purpose I know that several Pious and Learned Men have lately and in the former Age furnished our Nation with Books of this kind but I think that their religious labours fitted for those times and answerable to their private designs will not hinder this present Treatise from being useful in its kind for the prevention of the Mistakes lately crept in amongst us and the mischiefs that are intended by our Enemies at home and abroad I find them busily employed in contriving our ruine and in poisoning our people with strange Principles by spreading in the Country new Pamphlets printed for that evil purpose I wish that we were as watchful for our own preservation The best means for that intent is to employ the same policy and to furnish our People with new and fresh advices which may serve as Antidotes against the Venom of their Enemies and ours Such Treatises therefore as this I think to be very seasonable for our divided times I am certain that it is much wanting in the place where I live and to the people committed to my Charge My first design was only to have a regard to their private wants at the requests of one of my Parishioners but when I considered that tho' Providence hath given me a particular inspection over the Inhabitants of a small division in a Wilderness it is my Duty to aim in all my actions at the general good I resolved to recommend to the publick such a Treatise as might serve and be useful to all Families in our Reformed Church and in it to have a general aim at the benefit of all Christians for I think that there is none in the state of Grace or within the limits of Christ's Church but he shall in this short Tract find Prayers and Advices which may sute with the condition and temper of his Soul You therefore that desire that Religion should flourish amongst us neglect not its chief Duty but see that it be carefully observed in your own practice and that of those recommended to your care As soon as your Children begin to speak teach them to cry Abba Father which art in Heaven Call upon them Morning and Evening to implore Protection and Assistance Let their Tongues be used betimes to tune forth the Praises of their Maker and acknowledge the Providence of God Remember that Piety with the Blessings of Heaven is the best and most durable portion which you can procure to your little ones And the only means to obtain it is carefully to practise this and all other Duties of Religion As they grow to years of Understanding Let them proceed on in learning the Prayers that are sit for their capacity and suitable to their Abilities Let them know that their chief dependency is upon that Almighty Being who hath created the World and put them into it to serve and worship him This daily practice of seeking to God in Prayer will keep youth from all those extravagancies and vitious actions by which the Gallants of our time are become a reproach to Christianity and Humanity it self Thou shalt never have the displeasure to see thy Son and thy Daughter either unruly in their behaviour or prophane in their discourse or corrupt in their Lives if thou wilt when they are young train them up in the constant and continual observance of this Duty of Prayer for there is nothing more proper and of a greater force to keep the Souls of Men from the temptations of our days and from all disorders as this Correspondency with God in Prayer Man therefore in this respect is like a Watch or a Clock the least neglect disturbs the Motion and steals him insensibly into improficiency or an ossence Pray therefore O Christian Man or Woman and pray without ceasing In prosperity and adversity let your requests be made known unto God Be not silent when God requires you to speak In whatsoever estate Providence may cast you make use of those Prayers that are answerable to your condition If you can offer up the Prayers of our Church with any satisfaction to your minds use them rather than others But if your prejudices be so strong and your aversion so invincible that you cannot yet relish them use the other Prayers more agreeable to your affections However neglect not this most important this most weighty and most indispensible Duty but perform it with all the Care and Devotion that God's greatness and thy mean condition requires from thee And I beseech the God of all Goodness to hear thy Requests to grant thy Petitions to comfort and refresh thy Soul and Body with Spiritual and Temporal Mercies and that this Treatise may be as useful to the Publick as it is intended by M. D. A Morning Prayer FOR A FAMILY According to the Book of Common-Prayer O! Lord who hast promised that before we call thou wilt answer and whilst we are yet speaking Isa 65.24 Psal 6.1 Psal 25 1â— Psal 51.10 thou wilt hear Rebuke us not in thine indignation neither chasten us in thy displeasure For thy Names sake be merciful to our sins Make us clean Hearts O God and renew a right Spirit within us O! Lord we beseech thee mercifully hear our Prayers and spare all those who confess their sins unto thee that they whose Consciences by Sin are accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved through Christ our Lord. Amen O! Almighty Lord and everlasting God vouchsafe we beseech thee to direct sanctifie and govern both our Hearts and Bodies in the ways of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty protection both now and ever we may be preserved in Body and Soul through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our Works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy Mercy obtain everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen BLessed be thy Holy Name O Lord for thy continual and daily Mercies granted to us for thy Protection and Preservation till this time for the safety and quiet Repose of the last night for the welfare and Health of our Bodies and for all thy Temporal Blessings which thou heapest upon us Gracious God we acknowledge these and all other Mercies which we enjoy to be undeserved Favours proceeding from thy bountiful hand and fatherly goodness Continue them we beseech thee to us and all other things needful for our Souls and Bodies and give us grace in the use of them to glorifie thy great Name and to be truly thankful in our Hearts and Lives for all expressions of thine unwearied Liberality All this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake Amen O God the Protector of all that put their trust in thee without whom nothing is strong nothing is holy increase and multiply in us thy Mercy that thou being our Ruler and Guide
grace teacheth us to check The first ought to encourage our perseverance in Prayer as the consideration of the last Attribute of God should teach us to quiet the irreverent dissatisfactions of our discontented minds One thing more I would have a devout Christian observe in publick and private Prayers to God's divine Majesty to offer them with the humility of the Body as well as the devotion of the Mind I have observed that our Nation chiefly and every Congregation is full of irreverent and disrespectful Clowns when we make our Addresses to God either in Prayer or praising of his holy Name They observe not that decency and respect which is due to the Excellency of our heavenly Father in his Worship but appear most scandalous and prophane in the Eyes of Men whatever may be their inward disposition which I conceive is to be gathered from the outward gesture of their Bodies They come into God's presence in such a familiar manner as if there were no difference between them and their great Creator as if their Bodies were not as much obliged to worship him as their Souls as if their outward behaviour were not to be concerned in their Devotions to God and at the times of Prayer they shew forth so much contempt of God and of the Religion they profess that none would take them to be Christians that understands not their Names and knows not their Persons and further I have observed that some of the more religious sort both in private and in publick when they address themselves to God omit sometimes out of a prophane and irreligious Custom the outward humility which the Body is obliged to render to its Creator and Benefactor in his Worship For the redress of this open Prophaneness and for the prevention of the dishonour that may reflect from hence upon God and our Religion in the Eyes of the World Let me intreat every devout Soul never to offer to speak to God in Prayer without observing and expressing that humility with his Body which God's incomprehensible Majesty and our vile condition requires indispensibly from us all from the highest to the lowest Reason as well as Holy Scripture enjoyns this observance for if the whole man is bound to render Hommage to God as he seems to intimate by those Sacrifices under the Law which were to be offered intire without any diminution it concerns us to express the inward qualification and disposition of the Soul with the outward action of the Body and make the World sensible of the sincerity and piety of our intentions justice and equity require this from us for seeing we have received our Bodies as well as our Souls from the Almighty hand of God it is but just that they should acknowledge his Soveraignty by some significant posture when the Soul appears before him to do him reverence or to crave his merciful assistance It is but just that this outward part of our selves as well as the inward should make some returns for all the divine favours that relate immediately to its subsistance it is but just that this Body of ours which is one day to be glorified in God's heavenly Sanctuary should now glorifie God by the humblest and most devout postures and actions I confess 't is the usual manner of Superstition to enjoin the cringings of the Body more than the devout qualification of the Soul but I am sure that it is a clownish and unmannerly Religion indeed that suffers Men to approach in holy Duties to God without expressing any reverence with the Body If you please to enquire into the behaviour of the holy Men of the Old and New Testament you shall never find them praying in an irreverent posture neither sitting nor leaning Old Abraham worshipped before God Gen. 22.5 This worshipping is an outward action of the Body as well as the inward of the Mind as may appear by Gen. 24.52 where Abraham's Servant is said to have worshipped the Lord bowing himself to the ground when God had prospered his journey When the Israelâ—tes heard Moses's Message to them and God's purpose to redeem them out of Egypt they bowed their Heads and Worshipped Exod. 4.31 King Hezekiah bowed himself before God in his publick Addresses 2 Chron. 29.29 St. Paul likewise was upon his knees in prayer with the Elders of the Church of Ephesus Acts. 20.36 And Christ our Saviour whose Example should prevail upon our negligence was never seen in Prayer to God the Father but either prostrate or kneeling upon the ground This Humility of the Body is so essential a part of the publick worship of God that its observance alone hath caused the Holy Scriptures to give the Name of Worshippers of God to the Vilest of Men who were never acquainted with the internal and hearty Worship as may be observed by what is recorded of Saul and of others 1 Sam. 15.31 And it is said of the Israelites 2 Chron. 29.29 And when they had made an end of Offering the King and all that were present with him bowed themselves and worshipped And in the next Verse Moreover Hezekiah the King and the Princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the Seer and they sang Praises with gladness and they bowed their Heads and worshipped Likewise in the 8th of Nehemiah and the sixth Verse It is said that Ezra blessed the Lord the great God and all the People answered Amen Amen with lifting up their Hands and they bowed their Heads and worshipped the Lord with their Faces to the ground The publick Worship of our God was never yet performed by any Primitive Church without the outward humility of the Body and the outward expressions of respect as well as with the inward devotion of the mind Reason and Religion require it and the constant practice of the People of God in all Ages both in the Jewish and the Christian Church is an undeniable Evidence to prove the necessity of it What means therefore the negligence the prophaneness the irreverence and unmannerly behaviour of some that are stiled Christians Is not the practice of Naaman the Syrian who could bow himself in the House of Rimmon his false God a reproach to us Doth not the humility and the respect which the Heathens constantly pay to their Divinities upbraid the Clownishness of some of our Country-men There are three Postures of Humility very decent in Prayer and other parts of God's Worship Standing Kneeling or Prostration to the ground When ever therefore we appear before God either to pray to him or to praise his holy Name our Body must be in one of these postures unless any natural or accidental weakness or impediment may justly deserve a dispensation Likewise the lifting up of the Hands and Eyes unto Heaven are expressions of Devotion as ancient as the first People of God Think not that the honour of your Blood the excellency of your Persons or your eminent promotions ought to
the Form and Beauty to any thing he takes the matter from those things that he hath already made But take notice that St. Jude adviseth us to pray not by the Holy Ghost but in the Holy Ghost That is either in that method and manner or according to those Rules which the Holy Ghost hath given us in his holy Word for the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies according The meaning therefore is That we should pray for those things that agree with the Revelations of the Holy Ghost that we should observe those particulars outwardly and inwardly as may recommend our Prayers to God and employ those graces which the Holy Ghost hath bestowed upon us for a more zealous offering up of our Prayers to God A true Christian may want the gift of Prayer but no true and sincere Christian can want the Spirit of Prayer in the state of regeneration nor those inward abilities which are requisite for Prayer For this inward breathing of the Soul towards Heaven is the very life of a Child of God and a principle of all Spiritual motion Though he is not always in the same disposition and a fit temper for Prayer because these abilities may be hindred and obstructed by some powerful impediments nevertheless the work of regeneration is no sooner begun in us but we are taught by the Holy Ghost to call God Abba Father Therefore St. Paul teacheth in his Epistle to the Romans chap. 8. v. 26. That the Spirit helpeth our Infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered Observe Romans 10. v. 1. This and all other passages that mention praying in or by the Spirit may encourage us to take with us the assistance of God's Holy Spirit in our addresses to him and imploy the abilities which he hath given us for that good purpose They may take notice of our own natural imperfections and weaknesses and advise us to make use of the Spiritual helps that the Holy Ghost gives us that we might pray to God in a manner acceptable to him But there is none that forbids the use of those Forms which God's holy Spirit hath Established in our Church There is no passage nor Text of Scripture that requires thee to wait for a sudden inspiration from above that disallows of a judicious and religious preparation or of prescribed Prayers composed by Men as much enlightned by the Spirit of God as any now alive Why therefore may not the use of these Prayers be called praying by the Spirit if I offer them up in that devout manner as God requires Why shall I prefer the new Modes of Men whose abilities and integrity I know not perhaps to those that I am sure are agreeable with God's Will and Word Why shall I reject the old Prayers of the Holy Ghost and be so impatient to hear new which I know not from whence they are till I have taken the pains to examine them If therefore I am an auditor what reason have I to refuse the Prayers of the Church composed by the directions of the Spirit of God to be of a constant use in the Publick Worship of our great Creator to be so fond of new Modes and new Prayers of Men that pretend to a divine inspiration but how truly I know not God's Holy Spirit is no favourer of the pride presumption and sanciness of those persons that rush into God's Publick Worship without a due preparation And if they be prepared both for matter and expressions in the publick Prayers which they pronounce what reason have I to prefer this Prayer composed by this private Person tho' with the assistance of God's Holy Spirit to the religious Prayers of the whole Church allowed of by so many wise learned and Godly Divines enlightned also doubtless with the same Spirit Is that the Prayer by or in the Spirit And is not this likewise if I perform it in a Spiritual manner and offer it up with my Soul and affections O! how idle and frivolous How vain and impertinent are these prejudices against our Set Forms of Prayer Secondly But these persons that are so much admired by ignorant People for their praying by the Spirit in Prayers of any long continuance are admired for that which they themselves cannot perform For if they pray extempore without prepararation some in the Congregation may perhaps really pray to God but the persons that pronounce the Prayers whilst their fancy is so busily employed in seeking for matter and expressions can never oblige the affections of the Soul to offer their Prayers up to God in that devout manner as is required This Prayer therefore in regard of the Speaker is but a Spâ—ech and no Prayer let it be never so Eloquent and never so much able to stir up the Affections of the hearers Our minds cannot be totally employed in two actions at once whilst our apprehensions are distracted to seek for words and fit expressions they cannot be fixed upon that Divine Being unto whom we make our addresses nor cause in the Soul that humility and those affections which at such a time are necessary they cannot mind the greatness of their Wants the necessity of a speedy supply and the usefulness of those things that are petitioned for Their Souls cannot be at liberty to express the homage due to God's greatness and an earnest affection for those Blessings that they stand in need of All their care is to move the Tongue and not the Heart whilst the one is busily employed the other is unconcerned in the Service I cannot think that there are any of such an extraordinary and quick apprehension as to be abe to furnish their Organ with plenty of matter and expressions and at the same moment to mind all those things that are needful to keep our Souls in a sit disposition for Prayer 'T is not possible to divide this single Being into so many parts Such an activity seems to me almost as great a miracle as that of the Ubiquity of Christ's Humane Body and is subject to the like absurdities The Unity of the Soul â—â—d the Unity of all its Faculties requireâ— a single Object at once It may be so quick as to sly to another in an instant but this change and this motion of the apprehension incapable of two or three Objects at one single instant plainly discovers the impossibility of praying well and keeping the Soul in a worthy disposition and the affections in a sit temper in extemporary and long Prayers because the mind that should take this charge and the care to summon the affections to the performance of their Duty is busily employed in other matters Now without this conjunction of the affections and this concernment of the Soul no Devotion nor Prayer can be said to be spiritual or performed with or in the Spirit for tho' this should be understood of the
and miscarriages of our Lives and to bewail the linfulness of our Natures Our Iniquities are many and our Transgressions are multiplyed every day We feel within us a forward inclination to that which is unlawful we carry about us a Body of Sin and the least Temptation draws us aside from thy holy Ways How negligent have we been of thy Commands How vitious in our Lives How careless in our Duties How unthankful for all thy Mercies We can give no account of the number of our mistakes for they are numberless Therefore we humble our selves before thee in a deep sense of our own sinfulness and unworthiness we cast away all confidence and reliance upon our own Merits But we come to thee with a Confidence upon Christ's Merits trusting upon his promises and gracious invitations For his sake O merciful Father forgive us all our Trespasses magnifie thy Divine goodness by the pardon of our great and hainous Offences Look upon the Atonement made for us and in consideration of the precious Blood of our great Saviour spilt for our Redemption accept of our Persons and Prayers at this time Take not away from us only the guilt but also the Corruption of Sin that we may not continue in our Provocations against thy Divine Majesty As thou hast given us a sense of our Ignorance and Weakness give us the proper Remedies to these two Evils enlighten our Understandings more and more with thy Blessed Truth purifie our Wills from all unregenerate affections sanctifie and change the whole frame of our Souls according to thy revealed Will. For that purpose grant us we beseech thee good God an increase of all our Graces give life and growth to these Seeds of Holiness and Immortality strengthen the Interest of Piety in every one of us with a holy dread of thy Power and Justice and a blessed Love for thee our God who only art lovely Open our Eyes that we may perceive the Beauty and Excellency of Vertue and the filthiness and danger of those sins we have been most inclinable to practise Let the woful circumstances of our Bosom Lusts visible by our own experience and others Examples reclaim us betimes to an Obedience to thy Sacred Laws make us truly sensible both of the shame that attends upon Sin and of the misery that consequently follows it that we may begin the great Work of Repentance betimes and vigorously prosecute it till we have brought under all our irregular inclinations which are so imperious in the Children of disobedience Make us clean Hearts O God and renew a right Spirit within us Purifie our sins from all Infection from all Evil Thoughts wicked Affections and sinful designs above all keep us from the reigning sin of Hypocrisie that we may be sincere in our Profession and that we may not deceive our selves by thinking to deceive others As our great business on this side the Grave is to serve thee our great Creator and prepare our selves for Eternity assist us mercifully in our endeavours relating thereunto direct comfort and succour us against all Temptations give us Hearts and Lives that we may adorn the Gospel of our Saviour Christ Let neither the inticements of Sin nor the suggestions of the Devil nor the allurements and Vanities of the World draw us away from thee our good God nor from the Profession of thy sacred Truth Keep us from evil Examples and wicked Company and Perswasions and from the Corruptions of the time As thou hast been gracious to our Forefathers in this Land in preserving them and their Religion from all bloody designs and attempts continue thy protection to us their Children Preserve thy Gospel in this Nation defend us from Heresie Idolatry and Schism Unite us all in love and affection one towards another and in conformity to thy Will in all things Remove the differences and prejudices that are amongst us that we may embrace one another as Bretheren designed for the same Happiness sanctified by the same Spirit and redeemed by the same Christ O gracious God watch over us we beseech thee let not the Craft and Power of our Bloody Adversaries prevail or overcome the Professors of thy Gospel Defeat all their wicked endeavours against our Prince and his People and discover and disappoint all their Plots Let Religion and Truth flourish in our days and keep us all from Prophaneness and Error Send thy Blessings to this Family here humbled before thee and to every member of it As thou hast received us into thy Protection grant us a continuance of it this Night especially Let the Eye of thy Providence be awake over us to shelter and preserve us when we shall be asleep Keep us all from fearful Dreams and Apprehensions and sinful Fancies Let nothing injure either our Souls or our Bodies bring us safe through the shadows of the Night to behold the Glory of another day and feel again the manifold expressions of thy great goodness to us O Lord we depend upon and trust only in thee Thou alone hast been the Saviour of our Persons that belong to thee defend them we beseech thee from the malice of the Devils and the attempts of Bloody-minded Men and from all accidents and dangers whatsoever that we may yet live to praise and glorifie thee here on Earth and do service to our Generation Send thy Blessing to all Princes and Magistrates especially to our King and Queen and all Governours under them in Church or State preserve them from all Rebellious Designs and Attempts of our Enemies and give them grace to employ their Credit Power and Authority in the maintenance of thy Truth and Honour and in the suppression of Atheism Vice Prophaneness and whatsoever agrees not with sound Doctrine Give success to their pious endeavours Victory to our Fleets and Armies Life and safety to all the Noble Souls that watch over us or fight for us Disappoint all the Wicked designs of Antichrist scatter and subdue all his Bloody Agents and let thy Gospel and will be known to all the Nations under the Sun These and all other Mercies convenient for our Souls and Bodies we humbly beg for the sake and Merits of that immaculate Lamb who is dead for us and now makes intercession at thy right hand and we conclude these our imperfect Prayers with this most perfect Form 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 Tespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from Evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen THE Peace of God which passeth all Understanding preserve our Hearts and Minds in the Knowledge and Love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. The Blessing of God Almighty Father Son and Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen An