Devotionals

O SUPREME MOVING CAUSE, May I always be subordinate to thee,         be dependent upon thee,   be found in the path where thou dost walk,     and where thy Spirit moves,   take heed of estrangement from thee,     of becoming insensible to thy love. Thou dost not move men like stones,   but dost endue them with life,   not […]

LORD JESUS, True God, everlasting Life,       Redeemer of sinners, I give my body, soul, intellect, will, affections     to thee. I call the day, sun,   earth, trees, stones,   wind, rain, frost, snow,   my home, bed, table, food,     books, drink, clothes,   to witness that I come to thee for rest of soul   from the thunders of guilt […]

LORD, Teach me the nature of a sacrament         as a seal and pledge of love,   that Christ is faithful to make himself     a present reality to his own who are guests       at his table. Assure me by it   that his Word is made good to my faith,   that he by sacramental union is given to […]

EVERLASTING CREATOR-FATHER, I have destroyed myself,       my nature is defiled,       the powers of my soul are degraded;       I am vile, miserable, strengthless,       but my hope is in thee. If ever I am saved it will be by goodness     undeserved and astonishing,   not by mercy alone but by abundant mercy,   not by grace but by exceeding […]

O FATHER OF JESUS, Help me to approach thee with deepest       reverence,   not with presumption,   not with servile fear, but with holy boldness. Thou art beyond the grasp of my understanding,   but not beyond that of my love. Thou knowest that I love thee supremely,   for thou art supremely adorable, good, perfect. My heart melts […]

GOD OF ALL GOOD, I bless thee for the means of grace;     teach me to see in them thy loving purposes       and the joy and strength of my soul. Thou hast prepared for me a feast;   and though I am unworthy to sit down as guest,   I wholly rest on the merits of Jesus,   and […]

O LORD MY LORD, This is thy day,       the heavenly ordinance of rest,     the open door of worship,     the record of Jesus’ resurrection,     the seal of the sabbath to come,     the day when saints militant and triumphant       unite in endless song. I bless thee for the throne of grace,   that here free favour reigns;   that […]

O GOD, I bless thee for the happy moment     when I first saw thy law fulfilled in Christ,   wrath appeased, death destroyed, sin forgiven,     my soul saved. Ever since, thou hast been faithful to me:   daily have I proved the power of Jesus’ blood,   daily have I known the strength of the Spirit,     my teacher, […]

THOU GREAT I AM, Fill my mind with elevation and grandeur at       the thought of a Being   with whom one day is as a thousand years,   and a thousand years as one day, A mighty God, who, amidst the lapse of worlds,   and the revolutions of empires,   feels no variableness,   but is glorious in immortality. […]

O FOUNTAIN OF ALL GOOD, Destroy in me every lofty thought,       Break pride to pieces and scatter it     to the winds, Annihilate each clinging shred of     self-righteousness, Implant in me true lowliness of spirit, Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence, Open in me a fount of penitential tears, Break me, then bind me up; Thus […]

GLORIOUS GOD, I bless thee that I know thee.     I once lived in the world, but was ignorant   of its Creator,   was partaker of thy providences, but knew not     the Provider,   was blind while enjoying the sunlight,   was deaf to all things spiritual, with voices     all around me,   understood many things, but had no knowledge […]

O MY SAVIOUR, I thank thee from the depths of my being     for thy wondrous grace and love   in bearing my sin in thine own body on the tree. May thy cross be to me   as the tree that sweetens my bitter Marahs,   as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty,   as the brazen […]

BLESSED LORD JESUS, No human mind could conceive or invent         the gospel.       Acting in eternal grace, thou art both   its messenger and its message,   lived out on earth through infinite compassion,   applying thy life to insult, injury, death,   that I might be redeemed, ransomed, freed. Blessed be thou, O Father, for contriving this way, Eternal […]

O SOURCE OF ALL GOOD, What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,       thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,   my Redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,   his self-emptying incomprehensible,   his infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp. Herein is wonder of wonders:   he came below to raise me above,   was born like me […]

O LORD, I hang on thee; I see, believe, live,     when thy will, not mine, is done; I can plead nothing in myself   in regard of any worthiness and grace,   in regard of thy providence and promises,   but only thy good pleasure. If thy mercy make me poor and vile, blessed be thou! Prayers arising […]

LORD JESUS, Give me a deeper repentance,       a horror of sin,       a dread of its approach; Help me chastely to flee it,   and jealously to resolve that my heart     shall be thine alone. Give me a deeper trust,   that I may lose myself to find myself in thee,     the ground of my rest,     the spring […]

O LORD, Bend my hands and cut them off,       for I have often struck thee with   a wayward will,   when these fingers should embrace thee by faith. I am not yet weaned from all created glory,   honour, wisdom, and esteem of others,   for I have a secret motive to eye my name     in all I […]

THOU RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY SOVEREIGN, In whose hand is my life and whose are all     my ways, Keep me from fluttering about religion;   fix me firm in it,   for I am irresolute;   my decisions are smoke and vapour,   and I do not glorify thee,   or behave according to thy will; Cut me not off before […]

THOU BLESSED SPIRIT, AUTHOR OF ALL GRACE AND COMFORT, Come, work repentance in my soul;       Represent sin to me in its odious colours that       I may hate it; Melt my heart by the majesty and mercy of God; Show me my ruined self and the help there is   in him; Teach me to behold my […]

O LORD, No day of my life has passed that has not         proved me guilty in thy sight.         Prayers have been uttered from a   prayerless heart; Praise has been often praiseless sound; My best services are filthy rags. Blessed Jesus, let me find a covert in thy appeasing   wounds. Though my sins rise to heaven […]

O MY FORGETFUL SOUL, Awake from thy wandering dream;         turn from chasing vanities,   look inward, forward, upward,   view thyself,   reflect upon thyself,       who and what thou art, why here,       what thou must soon be. Thou art a creature of God,     formed and furnished by him,     lodged in a body like a shepherd in his tent; […]

MY GOD, Thou hast helped me to see,       that whatever good be in honour and   rejoicing, how good is he who gives them,     and can withdraw them;   that blessedness does not lie so much     in receiving good from and in thee,     but in holding forth thy glory and virtue;   that it is an amazing thing […]

O LORD, May I never fail to come to the knowledge         of the truth,   never rest in a system of doctrine, however     scriptural, that does not bring or further       salvation,   or teach me to deny ungodliness and     worldly lusts,   or help me to live soberly, righteously, godly;   never rely on my own convictions and resolutions, […]

O HOLY SPIRIT, As the sun is full of light,         the ocean full of water,       Heaven full of glory, so may my heart be     full of thee. Vain are all divine purposes of love   and the redemption wrought by Jesus   except thou work within,     regenerating by thy power,     giving me eyes to see Jesus,     showing […]

ETERNAL FATHER, It is amazing love,     that thou hast sent thy Son       to suffer in my stead,     that thou hast added the Spirit       to teach, comfort, guide,     that thou hast allowed the ministry of angels       to wall me round; All heaven subserves the welfare of a poor worm. Permit thy unseen servants to be ever […]