God, and accept of us for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.
TUESDAY EVENING
Heavenly Father, who has in Your good providence permitted us to meet together this night, be pleased, in Your infinite mercy—to vouchsafe us Your blessing. Scatter our darkness with the beams of Your love. Dispel all harassing thoughts, and misgivings, and disquietudes. Before we retire to rest, may our souls be stayed on You. Unto us, O Lord, belong shame and confusion of face. We mourn that we feel so inadequately our guilt and unworthiness; that we have so little depressing sense of our alienation from You. We often confess with the lip—what the heart does not feel. We often appear to be humble, when we are not humble—when our hearts are full of self, and pride, and vainglory.
We desire to come anew into Your presence, casting ourselves on the free grace, and love, and mercy of Jesus. We rejoice that in His cross, all Your attributes have been magnified. You are now proclaiming to the vilest and unworthiest, that You have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that he would turn from his wickedness and live. Turn us, O Lord, and we shall be turned! Enable us to receive this blessed Physician of souls, who heals all our diseases. And having tasted and seen that the Lord is gracious, enable us to live as those who are not their own, but bought with a price. May we be willing to be anything, and to do anything, and to suffer anything for that Savior, who has done and suffered so much for us! May our only grief be "to give Him pain." May our "joy be to serve and follow Him." Keep us from temptation. Support and deliver us when we are tempted. Sanctify us by the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit, and bring us to live more under the influence of unseen realities.
We desire to remember before You, all whom we love. Hide them under the shadow of the everlasting wings, until earth's calamities be over and past. Pour Your richest benediction on this our household. Known unto You are all our varied circumstances, our peculiar trials, and temptations, and perplexities. Our every burden we cast on a faithful God. Our souls, our lives, our cares, we leave entirely in Your hands, saying, "Undertake for us." Pity the afflicted. Be the Father of the Fatherless, the Husband of the widow, the stranger's shield, and the orphan's stay. Let them know that when heart and flesh faint and fail, You are the strength of their heart, and their portion forever. We now commend us all, to Your gracious keeping. The darkness of night has gathered around us; but do lift upon us, O God, the light of Your countenance. It cannot be night if You are near. Watch over us during sleep, and when we awake may we be still with You. We ask these, and all other blessings, trusting in the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, Your only Son, our Savior, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever lives and reigns, world without end. Amen.
WEDNESDAY MORNING
Gracious Father, Source and Giver of every good and every perfect gift—draw near to us this day in Your undeserved kindness—visit us with that love which You bear unto Your own. We are receiving, morning after morning, new proofs of Your care—new pledges of Your mercy. You are loading us with Your benefits, though we have been ungrateful and unthankful. It is in the name, and trusting in the merits of Your dear Son alone, that we can have any confidence in approaching You. We rejoice that we have always a safe shelter at the foot of His cross. We rejoice that there, every attribute of Your nature, and every requirement of Your law, have been vindicated and magnified. Myriads are now in glory to bear witness to the power and love of an all-gracious Savior. And what grace has done, grace can still do: "the faithful saying" has lost none of its faithfulness. Lord Jesus, stretch forth Your supporting hand. Save us, else we perish! There is not a sin but You can cancel—there is not the unsanctified heart which Your promised Spirit is unable to convert into a Temple of the living God. Keep us from evil; preserve us from temptation.
As good soldiers, may we place ourselves under Your banners; animated by holy allegiance to Him who is the great Captain of our salvation. We would seek to repose on the Divine promises. May our weakness drive us to Almighty strength. Good Lord, keep us, by Your grace, from an uneven walk, from inconsistency of conduct. May we be gentle, and lowly, meek, and forgiving. May we overcome evil with good.
Bless this family and household. May it be one of the Tabernacles of the righteous, where the voice of joy and melody is often heard. May the lambs of the flock be the special care of the great and good Shepherd. Blessed Jesus, seal to them early an interest in Your covenant—write their names in Your Book of Life.
We pray for all in sorrow; may they look to the hand which was pierced for them, to bind up their bleeding wounds. May He who graciously said of old, "I know their sorrows," be near, with His own exalted sympathy, to minister to their varied experiences of trial.
We pray for Your cause throughout the world. Bless our nation; may it be the honored instrument, among the kingdoms of the earth, in greatly promoting the glory of God. Bless every rank and condition; may Your favor encompass all as with a shield. Be with us, blessed Lord, this day. May Your angels encamp round about us and keep us in all our ways. And when we come to die, receive us into everlasting habitations, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our only Savior. Amen.
WEDNESDAY EVENING
Most Blessed God, You have again, in the multitude of Your mercies, permitted us to meet together around Your footstool. Giver of all grace, draw near to us; enable us to end another day with You, and to retire to rest, in the conscious possession of Your friendship and love. What are we—that we should be permitted to approach such a glorious and infinite God! We are dust and ashes—creatures of a day—who might, long before now, have been righteously spurned from Your presence! Blessed be Your great and holy name, for all the manifold proofs of Your favor. Your ways are not as our ways; had they been so—we must all of us have perished without hope! It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.
Do give to each of us this night, to know the blessedness of being at peace with You—of taking hold on that everlasting covenant, which is well-ordered in all things and sure; looking away from our guilty selves and our guilty doings, to Him who has done all and suffered all, and procured all for us! Give us a deep and abiding sense of our vileness and unworthiness. May every sin which has usurped the throne of our affections be cast down, that God Himself may be our all in all. May we seek to imbibe more of the spirit, and to copy more of the example, of our Divine Redeemer. May we feel it to be our joy to serve Him, our privilege to follow Him, our sorrow to vex and grieve Him. Take us and use us for Your glory; sanctify our affections; elevate our desires. Keep us from being overly concerned and overly troubled about earth's many things. Enable us to be more solicitous about the one thing needful; may we be covetous only of the solid and durable riches of eternity.
Bless our beloved relatives; may they all be enabled to claim a common kindred with the one Elder Brother on the Throne. Set Your own mark on each of them: though separated from one another now, may Your blessed angels gather us together, at last, in the same bundle, for the Heavenly Garner! Let none put off preparation for death until a dying hour—a present hour is all that we can call our own. May we be living in that state of holy preparedness, that when the silver cord by which life is suspended is broken, we may be ushered into Your presence, and into the enjoyment of everlasting glory.
Look down on Your Church everywhere throughout the world—purify her more and more; may no weapon formed against her prosper; may her ministers be holy men, and may her saints and people shout aloud for joy. Do satisfy Zion's poor with bread. May every afflicted one partake of Your own consolations, and be led meekly to say, "the Lord's will be done."
Graciously take the charge of us during this night. We commend us all to Your Fatherly protection and care; whether we wake or sleep may we live together with You. And all we ask is for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.
THURSDAY MORNING
O Lord, we desire to approach the footstool of Your Throne, adoring You as the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, who faints not, neither is weary. Your wisdom never fails. Your resources never exhaust. The kindness of the kindest knows a limit, but Your kindness knows no limit. With Your friendship, and favor, and blessing—we are rich—whatever else You may take away. Vicissitude is written on all around us—time may estrange the nearest and dearest on earth, but "You are the same." Loving us at the beginning, You will love us unto the end.
We come unto You this morning in the name of Your dear Son. Our sins reach unto the clouds; we cannot answer for one in a thousand. But we rejoice that we can look up to Him who has answered for us. Blessed Savior, we would bury all our transgressions in the depths of Your forgiving mercy. We seek no other refuge and need no other refuge but You. Relying on Your finished work, we can look calm and undismayed on the unknown future. We can cast all our cares, as they arise, upon You, feeling not only that You care for us, but that You make these cares Your own. We can look forward to the last enemy-to death itself, without alarm; the rays of Your love will dissipate the gloom of the dark Valley, and cause us to rejoice in the hope of immortality!
Meanwhile, O God, sanctify to us—the dealings of Your providence. May these prove heart-searchers, quickening our footsteps Heavenward. Let us follow the leadings of the Great Shepherd of the flock. Let us repose in the blessed assurance, that we shall not lack any good thing. You will not overburden us. We have known You in the past, we will trust You still. Guide us while we live by Your counsel, and afterwards receive us into Your glory.
Bless Your Church everywhere; may all its ministers be men of God, valiant for the truth; warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom. Sustain the faith of those, who, amid manifold discouragements, are laboring in heathen lands; may the Lord send His Angel to stand by them, and to shut the mouth of every gainsayer. Hasten that glorious time, when the year of Your redeemed shall come, and the whole earth shall be filled with Your glory.
Bless all of us who are here assembled in this home. Known unto You are our several needs, and temptations, and perplexities. Make Your grace sufficient for us. May a sense of Your presence hallow all the day's duties, and lighten all its trials. Go with us where we go: dwell with us where we dwell. May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts. And all we ask is for the sake of Him whom You hear always—Jesus Christ, our only Lord and Savior. Amen.
THURSDAY EVENING
Most Blessed Lord, Father of all mercies, You are from everlasting to everlasting God; the same yesterday, and today, and forever. You have, in Your great goodness, brought us again around the footstool of Your Throne of Grace. During the past day, many of our fellow-beings have gone into eternity; we are spared. You have been compassing our path—shielding us from danger, and guarding us from temptation. None is so able, none is so willing, as You are, to befriend and guide us in every perplexity. We can experience no real deprivation, and mourn no real loss—if we have You. The Lord lives, and blessed be our Rock, and let the God of our salvation be exalted!
We desire this night to retire to rest, in the assured confidence of Your favor. Forgive all the sins of the past day—its sins of omission and commission—of thought, and word, and deed; whatever has been inconsistent with Your pure and holy will. Make us more zealous for Your honor and glory—may we maintain a constant and habitual hatred of those sins which have so long severed us from You. May we ever be near the atoning fountain; continually hidden in the clefts of the Rock; that when the last summons shall come, our end may be peace.
Bless all who are in affliction. May they be led to lean confidingly on the arm of Jesus, and they shall be more than conquerors. We pray for the whole world. Pity the nations which are sunk in heathen darkness. Hasten the Pentecostal effusion of the latter day. When the enemy is coming in like a flood, may the Spirit of God lift up a standard to resist him. Bless all Your faithful missionaries. In lands where Christian sanctuaries are not—be a little sanctuary to all Your true servants. May they know You, as a prayer-hearing, a prayer-answering, a covenant-keeping God. Direct their hearts into Your love, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
Bless our household. May the joy of the Lord be our strength. May we feel that in keeping Your commandments there is a great reward. As the pillar of cloud goes before us by day—may the pillar of fire be with us by night. May angels gather around us during the unconscious hours of sleep. May no danger befall us, and no plague come near our dwelling. If pleased to spare us until tomorrow, may we rise fitted and prepared for all the duties to which we may be called. And now unto Him who alone is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy, to the only wise God and our Savior, be ascribed all blessing and honor, dominion and praise, world without end. Amen.
FRIDAY MORNING
Almighty and Most Merciful Father, You are great and greatly to be feared. Your greatness is unsearchable. You are infinite in wisdom, and power, and love. Your justice is as the great mountains. Your judgments are a great deep. Lord, our hearts are deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. We have done those things we ought not to have done—and we have left undone those things which we ought to have done—and there is no health in us. Have mercy upon us, for His sake, in whom You see no iniquity. We have nothing of our own but our sins; all that is good in us comes from Him; we would confidently repose our everlasting interests on His finished work. Forbid that we should presume on Your mercy—that we should take encouragement to sin from Your abounding grace. May we feel that Your pure eye is upon us; that You try us, not according to man's fallible judgment, but according to the standard of unerring rectitude and holiness.
May it be our lofty aim to be the servants of righteousness. May we show that the influence of Your goodness and loving-kindness is to lead us to repentance—to reclaim our hearts from their wanderings, and bring them into captivity to the obedience of Jesus. We desire to take Him as our pattern in all things. When in need of direction or guidance in any duty, or under any perplexity—may this be ever our inquiry, "How would the Savior have acted here?" May we imbibe His unselfish spirit. May life be a more constant effort than it has been, to crucify self and to please God. Let us be willing to accept of anything with Your approval, and to dread nothing but what incurs Your wrath and displeasure.
In our varied spheres may we seek to feel that we have some work to perform—some talent to trade on. Let us cast by faith our mites into Your treasury, that we may earn at last this Your own word of approbation, "They have done what they could."
May Your arms be around all our beloved friends, present or absent. Inscribe their names in the Lamb's Book of Life; may they be Yours on that day when you make up Your jewels.
Sanctify sorrow to the sons and daughters of affliction; let them not murmur under Your Fatherly chastisements; let them own Your Sovereignty, and take comfort in the thought that You do all things well; seeing no hand but Yours in the bestowing and removing the gifts of Your bounty. "The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad!" We commend ourselves, blessed Lord, to You, and to the word of Your grace. Hear, answer, and accept of us, for the sake of Him whom You hear always, and to whom, with You, the Father, and You ever blessed Spirit—Three in One in covenant for our Redemption—be ascribed all blessing, and honor, and glory, and praise—world without end. Amen.
FRIDAY EVENING
O Lord, we desire to approach Your Throne of Grace, thanking You for the liberty of access we at all times enjoy into Your presence. We bless You that the gates of prayer are always open; that You regard the cry of the needy, and never say unto any of the seed of Jacob, "Seek my face in vain."
How unworthy are we to come to Your footstool. There is enough of coldness in our prayers, of insincerity in our repentance, of imperfection in our best attempts to serve You—that were we tried by these, we must have perished forever! Our prayers themselves require forgiveness. Blessed Jesus, great covenant Angel—let down Your golden censer into the midst of us this night, that we may have these our petitions perfumed with the incense of Your adorable merits. In You alone are our persons and our services rendered acceptable. We flee to the foot of Your cross. Here we are safe, though everywhere else we be in danger. Let us exercise a simple confidence and trust in Your completed work. We bring every sin to Your atoning blood—every wound to Your healing. May we have You in all, and for all the duties and difficulties and trials of life. Disarm all life's crosses—sanctify its losses. May prosperity and adversity be alike used for Your glory.
Let us hate evil. Make us feel how cherished sin ruins our peace, and unfits us for the enjoyment of You and Your service. Keep us especially from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over us. Loving You our God, may we love our fellow-men; may we be patient and unselfish, forbearing and forgiving, lowly and meek, full of pity and courteous. Let us overcome evil with good. May all we do be done in love. May we show, by our Christ-like walk and life, who we belong to. May we not be conformed to the sinful practices and base compliances of a world lying in wickedness; but seek to have our conduct molded in conformity with Your holy will.
O sympathizing Savior, be the Friend of the friendless; the support and solace of the bereaved. There are nameless sorrows on earth which are beyond the reach of the tenderest human sympathy; blessed Jesus, make them Yours. This is Your sublime prerogative, "I know their sorrows." Let all Your tried people with joy anticipate that gladsome morning, when the shadow of death shall be merged in eternal glory.
Bless our beloved friends; may Your loving eye rest upon them; may a sense of Your favor pervade all their doings. May none be found missing at Your right hand, on the Great Day. Let us seek to order our plans as dying creatures. Night after night, as we retire to rest, may we think of that deeper darkness, which must, sooner or later, gather around us. Shepherd of Israel, who never slumbers and never sleeps, be very near us. As we now retire to rest, may we repose in Your keeping; and in the morning, when we rise, may we rise refreshed for duty—fitted for whatever may be in store for us. Hear us, blessed God, and grant us an abundant answer, for the sake of Him whom You hear always. Amen.
SATURDAY MORNING
O Lord, we desire to come into Your blessed presence on this, the morning of a new day, adoring You for all Your mercies. Last night we might have slept the sleep of death; we might have been startled by the midnight cry, "Prepare to meet your God!" But Your love and forbearance again permit us to meet on praying ground; the day of grace is lengthened, and the God of grace waits to be gracious. Lord, we look back with amazement at Your patience. Mercies have been abused; providences have been slighted; warnings have been neglected. Our lives contain a long retrospect of ingratitude and guilt. Justly might You have said, "Let them alone! Why should they be stricken any more?" But You are not willing to leave us in our state of estrangement and sin. You are ever opening up a way for the return of Your prodigal and wayward children. In wrath You are remembering mercy.
We have still the richest encouragement to repair to the opened fountain. Jesus still waits—His blood still cleanses—His Spirit still pleads. The faithful saying is as faithful as ever, "Him that comes unto me I will never cast out." Your thoughts are not as man's thoughts. Had they been so, the sinner, with all his deep depravity, and unutterable vileness, and base ingratitude, would not have been thus welcomed, pardoned, accepted, loved.
We desire to receive this new day as a fresh gift from You. Let Your approval form, throughout it, a holy incentive to every duty. Let us feel that we never can be happy, but when pleasing You. Let us be aiming at a conquest of self; subordinating all we do to Your will and service. Keep us from alienating existence from its great end, by living to ourselves. We look to Your grace to enable us thus to will and to do. You have wrought all for us—and You alone can work all in us. Strengthen us with might by Your Spirit in the inner man.
How slow we are to believe that our truest security is leaning confidingly on Your arm. You are faithful who promised. Your name is the God of all grace; You give all sufficiency in all things. The cup runs over that is filled by You. Nothing can come wrong to us, that comes from Your hand. Bless all near and dear to us: all that is truly good for them, in this life, do bestow; and, what is better, give them the heritage of glory. May our children grow up as willows by the flowing streams, and be a seed to serve You, when we are gathered to our Fathers. Take us all, young and old, this day under Your protection. God of all mercy, spread Your covering wings around us. Be our God and Guide even unto death, and finally bring us to Your everlasting kingdom, through the merits of Your dear Son—our only Lord and Savior.
SATURDAY EVENING
O Lord, You are the King eternal, immortal, and invisible. The Heaven of heavens cannot contain You. Myriads of pure and holy spirits cease not day nor night to celebrate Your praises. All their adorations cannot add to Your glory, or augment Your blessedness. What are we, that we should be permitted to approach the presence of a God so great and so glorious—and who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity? We are apt to extenuate sin—but no sin is trivial with You. We are apt to forget sin, we are too willing to hide it from You, and to hide it from ourselves; but we cannot evade Your righteous scrutiny. We cannot screen our guilt from the Great Heart-searcher! All things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. But blessed be Your name, though You are the Greatest and the Holiest of all Beings, You are also the kindest and most forgiving. Who is a God like unto our God—who pardons iniquity and sin! Sinners—and the chief of sinners—we can find rest and peace in the work, and merits, and righteousness of Your dear Son. Confiding our eternal all to Him, we can rejoicingly say, "Return unto Your rest, O our souls, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with us!"
Bring us to live more constantly and habitually under the constraining influence of Your Redeeming love. May these souls of ours, ransomed at such a price, be dedicated to Your service. Forbid that any of us should be content with a name to live, if we are dead; and deceive ourselves with the form of godliness. Let us know, more and more, that this is Your will concerning us—even our sanctification. May we grow in grace. May the struggle against corruption issue in the confirmed habit of a holy life. May Your Spirit—the Spirit of grace, and peace, and love—dwell in our hearts, and elevate our affections.
Keep us from pride—the master passion of our fallen and corrupted natures. Keep us from vain-glory and hypocrisy. Keep us from envious, uncharitable, unforgiving frames and tempers. Keep us from the secret atheism which refuses to own Your hand, and which regards as "accident" that which is the sovereign and deliberate decree of a Wisdom which cannot err. Oh, may we be preserved in body, soul, and spirit; ready to be presented at last, faultless before the presence of Your glory with exceeding joy.
We would desire especially, as the week is closing, to remember before You, all our beloved friends. God of all grace, dispense to them Your richest blessings. May those ties which on earth are so precarious and liable to be dissolved, be rendered indissoluble by grace; so that, when we part on earth, it may be only to meet in everlasting glory.
Have mercy on all who are in affliction. O healer of the broken-hearted, helper of the helpless—may every wounded spirit be bound up by You. May the lonely and unbefriended feel, that in the loneliest solitude, they are not alone—if You, their God and Father, are with them. Spare valued and valuable lives; and may those who are appointed to death, have the valley-gloom lighted with Immanuel's love.
And now, Lord, what wait we for? Our hope is in Your mercy. Be with us this night. Be the Guardian of our unconscious hours. Whether we wake or sleep, may we live together with You. Our wishes, our desires, our interests, our joys, our sorrows, our friends—we leave entirely to Your sovereign care and disposal. Prepare us for the solemn duties and services of another day. Give to all of us a double portion of Your Holy Spirit, that our souls may be fitted for holding nearer and more intimate fellowship with You. And all that we ask is for the sake of Him who is the Resurrection and the Life, and who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, ever lives and reigns, world without end. Amen.