New Year

O Lord,

Length of days does not profit me
except in thy service, to thy glory....

May thy fear be my awe,
thy triumphs my joy.

Contentment

Let me willingly accept misery, sorrows,
temptations,
if I can thereby feel sin as the greatest evil,
and be delivered from it with gratitude to thee,
acknowledging this as the highest testimony of they love.

Love

My salvation is the point where
perfect created love
and the most perfect uncreated love
meet together;
for thou dost welcome me,
not like Joseph and his bothers,
loving and sorrowing, but loving and rejoicing.

Mercy

Thous hast not left me to despair,
for there is no 'peradventure' in thy grace.

A Cry for Deliverance

I abhor my body of death,
its indolence, envy, meanness, pride,
Forgive, and kill this vices,
have mercy on my unbelief,
on my corrupt and wandering heart.

Man a Nothing

I fault and correct thy laws to suit myself,
Instead of thee I look to man's approbation,
and I am by nature and idolater.
Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back
to thee.

Take away my roving eye, curious ear, greedy
appetite, lustful heart;
show me that none of these things
can heal a wounded conscience,
or support a tottering frame,
or uphold a departing spirit,
then take me to the cross
and leave me there.

Penitence

My soul is often a chariot without wheels,
clogged and hindered in sin's miry clay;
Mount it on eagle's wings
and cause it to soar upward to thyself.

Passion

My sin is that my heart is pleased or troubled
as things please or trouble me,
without having a regard to Christ;
Thus, I am like Eli,
the subject of punishment for not rebuking sin;
whereas I should humbly confess my sin
and fly to the blood of Christ for pardon
and peace.

Backsliding

Give me to believe
that thou canst do more for me than
I ask or think,
and that, though I backslide, thy love will never
let me go,
but will draw me back to thee with everlasting
cords;
that thou dost provide grace in the wilderness,
and canst bring me out, leaning on the arm
of my Beloved;
that thou canst cause me to walk with him
by the rivers of water in a straight way,
wherein I shall not stumble.

I would advise reading the entire reading; entitled "Backsliding" in the section "Penitence and Deprecation."

Shortcomings

Help me to see that although I am in the wilderness
it is not all briars and barrenness.
I have bread from heaven, streams from the rock,
light by day, fire by night,
thy dwelling place and thy mercy seat.

The Broken Heart

Though unrighteousness weighs me down to hell,
thy righteousness exalts me to thy throne.

Reproofs

Teach me how to take reproofs from friends,
even though I do not think I deserve them;
Use them to make me tenderly afraid of sin...

Meeting God

I bless thee that grate sin draws out great grace,
that, although the least sin
deserves infinite punishment
because done against an infinite God,
yet there is mercy for me,
for where guilt is most terrible,
there thy mercy in Christ is most free and deep.

In Prayer

O LORD,

In prayer I launch far out into the eternal world,
and on that broad ocean my soul triumphs
over all evils on the shores of mortality.

Time with its gay amusements and cruel
disappointments, never appears so inconsiderate
as then.

Living By Prayer

Let me know that the work of prayer is to bring
my will to thine,
and that without this it is folly to pray...

Purification

Deliver me from attachment to things unclean,
from wrong associations,
from the predominance of evil passions,
from the suger of sin as well as its gall...

Humiliation

Thou does not play in convincing me of sin,
Satan did not play in tempting me to it,
I do not play when I sink in deep mire,
for sin is no game, no toy, no bauble;
Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies
not so much in the nature of the sin committed,
as in the greatness of the Person sinned against.

Contrition

...may my character and not my
circumstances engage me.

Love Shed Abroad

Gracious God,

My Heart Praises thee for the wonder
of they love in Jesus;
He is heaven's darling, but is for me
the incarnate, despised, rejected,
crucified sin-bearer;
In Him they grace has almost our-graced itself,
In Him thy love to rebels has reached its height;
O to love thee with a love like this!

Confession and Petition

No trial is so hard to bear as a sense of sin.
If thou shouldst give me choice to live
in pleasure and keep my sins,
or to have them away with trial,
give me sactified affliction.

Divine Promises

Glorious Jehovah, My Covenant God,

...Help me to leave my concerns in thy hands,
for thou has power over evil,
and bringest from it an infinite progression of good...

Spiritual Helps

May my every cross be sanctified,
every loss be gain,
every denial a spiritual advantage,
every dark day a light of the Holy Spirit,
every night of trial a song.

Openness

Lord of Immortality,

...Expel from my mind all sinful fear and shame,
so that with firmness and courage I may
confess the Redeemer before men...

Christlikeness

Father of Jesus,

Cause me to be a mirror of thy grace,
to show others the joy of thy service,

May my lips be well-tuned cymbals
sounding they praise,

Let a halo of heavenly-mindedness
sparkle around me
and a lamp of kindness sunbeam my path.

Continual Repentance

I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and thou art always bringing forth
the best robe.

Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it...

The Deeps

Quarry me deep, dear Lord,
and then fill me to overflowing 
with living water.

Self-deprecation

My every member, sense, faculty, affection,
is a snare to me.
I can scarcely open my eyes but I envy those
above me,
or despise those below me,
I covet honour and riches of the mighty,
and am proud and unmerciful to the rags
of others,
If I behold beauty it is a bait to lust,
or see deformity it stirs up loathing and disdain.
How soon do slanders, vain jests, and wanton
speeches creep into my heart!

Thou knowest that all these snares
are my corruptions,
and that my greatest snare is myself.

Heart corruption

Grant me grace to bear thy will without repining,

And delight to be

not only chiselled, squared, or fashioned,

but separated from the rock where

I have been embedded so long,

And lifted from the quarry to the upper air,

where I may be built in Christ forever.

Yet I sin

Thy loving spirit strives within me,
brings me scripture warnings,
speaks in startling provinces,
allures by secret whispers,
yet I choose devices and desires to my own hurt,
impiously resent, grieve,
and provoke him to abandon me.

All these sins mourn, lament, and for them
cry pardon...

Self-Knowledge

I have cause to loathe myself,
and not to seek self-honour,
for no one desires to commend his own dunghill.

True Religion

Help me ...
never to judge my religion bu occasional
impressions and impulses, but by my
constant and prevailing disposition

Consecration and Worship

...When I have done all I can to eternity,

I shall not be able to offer more than

a small fraction of the homage

that the glorious God deserves.

The Nevers of the Gospel

[May I] never make piety a dress but a habit,
not only a habit but a nature,
not only a nature but a life.

A Neophyte’s Devotion

I will not love a world that crucified him,
neither cherish nor endure the sin
that put him to grief,
nor suffer him to be wounded by others.

Belonging to Jesus

I thank thee for showing me the vast difference
between knowing things by reason,
and knowing them by the spirit of faith.
By reason I see a thing is so;
By faith I know it is.
I have seen thee by reason and have not
been amazed,
I have seen thee as thou art in thy Son and have been ravished to behold thee.
I bless thee that I am thine in my Saviour,
Jesus.

Freedom

I marvel that the finite can know the Infinite;
here a little, afterwards in full orbed truth.

Assurance

If Jesus were not by the power of His spirit
my sanctification,
there is no sin I could not commit.

Christian Calling

Let me lament for forgetting daily to come to thee,
and cleanse me from the deceit of bringing
my heart to a duty
because the act pleased me or appealed to reason.

Election

It is not the inner sensation that makes Christ's death mine
for that may be a delusion, being without the Word,
but his death apprehended by my faith,
and so testified by Word and Spirit.

Resurrection

Give me the assurance that in Christ I died,
in him I rose,
in his life I live, in his victory I triumph,
in his ascension I will be glorified.

Deliverance

May his blood make me
more thankful for thy mercies,
more humble under thy correction,
more zealous for thy service,
more watchful against temptation,
more contented in my circumstances,
more useful to others.

Reconciliation

Help me to make use of His work of salvation as
the ground of peace,
and of thy favour to, and acceptance of me
the sinner,
so that I may live always near the cross.

The Saviour

1)
May I enter Him [Jesus] as my refuge,
build on Him as my foundation,
walk in HIm as my way,
follow HIm as my guide,
conform to Him as my example,
receive His instructions as my prophet,
rely on His intercession as my high priest,
obey Him as my king.

2)
May I never make the multitude my model.

God and myself

At the cross may I contemplate the evil of sin,
and abhor it,
look on him who I pierced,
as one slain for me, and by me.

The Cry of the Convicted Sinner

Save me from myself,
from the artifices and deceits of sin,
from the treachery of my perverse nature,
from denying the charge of my offences,
from a life of continual rebellion against thee,
for I know that all my thoights, affections,
desires, and pursuits are alienated from me.

The Gospel Way

Help me to give up every darling lust
to submit heart and life to its [the Gospel] command,
to have it in my will,
controlling my affections,
moulding my understanding...

Love to Jesus

It is fitting that thou shouldest not regard me,
for I am vile and selfish;
yet I seek thee,
and when I find thee there is no wrath
to devour me,
but only sweet love.

The Love of Jesus

If traces of Christ's love-artistry be upon me,
may he work on with his divine brush
until the complete image be obtained
and I be made a perfect copy of him,
my Master.

Jesus My Glory

May I be equally convinced of the guilt
and pollution of sin,
feel my need of a pronce and a saviour,
implore of him repentance as well as forgiveness,
love holiness, and be pure in heart,
have the mind of Jesus, and tread in His steps.

Christ Alone

Here, it is my duty
to be as Christ in this world,
to do what he would do,
to live as he would live,
to walk in live and meekness;
then would he be known

The Name of Jesus

I am ready to flee from myself because of
my abominations;
Yet thou dost no abhor me
but hast devised means for my return to thee,
and that, my thy Son who died to give me life.

The Broken Heart

Blessed Jesus, let me find a covert in they appeasing wounds.
Though my sins rise to heaven thy merits soar
above them;
Though unrighteousness weighs me down to hell,
thy righteousness exalts me to thy throne.
All things in me call for my rejection,
All things in thee plead my acceptance.

The Deeps

Plough deep in me, great Lord,
heavenly Husbandman,
that my being may be tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wide,
until thou alone art seen in me,
thy beauty golden like summer harvest,
thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.

Fullness in Christ

...when faith fills me, then I am full;
that this is the way to be filled with the Spirit,
like Stephen, first faith, the fullness,
for this is way makes me most empty,
and so most fot for the Spirit to fill.

Heart Corruptions

Grant me grace to bear they will without repining,
and delight to be
not only chiseled, squared, or fashioned,
but separated from the old rock where I have
been embedded so long,
and lifted from the quarry to the upper air,
where I may be built in Christ for ever.

Yet I Sin

Grant that through the tears of repentance
I may see more clearly the brightness
and glories of the saving cross.

Christ is all

May I never dally with the world
and its allurements,
but walk by thy side,
listen to thy voice,
be clothed with thy graces,
and adorned with thy righteousness.

Christ the Word

My sin is not so much this or that particular evil,
but my continual separation, disunion,
distance from thee,
and having a loose spirit towardss thee.

The Great Discovery

Grant that I may always weep to the praise of
mercy found,
and tell to others as long as I live,
that thou art a sin-pardoning God,
taking up the balsphemer and the ugodly,
and washing them from their deepest stain.

The Gift of Gifts

Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity,
the uncreated and the created.

God Honoured

Deliver me from the natural darkness of
my own mind,
from the corruptions of my heart,
from the temptations to which I am exposed,
from the daily snares that attend me.

A Christian's Prayer

BLESSED GOD,

Ten thousand snares are mine without
and within,
defend me;
When sloth and indolence seize me,
give me views of heaven;
When sinners entice me,
give me disrelish of their ways;
When sensual pleasures tempt me,
purify and refine me;
When I desire worldly possessions,
help me to be rich toward thee;
When the vanities of the world ensnare me,
let me not plunge into new guilt and ruin.

Man's Greatest End

...all our happiness consists in loving thee,
and being holy as thou art holy.

A Present Salvation

Help me to be reality before thee
As I am in appearance before men

God enjoyed

While Jesus is representing me in heaven,
May I reflect Him on earth.

Divine Mercies

O my God, I bid farewell to sin by clinging
to his cross,
hiding in his wounds, and sheltering in his side.

The Mover

O, Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my deservings and my reveivings.

The Mover

O, Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my deservings and my reveivings.

The All Good

Help me to see how good thy will is in all,
and even when it crosses mine
teach me to be pleased with it.

The Great God

O Fountain of all good,
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-abhorence,
Open in me a fount of penitential tears,
Break me, then bind me up:
Thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling
for my God

Love Lustres at Calvary

O that every breath might be ecstatic praise,
my every step buoyant with delight, as I see my
enemies crushed,
Statan baffled, defeated, destroyed.
sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,
hell's gates closed, heaven's portal open.
Go forth, O conquering God, and show me the cross,
mighty to subdue, comfrot and save.

The Spirit's Work

Lead me to the cross and shoe me his wounds,
the hateful nature of evil, the power of Satan;
May I there see my sins as
the nails that transfixed him,
the cords that bound him,
the thorns that tore him,
the sword that pierced him.
Help me find in his death the reality
and immensity of love.
Open for me the wondrous voumes of truth
in his 'It is finished.'

The Spirit of Jesus

May his comforts cheer me in my sorrows,
his strength sustain me in my trials,
his blessings revive me in my weariness,
his presence render me a fruitful tree of holiness,
his might establish me in peace and joy,
his incitements make me ceaseless in prayer,
his animation kindle in me undying devotion.

Spiritus Sanctus

O Holy Spirit,

Come as power,
to expel every rebel lust, to reign supreme
and keep me thine;

Come as teacher,
leading me into all truth, filling me with
all understanding;

Come as love,
that I may adore the Father, and love him
as my all;

Come as joy,
to dwell in me, move in me, animate me;

Come as light,
illuminating the Scripture, moulding me
in its laws;

Come as sanctifier,
body, soul, spirit wholly thine;

Come as helper, with strenagth to bless and keep, directing my
every step.

God the All

O God, it is amzing that men can talk so much
about man's power and goodness,
whe, if thou didst not hold us back every
moment we would be devils incarnate.

This, by bitter experience, thou hast taught me
concerning myself.

Christ Alone

O God,

Thy main plan, and the end of they will
is to make Christ glorious and beloved
in heaven
where He is now ascended,
where one day all the elect will behold His glory
and love and glorify Him for ever...

Here, it is my duty
to be as Christ to this world,
to do what He would do,
to live as He would live,
to walk in love and meekness;
then would He be known,
then would I have peace in death.

The Valley of Vision

Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty,
thy glory in my valley.

Future Blessings

May we know the blessedness of men
whose strength is true,
and in whose hearts are the highways
to heaven.

The Gift of Gifts

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 that I might become like Him.

God's Good Pleasure

Help us to approach thee clothed with humility,
for vanity, forwardness, insensibility,
disorderly affection, backwardness to duty,
proneness to evil are in our hearts.

God Honoured

The sea, dry land, winter cold, summer heat,
morning light, evening shade are full of thee,
and thou givest me them richly to enjoy.

The Mediator

May we derive relief from his sufferings
without ceasing to abhor sin,
or to long after holiness;
feel the double efficacy of his blood,
tranquallising and cleansing our consciences;
delight in his service as well as his sacrifice
be constrained by his love
to live not to ourselves but to him;
cherish a grateful and cheerful disposition,
not murmuring or repining
if our wishes are not indulged,
or because some trials are blended
with our enjoyments,
But, sensible in our desert,
and impressed with the number and greatness
of thy benefits,
may we bless and praise thee at all times.

Man's Great End

Lord of All Being,
There is one things that deserves my greatest care,
that calls forth my ardent desires,
That is, that I may answer the great end for which
I am made-
to glorify thee who hast given me being,
and to do all the good I can for my fellow men;
Verily, my life is not worth having
if it be not improved for this noble purpose.

The Gospel

Let us as Christians fill our various situations
in life,
escape the snares to which they expose us,
discharge the duties that arise from our
circumstances,
enjoy with moderation their advantages,
improve with diligence their usefulness,
And may every place and company we are in be benefited by us

God Enjoyed

I bless thee that thou hast made me capable
of knowing thee, the author of all being,
of resembling thee, the perfection of all excellency,
of enjoying thee, the source of all happiness.

Divine Mercies

Thou Eternal God,

Thin is suprassing greatness, unspeakable
goodness, super-abundant grace;
I can as soon count the sands of ocean's 'lip'
as number thy favours towards me;
I know but a part, but that part exceeds all praise...

But, O, how I mourn my sin, ingratititude, vileness,
the days that add to my guilt...

Yet still I live, and fly repenting to thy outstreched
arms;
thou will not case me off, for Jesus brings me near,
thou wilt not condemn me, for He died in my stead,
thou wilt not mark my mountains of sin,
for He levelled all.

The Giver

Help us not only to receive him but to
walk in him,
commune with him,
follow his as dear children,
imperfect, but still pressing forward,
not complaining of labour, but valuing rest,
not murmuring under trials, but thankful for our state.
And by so doing let us silence the ignorance
of foolish men.

The All Good

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;

The Great God

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,
Abse me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence,
Open in me a fount of penitential tears,
Break me, then bind me up;
Thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling
for my God;

God All-Sufficient

We are weary, give us rest,
ignorant, make us wise unto salvation,
helpless, let thy strength be made perfect
in our weakness,
poor and needy, bless us with Christ's
ungracefully riches,
perplexed and tempted, let us travel on
unchecked, undismayed,
knowing that thou hast said,
"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."
Blessed be thy name.

God the All

O God Whose will conquers all,

There is no comfort in anything apart from enjoying Thee
and being engaged in they service;
Thou art All in all, and all enjoyments are what to me thou makest them, and no more.

I rejoice to think that all things are at the disposal, and it delights me to leave them there.

True Christianity

Let us judge our Christianity,
not only by our dependence upon Jesus,
but by our love to him,
our conformity to him,
our knowledge of him.

Before Sleep

May our conscious be clear, our hearts pure,
our sleep sweet.
And with the innumerable company who neither
slumber or rest
we join in ascribing blessing, honour,
glory and power
to the Lamb upon the throne,
for ever and ever.

Faith in Prayer

Give me unwavering faith
that supplications are never in vain,
that if I seem not to obtain my petitions
I shall have larger, richer answers,
surpassing all that I ask or think.
Unsought, thou hast given me
the greatest gift, the person of thy Son,
and in him thou wilt give me all I need.

God Creator and Controller

When we are tempted to wander,
hedge up our way,
excite us in the abhorance of sin,
wean us from this present evil world.

Bounty

Let us live out of this world as to its spirit,
maxims, manners,
but live in it as the sphere of our action and usefulness;
May we be alive to every call of duty,
accepting without question
thy determination of our circumstances
and our service.

God over all

May the Holy Scriptures
govern every part of our lives,
and regulate the discharge of all of our duties,
so that we may adorn the doctrine
in all things.

In Prayer

In prayer I can place all my concerns in thy hands,
to be entirely at thy disposal,
having no will or interest of my own.
In prayer I can intercede for my friends, ministers,
sinners, the church, thy kingdom to come,
with greatest freedom, ardent hopes,
as a son to his father,
as a lover to the beloved.

The Teacher

Give us a closer abiding in Jesus
that we may
bring forth more fruit,
have a deeper sense of our obligations to him,
that we may surrender all, have a fuller joy,
that we may serve him more completely.

First Day Morning: Worship

[On the Lord’s Day]

Be a sanctuary to all who cannot come,
forget not those who never come,
And do bestow upon us
benevolence towards our dependents,
forgiveness toward our enemies,
peaceableness toward our neighbours,
openness towards our fellow-Christians.