Evening Renewal

It’s late for my regular midweek posting, so I thought I’d end the day with a prayer from The Valley of Vision, called, “Evening Renewal.”

My Father,
If thy mercy had bounds, where would be
my refuge from just wrath?
But thy love in Christ is without measure.
Thus, I present myself to thee
With sins of commission and omission,
against thee, my Father,
against thee, adorable Redeemer,
against thee, and thy striving, O Holy Spirit,
against the dictates of my conscience,
against the precepts of thy Word,
against my neighbors and myself.
Enter not into judgment with me,
For I plead no righteousness of my own,
and have no cloak for iniquity.
Pardon my day dark with evil.
This night I renew my penitence.
Every morning I vow to love thee more fervently,
to serve thee more sincerely,
to be more devoted in my life,
to be wholly thine;
Yet soon I stumble, backslide,
and have to confess my weakness, misery, and sin.
But I bless thee that the finished work of Jesus
needs no addition from my doings,
that his oblation is sufficient satisfaction for my sins.
If future days be mine, help me to amend my life,
to hate and abhor evil,
to flee the sins I confess.
Make me more resolute, more watchful, more prayerful.
Let no evil fruit spring form evil seeds my hands have sown;
Let no neighbor be hardened in vanity and folly
by my want of circumspection.
If this day I have been ashamed of Christ and his Word,
or have shown unkindness, malice, envy,
lack of love, unadvisedly speech, hasty temper,
let it be not stumbling block to others, or dishonor to thy Name.
O help me to set an upright example that will ever
rebuke vice,
allure to goodness,
and evidence that lovely are the ways of Christ.

From: The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. (The Banner of Truth Trust)

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