Counting Our Blessings: A Prayer about God, the Holy Trinity
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This is the second installment in a series of prayers based on the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647). To learn more about the history of the Westminster Standards, please click here.
The Westminster Confession of Faith—Of God and of the Holy Trinity
There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal, most just, and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty. — Westminster Confession of Faith, 2.1.
There is none like you, my God.
Dear God,
I praise you as the one and only living and true God. You are the Lord my God, and you are one. There is none like you. Your word is clear: Father, you are the one God from whom all things came and for whom we live; and Jesus, you are the one LORD, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live (1 Cor. 8:6).
Forgive me for the ways I make so-called gods out of many things.
All too often my actions profess something other than this plain truth. Forgive me for the ways I make so-called gods out of many things, such as money, my reputation, my family, my appearance, my health, my home, my education, my vacation, my sleep, my schedule, my accomplishments, my acceptance by others. The list goes on.
Please draw me close to you, my everlasting King.
Too often my thoughts gravitate towards these things early in the morning or late at night as if they are what are most important, as if my well-being ultimately depends upon them rather than you. Sadly, you become an afterthought as I put you in second or third place or simply set you aside entirely. What a fool I can be. Forgive me for my heart’s wandering away from you and please draw me close. Remind me that nothing compares to you. At your wrath the earthquakes and the nations cannot endure your indignation (Jer. 10:10). You are the everlasting King. You have power and authority like no other. And no one else knows how to care for me as you do.
You are infinite in your being and in your perfection.
Sometimes I make the shameful mistake of thinking I have you figured out, so I don’t need to pay attention to you, let alone study you. Yet there is always more to learn about you that I need to know so that I can live well. As Job and his friends knew, I cannot plumb your depths. Compared to all that you are, I can only hear a small whisper of you. “The thunder of Your power, who can understand?” (Job 26:14) You are infinite in your being and in your perfection. Please give me an appetite to know you better, and show me more of yourself. I don’t need to know everything about you to know that you deserve my wholehearted worship.
Help me to worship you well.
And as I worship, help me to worship you well. You are spirit, and we must worship you in Spirit and truth. Forgive me for times I worship you in any way I feel like at the time, as if good intentions were all that mattered. Your word reveals times that you were displeased with people’s worship. Please teach me from your word the way that you want to be worshipped, and guide my elders to lead our congregation in worship according to what you have revealed.
Although I cannot see you, you always see me.
Father, you are my God both in formal worship and in every moment of my life. Although I cannot see you, you always see me. May this knowledge direct the way I live today, leading me to confession, restraining me from sin, and encouraging me in good works, whether or not anyone else is looking. I live before your face and for your praise, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
You remain faithful to your plans, established from all eternity.
As I meditate upon who you are, I consider how different you are from your creatures and how different you are from me in particular. I praise you, for you do not have a body like men and cannot be broken into parts. You do not act impulsively but remain faithful to your plans, established from all eternity. Unlike people, you don’t change or shift. Thank you that I can rely on you and your goodness to be the same yesterday, today, and forever.
You are Almighty God over all creation, space, and time.
And I praise you because you are immense! You are Almighty God over all creation, space, and time. Nothing is too small that you cannot see it or too big that you cannot hold it. You are so great that I could start to think that my comparatively small study of you is in vain. How could I ever really know you? I can because of one reason—you have made yourself known. I will never understand you fully, for you are incomprehensible. But I can know you truly. Help me to be satisfied with what you have revealed about yourself and not pine after knowledge too wonderful for me.
You are absolute and under no one’s command.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you deserve unbounded praise, whether I am having a “good day” or a “bad day.” I join the angels who praise you night and day. You are holy, without stain or sin. You are perfect in Your wisdom. You are free—you are under no one’s command. You are absolute. You are the great “I AM.” You don’t need to work around others. You rightly work everything around yourself as the ultimate reference point, according to the counsel of your own immutable and most righteous will and all for your glory. And you are worthy of this glory!
Help me to trust you for who you are in all your glory.
For you are most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Help me to see evidence of these aspects of your character today, so that I might praise you with renewed vigor. And when my circumstances don’t make sense to me, help me to trust you for who you are as You have revealed yourself in Your word.
Help me to show my praise to you through my actions.
I praise you not only for your character, but for your actions. I praise you for forgiving sin, for rewarding those who diligently seek you, and for judging justly. You are most holy in all your counsels, all your works, and in all your commands (Ps. 145:17; Rom. 7:12). Help me to show my praise to you through my actions. May I obey you, offering my life as a sacrifice of praise to you.
To you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be all glory.
In Jesus name,
Amen.
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