Grace...

Grace Active


O God, may Thy Spirit speak in me that I may speak to Thee. I Lord Jesus, great

high priest, Thou hast opened a new and living way by which a fallen creature can

approach Thee with acceptance.

Help me to contemplate the dignity of Thy Person, the perfectness of Thy

sacrifice, the effectiveness of Thy intercession.

O what blessedness accompanies devotion, when under all the trials that weary

me, the cares that corrode me, the fears that disturb me, the infirmities that oppress me,

I can come to Thee in my need and feel peace beyond understanding!

The grace that restores is necessary to preserve, lead, guard, supply, help me.

And here Thy saints encourage my hope; they were once poor and are now rich, bound

and are now free, tried and now are victorious.

Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess, but not more than is

found in Thee, the divine treasury in whom all fullness dwells. To Thee I repair for grace

upon grace, until every void made by sin be replenished and I am filled with all Thy

fullness.

May my desires be enlarged and my hopes emboldened, that I may honour Thee

by my entire dependency and the greatness of my expectation.

Do Thou be with me, and prepare me for all the smiles of prosperity, the frowns

of adversity, the losses of substance, the death of friends, the days of darkness, the

changes of life, and the last great change of all. May I find thy grace sufficient for all my

needs.

Grace in Trials

Father of Mercies, Hear me for Jesus' sake. I am sinful even in my closest walk

with thee; it is of thy mercy I died not long ago; Thy grace has given me in the cross by

which thou hast reconciled thyself to me and me to thee, drawing me by thy great love,

reckoning me as innocent in Christ though guilty in myself.

Giver of all graces, I look to thee for strength to maintain them in me, for it is

hard to practise what I believe. Strengthen me against temptations. My heart is an

unexhausted fountain of sin, a river of corruption since childhood days, flowing on in

every pattern of behaviour; Thou hast disarmed me of the means in which I trusted, and I

have no strength but in thee.

Thou alone canst hold back my evil ways, but without thy grace to sustain me I

fall. Satan's darts quickly inflame me, and the shield that should quench them easily

drops from my hand: Empower me against his wiles and assaults. Keep me sensible of

my weakness, and of my dependence upon thy strength. Let every trial teach me more of

thy peace, more of thy love.

Thy Holy Spirit is given to increase thy graces, and I cannot preserve or improve

them unless he works continually in me. May he confirm my trust in thy promised help,

and let me walk humbly in dependence upon thee, for Jesus' sake.