Lord Jesus,
I sin
– Grant that I may
never cease grieving
because of it,
never be content with
myself,
never think I can
reach a point of perfection.
Kill my envy,
command my tongue,
trample down self.
Give me grace to be
holy, kind, gentle, pure,
peaceable,
to live for thee and
not for self,
to copy thy words,
acts, spirit,
to be transformed
into thy likeness,
to be consecrated
wholly to thee,
to live entirely to
thy glory.
Deliver me from
attachment to things unclean,
from wrong associations,
from the predominance of evil
passions,
from the sugar of sin as well as
its gall,
that with self-loathing, deep
contrition,
earnest heart
searching
I may come to thee, cast myself
on thee,
trust in thee, cry to
thee,
be delivered by thee.
O God, the Eternal
All, help me to know that
all things are shadows, but thou
art substance,
all things are quicksands, but
thou art mountain,
all things are shifting, but thou
art anchor,
all things are ignorance, but
thou art wisdom.
If my life is to be
a crucible amid burning heat,
so be it,
but do thou sit at the furnace
mouth
to watch the ore that
nothing be lost.
If I sin wilfully,
grievously, tormentedly,
in grace take away my mourning
and give me music;
remove my sackcloth
and clothe me with
beauty;
still my sighs
and fill my mouth
with song,
then give me summer weather as a
Christian.