A PRAYER FOR SINCERITY

Almighty God and Heavenly Father:

Blessed is the person whom you choose and call to yourself.

With you is mercy, redemption, assurance, forgiveness;

You have lifted me, a prisoner, out of the dungeon of sin

And pronounced my discharge,

Not only in the courts of heaven;

But in the dock of conscience;

Have justified me by faith,

Given me peace with you,

Made me to enjoy glorious liberty as your child.

Save me from the false hope of the hypocrite:

May I never suppose I am in Christ unless I am a new creature,

Never think I am born of the Spirit

Unless I mind the things of the Spirit,

Never rest satisfied with professions of belief

And outward forms and services,

While my heart is not right with you.

May I judge my sincerity in religion

By my fear to offend you,

My concern to know your will,

My willingness to deny myself.

May nothing render me forgetful of your glory,

Or turn me aside from your commands,

Or shake my confidence in your promises,

Or offend your children.

Let not my temporal occupations injure my spiritual concerns,

Or the cares of life make me neglect the one thing needful.

May I not be inattentive to the design of your dealings with me,

Or insensible under your rebukes,

Or immobile at your calls.

May I learn the holy art of abiding in you,

Of being in the world and not of it,

Of making everything not only consistent with

But conducive to my relationship with you.

(The Valley of Vision, edited by Arthur Bennett, 174)