A Prayer

This past week and the next few weeks have me preaching twice at Regeneration and once for the Sunday morning youth service, all of which is much more frequent teaching than I have done in the past. It also comes at a time that the anticipation and emotion of getting married soon is increasing day by day. Last week as I felt weak to go before Regeneration and teach on the incarnation, I lifted up this helpful prayer from The Valley of Vision, entitled "A Minister's Bible":

O God of truth,
I thank thee for the holy Scriptures,
     their precepts, promises, directions, light.
In them may I learn more of Christ,
     be enabled to retain his truth
     and have grace to follow it.
Help me to lift up the gates of my soul that he may come in
     and show me himself when I search the Scriptures,
     for I have no lines to fathom its depths,
     no wings to soar to its heights.
By his aid may I be enabled to explore all its truths,
     love them with all my heart,
     embrace them with all my power,
     engraft them into my life.
Bless to my soul all grains of truth garnered from thy Word;
     may they take deep root,
     be refreshed by heavenly dew,
     be ripened by heavenly rays,
     be harvested to my joy and thy praise.
Help me to gain profit by what I read,
     as treasure beyond all treasure,
     a fountain which can replenish my dry heart,
       its waters flowing through me as a perennial river
       on-drawn by they Holy Spirit.
Enable me to distil from its pages faithful prayer
     that grasps the arm of thy omnipotence,
     achieves wonders, obtains blessings,
     and draws down streams of mercy.
From it show me how my words have aften been unfaithful to thee,
     injurious to my fellow-men,
     empty of grace, full of folly,
     dishonouring to my calling.
Then write thy own words upon my heart and inscribe them on my lips;
So shall all glory be to thee in my reading of thy Word!

Though perhaps specially relevant to those who are entrusted to teach the Word to others, it is a great prayer for meditation on Scripture in general.