Lord Jesus, I sin. Grant that I may never cease grieving because of it,
never be content with myself, never think I can reach a point of perfection.
Kill my envy, command my tongue, trample down self. Give me grace to be holy,
kind, gentle, pure, peaceable, to live for You and not for self, to copy Your
words, acts, spirit, to be transformed into Your likeness, to be consecrated
wholly to You, to live entirely to Your glory.
Deliver me from attachment to things unclean, from wrong associations,
from the predominance of evil passions, from the sugar of sin as well as its
gap; that with self-loathing, deep contrition, earnest heart searching I may
come to You, cast myself on You, trust in You, cry to You, be delivered by You.
O God, the Eternal All, help me to know that all things are shadows, but
You are substance, all things are quicksands, but You are mountain, all things
are shifting, but You are anchor, all things are ignorance, but You are wisdom.
If my life is to be a crucible amid burning heat, so be it, but sit at
the furnace mouth to watch the ore that nothing be lost. If I sin wilfully,
grievously, tormentedly, in grace take away my mourning and give me music;
remove my sackcloth and clothe me with beauty; still my sighs and fill my mouth
with song, then give me summer weather as a Christian.