{"id":902,"date":"2011-10-04T20:43:12","date_gmt":"2011-10-04T20:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christcommunitychurch.com\/blog\/?p=902"},"modified":"2011-10-03T20:44:29","modified_gmt":"2011-10-03T20:44:29","slug":"the-awakened-sinner-a-puritan-prayer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/christcommunitychurch.com\/blog\/2011\/10\/04\/the-awakened-sinner-a-puritan-prayer\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Awakened Sinner”, A Puritan Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

O my forgetful soul,<\/span><\/p>\n

A wake from thy wandering dream;<\/p>\n

turn from chasing vanities,<\/p>\n

look inward, forward, upward,<\/p>\n

view thyself,<\/p>\n

reflect upon thyself,<\/p>\n

who and what thou art, why here,<\/p>\n

what thou must soon be.<\/p>\n

Thou art a creature of God,<\/p>\n

formed and furnished by him,<\/p>\n

lodged in a body like a shepherd in his tent;<\/p>\n

Dost thou not desire to know God\u2019s ways?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

O God,<\/p>\n

Thou injured, neglected, provoked Benefactor<\/p>\n

when I think upon thy greatness and thy goodness<\/p>\n

I am ashamed at my insensibility,<\/p>\n

I blush to lift up my face,<\/p>\n

for I have foolishly erred.<\/p>\n

Shall I go on neglecting thee,<\/p>\n

when every one of thy rational creatures<\/p>\n

should love thee,<\/p>\n

and take every care to please thee?<\/p>\n

I confess that thou hast not been in all my thoughts,<\/p>\n

that the knowledge of thyself as the end of<\/p>\n

my being has been strangely overlooked,<\/p>\n

that I have never seriously considered<\/p>\n

my heart-need.<\/p>\n

But although my mind is perplexed and divided,<\/p>\n

my nature perverse,<\/p>\n

yet my secret dispositions still desire thee.<\/p>\n

Let me not delay to come to thee;<\/p>\n

Break the fatal enchantment that binds<\/p>\n

my evil affections,<\/p>\n

and bring me to a happy mind that rests in thee,<\/p>\n

for thou hast made me and canst not forget me.<\/p>\n

Let thy Spirit teach me the vital lessons of Christ,<\/p>\n

for I am slow to learn;<\/p>\n

And hear thou my broken cries.<\/p>\n