Moral Freedom and Life in God

ETERNAL God, whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain, yet who makest Thine abode in humble and contrite hearts, here would we meet with Thee, and feel for a moment in our souls the greatness of Thy Power. Here would we know the dignity of life and learn Thy perfect law of liberty. Here would we rise to the height of Thy upward calling, and deem ourselves Thy sons and the heirs of immortality. We repent that we have despised our souls. When evil has made of us its prey, we have said, "These sins are not ours. They are a heritage of the past. Our fathers have sowed the wind; we reap the whirlwind." Thus have we sought to silence Thy voice of rebuke. Reveal to us now the mystery of our greatness. Meet with each one of us alone. Fill each one of us with a sense of moral freedom, of personal worth, of our kinship with Thee. May we, in the strength of Thy visitation, rise up and shake off the bonds that bind us, and live henceforth as those whom Thou hast made a little lower than the angels, and crowned with glory and honour.

Gracious Father! We confess the painful riddle of our being, that, while claiming kinship with Thee, we feel far from Thee. O, what means this strange bewilderment, this never-ending war between our worse and better thoughts? We are Thine by right, yet we have not given ourselves wholly to Thy care. Our hearts know no rest, save in Thee, yet they have sought it in this world's vainglory, which passeth away. We seek to quench our thirst at the cisterns of this earth, but they are broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Lead us to Thy well of life that springeth up eternally. Give us to drink of that spiritual water, of which, if any man drink, he shall never thirst again. We lament our want and poverty before Thee. Open Thou our eyes to behold the unsearchable riches of Thy grace, and increase our faith that we may make them ours. Unite us to Thee in the bonds of will and love and purpose. Out of Thy fulness, which is in Christ, give to each one of us according to his need. Make us wise with His wisdom; pure with His purity; strong with His strength; that we may rise into the power and glory of the life that is life indeed. Hear our hearts' weak and wandering cries, and when Thou hearest, forgive and bless, for His sake. Amen.