"meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."—col. i. 12.
o god, i come into thy gracious presence on this the close of another day, beseeching thee to accept of my evening sacrifice. may this my unworthy prayer come up before thee perfumed with the fragrant incense of the saviour's adorable merits. it is my comfort to know, o thou blessed intercessor within the veil, that thou art even now appearing in the presence of god for me! the names of thy covenant people are engraven on thy breastplate, {101} and, all unworthy in themselves, they are accepted in the beloved.
my special prayer to thee this night is, that by thy grace i may be made meet for thy blood-bought inheritance in glory. transform me by the indwelling power of the holy ghost; may i be dying daily unto sin, and living daily unto righteousness. make me more heavenly-minded. give me more of a pilgrim attitude and a pilgrim spirit. may i ever feel that my true home is above, that i am here but a wayfarer and sojourner, as all my fathers were. may i attain, as i advance nearer heaven, the blessed habit of a holy life, bearing about with me the lofty impress of one who is born from above and for above, declaring plainly that i seek "a better country."
let me not arraign the appointments of infinite wisdom, but patiently await the disclosures of the great day. keep me from a hasty spirit under dark dispensations. i am no judge as to what fancied mercies are best withholden. let me look to every trial as an appointed messenger from the throne whispering in my ears, "be ye also ready!" may {102} i delight often to anticipate that happy time when i shall suffer no more, and sin no more; when thou shalt no longer teach me by mysterious dispensations and a crossed will; when all shall be "a sea of glass" without one disturbing ripple, and i shall trace with joyous heart the long line of unbroken love and unchanging faithfulness! anew i would wash in the atoning fountain. anew i would take refuge "in the faithful saying." o blot out all the sins of the bygone day. let them not rise up in the judgment to condemn me. let me close my eyes this night listening to the saviour's own voice—"your sins which are many are all forgiven you."
may the lord arise and have mercy upon zion. may the streams of thy grace make glad the city of god. build up her broken walls; restore her ruined towers; may her watchmen be men of faith and men of prayer; making mention of the lord, and keeping not silence, till he establish, and till he make jerusalem again a praise in the earth.
lord, bless my friends. let us exult in those ties which survive the uncertain ones of {103} earth, and look forward to the hour when we shall come to stand at last faultless before thy throne. oh, prepare us all for the breaking of that eternal day—that "morning without clouds," when in thy light we shall see light—when the love of christ shall be enthroned supremely in every heart, when the glory of christ will form the animating motive and principle of life that shall never end: and all i ask is for his sake. amen.
"let my prayer be set forth before thee as
incense: and the lifting up of my hands
as the evening sacrifice."
