A Christian's Prayer

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Blessed God,

Ten thousand snares are mine without and within,

      defend Thou 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 vanities of the world ensnare me,

      let me not plunge into new guilt and ruin.

May I remember the dignity of my spiritual release,

      never be too busy to attend to my soul,

never be so engrossed with time

    that I neglect the things of eternity;

  thus may I not only live, but grow towards Thee.

Form my mind to right notions of religion,

      that I may not judge of grace by wrong conceptions,

    nor measure my spiritual advances by the efforts of my natural being.

May I seek after an increase of divine love to Thee,

      after unreserved resignation to Thy will,

    after extensive benevolence to my fellow creatures,

after patience and fortitude of soul,

      after heavenly disposition

    after a concern that I may please Thee in public and private.

Draw on my soul the lineaments of Christ,

      in every trace and feature of which Thou wilt take delight, for I am

    Thy workmanship, created in Christ Jesus,

Thy letter written with the Holy Spirit's pen,

      Thy tilled soil ready for the sowing, 

then harvest.

"A Christian's Prayer", Valley of Vision