Joyce E. Rempel

Grace Active

Lord Jesus, Great High Priest,
You have opened a new and living way by which a fallen creature can approach You and receive acceptance.

Help me to contemplate the dignity of Your Person,
the perfectness of Your sacrifice,
the effectiveness of Your intercession.

What blessedness accompanies devotion, when under all the trials that weary me, the cares that corrode me,
the fears that disturb me,
the infirmities that oppress me,
I can come to You in my need and find peace beyond understanding!

Your grace restores. It preserves, leads, guards, supplies, and helps me.
Your saints encourage my hope;
they were once poor and are now rich,
bound and are now free,
tried and now are victorious.

Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess,
but not more than is found in You,
the divine Treasury in whom all fullness dwells.
To You I return for grace upon grace,
until every void made by sin is replenished and I am filled with all Your fullness.

May my desires be enlarged
and my hopes emboldened,
that I may honour You
by my entire dependency
and the greatness of my expectation.

You are with me and prepare me
for all the smiles of prosperity,
the frowns of adversity,
the losses of substance,
the death of friends,
the days of darkness,
the changes of life,
and the last great change of all.

May I find Your grace sufficient for all my needs, for all my days.

Amen.

Adapted from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett