Hear me, hear me, O Lord, for Thou art my God and my Lord, my Father, and my _Creator_, and my _Governor_, and my hope, and my riches, and my honor, and my house, and my inheritance, and my salvation, and my life. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, _Thy servant_. Few understand Thee.
Thee alone I love truly above all other things; Thee I seek, _Thee I follow_, Thee I am ready to serve; under Thy rule I wish to dwell, _for Thou alone reignest_. I pray Thee to command me _what Thou wilt_; but heal and open mine eyes that I may see Thy _wonders_, and drive from me folly and _pride, and give me wisdom_ that I may understand Thee, and teach me whither I should look to behold Thee; then shall I, methinks, do gladly that which Thou commandest me.
I beseech Thee, Thou merciful, _benevolent, and beneficent Lord_, to receive me, Thy fugitive; _since once I was formerly Thine, and then fled from Thee to the devil, and fulfilled his will, enduring much misery in his service. But if to Thee it seemeth as it doth to me_, long enough have I felt the pains which I have now suffered, and longer have I served Thy foes than I should those whom Thou hast [under Thy feet].[4] Long enough have I been in the reproach and shame which they brought on me; but do Thou receive me now, Thine own servant, for I am fleeing from them. _Behold, did they not receive me even before I had fled from Thee to them? Never again restore me to them, now that I have sought Thee_, but open to me Thy door, and teach me how to come. I have naught to bring Thee but good will, for I myself have nothing else, nor know I aught better than to love the heavenly and the spiritual above the earthly; and this I do, good Father, since I know naught better than that. _But I know not how I shall now come to Thee except Thou teach me_; teach it, then, to me, and help me. If it is by faith that they find Thee who do find Thee, give me that faith. If by any other power they find Thee who do find Thee, give me that power. If by wisdom they find Thee who find Thee, then give me wisdom. Augment in me the hope _of eternal life_, and increase Thy love in me.
O, how wonderful is Thy goodness, for it is unlike all other good things. I desire to come to Thee; and all that I have need of on the way I desire from Thee, and chiefly that without which I can not come to Thee. If Thou forsake me, I perish; yet I know that Thou wilt not forsake me _unless I forsake Thee; nor will I forsake Thee_, for Thou art the highest good. There is none who rightly seeketh Thee that doth not find Thee. He alone seeketh Thee aright whom Thou teachest aright to seek Thee, and how he should seek Thee. O, good Father, free me entirely from the error in which I have hitherto wandered, and yet wander; and teach me the way in which no foe can encounter me before I come to Thee. If I love naught above Thee, I beseech Thee that I may find Thee; and if I desire any thing beyond measure and wrongly, deliver me from it. Make me worthy to behold Thee.