Prayers Ancient and Modern 12/01

“Many do not recognize the fact as they ought, that Satan has got men fast asleep in sin and that it is his great device to keep them so. He does not care what we do if he can do that. We may sing songs about the sweet by and by, preach sermons and say prayers until doomsday, and he will never concern himself about us, if we don’t wake anybody up. But if we awake the sleeping sinner he will gnash on us with his teeth. This is our work – to wake people up.” – Catherine Booth

Published December 1, 2016 |

Thou, O Lord, who commandest me to ask, grant that I may receive; Thou hast put me upon seeking, let me be happy in finding; Thou hast bidden me knock, I pray Thee open unto me. Be graciously pleased to direct and govern all my thoughts and actions, that, for the future, I may serve Thee, and entirely devote myself to obeying Thee. Accept me, I beseech Thee, and draw me to Thyself, that I may henceforth be Thine by obedience and love, who am already all Thine own, as Thy creature. Even Thine, O Lord, who livest and reignest for ever and ever—Amen.

St. Augustine (354–430).

Lord, take my lips, and speak through them; take my mind, and think through it; take my heart, and set it on fire—Amen.

William Hay Hunter Aitken, b. 1841.