Give me then refreshment among thy people,Īnd help me not to treat excellent matter in a defective way, That I might be a pure channel of thy grace,
I myself need thy support, comfort, strength, holiness,
May thy people be refreshed, melted, convicted, comforted,Īnd help me to use the strongest argumentsĭrawn from Christ’s incarnation and sufferings, Give me freedom to open the sorrows of thy people,Īnd to set before them comforting considerations.Īnd awaken the attention of my slothful audience. Help me to offer a testimony for thyself,Īnd to leave sinners inexcusable in neglecting thy mercy. Keep me conscious all the while of my defects,Īnd let me not gloat in pride over my performance. With fullness of matter and clarity of thought,Īnd grace to apply them to people’s consciences. Present to my view things pertinent to my subject, With heart uplifted for grace and unction. Give me assistance in preaching and prayer, That an honest testimony might be borne for thee Yet I long that people might be edified with divine truth, It inspires me every time I pray it, and I offer it to you to share around, as it was generously shared with me. This preacher knows the importance of the task, and pays attention to the role of the preacher, the congregation, and God, in joining together in the event of preaching. Or bear a broken testimony to so worthy a redeemer’ ‘help me not to treat excellent matter in a defective way, And I often choke up when I get to the lines near the end: But I feel a sense of comradeship in these lines. I, too, ‘go weak and needy to my task,’ and need to be reminded not to be proud. The unnamed puritan preacher who wrote this is living in a time, place and culture that are all pretty different from mine. The ‘slothful audience’ line usually gets a muffled giggle. I’ve also prayed it aloud with congregations before preaching, sort of letting them overhear my prayer for the sermon. He regularly prayed it in his study before preaching, and I took on the practice too. When I was a student and preached at Roskill Baptist, years ago, the minister there kindly shared this 400ish-year-old prayer with me. Thinking of what to write to her reminded me of this puritan prayer. Tonight I wanted to wish her well, in words of encouragement that caught both the weight of responsibility that comes with this calling, and the lightness you can access when you remember you’re part of something so much bigger than your own performance. A friend of mine is preaching her first sermon tomorrow morning.
0 kommentar(er)
