Week 2 Friday Morning Prayer

O THOU holy and eternal Father, whose creatures we are, and by whose gracious care we are preserved in being, help us once more to present to Thee our morning prayer. Not in our own name, but in the name of Jesus Christ, Thy well-beloved Son, do we come before Thy Throne of Grace. For His sake we beseech Thee to receive us graciously, to heal our backslidings, and to love us freely.

With our hearts we thank Thee for our safe keeping and our refreshing sleep during the past night, and for the use of all our active powers this morning. Thou hast not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Bless the Lord, O our souls, and forget not all His benefits. May we all feel that we are as dependent on Thee now when raised up, and going forth to the day's work, as we were when we lay helpless on our beds during the hours of darkness. And may we be sensible of our obligations as well as of our dependence ; and willingly, throughout this day and all the days of our life, devote every power of body and of mind to Thee in grateful and loving obedience.

Alas ! O God, we have to confess our grievous short-coming in this respect in the past. We have not loved or served Thee as we ought to have done. We have been unthankful for Thy mercies, disobedient to Thy commands, and indifferent to Thy calls. Our iniquities are increased over our heads, and our trespass is grown up into the very heavens : we are ashamed, and blush to lift up our face to Thee, O our God. But our hope is in Thy mercy, which has borne with us hitherto, and is extended to us still. We humbly look to Jesus, whom Thou hast set forth to be the propitiation for our sins, in whom believing, Thou hast assured us, the guilty obtain forgiveness, and the weary find rest. We take refuge from Thy wrath, and from our own unrighteousness, in His precious blood and finished righteousness. We desire with all our hearts, to accept Him as made of Thee unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. We rejoice to think that we are complete in Him. And we pray to be enabled to prove in our experience the efficacy of His death and resurrection to the uttermost. Anxious as we are to be pardoned, we would be no less anxious for purification and cleansing.

Grant us all Thy grace to the discharge of the duties to which we are called this day. Make us diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Whatever our hand findeth to do, may we do it with our might. Turn our hearts from that covetousness which is idolatry. In our intercourse with our fellow-men enable us to be meek, and forgiving, and kind, esteeming others better than ourselves. If at any time we are provoked by the selfishness of our neighbors, let us not yield to wrath or revenge, neither give place to the devil, but consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest we weary and faint in our minds. Under whatever ills we may be called to bear, let us possess our souls in patience, and endure as seeing Him who is invisible. If at any time we are in doubt what course to take, may our heart turn upward with the prayer " Lord, what wilt Thou have us to do?" Save us from the companionship of the wicked and from the counsel of the foolish. May we embrace every opportunity of doing good to the bodies and the souls of men, and abstain from whatever is fitted to give them pain or do them harm. And knowing that we cannot boast ourselves of the morrow, may the work assigned to this day be done in its season. Whensoever death shall overtake us, may it find us as faithful servants, waiting for the coming of our Lord.

We pray for all who are in affliction this morning. Consider their affliction and their pain, and forgive all their sins. When Thou hast tried them, may they come forth as gold. May Thy Holy Spirit so bring home to them the truths of the glorious Gospel, that their hearts, if hardened, may be broken into repentance, and, if broken, may be bound up and healed. Comfort the bereaved and the mourner, succor the poor and needy. In Thee let the widow and the fatherless find mercy. Prepare the diseased and dying for their great change. Show kindness and do good to Zion, Thine own hill. Make Thy church a praise in all the earth. Soon may all men know the joyful sound, and all nations whom Thou hast made come and worship before Thee, and glorify Thy name.

All we ask is in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer. Amen.