PRAYER FOR SOLITUDE. O God, who at this moment art present to the congregation kneeling before thee, and to the silent worshipper in solitude, make me conscious of thy presence, that so I may bow my soul before thee. Thou art greater than any human thought can conceive of: with thy almighty power, help me to reach unto thee! Thou art more merciful than any earthly friend: forgive my many faults, and help me to rest upon thee! Thou knowest my past life, as well as what is to come : help me to tread in the path that lies before me! Thou hast surrounded me with blessings: help me to be grateful for them to thee! Thou hast appeared to me in sorrow: help me to remember that it was in the sorrowful moment I saw thee! I am too blind to see thy hand in all the changes of my life wilt thou then help me to faith, that I may acknowledge thee! I look back upon many hours of happiness when I was forgetful of thy presence, upon many of trial when my heart knew not how to turn towards thee. In the hours that are to come, let me be more conscious of thy presence, so that days and nights of sorrow or of joy need only speak to me of thee. Give me strength in my lonely moments, give me courage in the hour of temptation. Help me to help others, that in whatever I do I may act with thy inspiration alone. May the good resolutions that I make this day grow stronger and become more fruitful as the days pass by. And when the hours of distraction come, let my heart never be distracted from thee. May I learn from the life and the words of Christ how I may find thee, that from these I may know how, and may venture to call thee Father, who art the creator and sustainer of all. Help thou my unbelief, since I know not how to rise up to so great a good, and, with thy spirit helping me, may I learn what it is to be a child of God; which I would ask in the name and with the help of the Saviour. 2* FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. Matt. vi. No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment ? Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature ? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek ;) for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. A HYMN.* O help us, Lord! each hour of need Thy heavenly succor give; Help us in thought and word and deed, Each hour on earth we live. O help us when our spirits bleed, And when our hearts are cold and dead, O help us, through the prayer of faith, For still the more the servant hath, If, strangers to thy fold, we call, Imploring, at thy feet, The crumbs that from thy table fall, But be it, Lord of mercy, all, O help us, Father, from on high! O help us so to live and die As thine in heaven to be! * By Milman. |