Published in 1855 | 24 pages | PDF reader required
PRAYER
All-helping Spirit, aid me to think clearly and speak impressively to these, Thy creatures. Our humble power of Thought, with its immortal instincts, we would now turn to Thee. Our knowledge is very limited; our judgment imperfect; our love grows cold, and our hearts harden in selfishness; while our feet often wander in the thorny paths of wrong doing and sorrow. Give us the wings of faith and pure desire, that we may, for this hour at least, fly away from the perplexities of weak and misguided judgment; the oppression of care, and the heart-stings of unworthy affections and fears. How wide, O, God! the gulf between the clear skies of Thy unfailing love, and the low, dark, clouds of our ignoranee, and the benighted places of our gross indulgences! But Thou dost pity and help us, as our souls bear testimony every day. Thy beneficent smile, spread o'er the face of Nature, gives rays of light to our dark pathway; and the inspirations of Thy good Spirit warm our hearts to love and adoration. Unreservedly would we commit ourselves and our interests to Thy guiding wisdom, hopefully trusting that we shall be taught that truth which shall never die; gain that treasure which shall never corrupt; secure that faith that shall always deliver, and that delight, angelic, that shall illumine the gateway of death with hope eternal! O, fit us for the heavenly light and life. May we feel the impulses of immortal souls, and anticipate, with satisfying foretastes, the welcome and bliss of our future homes. Bless us with desire and power to bless others, in both word and deed. May we feel poor with Thy poor, lonely with thy orphans, sorrowful with Thy east down and disconsolate ones, that we may be elevated together. May sickness, distress and misery find us ever ready to minister. both with our sympathy and substance. May our lires be more consistent than our words can possibly be, and become sermons of practical devotion to duty and praise. And in the inner depths of our souls, may we feel Thy peace, so pure, so full, that we may triumphantly pass, amid all conflict, to that glorious Heaven to which Thou hast lifted our purest desires and holiest anticipations. And to Thee, ever-blessed Father, be the glory eternal—Amen.
