TULIP was not devised as a weapon to beat others on the head, but as a
goad to the godly to consider his own helplessness before God, to seek
salvation from Him alone, and to hope only in Him. The holy doctrines of
the famous Five Points put a restraint upon our natural self-righteousness
and pride.
There are five sections to the prayer; each of which comprises a prayer in
itself.
Section One
Total Depravity
I believe and confess, O Most High, that man was created good in all of his
faculties. Though made of the dust of the earth, he was given the breath of
life from Your own Spirit so that he could serve You in knowledge and
wisdom, praise and thanksgiving, and be head over all the things that You
made.
The only condition for this high and exalted place was that he love You with
all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, for the ability to love was the chief of
Your gifts, and man was not tested until he was given a helper fit for him,
one that he could love and rejoice with in the abundant riches that You
provided for them. But man did not abide in that blessed state and lost his
inheritance and even the life that You had given him.
This man was Adam, O Just and Holy God, and he was my father and the
father of every person upon this earth. Sin entered the world through this
one man, and we were all born in his likeness, under the curse of sin and
death that came upon him. He and his seed were alienated from Your good
Presence and driven from the paradise that You had prepared for them. A
horrible fate came upon them, for they could not have fellowship with You
without being holy, and they could not be holy without having fellowship
with You.
Their dilemma is my dilemma that I confess to You, My Creator. A horrible
curse rests upon Adam’s children, of which I am one. It is a just and holy
curse for You are just and holy and worthy of all praise and obedience.
Because of our alienation from You, we are born in sin and iniquity, and
all of our faculties of body and soul are under Your curse. Even before
we are grown enough to know good and evil, we are fixed in our own
desires and our own ways, strive with our playmates, using even our
immature members as instruments of sin.
I confess, O Most High, that there is not a member of my body that has
not been an instrument of unrighteousness. My mouth has spoken
uncleanness, lies, and wickedness. My tongue has utter deceit, harsh
and unkind things. I have listened to slanders and wickedness, foul
jesting, and vulgar speech. My ears have been stopped to the truth.
My feelings have been dead toward You and Thy Truth, O Most High,
and I loved sin for its own sake and fled from the way of peace which
I did not know.
My feet have wandered in the ways of sin and death; my hands have
done wicked things; my heart has loved idols and vanity. My whole
body, soul, and spirit has been given over to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works
in the children of disobedience. I was by nature a child of wrath, like
everybody else of Adam’s seed.
The sweetness and savor of godly prayers and praise, redounding to Your
glory and praise before the world, were not pleasant to me, but I panted
after the favor of the world. My eyes beheld evil and longed after wicked
things, to indulge lust and envy and idols. My mind corrupted Your truth
and sought after vanity; my will rejected Your good and rushed after the
vanity of the world; I loved the world and not You, O my Heavenly Father,
to my shame and disgrace before all the holy angels of God and the blessed
Triune God.
I was proud and haughty and thought to travel my own way. I rejected Your
Rest and created turmoil and strife. I rebelled against Your servants that rule
in Your kingdom; I did not listen to the good counsel of my mother and
father; I often burned with anger and malice; my inward thoughts were
impure and unfaithful to You my lawful spouse; I did not use my talents
for Your honor and praise but often embezzled them for myself; I was not
always faithful to the truth; my heart burned with unlawful desires.
When I confess this, O God, I fully understand that my sin can in no way
be charged to You, for You made man upright and good. Although I am
a sinner, I am not therefore inhuman, for I still retain so many marks of
what man once was. I can do many things that are good, when I compare
myself to other people, but not before You and Your holy law. Man has
so many wonderful gifts: to be self-conscious, to reason, to seek after
unseen things, to worship and praise, to make moral decisions, to know
that there are differences between things and ideas, to love, and so many
other wonderful things. But all of these gifts are contaminated with sin, for
they were not given to me to use apart from You, for I am Your image, and
find my meaning and righteousness only in You. None of these gifts could
save me, for my light was overwhelmed by the darkness of my enmity to
Your law. Your gifts were hijacked by my sin and used in independence,
selfishness, and pride.
In short, there was nothing in me of substance or strength that could raise
me up to You, O God. None of my ladders would reach unto You, O Most
High, and I must miserably perish in my sin and iniquity if You had not
reached down to lay hold on me. When there was no help for my soul,
then You had mercy upon me, and Your mighty Voice that called the light
out of the darkness: called the light to shine into my heart and I rose from
my helplessness and death to life and light.
And yet, all of the children of Adam bear some remnants of Your Image,
O Father of All. How noble is the ruin of man! He is capable of so many
great things, of so many noble deeds, of so great imaginations and dreams.
He can scale the heights in the power of his poetry and song. But he is
weighted down with sin and misery and cannot reach unto You or Your
heaven. It is too high for us, O God, and our poor rags of our own
righteousness only bear witness to what we once could have been, and
what we can be, if You do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
Because of Your mercy in showing me my sin and misery, I can pray with
all of Your people: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For
Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
Section Two
Unconditional Election
Because there was no strength, no health, no life in me, O Lord, the cause
of my salvation, health, and life must be found in You, O Mighty and
Gracious God. Because You dwell in eternity and not in creation. Time
and space can only bear witness to You and cannot be the cause of Your
love and grace. In You we live and move and have our being.
This is a wonder that I cannot enclose in my own mind, O Gracious One
Whose mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. Your kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom for You dwell in eternity. You are good; and Your
mercy is everlasting; and Your truth endures to all generations. You knew
me before the foundations of the world.
There was nothing of health in me that I should choose You, for Your
ways are higher than my ways and Your thoughts higher than my thoughts.
I acknowledge with Thy holy Apostle Paul the truth that is according to
the faith of God’s elect, the truth which is after godliness; in hope of
eternal lie which You, who cannot lie, promised before the world began.
This truth was in due times manifested through preaching which was
committed to Your holy Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief stone of the corner. This truth is the foundation of the
church which is the pillar and ground of the truth, that Jesus Christ,
Your everlasting and only begotten Son, was appointed from the
foundation of the world to be the Mediator who would save His people
from their sins. I do confess this holy truth, O Heavenly Father.
Blessed be Your wonderful Name, O gracious God of all peace and
grace, for You have blessed me with all of Your people with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, for You have chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before You in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of
children by Jesus Christ to Yourself, according to the good pleasure of
Your will, to the praise of the glory of Your grace, by which You have
made us accepted in Your beloved people.
The riches of Your grace has abounded to me in all wisdom and
prudence, for You made known unto me the mystery of Your will,
according Your good pleasure which You purposed in Yourself.
This wonder did not arise independently in my soul, for this mystery
is beyond my capacity. This mystery was revealed by the holy prophets
and apostles and came to us by the Holy Scriptures. No man could
have invented this wonder.
There were no works of righteousness which I could do that could
raise me up to You, Most High and Eternal God, but You saw my
helplessness and bondage to the world, the flesh, and the devil. I,
bound and helpless, could not choose You, O God, but You chose
me. For what reason I do not know and will not know until I see Your
beloved Son face to face, but it was for Your pleasure and according
to Your own will, and not mine.
I only love You because You first loved me. I do not know why I was
chosen, but I know that the reason is hidden in Your own being, and
not in mine, for I was without strength, ungodly, seeking my own way
and pleasures. This I do confess with all your people and with all my
heart.
Because of this, I can now pray with all Your chosen ones, “Our Father
which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy
will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and
the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
Section Three
Limited Atonement
O the depths of Your wisdom and grace, Almighty and Most Wise God!
Because of the greatness of Your love for wretched and helpless sinners,
in the great wisdom, power, and righteousness of Your hidden counsels,
You conceived and designed salvation for Your people.
Because there were no works of righteousness that we could do that
could raise us up to You, You came to us. From the very beginning of
our race, You gave us hope, a hope secure and certain because You
cannot lie. This promise was hidden in Your eternal counsels before the
world began, but was revealed through the preaching of the Gospel,
according to the faith of Your elect who are called to acknowledge the
truth that conforms to Your holy nature as God.
For when we were without strength, Your only begotten Son died for
the ungodly. O Most High, how great is Your wisdom and grace! How
far from us is this wisdom and power that ordained this great salvation!
It could never have entered into the hearts of men or been devised by
their fallen reason.
You sent Your Son, and named Him Jesus, for He came to save His
people from their sins. This good news of salvation could only come
from outside of us and be told to us by another, by messengers that
You sent to us to tell us. This was also in Your plan.
Because we had lost all through the sin of our first father, Adam, You
sent Your Son, born of the Virgin Mary, truly God and truly man.
Truly God, for He is Your Son, Your Wisdom from eternity, but made
flesh. He was made truly human--but without sin--in the body of the
Virgin Mary by the creation of the Holy Ghost, that He who is God
might truly partake of our humanity and offer Himself up to You, body
and soul, to atone for all of our sins, and take them away, nailing them
to His cross, removing our guilt from us forever.
Your eternal and Only Begotten Son was made flesh and dwelt among
us, and we called His name Immanuel, for He was God with us in our
history. This One was Jesus of Nazareth who suffered for our sins, rose
for our justification, and sits upon the throne of David in the Heavenly Zion.
He was not a sinner and never knew any sin, but You counted Him a
sinner, so that You could count us righteous through faith in Him. Our
sins were laid on Him, so that we could be counted innocent of them.
He who was innocent was counted guilty, so that we who are guilty
could be counted righteous.
Only immense wisdom and power could achieve this marvelous
transformation, O Most Infinite and Mighty God, but He had this
immense wisdom and power for He is Your Son, begotten from
eternity before all the worlds were made.
I believe this heavenly and holy Gospel, O Father in Heaven, because
You gave me faith to believe, renewing my heart and my mind through
the blood of the Lord Jesus. I would never have believed if You had
not sent Your Son to die for me, for He came to save those who were
given to Him before the world was. You gave me to Him to be one of
His people and so He died for me. Because You gave me to Him in
eternity, in due time You gave Him to me to be a complete and gracious
Savior. Not only to me, but to all who believe, according to the
Scriptures, are crucified with Christ and rise with Him to walk in
newness of life.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, O Lord God. I cannot reach
to it, but can only believe, through Thy Power. You knew all about me,
even when I was first conceived in my mother’s body, for You chose
my mother and my father, the time of my birth, and the place where
I would be born.
Because I was beloved of You [Oh! the mystery of Your marvelous
grace!], You saw to it that I would hear the preaching of the Gospel,
that Christ would be set before me, crucified for my sins, His body
broken and His blood shed for me.
I heard and I believed, I know not how, dear Lord, but You said it
was of Your Spirit. That too I believed when I came of age, although
I was baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost while
yet an infant. This, too, was of Your Divine Grace, that I would be
included among the number for whom Christ died.
I receive with gladness, O Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the unique
and special gift of Your mercy and grace to me, although I did not,
and do not deserve the slightest bit of any of these gifts: not the gift
of being chosen of the Father, being purchased by the Son, or
renewed by the Holy Spirit, for I had no works of righteousness that
I could do, but it was of Your mercy that You saved me, through the
blood of the everlasting covenant.
I confess, O Lord God, and every day do receive the covenant of
Your redemption in Jesus Christ. When there was no one to be a
Mediator to make peace between You and me, O God, in the divine
council of the Holy Trinity, You chose me to be Your child, You
prepared a body for the Lord Jesus, Thy Holy Son, so He could
offer Himself as a sacrifice to You for my sins when the fullness of
the times had come, and the Holy Spirit was sent to order the events
of my life so that I would be included in the number of the blessed of
God.
I accept that, dear Lord, for You have revealed it clearly in Your Holy
Scriptures, for my faith came by hearing the preaching of the word of
God. This gift is to all Your people, the church that You purchased
with Your own blood, the blood of Jesus of Nazareth. He was sent
to declare Your righteousness for the remission of our sins, being
foreordained of God to cover our sins through faith in His blood.
I do embrace and believe this with all my heart, Dear Heavenly Father.
How precious are the words of our Savior! He thanked You, O Father,
that You had given us to Him from the foundation of the world. He did
not pray for the world, but for those who had been given to Him by your
loving providence and foreknowledge. He prayed that You would keep
us, for no one could pluck us from His omnipotent hand. And You, Most
High and Heavenly Father, who is greater than all and who gave us to our
Mediator, are able to keep us for no one is able to pluck us from Your
Fatherly hand.
And so, O precious Father, with all those redeemed by the blood of Christ,
I can pray, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
Section Four
Irresistible Grace
What a mighty Voice is Your Voice, Dear Father. You who called the light
out of the darkness has called the Light to shine into our hearts. Also, our
Lord Jesus whose mighty Voice brought forth Lazarus from the dead, has
called us from the deadness of our sin and misery into eternal life and
blessedness. Yet, it was also your mighty Spirit who also breathed life
into our deadness and called us forth from the kingdom of darkness
into the kingdom of your dear Son.
We heard that Voice, the Voice of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost,
for the same Voice has been heard by all of your people. And I heard
that Voice of love and grace and found it compelling; yea, I could not
resist the Voice, O God. We all have heard Thy Voice in the preaching
of the Holy Gospel which you have ordained as the power of God to
save those who believe. The Voice has gone out to all the world, calling
out a people, a special people who would be zealous of good works. It
is Your Voice that is heard by Your people in the preaching of the Holy
Gospel.
Your mighty Voice, O Most High Triune God, announced to the world
redemption from all iniquity for those who believe, teaching us to deny
ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live sober, righteous, and godly lives
in the present world.
I heard that call, O merciful and precious God, and I was drawn to
Your Blessed Son by a power not of my own. The message came from
You, O God, for it did not arise in my soul, for the Gospel was preached
to me and I heard your Voice.
Neither did I come to you by my own strength, Dear Lord, for no one
can come to the Lord Jesus except he be drawn of the Father. How
powerful were those cords of love that constrained me to come to You,
O precious Jesus; and how strong are those Hands who have protected
and preserved me during all the years of my life.
I could resist, O Lord, the power of my conscience. I confess that I
often resisted the power of my own reasonings and the evidence of
your eternal godhead and power in the universe, but the power of the
Gospel did not arise from within me or within creation. It was the Voice
of the Mighty God who had ordained that the preaching of the Cross,
though foolish to those who perish, would be the power of God to
salvation to everyone who believes.
I could not resist that Voice that thundered in the Gospel. The Voice
was truly a joyful sound and full of glory, O God, calling me to serve
the Lord Jesus and follow Him through all my life.
The Voice, O Lord, was both death and life to me. It was a
condemnation of Adam and his children, who die in their sins
and misery, for the Voice called me to behold the Cross of Christ
and see there my helplessness and sins and misery that had crucified
the Son of God; but it was also a Voice that called me to newness of
life, to put off the old man with his death and deeds, and to put on
Christ who is risen from the dead so that I could walk in newness of life.
I rejoiced in my soul, and saw that the feet indeed were beautiful upon
the mountains, the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, and
bring glad tidings of good things!
The Gospel is that effectual power that works in every part of Your
church, dear Lord, working in those who believe by the Holy Spirit,
overcoming the spirit that works in the children of disobedience, doing
exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think, for this is
the victory that overcomes the world, even the faith that you have given us.
The Voice has echoed in my soul through all the years of my life. It is
more compelling to me now than it was in my youth. Those who are
the sons of God are led by the hand to the eternal mansions by the
Hand of the Spirit of God. He works in us both to will and to do of
His good pleasure, and He will perform this good work unto the day
of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel Voice is sweeter now, but it is the same Voice, calling me
to follow in the way of my Savior, the way of righteousness and truth,
of faith, of hope, of charity. But if I get careless and occupied with the
world, the Gospel calls me back to the first works of repentance and
trust, so that I can continue on my journey. I still cannot resist the
power of the Voice of the Gospel, the Call of God the Father and of
God the Son and of God the Holy Ghost.
Because of Your Voice, O Heavenly Father, I can pray with all your
saints, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us
this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For
Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
Section Five
Perseverance of the Saints
And now, O Father in Heaven, what shall I say to all these things. If
You are for us, who can be against us. If you loved us from the
foundation of the world and sent your Son to deliver us from the
bondage of Your curse upon the sons of Adam, and if the
righteousness of your Son has become our righteousness, what
can separate us from your love in Christ Jesus? Not our guilt, for
that was laid on Christ—the very reason for His sufferings. Not our
pollution, for His blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness. Not our
wicked unbelief, for grace has saved us through faith, not that of our
own but that which is the gift of God, the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen.
Not the flesh, for we are taken by the hand by the Spirit of God Who
preserves and comforts us and secures our inheritance for us in eternal
glory. Not the sins that we fall into along the way, for our steps are
ordered of the Lord. Though we fall, we shall not be utterly cast down,
for the Lord upholdeth with His Hand.
We confess this eternal truth, O most High God that not the hardness
of our hearts can separate us from You, for we are chastened as Your
children, as evidence of Your love, that we would not be condemned
with the world. Your Spirit works in us to give us new hearts, hearts
that will love You and bow in humility and contrition.
Neither the accusations of the devil our former enemy and master, for
our Lord in Heaven makes intercession for us constantly. If when we
were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
how much more shall we who were made the friends of God be saved
by the Life of His Son.
In short, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
It is God who justifies us by the blood and righteousness of Christ, so
He will never leave us nor forsake us. Tribulation and trials cannot for
we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Not the
weakness of our prayers and devotions, for the Spirit makes intercession
for us with groanings that cannot be uttered, and God knows the mind
of the Spirit in us, who makes intercession according to the will of God,
though secret to us.
Not even our sins, for we cannot sin the sin unto death, for your seed
remains in us and you will revive us again. Nothing created can separate
us from His love, not death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature.
Nothing in heaven and nothing on the earth and nothing in hell can pluck
us out of that Hand that holds us, Your blessed Holy Spirit who is the
Hand of the Father and the Son.
We are therefore not only secure, but by Your Power are willing and
able to finish the course that is set before us, the way of eternal life,
for our safety is of the Lord, our exceeding strong Tower and Refuge
forever.
Because of Your Care, O Heavenly Father, I can pray with all your
saints, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
