Prayer & Praise

My Father,

In a world of created changeable things,

Christ and his Word alone remain unshaken.

O to forsake all creatures,

to rest as a stone on him the foundation,

to abide in him, be borne up by him!

For all my mercies come through Christ,

who has designed, purchased, promised, effected them.

How sweet it is to be near him, the Lamb,

filled with holy affections!

When I sin against thee I cross thy will, love, life,

and have no comforter, no creature, to go to.

My sin is not so much this or that particular evil,

but my continual separation, disunion, distance from thee,

and having a loose spirit towards thee.

But thou hast given me a present, Jesus thy Son,

as Mediator between thyself and my soul,

as middle-man who in a pit holds both him below and him above,

for only he can span the chasm breached by sin,

and satisfy divine justice.

May I always lay hold upon this Mediator,

as a realized object of faith,

and alone worthy by his love to bridge the gulf.

Let me know that he is dear to me by his Word;

I am one with him by the Word on his part,

and by faith on mine;

If I oppose the Word I oppose my Lord when he is most near;

If I receive the Word I receive my Lord wherein he is nigh.

O thou who hast the hearts of all men in thine hand,

form my heart according to the Word,

according to the image of thy Son,

So shall Christ the Word, and his Word,

be my strength and comfort.

(Taken from ‘The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers,’ edited by Arthur Bennett)