O Lord, our gracious Father, we come to Thee to pray that Thou wouldst help us to have our loins girded and our lamps burning; and that Thou wouldst strengthen us, with all energy and faithfulness, to labour at Thy command, and to offer all our works to Thee. May we increasingly be able to look beyond the things seen and temporal. May they be transparent to us, and shew us the things unseen and eternal. Help us not to make snares of what Thou dost mean for merciful occasions for growth in Thy likeness to Thee. Help us not to shut Thee out with the screens of our duties or of our blessedness. May we day by day be looking for, and hasting unto, the Lord in the brightness of His coming; and may our lips be all the more full of earnest service, because we know that the night is far spent and the day is at hand.
Alexander Maclaren, Pulpit Prayers