4 SUNDAY MORNING

4 SUNDAY MORNING.

O You who hears prayer—unto You we now come. Grant that by the eye of faith we may behold You bending down Your ear of love to receive our feeble breathings. May our cries ascend perfumed with the incense of Jesus' atoning blood, and so be welcomed with acceptance.

We shall prevail, for You have promised. Smiles await us, for Your Spirit intercedes within us. We shall be heard, for Your dear Son pleads for us.

May we now be filled to the full with the Spirit of grace and supplication. In public and in private, in the sanctuary and in the closet, may our life be steeped in prayer. We thank You that through Your distinguishing favor our birth has placed us in a land in which Your worship has external reverence, and congregations throng Your courts. We thank You that in the village and the town church-bell sounds proclaim the return of this holy day, and invite to glad solemnities.

Rejoicing in our precious privileges, we think of the multitudes to whom this day brings neither repose nor peace. From the eminence of our hallowed position, we cast our eyes over the wide expanse of heathendom, and we mourn. We feel our duty towards them, and we bring their desolation before Your pitying-eye . Fervent thanks we render—that we have not been left in their cold darkness. We forget not, that the mercy which befriended us—can befriend them. We know that the power which rescued us—can rescue them. There is nothing too hard for You to do! We beseech You, then, to bless them—as You have blessed us. Send out Your light and Your truth to the regions which enjoy not the calm delight and sanctifying mercies of the Lord's day. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.

We pray with more earnest wrestling for those around us , who, in the midst of all Christian privileges, willfully choose darkness rather than light. Gracious Lord, forget them not, while they thus slight You. Manifest the freeness of Your grace by subduing their obdurate rebellion. Reign in the midst of these enemies. Compel them to come in. We tremble, lest the heathen should rise up in the judgment and condemn them for so despising Your proffered mercies.

Grant that the mind of Christ may pervade us. He never wearied in pouring out His heart to You. In the days of His flesh, He offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears. May we thus take heaven by storm .

Open Your hands wide to pour down streams of blessing on all who shall publicly teach in Your name. May they stand between the living and the dead, and may the destroying plague be checked. Give them to feel deeply—that eternal interests hang on their lips. May their every word be everlasting truth. May they so labor, that at last they may be welcomed as good and faithful servants.

May we not be forgetful that this day may close our Sundays upon earth. The next return, may see our places vacant. May it then be our best. May it find us ready, in Your dear Son, to join the ever-hymning choir.

May our devotions in Your house stimulate many. May the thoughtless see in us how good it is to draw near to You, our God. May the formalist be taught by our sincerity, that You are a Spirit, and those who worship You, must worship You in spirit and in truth.

Remember, O Lord, with tender love—the sufferers on whom You have been pleased to lay the hand of detaining sickness. Their feet may not tread Your courts—may You come down and visit them. Let the light of Your countenance shine sweetly in their chambers of languishing . Let Your voice whisper through their souls, "Peace be unto you! It is I, do no be afraid!" May their joyful experience testify that Your presence is not confined to any place .

But while our hearts drink deeply of the streams which make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High, multitudes will make this a day of especial sin. Your eye will behold trespasses crying up unto the heavens. Merciful Lord, do not let Your righteous wrath to go forth. Spare these captives of Satan . Extend to them longer space for repentance. Above all, touch them with Your converting grace. Magnify the riches of Your loving-kindness. Receive glory—by giving life to the dead, and light to the blind. Thus we present our earnest cries in the all-prevailing name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Back to Family Prayers.