New Beginning

INCOMPREHENSIBLE, GREAT, AND GLORIOUS GOD,

I adore thee and abase myself.

I approach thee mindful that I am less than nothing,

a creature worse than nothing.

My thoughts are not screened from thy gaze.

My secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance.

Enable me to remember that blood which cleanseth all sin,

to believe in that grace which subdues all iniquities,

to resign myself to that agency which can deliver me from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.

Thou hast begun a good work in me

and canst alone continue and complete it.

Give me an increasing conviction of my tendency to err,

and of my exposure to sin.

Help me to feel more of the purifying, softening, influence of religion,

its compassion, love, pity, courtesy,

and employ me as thy instrument in blessing others.

Give me to distinguish

between the mere form of godliness and its power,

between life and a name to live,

between guile and truth,

between hypocrisy and a religion that will bear thy eye.

If I am not right, set me right, keep me right;

And may I at last come to thy house in peace.

See Romans 6

(The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. Ed. Arthur Bennett. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975. pp 174-175.)