This prayer is taken from a weekly prayer guide adapted by John Wesley for daily devotions. This is the prayer for Monday mornings & evenings. Frederick Gill edited this short collection, which I came across in January at the MWRC library.
Let us with reverence appear before him and humble ourselves in the presence of his glory.
For himself he made us and for his glorious kingdom.
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power
For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
To know thee, O Lord, is the highest learning.
And to see thy face, the only happiness.
Suffer us not to go till thou hast given us thy blessing
And then may thy blessing bind us faster unto thee.
He that framed the heart of man designed it for himself
And bequeathed it unquietness till possessed of its Maker.
All thy ways, O Lord, are mercy and wisdom.
And all thy counsels tend to our happiness. Amen.
The forms of prayer... I love them! Did they ever gain any traction in Methodism? Would they be useful to us today, or did they die off for a reason?
ReplyDeleteGood question. I love them too. While I was in England I used them out of that book during my devotions and found them beneficial. From what I remember in the preface Wesley drew up these particular prayers in the early 1730's.
ReplyDeleteAs for their dying off, I'm not exactly sure as to when or why, but I'm guessing that some may have taken the reaction to formalism to such a degree as to reject structured prayers where they thought extemporaneous prayers were more "heart-felt" or whatever. But that's just a guess, so don't take that as authoritative. :)
I pray you and your family, church are well, Aaron!