Good Jesus, Fountain of Love,
Fill us with thy love.
Absorb us into thy love;
Compass us with thy love,
That we may see all things in the light of thy love,
Receive all things as the token of thy love,
Speak of all things in words breathing of thy love,
Win through thy love others for thy love,
Be kindled day by day with a new glow of thy love,
Until we be fitted to enter into thine everlasting love,
To adore thy love and love to adore thee, our God and all.
Even so come, O Lord Jesus.

- E.B. Pusey, 1800-1882

LORD, we would come to Thee,
but do Thou come to us.
Draw us and we will run after Thee.

Blessed Spirit, help our infirmities,
for we know not what we should pray for as we ought.

Come, Holy Spirit,
and give right thoughts and right utterance
that we may all be able to pray in the common prayer,
the whole company feeling that for each one there is a portion.

We are grateful as we remember
that if the minister in the sanctuary should not be able to pray for any one of us
there is One who bears the names of all His redeemed upon His breast,
and upon His shoulder,
who will take care with the love of His heart and the power of His hand
to maintain the cause of all His own…

- a prayer of Charles Spurgeon

O merciful Father,
do not consider what we have done against You;
but what our blessed Savior has done for us.

Don’t consider what we have made of ourselves,
but what He is making of us for You our God.

O that Christ may be “wisdom and righteousness,
sanctification and redemption”
to every one of our souls.
That His precious blood may cleanse us from all our sins,
and that Your Holy Spirit may renew and sanctify our souls.

May He crucify our flesh with its passion and lusts,
and cleanse all our brothers and sisters in Christ across the earth.

O let not “sin reign in our mortal bodies,
that we should obey it in its lusts.”
But, “being made free from sin,
let us be the servants of righteousness.”

Let us commend our hearts to you,
and let all our ways be pleasing in your sight.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who live and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

- John Wesley

Open mine eyes, dear Savior,
I thirst in the noontide heat,
I pine for refreshing waters
That murmur so cool and sweet.

Open mine eyes, dear Savior, now,
Open mine eyes to see
The well of Thy full salvation
That sparkles and flows for me.

Open mine eyes, dear Savior,
I know that the well is near;
But O that my strength were stronger,
Its mission more bright and clear.

Whence is the voice that calleth?
And what do mine eyes behold?
O Savior, my prayer is answered,
‘Tis answered a hundred fold.

Praise to Thy Name, dear Savior mine,
Joyfully now I see
The well of Thy full salvation
That sparkles and flows for me.

- Fanny Crosby

In a world of created changeable things,
Christ and His Word alone remain unshaken…
Let me know that He is dear to me by His Word;
I am one with Him by the Word on His part, and by faith on mine;
If I oppose the Word I oppose my Lord when He is most near;
If I receive the Word I receive my Lord wherein He is nigh.
O Thou who hast the hearts of all men in Thine hand,
form my heart according to the Word,
according to the image of Thy Son,
So shall Christ the Word, and His Word,
be my strength and comfort.

- Arthur Bennett, The Valley of Vision, 17.

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only Light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o’er the shades of night;
Dayspring from on high, be near;
Day-star, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn
Unaccompanied by Thee;
Joyless is the day’s return
Till Thy mercy’s beams I see;
Till they inward light impart,
Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

Visit then this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, Radiancy divine,
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more Thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.

- Charles Wesley

O Master and Lord, Jesus Christ our God,
We recall your hanging upon the life-giving cross,
as You opened the way into Paradise for the repentant thief,
and destroyed death by death:

Be merciful to us,
Your humble and sinful and unworthy servants.
For we have sinned and transgressed,
and we are not worthy to lift up our eyes and look at the height of heaven,
since we have forsaken the path of Your righteousness
and have walked according to the desires of our own hearts.

But we appeal to Your boundless goodness,
spare us, O Lord, according to the abundance of Your mercy,
and save us for the sake of Your holy name.
Pluck us from the hand of the adversary,
forgive us our sins,
and kill our fleshly lusts,
that putting off the old man, we may put on the new,
and may live for You, our Master and Protector.

For You, O Christ our God, are the true joy and gladness of those who love You
and unto You we ascribe glory, together with Your Father who is without beginning,
and Your most holy, good and life-giving Spirit,
now and forever. Amen.

- adapted from Basil the Great, A. \D. 330-379

With a prayer You fed the hungry,
With a cry You stilled the storm;
With a look You had compassion
On the desperate and forlorn.

With a touch You healed the leper,
With a shout You raised the dead;
With a word expelled the demons,
With a blessing broke the bread.

Love incarnate, love divine,
Captivate this heart of mine
Till all I do speaks of You.

As a sheep before the shearer
You were silent in Your pain;
You endured humiliation
At the hands of those You’d made.
And as hell unleashed its fury
You were lifted on a tree,
Crying ‘Father God, forgive them,
Place their punishment on Me.’

Love incarnate, love divine,
Captivate this heart of mine
Till all I do speaks of You.

I will feed the poor and hungry,
I will stand up for the truth;
I will take my cross and follow
To the corners of the earth.
And I ask that You so fill me
With Your peace, Your power, Your breath,
That I never love my life so much
To shrink from facing death.

Love incarnate, love divine,
Captivate this heart of mine
Till all I do speaks of You.

- Stuart Townend - With A Prayer (Love Incarnate)

Lord God Almighty,
I understand that I am unable to do anything without your help,
so I ask you to enable me by your grace to fulfill your will.

Give me grace to do whatever brings most glory and honor to you,
pleasure and profit to me,
and life and love to others.

Help me to number my days,
spending my time wisely,
living my life with all my might while I still have breath.

Humble me in the knowledge that I am chief of sinners;
when I hear of the sins of others,
help me to not look upon them with pride,
but to look upon myself with shame,
confessing my own sins to you.

When I go through difficulties and trials,
remind me of the pains of hell
from which you have already delivered me.

Place people in my path who need my help,
and give me a compassionate and generous spirit.

Fill my heart with such love
that I would never do anything out of a spirit of revenge,
nor lose my temper with those around me.
Hold my tongue when I am tempted to speak evil of others.

Thank you for the gospel and for the hope of glory.
Help me to live in light of these truths every day of my life,
so that when the time of my death arrives,
I will rest assuredly in you,
and you will be most glorified in me.

In Christ’s name…

- Trevin Wax (adapted from the first 21 of Jonathan Edwards’ resolutions), first posted on January 3, 2010

Lord, you exalt the humble.
You use the yielded.
Help me not to feel that I am worthy or deserving of you.
Help me not to think that I can do anything major with minor trust.
Help me to say “yes” to your every proposition
so I can sing with Mary,
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”

- Calvin Miller, The Christ of Christmas: Readings for Advent