Prayer of the Deficient Heart

“Therefore love truth and peace” - Zechariah 8:19

O Righteous God, who art enthroned on high
Yet lookest down to search man’s heart and mind,
Thou seest my heart-spring - is it vile and dry?
Show me, that I may know what Thou dost find.

I would not be deceived of what I love
Nor, after claiming Christ my highest prize,
Find mine affections seated not above,
But set on things that fill the earthly eyes.

I fear, lest after my truth-loving claims,
That I might love, not truth, but love the pride
Of knowing rightly; that my stated aims
To honor God, are outward, not inside.

Thou lovest peace, my God who loveth best
And thou didst tell us earnestly to seek
For peace, and it pursue - but lo, I rest
From this pursuit so quickly, grow so weak.

Because I love not peace, but am content
To seek instead of peace, what self desired,
And idly live with turmoil and dissent,
Because I grudge the sacrifice required.

Oh, do I love Thee Lord? Oh, do I long
For Thee, and burn for holiness like Thine?
Seek what Thou seekest with an ardor strong?
If this be not my passion, make it mine!

If dim, diverted my heart’s vision be
And clouded with hypocrisy - then thou
Alone canst wake my heart that I may see,
And love Thy glory and pursue it now.

The psalmist prayed, “Search me O God and know
My heart and anxious thoughts and hidden sin
Oh try me for offensive ways, and show
The way eternal, lead Thou me therein.”

Thus Lord I ask Thee by Thy pow’r to do
For this weak child of Thine, so prone to stray
Give unto me a heart sincere and true.
For Thine own sake, through Jesus Christ, I pray