Page:The Book of Family Worship.pdf/252

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

WEDNESDAY EVENING.

GGant, O merciful Father, that the mercy we supplicate from Thee may find an abiding place within our affections, and lead to merciful consideration of the faults and failings of others. Prevent us from indulging in rash, unjust, and hasty judgment: for as Thou only canst search and know the heart, and thus judge of the moving cause of men's actions, Thou only canst judge righteous judgment. O may we keep in remembrance Thy divine caution: "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned." And, O merciful Lord, keep us, we beseech Thee, in meek and lowly frames of mind. In all things may we learn of Thee, and walk humbly with Thee; that, departing from all iniquity, and shunning every evil as a sin against Thee, we may bring no reproach upon the sacred name we bear, but glorify Thee in our body and in our spirits which are Thine. Help us to look with compassion upon the needy, the aged, and the infirm, and to render them all the assistance that our circumstances will allow; and to Thee, O blessed Jesus, will we ascribe all the power to will an to do; for Thou art the sole cause of everything good and true, and without Thee we can do nothing. Amen.

Our Father, etc.


THURSDAY MORNING.

O LORD Jesus Christ, the great Head of the Church, we implore Thy divine aid to make known Thy Word of truth. Assist us to discover the traditions of men, to separate them from Thy truth, and to cast them out. Assist us with the sling and the stone of David, and be Thou near us at all times to nerve our arm, to direct the missile, and to carry it home to the head of Philistine annoyance, so that all the nations may be brought to acknowledge, "The Lord, He is tho God! The Lord, He is the God!" As Thou didst foil Satan and all the powers of darkness by Thy divine weapons; as, when destruction was designed for us, Thou didst vanquish death and hell for our sakes; as Thou didst triumph over all the powers of the enemy, and, glorifying Thy humanity, didst rise in all the glory of a divine Conquerer,—so help us to achieve a like victory over our spiritual adversaries, those powers of evil and error which dwell within us, those enemies of our own household, which, if not expelled, must bring us into eternal condemnation. And, O gracious Father, be Thou near to all who are contending for the truth; give unto Thy servants the weapons of a spiritual warfare, and prepare the understandings of the people, that the divine prophecy may have a speedy fulfilment, and all men be brought to know Thee, from the least even unto the greatest. Amen.

Our Father, etc.


' THURSDAY EVENING, 0 LORD Jesus Christ, we pray Thee to create within ns a new heart; "take away from us our stony hearts, and give us hearts of flesh." Make every affection, every desire, every fesling new. May all our lives be holy. First, a dovotedness of affection to Thee; next to Thy Church,