A Prayer for Ash Wednesday

Lord of Heaven,

Thy goodness is inexpressible and inconceivable.

In the works of creation thou art almighty,

In the dispensations of providence all-wise,

In the gospel of grace all love,

And in thy Son thou hast provided for

our deliverance from the effects of sin,

the justification of our persons,

the sanctification of our natures,

the perseverance of our souls in the path of life.

Though exposed to the terrors of thy law,

we have a refuge from the storm;

Though compelled to cry, ‘Unclean’,

we have a fountain for sin;

Though creature-cells of emptiness

we have a fullness accessible to all,

and incapable of reduction.

Grant us always to know that to walk with Jesus

makes other interests a shadow and a dream.

Keep us from intermittent attention

to eternal things;

Save us from the delusion of those

who fail to go far in religion,

who are concerned but not converted,

who have another heart but not a new one,

who have light, zeal, confidence, but not Christ.

Let us judge our Christianity,

not only by our dependence upon Jesus,

but by our love to him,

our conformity to him,

our knowledge of him.

Give us a religion that is both real

and progressive,

that holds on its way and grows stronger,

that lives and works in the Spirit,

that profits by every correction,

and is injured by no carnal indulgence.

~

Fourth day morning: True Christianity

, The Valley of Vision