A PRAYER FOR NEW BEGINNINGS

My dad just preached a 2 part sermon series from the book of Haggai on New Beginnings. Here is a prayer offered from The Valley of Vision, a compilation of Puritan prayers.

Incomprehensible, Great, and Glorious God,
I adore thee and abase myself.
I approach thee mindful that I am less than nothing,
          a creature worse than nothing.
My thoughts are not screened from the gaze,
my secret sins blaze in the light of thy countenance.
Enable me to remember that blood which cleanseth all sin,
          to believe in that grace which subdues all iniquities,
          to resign myself to that agency
                 which can deliver me from the bandage of corruption
                 into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
Thou hast begun a good work in me
          and canst alone continue and complete it.
Give me an increasing conviction of my tendency to err,
          and of my exposure to sin.
Help me to feel more of the purifying, softening influence of religion,
          its compassion, love, pity, courtesy,
          and employ me as thy instrument
                 in blessing others.
Give me to distinguish between the mere form of godliness and its
                           power,
                 between life and a name to live,
                 between guile and truth,
                 between hypocrisy and a religion,
                           that will bear thy eye.
If I am not right, set me right, keep me right;
And may I at last come to thy house in peace. (Arthur Bennett, The Valley of Vision, 95)