Faith

My God,

I bless thee that thou hast given me the eye
      of faith,
  to see thee as Father,
  to know thee as a covenant God,
  to experience thy love planted in me;
For faith is the grace of union
  by which I spell out my entitlement to thee:
Faith casts my anchor upwards
  where I trust in thee
  and engage thee to be my Lord.
Be pleased to live and move within me,
  breathing in my prayers,
  inhabiting my praises,
  speaking in my words,
  moving in my actions,
  living in my life,
  causing me to grow in grace.
Thy bounteous goodness has helped me believe,
  but my faith is weak and wavering,
    its light dim,
    its steps tottering,
    its increase slow,
    its backslidings frequent;
It should scale the heavens, but lies grovelling
    in the dust.
Lord, fan this divine spark into glowing flame.
When faith sleeps, my heart becomes
  an unclean thing,
  the fount of every loathsome desire,
  the cage of unclean lusts
  all fluttering to escape,
    the noxious tree of deadly fruit,
    the open wayside of earthly tares.
Lord, awake faith to put forth its strength
  until all heaven fills my soul
  and all impurity is cast out.

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