Prayers: A Great God and A Great Company

A Great God and a Great Company

Great God, we are an exceeding great number of people and how shall one pray for all? Help by Thy Holy Spirit, that the words uttered may be suitable for all gathered here. But if not, put prayer into the heart of each individual; may every person here this morning pray, and if he cannot use the words of the one speaker, may he in his heart pray for himself. Oh, let no man, let no woman, let no child, go out of the Tabernacle this morning without having prayer towards God. Thine honour is here; Thy glory is here revealed. In the great congregation of Thy people Thou art wont to be present. May we, every one, have an audience of God. To some of us Thou hast long been sweetly familiar; we have spoken more to Thee than to anyone else. There are those here that have spent more time with God than with any other individual. Certainly we have asked larger things of Thee and have obtained greater answers from our requests to Thee, than from our requests to our fellow men. Lord, hear our prayers.

Some here, however, have never prayed; may the unfamiliar prayer be breathed this morning for the first time. Lord compel men to come near their God. They will have to come to Thee: they will have to come before Thy Judgment Seat; let them not refuse Thy Mercy Seat. While yet the day of grace lasts, let them not turn their backs on God, but rather may they seek Thee now with full purpose of heart, and seek till they find salvation. Some here once prayed but they have backslidden, and now they have forgotten their hiding place, their resting place. So long is it since they enjoyed prayer that now this morning they are quite strange to it. Come, Holy Spirit, bring the wanderer back. Dear Shepherd, fetch home the stray sheep, and since it may be too lame to come home, put it on Thy shoulder and bear it home rejoicing. Glorify the power of Thine arm as well as the love of Thine heart in bringing home Thy wanderers. And now, Lord, if Thou wilt help us to pray we will begin by adoring Thee. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Here, all prayer should begin with reverent homage to the Most High. Thou art our Creator, Preserver, Benefactor; all good comes from Thee, Thou deep abyss of love. Every drop of the rain of comfort falls from heaven. Every dewdrop of consolation, art Thou not the Father of it? We ascribe all honour and glory to Thee, for every good gift and every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning. May Thy Kingdom come among men. We long to see Thee reign over every class of society. Oh that the great ones of the earth would humble themselves before Thee. Oh that the multitude would own Him who is exalted out of the people, the people's Friend. May Thy will be done, O Lord, on earth, as it is in heaven. That would make earth a nether heaven. Would God that men would give up their own wills, their own lustings, their own pride, and follow after God and be obedient. Holy Spirit, Thou alone canst do this. All the eloquence of preachers will effect nothing without the Holy Ghost. We trust not in music, nor education, nor in civilization, nor in anything but the distinct power of the Holy Ghost, working in men to will and to do of God's own good pleasure. Our Father, take to Thyself Thy great power. Thou art Lord of all, and even the will of man which Thou hast made so free, is in bonds till Thou art Master of it, and then, when it is in bond to Thee, it becomes alone truly free.

Lord God, sacred Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, reign on earth. Let Thine eternal purposes be accomplished. Let the decrees of Thy sovereignty be carried out. Let Thy grace be glorified. Let the whole earth be filled with Thy glory. We know no deeper and no higher prayer than this: oh, that it were fulfilled right speedily!

Now suffer us to speak for ourselves, having thus endeavoured to pay Thee homage. We confess that we have sinned. Father forgive us. To many, forgiveness has been once for all bestowed. Thou hast washed us, and he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet. But give us the foot washing, this morning. Oh that we might come to the laver and be clean, and then go in as priests into the Holy Place of the Most High. Jesus, we believe in Thy precious blood. Once for all, it has put away sin; the great Sacrifice has made complete atonement; it can never be repeated, it never needs to be. In that one Sacrifice we are clean, as many as have believed, and there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. But Saviour, we now sin in another fashion, as children against paternal government, against a Father's love, and as children we ask to be pardoned. Hide not Thy face from us, put not Thy servants away in anger; deal graciously with Thy children, and let us walk in the light, as God is in the light, and have fellowship with the Father and with the Son, and may joy and peace abound in us. Is there anything this morning between us and God; doth anything darken our light? Lord take it away. Have we any doubts? Let the light remove them. Does anything trouble us? May we cast our care on Thee. Have we any dark foreboding? May we put our foreboding away, for sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Enable every child of God to have perfect rest in God, this morning. May we be on loving terms with God. May we have not even the least grit in the machinery. May there not be a speck of dust in the eye, for in dealing with God our heart is tender, as the apple of the eye, and the least thing offendeth. May we be, in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, dear to God, and may God be dear to us.

Oh, for the inflowing of divine love. May we feel the heart of God beat toward us, this morning. Open our hearts, Lord, to receive Thy heart, and let Thy great heart flow into us, till our heart flows back to Thee with tides of warm emotion and tender love. Thy servant will not be able to edify Thy people this morning by any power he has, but may the Holy Spirit come; may the floods of God come, and may this be a blessed time to the people of God, a time of great nearness to God, and the light of God shining into every secret part of the soul.

What a number of Thy children are met together here this morning! Lord, if we are all right with Thee, what an amount of happiness there is here, what a heaven this Tabernacle is! And if Thou wilt come and set us all working for Thee, what an amount of light will go forth from this place! If by our lips and lives we henceforth bear testimony to our God, what a result we shall see; how many will be taught, how many will hear, how many will be blessed! Lord, we are not what we ought to be, we are not what we want to be, we are not what we shall be. Come upon us, we pray Thee, come and use every child of Thine here for the conversion of others. Come and make us to be burning and shining lights, each one in our day and generation. The members of this church, Lord, make them a holy people. May we not only have the name of Christians, but may we have the life of Christians. Lord, forgive the inconsistent ones. Sanctify, we pray Thee, the consecrated ones, and if any are unconsecrated, take them to-day; make them to feel that they are not their own, but are bought with a price. Father, bless those who are newly added to us. May they be good and strong. May the Spirit of God build them up, and make them to be temples for His own indwelling. Bless all the work done by this church, in every department. Among the young, do Thou prosper us in the Sunday school, in the classes, in the Orphanage—everywhere may young children be born to God. Bless the work of the church in reference to the drunkard. May the mission of the past week be blessed of God, and may the days that yet remain be fuller of blessing than those that are passed. Remember the mission work of the church—all our sons and daughters that are in foreign lands, preaching for Christ. Bless the Convention of this week; may it stir up much missionary zeal, and may many be led to devote themselves to the Lord's work in regions far off. Our God, use each one of us. Use me, even me, O my Father. There is many a young girl praying, "Lord use me." There is many a worker in the Tabernacle this morning, quite unknown, who is saying, "My Father, use even me." Condescend, Lord, to hear that prayer, and make us to glorify Thee on earth, that we may be ready to glorify Thee in heaven.

Now remember the unconverted among us, and call them to-day. Call the careless; call the seeker: let him be a seeker no longer, but become a finder. Comfort the despairing; bring the broken-hearted to the great Physician, who can make them whole. Oh save us; save everyone. Is there one person here that is like to be left out of our prayer? Lord, we pray twice for him, for her. Save that prayerless one. Are there any here who despise prayer? Lord change their hearts and renew them. Are there unbelievers here, for whom there is no God and no hereafter? Open their blinded eyes and let them see their God. Do save this company! We are such a mixed multitude it is impossible to pray for every one distinctly, and yet we make the attempt, saying, Our Father bless each one! Omit not one, for Christ's sake. Amen.

October 13, 1889.