Friday, April 15, 2005

As I Close My Eyes

Man, what an awesome day. Here's my prayer as I close my eyes:

Creator,
Thou has promised thy beloved sleep;
Give me restoring rest needful for
tomorrow’s toil.
If dreams be mine, let them not be
tinged with evil.
Let thy Spirit make my time of repose
a blessed temple of his holy presence.
May my frequent lying down make
me familiar with death, the bed I
approach remind my of the grave, the eyes I now
close picture to me their final closing.
Keep me always ready, waiting for admittance to
they presence.
Weaken my attachment to earthly things.
May I hold life loosely in my hand, knowing that I
receive it on condition of its surrender.
As pain and suffering betoken transitory health,
may I not shrink from a death that introduces
me the freshness of eternal youth. I retire this
night in full assurance of one day’s awakening
with thee.
All glory for this blessed hope, for the gospel of grace,
for thine unspeakable gift of Jesus, for the fellowship
of the Trinity.
Withhold not thy mercies in the night season; thy
hand never wearies, thy power needs no repose,
thine eye never sleeps.
Help me when I helpless lie, when my conscience
accuses me of sin, when my mind is harassed by
foreboding thoughts, when my eyes are held
awake by personal anxieties.
Show thyself to me as the God of all grace, love and
power; thou hast a balm for every wound, a solace
for all anguish, a remedy for every pain, a
peace for all disquietude.
Permit me to commit myself to thee awake or sleep.
Amen.

("Sleep," Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of
Puritan Prayers and Devotions
)

See you soon.

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