Tree of Life Day 73: John 14-16

When the discourse in John 14-16 is offered in a prayer, it might sound like this...

O God the Holy Spirit, Thou who dost proceed from the Father and the Son, have mercy on me. 

When thou didst first hover over chaos, order came to birth, beauty robed the world, fruitfulness sprang forth. 

Move, I pray thee, upon my disordered heart; take away the infirmities of unruly desiresand hateful lusts; lift the mists and darkness of unbelief; brighten my soul with the pure light of truth; make it fragrant as the garden of paradise, rich with every goodly fruit, beautiful with heavenly grace, radiant with rays of divine light. 

Fulfill in me the glory of thy divine offices; be my comforter, light, guide, sanctifier; take of the things of Christ and show them to my soul; through thee may I daily learn more of his love, grace, compassion, faithfulness, beauty; lead me to the cross and show me his wounds, the hateful nature of evil, the power of Satan; may I there see my sins as the nails that transfixed him, the cords that bound him, the thorns that tore him, the sword that pierced him. 

Help me to find in his death the reality and immensity of his love. 

Open for me the wondrous volumes of truth in his, ‘It is finished’. 

Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of atonement achieved, expiation completed, satisfaction made, guilt done away, my debt paid, my sins forgiven, my person redeemed, my soul saved, hell vanquished, heaven opened, eternity made mine. 

O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons. 

Write them upon my heart, that my walk be sin-loathing, sin-fleeing, Christ-loving; and suffer no devil’s device to beguile or deceive me.

~The Spirit's Work

From the Valley of Vision, a Collection of Puritan Prayers