A NIGHTLY PRAYER 1831

Confessions of an Inquiring Spirit

by Samuel T. Coleridge

A NIGHTLY PRAYER 1831, CONFESSIONS OF AN INQUIRING SPIRIT by Samuel T. Coleridge
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Almighty God, by thy eternal Word my Creator Redeemer and Preserver!
who hast in thy free communicative goodness glorified me with the
capability of knowing thee, the one only absolute Good, the eternal I
Am, as the author of my being, and of desiring and seeking thee as
its ultimate end;--who, when I fell from thee into the mystery of the
false and evil will, didst not abandon me, poor self-lost creature,
but in thy condescending mercy didst provide an access and a return
to thyself, even to thee the Holy One, in thine only begotten Son,
the way and the truth from everlasting, and who took on himself
humanity, yea, became flesh, even the man Christ Jesus, that for man
he might be the life and the resurrection!--O Giver of all good
gifts, who art thyself the one only absolute Good, from whom I have
received whatever good I have, whatever capability of good there is
in me, and from thee good alone,--from myself and my own corrupted
will all evil and the consequents of evil,--with inward prostration
of will, mind, and affections I adore thy infinite majesty; I aspire
to love thy transcendent goodness!--In a deep sense of my
unworthiness, and my unfitness to present myself before thee, of eyes
too pure to behold iniquity, and whose light, the beautitude of
spirits conformed to thy will, is a consuming fire to all vanity and
corruption;--but in the name of the Lord Jesus, of the dear Son of
thy love, in whose perfect obedience thou deignest to behold as many
as have received the seed of Christ into the body of this death;--I
offer this, my bounden nightly sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving,
in humble trust that the fragrance of my Saviour's righteousness may
remove from it the taint of my mortal corruption. Thy mercies have
followed me through all the hours and moments of my life; and now I
lift up my heart in awe and thankfulness for the preservation of my
life through the past day, for the alleviation of my bodily
sufferings and languors, for the manifold comforts which thou hast
reserved for me, yea, in thy fatherly compassion hast rescued from
the wreck of my own sins or sinful infirmities;--for the kind and
affectionate friends thou hast raised up for me, especially for those
of this household, for the mother and mistress of this family, whose
love to me hath been great and faithful, and for the dear friend, the
supporter and sharer of my studies and researches; but, above all,
for the heavenly Friend, the crucified Saviour, the glorified
Mediator, Christ Jesus, and for the heavenly Comforter, source of all
abiding comforts, thy Holy Spirit! O grant me the aid of thy Spirit,
that I may with a deeper faith, a more enkindled love, bless thee,
who through thy Son hast privileged me to call thee Abba, Father! O,
thou, who hast revealed thyself in thy holy word as a God that
hearest prayer; before whose infinitude all differences cease of
great and small; who like a tender parent foreknowest all our wants,
yet listenest well-pleased to the humble petitions of thy children;
who hast not alone permitted, but taught us; to call on thee in all
our needs,--earnestly I implore the continuance of thy free mercy, of
thy protecting providence, through the coming night. Thou hearest
every prayer offered to thee believingly with a penitent and sincere
heart. For thou in withholding grantest, healest in inflicting the
wound, yea, turnest all to good for as many as truly seek thee
through Christ, the Mediator! Thy will be done! But if it be
according to thy wise and righteous ordinances, O shield me this
night from the assaults of disease, grant me refreshment of sleep
unvexed by evil and distempered dreams; and if the purpose and
aspiration of my heart be upright before thee, who alone knowest the
heart of man, O in thy mercy vouchsafe me yet in this my decay of
life an interval of ease and strength; if so (thy grace disposing and
assisting) I may make compensation to thy Church for the unused
talents thou hast entrusted to me, for the neglected opportunities
which thy loving-kindness had provided. O let me be found a labourer
in the vineyard, though of the late hour, when the Lord and Heir of
the vintage, Christ Jesus, calleth for his servant.

Our Father, &c.

To thee, great omnipresent Spirit, whose mercy is over all thy works,
who now beholdest me, who hearest me, who hast framed my heart to
seek and to trust in thee, in the name of my Lord and Saviour Christ
Jesus, I humbly commit and commend my body, soul, and spirit.

Glory be to thee, O God!