made to understand thy most adorable excellencies which are far beyond the highest of all our thoughts And we have yet a more particular obligation to thee for thy marvailous love in Christ Jesus whom thou hast sent in great humility to visit us who are but dust and ashes to make his abode among us to testifie thy great love to us and assure us of thy good will notwithstanding our many offences and to make us exceeding great and precious promises to invite us to approach thee and to incourage our obedience to thee We thank thee that he hath sealed them with his bloud and thou hast confirmed them by his Resurrection and Ascension and the coming of the holy Ghost that thou hast given us so many happy opportunities to acquaint our selves with the truth and purity of the Christian Religion which comforts us in this state of mortality and misery with the blessed hope of eternal life Blessed be thy goodness for that great consolation and that thou hast shown us the way to it by his doctrine and example and assured us of the assistance of thy holy Spirit to inable us to follow after him to that glory which he possesses Blessed be thy goodness that we have felt it so often in our minds and hearts inspiring us with holy thoughts exciting in us devout affections and godly resolutions filling us with Divine Joys and with comfortable expectations of the glory that shall be revealed We thank thee that thou hast permitted us this day to attend upon thee together with our Christian Brethren in the publick Duties of thy Worship and Service And that there we have received any good instructions any holy exhortations and Christian incouragements to proceed and go forward in the course of well doing and have begun in any measure that eternal rest which we wait for with all the faithful when we shall praise and thank and love thee our heavenly Father better than we can do now whilst we are in these frail bodies and absent from the Lord. We can do no less than offer up again our souls and bodies to thee to be order'd and govern'd by thy blessed Will and not our own that so we may be every day more prepared for that happy state and draw nearer and nearer in the disposition and temper of our spirits to that immortal blessedness It is our satisfaction our security the ease and joy of our hearts to be under the conduct of thy unerring wisdom to follow thy counsels and to be determined in all things by thy holy Will who art so good and hast given us such large demonstrations of thy abundant kindness and good will to us as will not let us distrust thy tender care of us whatsoever it is thou wouldest have us do or suffer in this world O God purifie our minds and thoughts more perfectly that we may never conceive amiss of thee but have right apprehensions in all things and all our passions and affections likewise that we may intirely love thee and rejoyce in being beloved of thee and humbly confide in thee and absolutely resign our selves to thee and be filled with constant devotion towards thee our Almighty Creator and most merciful Redeemer Possess our hearts with such a lively sense of our relation to thee in both respects and of the honour thou hast done us in preferring us so much above the rest of our fellow creatures that we may ever behave our selves suitably to the dignity of our Nature and of our Religion O that we may never degenerate into a base and unworthy love of any thing here below nor be oppressed with the burden of the cares of this life nor sink under the weight of any affliction nor be vainly puffed up with the greatest fulness of earthly goods if thou art pleased to bestow them on us But assist us with thy grace to Rom. 12.9 abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good Dispose us to a discreet and temperate use of all the pleasures of this world Indue us with true modesty and humility of spirit that we may Rom. 12.3,10,16 not think of our selves more highly than we ought to think but think soberly according to the measure which thou hast dealt unto us Keep us from being wise in our own conceits and inable us so to order our selves that Phil. 4.5 our moderation may be known to all men Make us kindly affectioned one to another in brotherly love To delight in doing good Tit. 3.2 to shew all meekness to all men Rom. 13.7,8 To render to all their dues Tribute to whom tribute is due custom to whom custom fear to whom fear honour to whom honour and to owe no man anything but to love one another Make us so happy that we may be able to Matth. 5.44 love our enemies to bless those that curse us to do good to them that hate us Rom. 12.15 to rejoyce with them that do rejoyce and weep with them that weep Compose our spirits to a quiet and steady dependence on thy good providence that we may not Matth. 6.25 take too much thought for our life nor be careful for any thing Phil. 4.6 but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving still make known our requests to thee our God And help us Luk. 18.1 to pray alway and not faint 1 Thess 5.18 In every thing to give thanks Heb. 13.15 and offer up the sacrifice of praise continually 1 Pet. 1.17 To pass the time of our sojourning here in fear Rom. 5.2 To believe those things which we do not see and to rejoyce in hope of thy glory Luk. 21.19 To possess our souls in patience Phil. 4.11,12 And to learn in whatsoever state we are therewith to be content Make us know both how to be abased and how to abound every where and in all things instruct us both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need being inabled to do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us That we feeling the joys of uprightness and integrity of heart our Religion may be the greatest comfort and pleasure to us and we our selves an ornament to our Religion O that we could alway by an innocent good and useful life commend the Doctrine of God our Saviour to those who converse with us And that the light of all Christians did so shine before men that others beholding their good works might be moved to glorifie thee and heartily to believe on the Lord Jesus Send forth thy Light and thy Truth into all the dark corners of the Earth That Psal 72.11,12,13,14 all kings may fall down before him and all nations serve him And indue them whom thou hast placed in such high Authority over others with that divine Spirit which was in him that they may deliver the needy when he cryeth the poor also and him that hath no helper That
lords who only hast immortality and designest by thy Son Jesus to raise us sinful dust and ashes to a kingdom glory honour and immortality in the heavens I most earnestly beseech thee that this sense of thee may accompany me wheresoever I go and in whatsoever I do this day That approving my self to thee in such a godly sober righteous charitable and prudent behaviour as may adorn the Gospel of my Lord and Master Christ Jesus I may have a greater assurance of thy good will towards me and an undoubted hope of thy mercy in him to eternal life In whose most blessed name and words I humbly recommend my self my friends and all thy servants to thy infinite charity saying as he hath taught us Our Father c. Another for the Evening BLessing Glory Honour and Praise be again returned to thee O Father of mercy from a most thankful heart which offers up it self also in holy devotion to thee Who art my Soveraign Lord my most loving Saviour my Deliverer and Benefactor the Fountain of all the good things I enjoy at present and the hope of my soul for ever and ever Blessed be thy renewed kindness to me this day past both to my self and my relations to my soul and my body in my transactions with men and in the liberty thou allowest me of addresses to thy self Pardon good Lord whatsoever hath escaped me in thought word or deed contrary to my duty And accept of those sincere intentions and unfeigned purposes which were and I hope shall always be in my heart to study to approve my self to thee in all well doing It is but just and reasonable that I should follow thy will and not my own and in a grateful sense of what I have received from thee I ought to be moved to imploy all the powers of my soul and body for thee But such is the goodness of thy will that it is for my ease and pleasure and greatest happiness to be absolutely led and governed by it I am sensible O Lord how much I am indebted to thee for teaching me by Christ Jesus and also strongly obliging me to exercise my self to all godliness purity righteousness humility goodness and truth And accordingly I thank thee above all things for his holy instructions and example for the hope thou hast given us by his bloud that thou wilt be so merciful to our sins as not to deny us the power of thy holy Spirit to inable us to follow him and obey his commands and for that exceeding great and precious promise which he hath given us of immortal life to incourage us to follow him willingly and chearfully even to the death O that I may feel a lively and steadfast faith in his Word continually working with great power in my heart exciting me to an unwearied diligence and zeal and love and patient continuance in my duty towards thee and towards all men That so my hope in thee may grow and increase and I may joyfully expect that hour which shall translate me hence to the eternal happiness of the other world And during my stay here I commend my self to thy good providence which hath hitherto been so tender of me I trust thee wholly with my self and all belonging to me and am willing in every thing to be disposed of as thou seest good This night 〈◊〉 fly unto thy Almighty protection hoping thou wilt keep me safely and whether I awake in this or the other life I shall still be praising thee whose Mercy endureth for ever Amen for Christ Jesus his sake by whom thou hast incouraged me to hope in thee and taught me to call thee father saying 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 trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil c. THat time which is wont to be spent in the Church in talking or looking about before Divine Service begin may be better imployed in private Prayer to dispose us to joyn with greater seriousness in the Publick And indeed our business being there with God alone and that place being separated to his service only the custom which now universally prevails of entertaing discourse one with another is very undecent to say no worse and ought to be reformed We have other times and places enow to confer with our neighbours and therefore have no temptation to pervert the use of this which is set apart for devout intercourse with God and none else by speaking to him in Prayer and Praises and hearing him speak to us in his holy Word It is fit to silence all other speech and therefore here follow some helps for that purpose which I hope all good Christians will indeavour to use or imitate and not despise this loving admonition Private PRAYERS IN THE CHVRCH A short Prayer before Divine Service begins BEhold O Lord of heaven and earth a Soul prostrate before thee desirous to be filled with such an awful sense of thy divine Majesty that no other thing may interpose it self while I am in thy presence Fix my inconstant thoughts in a steadfast attention to thy most holy Word Inspire me with devout affections when I set forth thy praise and render thanks for all thy benefits And excite in me such fervent desires for all those things which I ask of thee that I may feel my self better disposed by these addresses to thee to every Christian duty the rest of this day through Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour Amen Another IN an humble and thankful sense of thine infinite goodness which honoureth us so much as to speak to us and gives us leave to speak to thee I bow down my self before thee O most high and holy Lord the Creator of the world desiring my mind may be possessed with such great thoughts of thee whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain and who openest thy hand and fillest all things with good that I may most reverently worship thee and affectionately acknowledge thy bounty and set my heart open to receive thy holy Word and my mouth may praise thee with joyful lips Silence all other thoughts and desires in me while I am here in thy presence And lift up my heart so towards heaven that I may feel it united to that glorious company above who perpetually praise thee and rejoyce in thee and do thy Commandments hearkning to the voice of thy Word Which I humbly beg in the name of Christ Jesus which is ever dear unto thee and by whom thou hast promised to hear us Amen Or those words of the Prophet David which you read Psal 5.7 17.1 118.28 119.47,48 c. may be a little altered in this manner IN the multitude of thy mercy I am come into thy house and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy
O God for the good hope which thy infinite charity hath given us by thy great grace in Christ Jesus and the plentiful communication of the holy Ghost O let thy mercy be upon me according as I hope in thee Preserve me alway in thy love through that abundant grace in thy Son Christ and the powerful presence of thy holy Spirit working in me mightily this day and ever Or after The peace of God which passeth all understanding c. you may say as the Apostle St. Paul 2 Thess 3.16 and the Psalmist 115.12,13,18 NOw the Lord of peace himself give me peace always by all means The Lord be with us all The Lord hath been mindful of us he will bless us He will bless them that fear him both small and great And we will bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore Amen A short Prayer for the Lords-day or any other to be used at home before Morning Service O Lord the Almighty Creator of the world and the merciful Saviour of mankind who art above all our thoughts and excellest the praises of the highest Angels Thou art greatly to be feared in the assembly of thy Saints and to be had in reverence of all those that are about thee I most humbly desire leave to joyn my self with all those holy ones to worship thy most glorious Majesty to express the due sense I have of all thy benefits by paying thee my most thankful acknowledgements for them to make thee the best oblation I am able and devote my self intirely to thy obedience Since thou hast graciously inclined me to go into thy house and there to set forth thy praise to declare thy loving kindness to resign my self to thy Will to recommend my self to thy Wisdom to submit to thy Government to approve the justice and goodness of all thy Laws to profess that I am thy servant to renounce all thy enemies and to testifie my continued purpose to follow thee against all the temptations of the world the flesh and the Devil be pleased good Lord to pardon all my former failings and at this present to accept my holy intentions and to inspire me from above that I may chearfully perform all these acts of devotion to thy Divine Majesty And vouchsafe more fully to inform me in my duty to correct and amend what is amiss in me to incourage and strengthen my good resolutions and to assist me in all well doing Fill me with a great love to thee and to my blessed Saviour to thy holy Word and to all holy duties to Christian people every where and to all mankind Perfect me in Wisdom in Holiness and in Goodness By all thy instructions by all thy mercies by all thy chastisements and by all my prayers praises and thanksgivings to thee the Father of mercies make me such as thou canst love and delight in and reward at the great day of the Lord Jesus Amen A short Prayer at home after we are come from Church before Dinner I Adore thee again O Lord of Life and glory I acknowledge my dependence on thee I thank thee for thy mercies which thou never ceasest to heap upon me Accept I beseech thee of that dedication I have made of soul and body with praises and thanksgivings unto thee in the publick Congregation Be merciful to all my sins and indue me with the grace of thy holy Spirit to inable me to present my self when I appear again before thee a more holy and devout Sacrifice unto thee steadfastly resolved and chearfully disposed in every thing to be ordered by thy Will For which end be pleased to settle and root in my heart a stronger belief of thy holy Gospel and to fix my thoughts and affections upon that unseen happiness and bliss where our Saviour is That nothing here below may either allure or affright me from my duty nor ever make me remiss or negligent in it but I may be zealous of good works fervent in spirit serving my Lord from whom I expect the reward of an immortal inheritance Preserve in me always a Religious sense of thee And make me now so thankful and sober a partaker of the refreshments of my body that they may not damp the devotion of my soul But I may rather return to worship thee with greater chearfulness and gladness of heart after thou hast added the good things of this world to those of the other according to thy abundant love in Christ Jesus Amen A Prayer in private before the Evening Service O God who art rich in mercy to all that call upon thee and hast bid us 1 Thess 5. pray without ceasing and rejoyce evermore In obedience to thy command and incouraged by the goodness of thy Nature thy gracious invitations thy most precious promises and the long experience that I and others have had of thy bounty I am bold again to approach into thy presence to renew my requests unto thee to bless thy holy name to make profession of my love to thee and readiness in all things to obey thee Quicken my thoughts and affections O Lord to a free and joyful attendance on thee in all holy duties that no dulness nor weariness may seize upon my spirit but such a fervent love to thee may possess my heart as may render all the imployments of Religion my delight and the doing thy Will both now and alway my greatest pleasure And pass by I most humbly beseech thee all my unwilling indispositions Accept of such service as I am able to render thee And dispose me by all my addresses to thee to be more circumspect and watchful more diligent and industrious more forward and zealous in the performance of every part of my duty That being led by thy Counsel governed by thy Spirit and preserved by thy gracious Providence I may at last be admitted into the company of the blessed there to perfect my praises and acknowledgements and to receive the reward of patient continuance in well doing through Christ Jesus Whose grace be with my spirit Amen Another after the Evening Service is done as soon as there is opportunity to retire alone I Acknowledge thy manifold blessings O Lord which are renewed upon me every moment I owe my life continually to thee with all the comforts of it If I had no more to thank thee for but the mercies of this day they are so many so great that I could never thank thee enough for them Thou takest care of my body and of my soul Thou feedest me at thy house and at my own Thou lettest me taste the bread of Life which came down from Heaven besides the many supports and refreshments which thou affordest for this natural life Several of thy creatures lose their lives to preserve mine and thy dear Son hath not thought it too much to lay down his precious Life for my sake Thou speakest to me and givest me leave to speak to thee Thou instructest me in my duty and
never dye nor languish in our hearts but be kept alive in their vigour and force by the perpetual inspirations of the holy Ghost We wait upon thee for that promise of our Saviour to assist and promote our sincere indeavours to preserve our souls unblameable in the love of thee our God and of all mankind We heartily desire the prosperity and welfare of every one of them as well as our own O that they were all so wise and happy as to acknowledge and submit themselves to thee by obeying thy holy Laws Especially we desire that all Kings and Princes may become our Saviours Subjects and conforming themselves to his will may be rendred thereby most excellent examples to all other men Indue our Soveraign with abundance of the Spirit of counsel and judgement and the fear of our Lord. Make him happy in wise and faithful Ministers in loyal and peaceable Subjects and in the good success of all his enterprises for the honour of Religion and his peoples tranquillity We commend to thy mercies all our friends relations and benefactors desiring that all who have done us good may be requited an hundred fold here and obtain at last eternal life And all that have done evil to us as we heartily forgive them so we earnestly desire they may obtain thy gracious pardon Together with these we remember likewise all that are in affliction whatsoever it be either of soul or body to whom we wish ease and comfort and seasonable relief that they may rejoyce in the end for the days wherein they have seen adversity In these holy thoughts and desires we now are bold to commend our selves to thy protection this night who hast preserved and blessed us we most thankfully acknowledge all the day past We repose our selves in the belief of thy good providence with which we intrust our selves and all belonging to us We would lay down our selves to sleep with hearts full of love to thee and humble faith and hope in thee Desiring we may awake again in the same manner and find that we are still with thee Dispose us good Lord by the rest thou givest us always to serve thee more zealously with our renewed spirits that after the few days and nights we have to pass in this world we may come to thy eternal rest together with Christ Jesus In whose blessed name and words we still recommend our selves to thy mercies Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy Name Thy kingdom â—ome Thy will be done in earth as it â—s in heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our â—respasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from â—vil c. PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES FRIDAY MORNING O God most blessed for ever whose the world is and the fulness thereof who needest not any thing that we can give thee for thou givest us whatsoever we injoy We prostrate our selves before thee to make such poor expressions as we are able of the sense we have of thine infinite bounty to us It is but fit and meet that we should acknowledge and praise thee though we can thereby add nothing unto thee It is our happiness to have a grateful remembrance of thy goodness to us and to be knit unto thee in hearty love and dutiful affection all the days of our life We thank thee therefore O Lord of heaven and earth who hast loaded us continually with thy benefits They are great and many more than we can number both towards our bodies and towards our souls for the comfort of this life and our everlasting Salvation in the Life to come For ever adored be thy love in Christ Jesus who hath given us an undoubted testimony of thy fatherly care and providence over us and incouraged us though we have offended thee to address our selves to thee with good hope of thy gracious acceptance of us into friendship with thee again We love thee O Lord above all things We freely offer our spirits souls and bodies to thee with most sincere devotion and the heartiest affection to thy service There is nothing we desire and long for so much as to have a lively sense of thy marvailous love always possessing our hearts that may still constrain us to love thee to obey thee to trust in thee to be content with the portion thy love allots unto us and to rejoyce even in the midst of all the troubles of this life We cannot chuse O Lord when we seriously think of what thou hast done for us but absolutely commit our selves to thee intirely confide in thee for the time to come Since thou hast Rom. 8.32 not spared thy own Son but delivered him up for us all how shalt thou not with him also freely give us all things We depend upon thee especially for the grace of thy holy Spirit for the power of which in our hearts exciting these holy desires and godly resolutions we most humbly thank thy divine Majesty O that we may feel it perpetually bearing us up by the strength of our most holy faith and by the power of love and hope above all the temptations which at any time assault us That we may keep our selves unspotted from the world and no appetite of pleasure of glory or of riches may ever carry us from our duty but we may still cleave to thee in Righteousness Purity Humility Charity and all other divine vertues of which our Lord hath given us so great an example For his sake we hope for a favourable acceptance of these our praises acknowledgements and prayers For we must be still beholden to thine infinite goodness for the least regard to any thing that we can do who are but unprofitable servants And we wait upon the same goodness for thy blessing to accompany us all this day that we may do nothing but what we know is pleasing to thee and may be so prospered protected and assisted by thine Almighty power that we may return with our hearts full of love and thankfulness to thee in the evening again to praise and magnifie thy continued kindness to us Unto which we commend most heartily the rest of mankind desiring that they may all know thee the true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent whom to know is eternal life And O that all Christians would walk worthy of thy high and heavenly Calling that others seeing their good works may be invited thereby to acknowledge and glorifie thee our heavenly Father More particularly we desire the increase of wisdom and goodness to all Christian Kings and Princes and a plentiful portion of the Spirit of thy Grace to all Christian Bishops Priests and Deacons that they may be eminent instruments of thy honour and their peoples good by the authority of their Doctrine and godly Example Make our Soveraign and us all happy in each other by the faithful discharge of our several duties in the places wherein thy
beseech God to bestow upon us And therefore with a sincere hatred of all sin and a spirit armed with hearty resolution against it invoke the Divine Grace for your assistance If you be true Christian Souldiers that manfully fight under the banner of our Lord call to him for aid with your weapons in your hand With a mind bent to consider desire God to enlighten you And with an heart stored with the treasures of Divine Truth beseech him to quicken and enliven you And with close and urgent applications of them to your heart entreat him to enable you to form and shape your whole man spirit soul and body according to them For God is not hard to be entreated since he entreats us to come to him yea gives a great deal of his grace without asking but it is the faintness or inconstancy of our endeavours to comply with his grace and our own petitions that makes them no more prevalent They that had no other Director but the light of their own minds saw this well enough and were so sensible of this truth that they were wont publickly to declaim as we find in Aristides his Oration to the Rhodians concerning Concord against the absurd folly of those who were perpetually importuning the Gods with their Prayers but would do nothing for themselves 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. no not those things which they knew the Gods had put in their power And in the same manner Demosthenes in one of his Philippicks chides the Greeks comparing them to men who seeing great Hail-stones fall upon their heads prayed that they might be preserved in safety but would not run away to secure themselves from harm And therefore Clemens Alexandrinus Lib. 7. Strom. justly commends the wisdom of those who made the Laws of the famous Olympick Combats By which he that entred the lists having for a long time before exercised his body to feats of activity was ordered before he began to contend for the Prize to stand right over against the Statue of Jupiter and to say this Prayer O God if I am in all regards duly fitted and prepared as I ought for this Combate vouchsafe in thy righteous judgement to grant the victory to me Even so saith he may a man chearfully approach to God who faithfully and with a good conscience doth all that he can both to learn his will and to exercise himself in good works that are pleasing to him for he shall have all that can be wisht for the perfecting of his Salvation Just as a Physician as he goes on restores health to those who cooperate with his medicines so will God give his eternal salvation to them who work together with him both unto knowledge and unto well doing As for those who do not live well it is plain saith he in another place Lib. 6. Strom. that they do not so much as know what things are most profitable for themselves And if so then it is manifest likewise that they cannot tell how to pray to God to receive good things from him being ignorant of what is good Or if they should receive them they would have no sense at all of the gift nor use it according to its worth and dignity and that for the very same reason because they understand not its value Inspire therefore O God of all Grace I most humbly beseech thee both my heart and the hearts of all others who shall read this Book with such a godly will to endeavour zealously in all things to do what is well pleasing in thy sight that we may comfortably expect the constant and powerful presence of thy holy Spirit with us to help us in the performance of our duty till we have perfected holiness in thy fear And the sincerity of that love to thee which we profess in our Prayers being testified by an unwearied observance of all thy commands we may be able also to wait with an humble confidence for thy salvation who hast graciously promised to reward our weak and short obedience in this life with inconceiveable and endless joys in a better World Amen Imprimatur Sam. Parker R mo in Christo Patri ac Domino D no. Gilberto Archiep. Cantuar. à sac Dom. Ex Aedib Lambeth Octob. 21. 1672. ERRATA PAge 41. line 8. read abundant p. 50. l. 3. for thou r. the. p. 51. l. 11. r. consecrate p. 84. l. 9. r. devote p. 92. l. 24. r. children p. 135. penult dele to p. 258. l. 7. for who r. thou p. 265. l. 8. for bountiful r. beautiful p. 495. l. 5. r. every one PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES On the LORDS DAY In the MORNING ALmighty and Eternal God the Lord of heaven and earth we thy creatures are here prostrate before thee to express our humble and grateful sense of our dependence on thee to honour thee with our Praises and Thanksgivings and an hearty oblation of our selves our souls and bodies to thy service We are unworthy we confess to be admitted to speak unto thy Majesty nor can our thoughts or words add any thing to thy greatness happiness and glory but since thou art pleased in thy infinite goodness to do us the honour not only to admit but to invite our addresses unto thee that our spirits may be bettered by lifting up themselves to thee from whom we come by meditating thy praises by exciting our love and praying our acknowledgements to thee we most humbly and thankfully receive this thy great grace and favour towards us Remembring withal that it is but just and reasonable we should pay thee our vows which we made the last night being so graciously raised up in soundness of body and mind to see the light of this day which our Saviour hath made that we may be glad and rejoyce therein We laud and magnifie therefore thy most holy Name thy infinite Power Wisdom and Bounty which all the world proclaims with the highest praises We bless thee in behalf of all thy creatures as well as of our selves to whom thou hast given dominion over the works of thy hands for Psal 145.15,16 the eyes of all look unto thee and thou givest them their meat in due season Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing But above all we acknowledge thy inestimable benefits bestowed upon mankind in Christ Jesus the Son of thy Love whom thou wast pleased in thy infinite mercy to send among us in our own likeness to assure us of thy good will towards us and to instruct us in our duty towards thee and to give us hope of no less than immortal life by patient continuance in well doing We remember with all thankfulness his miraculous Birth at which the Angels rejoyced his most holy Life his bitter Agony and bloudy Death his glorious Resurrection upon this day from the grave his Ascension into the heavens to fit on the right hand of the Majesty on high his Triumph over all the powers of
they may spare the poor and needy and save and redeem their soul from deceit and violence and their bloud may be precious in their sight Bless these Kingdoms wherein we live and as thou hast long continued to us the knowledge of thy Truth so give us grace to bring forth fruit becoming the Gospel that thou mayst not cut us down as barren trees which cumber the ground Lord save the King and establish his Throne in righteousness that we may see many happy days under his government and be Psal 90.15 comforted now after the time that thou hast plagued us and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity Prosper the pious endeavours of all those that faithfully feed and instruct thy people and increase the number of them O that the seed which hath been sown this day may take deep root in all our hearts and bring forth fruit abundantly that being not Jam. 1.25,26 forgetful hearers but doers of the work we may be all blessed in our deed Help us in all the week following to Psal 141.3,4 set a watch before our mouth and to keep the door of our lips Preserve us that our heart incline not to any evil thing to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity but we may be always 1 Pet. 3.13 followers of that which is good 1 Thess 4.1 and as we have received how we ought to walk and please thee our God so we may abound more and more Protect us we beseech thee and all our friends every where this night Grant us quiet and undisturbed rest and sleep and awaken in the morning these good thoughts and desires again in our hearts Joh. 15.7 that the words of our Saviour may abide in us and we in him till we come to endless life together with him by whom we are incouraged thus to address our selves unto thee and to continue to pray as he hath taught us in his holy Gospel saying Our Father c. A shorter form of Prayer for the Lords day Morning O Most holy eternally Blessed Deut. 10.14 The heaven and the heaven of heavens is thine the earth also with all that therein is Thou art every where and canst not be excluded from any place but art present to the greatest secrets of our souls and seest the closest and most retired thoughts of our hearts Thou knowest very well with what designs and affections we now bow our selves before thee and canst not be deceived by any words that we are able to speak in thy praise whilst our hearts are far from thy fear and love Behold O Lord our hearts are full with desires to be possessed with a mighty reverend sense of thee and all the benefits thou hast bestowed on us and to be lifted up to heaven in love to thee and joy in thee whilst we bless and praise thee and speak good of thy Name We here remember with all humility and thankfulness that thou art our Creator And acknowledge thy care and providence over thy ancient people in blessing and sanctifying a day wherein thou thy self restedst from thy works that they might cease from all other imployments and admire thy wonderful works extol thy power bless thy goodness and be astonished at thy wisdom in making preserving adorning and governing this excellent frame of the world The heavens declare thy glory O God and the firmament sheweth thy handy-work The Sun the Moon and all the host of Heaven proclaim the greatness and splendor of thy Majesty The Psal 104.24 whole earth is full of thy rich goodness so is the great and wide sea wherein are things moving innumerable both small and great living creatures There is nothing but what speaks of thee and above all the children of men whom thou hast wonderfully made and curiously wrought and impressed with thine own Image that they might understand thee and love thee in all and above all things The variety the order the stedfastness of all thy works in this great world abundantly utter thy adorable perfections But thou O Lord by thy goodness in giving thy Son for us and then raising him up from the dead and setting him at thy right hand hast given us new matter of wonder and praise and consecrated a better rest and holy-day of rejoycing wherein we should behold the glories of another world and have before our eyes the happiness thou intendest for us there together with all the excellent means which lead unto it Thou givest us occasion not only to reflect upon all the good things thou hast provided for our bodies which we can never acknowledge enough the very health and ease of one day deserving the thankfulness of many but we must also remember that we are thy redeemed ones and that thou hast done great things for our souls in thy Son Jesus who is entred into the heavens for us and gone to prepare a resting place for all those that follow him This exceeding riches of thy grace infinitely surpasses all our acknowledgements since all the praises we are able to render thee are less than is due for thy temporal blessings To this love we â—owe the knowledge of thee the true and only God our freedom from Idolatry and a vain conversation the true principles of holy living the benefit of repentance the promise of a pardon the assistance of thy holy Spirit the ministry of thy Angels the hope of immortal life and the pledges our Lord hath left us of his endless love To this we owe thy forbearance in the days of our ignorance thy unwearied patience towards us in a continued rebellion and thy earnest intreaties of us when we were passionately bent upon our own destruction Thou hast sent us in much love many holy Instructors and guides to blessedness We have had the benefit of sundry pious Sermons good Examples wholesome admonitions and serious counsels of the power of the Holy Ghost and divers restraints of fear and shame and love and thou still pursuest us with thy merciful kindness and beseechest us to attend to thy call and receive thy blessings and make thee our choice and be eternally happy in thy Divine favour and likeness What shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits towards us O help us to manifest our real and unfeigned desires to make some worthy returns to thee by our careful improvement of the holy opportunity which thou this day puttest into our hands O that our minds may be more inlightned to understand the truth as it is in Jesus that our wills may be more steadfastly resolved to cleave unto it that our affections may be excited to a stronger and more ardent love to thee and to a greater delight in thee and all the powers of our souls disposed to serve thee at all other times more cheerfully and readily in all the Duties of Piety Soberness Righteousness and Mercy So that every day may become an holy rest to the Lord by
good likewise we must hate and abhorr our selves who cannot but love and delight in those who show us any kindness and bestow any benefits upon us though they are but thy Ministers and Servants that have nothing and can do nothing but what thou hast given them and inclinest them to do By thee we were formed and brought out of our Mothers Womb. And by a greater mercy were early born again and made thy children in Christ Jesus We have been thy care ever since and been instructed in that Covenant of Grace into which at our Baptism we were received by the knowledge thou hast given us of thy blessed Gospel Wherein we read the great love of our Saviour in dying for us and have the promise of his Spirit to sanctifie and govern us his holy Precepts for the rule of our actions his glorious Example to excite and quicken us and the hope of eternal bliss by his Resurrection from the dead to incourage and comfort us in well doing And in the mean time we injoy the society of thy Saints the ministry of thy Angels and the direction and assistance of thy faithful servants the Embassadors of peace and reconciliation with thee All which fruits of thy wonderful love we have long enjoyed and thou hast this day entertained us at thy Table where thou hast refreshed us with the Communion of the body and bloud of Christ Jesus the earnest of a blessed resurrection and the pledge of immortality Besides innumerable good things which thy most tender mercy hath been pleased to bestow upon our bodies to make our passage to that blessedness through all the troubles and dangers of this life the more easie and delightful to us And all this thou hast done for those who have been too idle and useless cold and dull inconstant and soon weary of their duty forgetful of benefits and unfaithful to their own promises But thy infinite goodness still continues to do it to make us more diligent more zealous more steadfast and immoveable more mindful of thee and of our own holy purposes that we may be abundant as there is reason in the work of our Lord knowing that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. And that is the most sincere and fervent desire of our souls likewise who here most humbly beseech thee by the power of thy holy Spirit to preserve in us a perpetual and affectionate remembrance of all thy undeserved kindness to us Stir up all that is within us every morning to bless and praise thy holy Name That by a renewed serious acknowledgement of thy benefits we may be more and more stirred up to love and to all good works O that the Lord Jesus may be always in our thoughts and in our hearts that we may make him our pattern as he is our hope O that nothing may be so dear unto us in this world as his holiness his humility his goodness and charity his meekness and patience his intire trust in thee and resignation to thee his delight to do thy will O God in hope of that Tit. 1.1 eternal life which thou who canst not lye hast promised to us Fix our minds and affections more steadfastly on that glory wherewith he is crowned by his obedient suffering of death that we may never be weary nor faint in our minds under any sufferings for well doing but continuing faithful to the death may also receive the Crown of Life Accept we pray thee of this our bounden duty and service pitty our great weaknesses pardon all our sins and negligences and deny us not the grace of thy holy Spirit which we have implored to inable us to amend our lives according to thy holy Word But after thou hast refreshed us with quiet sleep this night let us feel it moving our hearts to the same holy thoughts acknowledgements desires and resolutions which it now works in us through thy mercy declared to us in Christ Jesus In whose words we conclude our Prayers saying as he hath taught us 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 trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil c. PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES MVNDAY MORNING WE humble our selves O Lord of heaven and earth before thy glorious Majesty we heartily acknowledge thy Sovereign Dominion over us all creatures we praise and magnifie thy eternal Power Wisdom Goodness and Truth and we render thee our most unfeigned thanks for the innumerable benefits which thou in thy bounty hast loaded us withal Above all for the gracious declaration thou hast made of thy good will to us in Christ Jesus by whom thou hast invited and incouraged sinners to return to thee and directed them in the way to everlasting bliss We blush to think of our shameful forgetfulness of thee and ingratitude to thee to whom we owe all that we have in this world and all our hopes in the next We most humbly implore thy tender mercies in the forgiveness of all our sins whereby we have offended either in thought word or deed against thy just and holy Laws For we are truly sorry for all our mis-doings we utterly renounce whatsoever is contrary to thy will and here devote our selves intirely to the obedience thereof Accept O most merciful Father of this renewed Dedication which we make of our whole man body soul and spirit to thee And as thou dost inspire us with holy resolutions so accompany them always with the assistance of thy grace that we may be able every day to offer up our selves more sincerely and more cheerfully to thee with more pure affection and hearty devotion and ready disposition to thy service We adore thy great grace which hath brought salvation to us and Tit. 2.11,12 teaches us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world We will indeavour O Lord to preserve a grateful sense of thy mighty love in our mind and to follow the doctrine and example of thy Son Christ Jesus as becomes those who have such a blessed hope and look for so great Salvation at the day of his glorious appearing We desire above all things to be so pure and undefiled so meek and gentle so humble and lowly so just and merciful so peaceable and patient contented and thankful as our blessed Lord and Master was And we hope that thou wilt fulfil all the gracious promises he hath made to us which we esteem far greater treasure than thousands of gold and silver They are the support the comfort the satisfaction of our hearts We ask nothing but that it may be to thy servants according to his Word Thou hast mercifully kept us the last night blessed be thy continued goodness and raised us again to see
the light of this morning Receive us likewise all this day into thy protection to which we most humbly commit our selves We trust our selves and all belonging to us with thee our Creator and Redeemer We submit to thy orders and are willing to do and suffer what thou pleasest Jude 21. Waiting for the mercy of our Lord Christ Jesus unto eternal life And we desire thou knowest the good of all mankind as well as our own especially of all Christian people that they may all walk worthy of the Gospel and live together in unity and godly love For which end we pray that all Christian Kings Princes and Governours may be wise pious just and merciciful indeavouring that all their subjects may lead peaceable lives under them in all godliness and honesty And more particularly that our Soveraign may be blessed with a religious quiet long and prosperous Reign and that all his Ministers of State and Officers of Justice may conscientiously discharge the trust that is reposed in them seeking in their several places how to right the oppressed to comfort the afflicted to provide for the poor and needy and to relieve all those that are in any misery Bless all our spiritual Pastors and Instructors succeed their labours and give us grace to follow their godly admonitions 1 Thess 5.13 to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake and to be at peace among our selves The same blessings we crave for all our friends relations and acquaintance that we may all live in perfect love and peace together doing our duties to thee to each other and to all men so faithfully that we may give a comfortable account of our selves and rejoyce together at the great day of the Lord Jesus In whose holy words we beseech thee to help us still more heartily to offer up our desires to thee Our Father c. At Night ALmighty and most merciful Father by whom we were made and in whom we live move and have our being to whose tender compassions we owe our safety the day past together with all the comforts of this present life and the hopes of that which is to come We praise and laud thee O Lord the Creator and Governor of the world We ascribe all Greatness Might Majesty Wisdom Riches and Bounty to thee whom all the host of heaven continually admires and acknowledges with the most joyful reverence We bow our selves likewise before thee and worship thee in an humble sense that we are nothing in compare with thee and have nothing but what we receive from thee Psal 75.1 Psal 43.4 68.19 Vnto thee do we give thanks unto thee do we give thanks O God our exceeding joy who daily pourest thy benefits upon us Blessed be thy great goodness for our continued health for our food and raiment our peace and safety the society of our friends the love of our neighbours and the success of our honest labours But above all things for sending Jesus Christ into the world to dwell among us to dye for us and to direct us in the way to immortal life We thank thee that we feel in our hearts any motion towards thee and that we have made the least progress in those paths of life O Lord we present our selves here before thee to be inspired with such a vigorous and full sense of thy love as may move us more powerfully towards thee and put us forward with a greater earnestness zeal and diligence in all our duty There is nothing in heaven or earth that we can desire but to be beloved of thee who possessest both and art able to make thy friends as great and happy as thou pleasest Assist us therefore still by thy grace to the recovery of such a lively Image of thee in all righteousness purity mercy faithfulness and truth that we may know thou lovest us O that Jesus the hope of glory may be formed in us in all humility meekness patience contentedness peaceableness and absolute surrender of our souls and bodies to thy holy will and pleasure That Gal. 2.20 we may no longer live but Christ may live in us and the life we lead in the flesh may be by the faith of thy Son O God who loved us and gave himself for us The remembrance of that love is most dear and precious to us We cannot often enough make mention of so great kindness as his making himself freely an offering for our sins It moves us again to offer up our selves sincerely to thee to do thy will O God as our blessed Lord and Master did We repose also an intire confidence in thee and still trust our selves with thee who hast Rom. 8.32 not spared thine own Son but given him up for us all We will humbly and reverently accept of whatsoever thou sendest us and 1 Thess 5.18 in every thing give thanks which is thy will concerning us in Christ Jesus We hope thou wilt never leave us nor forsake us but conduct us safe through all varieties and changes of our condition here in an unchangeable love to thee and an holy composure and tranquillity of mind in thy love to us till we come to live with thee and enjoy thee for ever And now that we are going to lay our selves down to sleep take us into thy gracious protection and settle our spirits in such quiet and delightful thoughts of Jesus that we may be willing to leave this world and go to him 1 Thess 5.10 Who dyed for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him To his blessing we commend all mankind of whatsoever rank and condition they be high and low rich and poor that they may all be so happy as to do their several duties carefully and to enjoy contentedly whatsoever is needful for them We leave all we have with thee especially our friends and those who are dear unto us desiring that when we are dead and gone they may lift up their souls in this manner unto thee and teach those that come after to praise love and obey thee and that if we awake again in the morning our mouths may likewise praise thee again with joyful lips and we may still offer our selves a more acceptable sacrifice to thee through Christ Jesus In whose words we beseech thee to hear us according to the fullest sence and intention of them Our Father c. PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES TVESDAY MORNING ALL honour glory and praise be given to thee O Lord our Creator Redeemer and Comforter by us and by all the world Thou art worthy of all our love service and obedience being most excellent in thine own nature and of so abundant kindness to us thy creatures Who most humbly therefore prostrate our selves before thee this Morning to make thee our thankful acknowledgements for all thy benefits and tender thee our most hearty and affectionate service and wait upon thy bounty for the continuance of thy grace and mercy
thee Give us thy grace continually for our seasonable relief and succour that we persevering in well doing may have a solid and lively hope in our death of coming to see thee in that high and holy place where thou livest and reignest for evermore As for all the things of this life we most heartily refer our selves to thy Fatherly Wisdom and Goodness O Lord God Almighty trusting thou wilt order for us that which is most convenient and bless our honest diligence with such a competent portion of them that we may have the more leisure to give continual praise honour blessing and thanksgiving to thee whose mercies endure for ever Accept we pray thee of our thankful acknowledgements at this time for those which this day hath added to the rest of thy benefits which thou hast been continually heaping upon us ever since we were born And let all the people of the earth praise the name of the Lord which is highly exalted above all blessing and praise O that all the Kingdoms of the World would become the Kingdoms of our Saviour Christ and that all they who acknowledge his authority would religiously obey his holy Laws that all wars oppression and cruelty may cease among Christian people and they may live together in brotherly love and unity Make our Soveraign and all his Realms happy by a great increase of true knowledge godliness and vertue every where Bless all our friends forgive our enemies requite all the kindness of our benefactors comfort every one of thy desolate and afflicted servants and turn their mourning and heaviness into joy and gladness at the last And now that we are going to repose our selves keep us we beseech thee and all belonging to us in safety Refresh our wearied spirits with comfortable rest and sleep and when we awaken again in the morning direct our thoughts immediately to thee our merciful preserver and help us to imploy all our renewed strength to thy honour and glory according to thy will declared by Christ Jesus in whose blessed Name and Words we commend our selves to thy infinite Mercies Our Father c. PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES WEDNESDAY MORNING O Most great and mighty Lord the Possessor of heaven and earth All the Angels worship and adore thy incomprehensible Majesty with the humblest reverence and rejoyce in rendring praise blessing and thanksgiving to thee the Father of spirits For thou hast created all things and in wisdom hast thou made them all and spread thy tender mercies over all thy works It is no less our happiness than our duty to joyn our hearts and voices with that heavenly host most gratefully to acknowledge thy bounty to us among the rest of thy creatures and thy particular grace and favour in our Lord Jesus Christ our most merciful Saviour and Redeemer We can never sufficiently admire that love which gave him to dye for us and hath made him the Lord of life and glory that he may be the Author of eternal Salvation to all those that obey him All the love we have is too little to give thee to whom all our services are due by a former title Our highest praises fall infinitely short of thy most excellent Majesty and we are ashamed of the most affectionate thanks we can render to thee for those inestimable benefits which thou hast conferred on us and so long continued to us How much greater reason then have we to be abashed at our shameful ingratitude and disobedience to thy divine Majesty for which we are heartily sorry and do now most earnestly repent our selves of it unfeignedly resolving and protesting to be more faithful to thee for the time to come Pardon us therefore Good Lord and receive us unto thy mercy Accept of our renewed vows to study and do our duties conscientiously towards thee and towards all men And as thou hast excited these holy desires and purposes in our hearts so inable us to perform them constantly in the whole course of our life Our blessed Saviour hath told us thou wilt as readily give thy holy Spirit to them that ask it as a Parent will give bread to his hungry children O Father of mercies let it be unto us according to his Word Cherish these little beginnings of goodness which thou seest in our souls and prosper all our endeavours to attain a greater measure of it And since at the best we are but unprofitable servants and can do no more than was our duty to do inable us to do every thing which thou hast commanded us heartily with good will and true love to thy service We know this is all that can in the least commend us to thy free grace and favour and therefore we most humbly again dovote our selves to do thy Will with a cordial affection to it We would ever approach unto thee with delight and pleasure and feel it the joy of our hearts to think of thee to praise thee to give thee thanks and to offer our selves with absolute resignation to thee O that Mercy may always please us as it pleaseth thee that we may be strictly just and righteous may chearfully pass by injuries freely deny all desires of sinful pleasures willingly submit to thy fatherly corrections and perform the duties of our several relations with singleness of heart Render us so mindful of the great love of our Lord and Master Christ that we may be zealously concerned for his glory and use our utmost diligence to do Him and his Religion some honour in the world delighting to commemorate his Death and Passion making a joyful sacrifice of our souls and bodies to him and desiring most earnestly that his kingdom may come and all mankind submit themselves to his Government Fulfil most merciful Lord all our petitions and as thou hast mightily protected us and our dwellings this last night from fire and thieves and whatsoever might disturb our repose blessed be thy goodness so accompany us all this day with thy blessing that we may please thee in body and soul and be safe under thy defence who art nigh to all those that call upon thee that call upon thee in truth And O that all those who are forgetful of their duty to thee may be awakened to a lively sense of all thy benefits and fill the whole world with thy praises Stir up especially the minds of all Christian people to inquire after and follow the Truth as it is in Jesus abandoning all vice and wickedness and exercising themselves to have consciences void of offence towards thee and towards all men And dispose the hearts of all their Kings and Princes to make themselves the greatest examples of Christian Piety to all others Bless these Kingdoms and indue our Soveraign with such excellent Wisdom and holy Zeal for thy honour and glory that we may see many good days under his Government O that true Religion Justice Mercy Brotherly kindness and all things else that are praise-worthy may so flourish among us that we
may enjoy the blessings of peace and plenty and there may be no complaining in our streets We recommend to thee all our friends and neighbours all the poor the sick and other afflicted persons desiring those mercies for them which we should ask for our selves were we in their condition incouraged hereto by the large declarations which thou hast made of thy abundant goodness to mankind in our Lord Jesus In whose words we conclude our humble supplications unto thee saying Our Father c. At Night ALmighty and everlasting God the Soveraign Lord of all creatures in heaven and earth and our most merciful and gracious Father in thy Son Christ Jesus We most heartily acknowledge that our beings and all the comforts of them depend on thee the Fountain of all good We have nothing but what we have received thence and is owing intirely to thy free and bounteous love O most blessed Creator and to the unsearchable riches of thy grace O most blessed Redeemer To thee therefore be given by us and all creatures whom thou hast made to know how great and how good thou art all honour glory and praise all love service and obedience as long as we have any being It is but meet right and our bounden duty that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto thee O Lord and devoutly resign both soul and body to thee to be absolutely governed and ruled according to thy holy will and pleasure We are heartily sorry that we have not done it from the very beginning of our lives till this time We are ashamed to think of our injustice and ingratitude in following our own desires so long and rendring our selves no sooner most humbly obedient in all things to thee Our hopes are only in those infinite mercies which have spared us notwithstanding and opened our eyes to see our errors and touched our hearts with some sense of our duty And we hope in them not only for a pardon which we earnestly implore according to thy gracious promises made in Christ Jesus but for the power of thy holy Spirit to further and promote those godly resolutions which we feel already in our hearts to live as becomes thy creatures and as becomes the Disciples of Jesus Christ who were early dedicated to thee and have often since vowed themselves to thy service As thou hast made us to understand the reasonableness and goodness of all thy Laws so make us more and more in love with them that they may be writ upon our hearts and our wills may cleave unto them as our very life Keep alive such a powerful sense of thee and of the love of our Lord and Saviour in our mind that we may naturally fear and reverence thee and study to be approved of thee and beloved by thee and account it our highest perfection and happiness to be like thee O that it may ever be the joy of our hearts to be Righteous as thou art Righteous to be Merciful as thou our heavenly Father art Merciful to be Holy as thou who hast called us art Holy in all manner of conversation to be indued with thy divine Wisdom and to resemble thee in Faithfulness and Truth O that the memory of our blessed Saviour and his admirable example may be always dear unto us that we may chearfully follow him in his Humility Meekness Patience Contentedness Peaceableness and Delight to do thy Will O God in every thing as he did Accept we most humbly beseech thee of these desires of our souls after thee and graciously assist and strengthen them according as we unfeignedly offer them up unto thee Accept likewise of our thanks for thy merciful preservation of us all this day by which we are come in safety to the conclusion of it and are here before thee with a new load of thy benefits upon us added to other innumerable blessings which thou hast formerly bestowed We are bold again likewise to commit our selves unto thee this night and to trust in thy merciful protection and care over us when we can take no care of our selves or any thing else belonging to us Defend us from all the powers of darkness from evil men from fire and all such sad accidents and raise up our spirits together with our bodies in the morning to such a vigorous sense of thy continued goodness as may provoke us all the day long to an unwearied diligence in well doing And the same Mercies that we beg for our selves we desire for the rest of mankind especially for all those who are called by the name of Christ O that every member of that body of which He is the head may do their duties with all fidelity according to the several offices to which thou hast assigned them That Kings may be tender-hearted as the Fathers of their Countries and all their subjects may be dutiful and obedient to them as their children That the Pastors of the Church may feed thy flock with Wisdom and Understanding and the people may all submit unto them and follow their godly counsels That the rich and mighty may have compassion on the poor and miserable and all such distressed people may bless the rich and rejoyce in the prosperity of those that are above them Give husbands and wives parents and chidren masters and servants the grace to behave themselves so in their several Relations that they may adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour in all things and being an honour to his Religion here may receive immortal honour and glory hereafter from the hands of Christ Jesus in whose holy name and words we continue to beseech thy grace and mercy towards us and all thy people every where saying 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 trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil c. PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES THVRSDAY MORNING O Lord the high and holy One whose Psal 148.13 glory is above the earth and heaven We thy creatures prostrate our selves in the humblest adorations of thee ascribing to thee all Power Wisdom Riches Might Majesty and Dominion and acknowledging that to thee of right belongs all Worship Blessing Thanksgiving and Praise together with all Honour Love Service and Obedience for evermore Blessed be thine Omnipotent goodness which hath advanced us to such a degree of being that we are capable to look back to thee from whom we come to know thee to love thee to acknowledge thy great bounty towards us and to resemble thee in Wisdom and Goodness All that is within us blesses thy Holy Name for breathing into us immortal spirits that we may eternally admire thee praise thee love thee and joyfully render those grateful acknowledgements which we owe unto thee We can never sufficiently magnifie thy mercies towards
to thy holy Commands There is nothing O Lord so afflictive to me as the remembrance that I have any time offended thy Soveraign Authority I am heartily sorry for the breaking of any of thy sacred righteous and good Laws I abhorr the thoughts of doing so again And protest eternal enmity to all that is contrary to thy blessed Will addicting my self with most hearty affection to thy true and faithful service Pardon me therefore most gracious and merciful Father and accept these holy resolutions which thou hast inspired me withal Strengthen I beseech thee and further them with thy continued grace that no sudden desires vehement inclinations ineffectual purposes no nor partial performances may deceive and lead me into a false opinion of my self but I may bring forth actually and with a constant spirit all the fruits of righteousness which are by Christ Jesus to the praise and glory of thee my God Possess me with such a deep and strong sense of thy supreme Authority over all of the obligations I have to thee and the great kindness thou hast done me in ingaging me to be thy servant that Religion may be the very business of my life and my greatest pleasure may be to please thee in every thing and my highest design to attain that blessed immortality which Christ Jesus hath promised O lift up my affections more and more to those things above where he is That heaven may have my heart while this world hath my body and I may have perfect contentment of mind in well doing and patient suffering and the good hope I have of being eternally beloved of thee the Lord of heaven and earth may make me rejoyce evermore Free me from all inordinate cares for the things of this life from all distrust of thy good providence from all repining at any thing that befals me and inable me in every thing to give thanks believing that all things are ordered by the greatest reason and shall work together for good to those that love thee I doubt not of thy Fatherly affection to those that study in all sincerity to approve themselves unto thee and therefore still resolve to leave my self intirely to thy wise Counsels that thou mayst dispose me into such a condition as thou seest best in this world Remember me but of my duty quicken and excite me to it strengthen me in the doing of it support me under all discouragements advise me in all difficult cases and comfort me with a steadfast belief of thy holy Word and I shall ever be giving thanks and praise unto thee who dealest so bountifully with me Into thy hands I commend this night both soul and body which have been mercifully preserved in safety all this day I repose my self in the belief of thy watchful providence and that thou givest thy Angels charge of us and art about our beds and about our paths and spiest out all our thoughts O continue these holy thoughts and desires in me till I fall asleep that thou mayst have a soul full of love to thee in thy custody and I may receive the light of the Morning if thou prolongest my life with new joy in thee and thankful affection to thee I most heartily desire likewise O merciful God the good of the whole world Pitty the follies of mankind deliver them from their sins and from their miseries Hear the groans of every part of the creature that is yet subject to the bondage of corruption and bring them all into the glorious liberty of thy children Hear the daily prayers of the Catholick Church Free her from all foul and dividing errors Let the Truth as it is in Jesus prevail and peace be in all her borders O that all Christian Kings and Governours may follow after peace and insue it Make thy Ministers the Messengers of peace and dispose the hearts of all Christians to keep the Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Inlighten the minds of all Jews Turks and Infidels with the knowledge of thy Truth Give repentance unto sinners and increase of grace and strength to all thy faithful servants Reduce those that wander out of the way raise up those who are faln confirm and settle those that stand and grant them a steadfast resolution to persevere in faith love and obedience Relieve and comfort all those that are in any distress Make the earth to bring forth her increase in due season And let all honest and industrious people be succeeded and blessed in their labours Remember all those to whom I am indebted for my birth education instruction or promotion Thou who art rich in mercy reward and recompence their care and love Grant forgiveness and charity to all my enemies Continue good will among all my kind Neighbours Assist those who are dying and leaving this world Fit them for a better place receive the souls which thou hast redeemed with thy Sons most precious bloud and sanctified by the holy Ghost and give us all a glorious resurrection and eternal life Amen Amen Our Father c. A shorter Prayer to be used by any one alone in the Morning I Adore thee O Lord the possessor of heaven and earth who surpassest all our thoughts and dost us good beyond all our desires There is all reason that I should acknowledge thee continually that I should worship and praise and love and obey thee whilst I have my being I cannot but witness against my self whensoever I neglect thee much more when I oppose thy most high Authority by doing contrary to thy Laws For thy Almighty Goodness gave me my being and by that alone have I been maintained and liberally provided for yea it hath born with me very patiently in my rebellion and used extraordinary means to make us friends and ceases not its intreaties after many unkind denials but continues to importune me till my heart consent to yield it self intirely to thee I cannot withhold my self O Lord from thee when I consider what thou art and what thou hast been to me such a tender gracious and compassionate Father as my greatest affections cannot find words to express I must again surrender soul and body into thy hands which have been so long so lovingly stretched out towards me resolving to stay with thee and never to depart away from thee For the more I know of thee the more I find that I must needs love thee and the more I love thee the more I desire to love thee and to resemble thee and to be beloved of thee O that I may feel the power of thy love so great in my heart that it may govern the rest of my passions and affections and nothing in the world may tempt me to displease thee but every thing provoke me more to love thee and delight in thee and obey thee For whom is there in heaven that I can desire but thee or on earth besides thee who art the blessed and only Potentate the King of kings and the Lord of
hast made those things my duty which are really my happiness Thou ingagest me to do my self good here by promising a greater good hereafter I praise thee I thank thee and will be ever speaking good of thee And it is a new favour that I may thus praise and bless thee both in the assemblies of thy people and in my own retirements O give me an heart to delight in it and in all other duties of a Christian life That obeying thy holy Gospel in all things and being never weary in well doing I may find thy unwearied goodness extending it self to immortal life and bliss through Christ Jesus O blessed Jesus that thy holy Laws may be more deeply ingraven on my heart O that every truth I have learnt this day may be so faithfully preserved and kept in mind as to become the rule of my life or the ground of my hope and a powerful motive to universal and uniform obedience to the end of my days O that the remainder of my days may be the better for this day and the holy rest we observe here on earth may be a beginning of the eternal rest which we wait for at thy second coming Amen Come Lord Jesus A Prayer upon any Festival in remembrance of our blessed Lord and Saviour O Most glorious God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of lights Jem 1.17 from whom cometh every good and every perfect gift with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of change Thou always wast and ever wilt be happy without us or any of the praises that we or any other creatures are able to render unto thee But it is our duty our perfection and high â—riviledge constantly to acknowâ—edge thee with joy and exultation â—f spirit in remembrance of thy inâ—nite bounty to us and to all world Every day tells us how good thou art â—nd every one of thy creatures calls â—pon us to magnifie thee and love â—hee and serve thee who hast made â—o many of them to serve us But â—his day gives us occasion to remember thy more special and extraordinary kindness to us the children of men which calls for our highest and most exalted praises to be joyned with those of the blessed company above who are never weary of giving honour glory blessing and thanksgiving to thee not only in their own behalf but even for thy goodness to us thy unworthy creatures O how great was that love which an Angel came to give notice of and which a multitude of an heavenly host celebrated with songs of praise when thou sentest thy dear Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and in the form of a servant to minister to our necessities to relieve our misery and to be the way to everlasting life O the riches of thy grace that after mankind had forfeited all the rights of thy creatures and had contemned and despitefully used many of thy messengers thou wouldst in much mercy create us again unto good works and for that end appear thy self most gloriously among us in the person of Jesus Christ I thank thee O Lord that thou hast assumed our Nature unto such a nearness to thee as we are not able to understand I thank thee for the glad tydings which Jesus hath brought us from heaven that thou wilt be reconciled unto us and admit us again into thy favour and that he hath fulfilled all righteousness and shown us in our likeness what thou art and what thou wouldest have us to be I thank thee for the redemption which he hath wrought for us by his bloud And I rejoyce in the victory which he hath got over hell and the grave by his Resurrection from the dead and in his glorious triumph when he ascended up on high and led captivity captive and in his royal Power wherewith he was invested when he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high and in those gifts which he received for men even for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them Blessed be thy eternal goodness which hath made him a most merciful and compassionate High-priest and given us so great assurance that he is become the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him Blessed be thy goodness which hath sent the holy Ghost and continued to us a succession of Pastors and Teachers to be the Guides of our Souls and to minister to us those pledges of thy love which our Saviour hath left us in the Communion of his Body and Bloud O God that my heart could ascend up to heaven in these devout meditations and in ardent love to thee who hast loved us in such a marvellous manner O that it might never come down again to this world but with desires left in it aspiring towards heaven Touch my soul so powerfully with a sense of these things that with an hearty and zealous affection it may ever look towards thee and towards my dear Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus O â—ix mine eyes on him as he was here on earth that I may learn of him his humble and meek obedience to thy commands and as he is now in heaven that I may trust him for the performance of his precious promises and patiently wait till he carry me to that glorious place where he is inthroned Since he appeared among us to destroy the works of the Devil and died to redeem us from all sin and rose again that he might bless us in turning every one of us from our iniquities and is made Lord of all that he may govern us by his Laws and reward and punish us according to our works preserve in my mind I beseech thee a constant and lively sense of this great end of his whole undertaking for us That he may see the fruit of the travail of his soul in me and my whole life may be a serious study and endeavour to imitate him by purifying my self as he is pure O that thy fear and love and an holy joy in thee may preserve me this day from abusing any of the good things which thou allowest me for the refreshment of my body Give me such a savour and relish of thy Divine Truths revealed to us in the Gospel that I way not glut my self with any fleshly injoyments as if I knew no pleasure more excellent But raise up my mind by them to better delights that I may injoy them with thanksgiving to thee with bowels of mercy to those who are in need with a taste of spiritual and heavenly joys and with hunger and thirst after the fulness and perfection of those joys when our Lord Jesus shall come to show us his glory and entertain us with eternal satisfaction in his incomprehensible love Amen A PRAYER ON GOOD FRIDAY In the MORNING O Most holy and eternally blessed the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom I am incouraged to come unto thee And how shall I come O Lord but in the
present contentment and satisfaction of it hath a great recompence of reward O preserve in my mind a constant remembrance how dearly I am bought by the precious bloud of thy Son Christ how early I was dedicated to thy service how often I have since found abundant cause to determine I would be thine how I have condemned my self for the breach of those holy purposes and what great satisfaction of mind I have had in the keeping of thy Commandments That so I may never wilfully offend against so many forcible reasons obliging me to my duty but be swayed by them notwithstanding all the temptations of the world the flesh or the devil to persevere in a resolved obedience to thee for ever And by the power of thy holy Spirit I beseech thee to make them clearer stronger and more effectual that I may have the same thoughts passions inclinations and purposes now which I shall be apt to have when I come to dye For which end help me often to place my self before thy Judgement Seat and to consider that I must give an account for all that I have received for thy holy Gospel for thy divine inspirations for the counsels and exhortations of thy Ministers for all the means and helps of growing better and for all the incouragements I have even from the good things of this life which thy bounty bestows upon me That by a careful preparation for such a reckoning I may be kept close and stedfast to my duty in hope of that exceeding glorious reward which our Lord will bestow upon all his faithful servants at the day of his appearing Amen Another to the same effect O Most great and glorious Majesty of heaven and earth who art of unspotted purity and in whom there is not the least shadow of change I know that all the resolutions of thy Wisdom are most just and equal and I cannot chuse when I am in my right mind to be guided by any thing else but thy holy Will who designest I see in all the revelations thou hast made of thy self to us to make us like to thy own most blessed Nature I do here own and acknowledge most heartily the righteousness and goodness of all thy Laws I admire the loveliness of thy Image in wisdom righteousness and true holiness I loath my own deformity whilst I am unlike to thee I implore thy renewing grace as the greatest blessing I can receive from thee and I bind my self to the faithful improvement of it as the weightiest imployment of my life I am abundantly satisfied in the declaration thou hast made of thy gracious purposes towards us I renounce all thoughts and desires that are contrary thereunto and resolve that holiness and eternal life shall be my design and study I expect no pardon O my God but in ways of sobriety righteousness and godliness I hope for a blessed immortality only by patient continuance in well doing I consent to every part of thy holy Gospel and add my testimony to the truth of its words that none of thy commandments are grievous but thy yoke is easie and thy burden light I hope O Lord by thy grace I shall never contradict my self by disowning in my practice these free and serious professions But that I shall every day so call to mind my own protestations and resolutions as to continue with an unwearied diligence in stedfast obedience to thy commands and to grow still stronger in the grace of the Lord Jesus O that every such address as this unto thy Divine Majesty may leave a greater sense of thee and of my duty and of my happiness and of my manifold obligations and repeated promises upon my heart That I may always go out of thy presence with my mind more towards heaven with lower thoughts of all the injoyments of this life with a greater relish of piety and holiness and more passionate desires to become every way such as thou canst approve and love and delight in for ever And assist me I humbly beseech thee so constantly from above that whatsoever good thoughts are at any time in my mind they may grow to fixed principles and all heavenly affections may become a new nature and the constant temper of my spirit and all my purposes and resolutions may advance into a serious practice and exercise of godliness and all the actions of an holy life may grow more free chearful vigorous and full of delight till they be compleated in everlasting bliss through Christ Jesus Amen A PRAYER After RELAPSE Into any SIN I Cast down my self before thee O most holy Lord of heaven and earth with an humble sorrowful and penitent heart adoring thy infinite grace which suffers such a vile and miserable sinner to approach into thy presence I am thine indeed dedicated long ago to thy service which I have since chosen as the most perfect freedom But so much the greater reason I have to be abashed before thee and to be astonished at thy forbearing mercy which prolongs the life of such an one as I am who have been so false to thee and to my own resolutions I remember in the bitterness of my soul how many obligations thou hast laid upon me to observe and obey thee how often I have acknowledged the justice and goodness of thy Precepts and how frequently I have promised and vowed to conform my self unto them and what great and precious promises thou hast made to me of invaluable blessings And yet wretch that I am I have been drawn aside from thy ways by easie and slight temptations and for a small and momentary pleasure or gain * Here mention the particular sin have ventured the loss of thy favour which is better than life it self O God that thou shouldst have patience with so perfidious so ungrateful so senseless a creature as I am That thou shouldst permit me to see the light of the Sun and hast not condemned me to utter darkness in weeping wailing and gnashing of teeth But that thou givest me leave to look towards heaven and that I have any heart to speak unto thee and still may call thee Father saying Father I have sinned against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son O the riches O the unsearchable riches of thy grace I can never sufficiently admire thy exceeding great long-suffering towards me in Christ Jesus Nor sufficiently abhorr and loath my self for my foul revolt from thee who art so kind gracious especially if I should still continue to abuse such tender mercy and compassion towards me Tribulation and anguish indignation and wrath I acknowledge is the due portion of those that do evil and if thou shouldst abandon me and cast me out of thy sight I must confess that thou art righteous and that I reap but the fruit of my own ways and suffer the deserved punishment of my late iniquity But thou O God delightest in mercy and there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayst
and I will praise thy name for ever and ever for those exceeding great and precious promises which thou hast given us to support and comfort us in all the troubles of this life Increase my faith strengthen and confirm my hope lift up my spirit continually to that blessed place where Jesus is that I may rejoyce in hope of that immortal life when all tears shall be wiped from our eyes and there shall be no sighing nor sorrow any more but we * This clause to be used only in the loss of Friends or Relations who are now parted asunder shall meet together to acknowledge with eternal praises thy wise and merciful providence which by ways most contrary to our desires hath brought us to endless and undisturbed bliss Thou knowest O Lord the weakness and frailty of our nature and therefore vouchsafe me the constant assistance of thy good Spirit for which I depend upon thee to inable me to continue in this humble quiet and dutiful submission to thee waiting for that peaceable and joyful repose in the eternal rest which thou hast prepared for thy people through thy mercies in Christ Jesus By whom all glory honour love and obedience be rendred to thee by me and all mankind both now and for ever Amen A Prayer which a pious soul may use that is full of doubts and much troubled in mind O Lord 2 Cor. 1.3 the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort I acknowledge and adore thy eternal Power Wisdom and Goodness I render thee my most hearty thanks for all the benefits thou hast freely bestowed on me from my first coming into the world until this time Many O Lord my God are thy wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to us ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee Psal 40.5 if I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbred Above all I bless thee for that great demonstration of thy love and good will to mankind by Christ Jesus whom thou hast sent into the world to save sinners and for bringing me to the clear knowledge of him faith in him and some love I hope towards him and unfeigned affection to thy holy will declared to us in his blessed Gospel O God thou hast taught me from my youth up and hitherto been marvailously gracious to me Hide not I beseech thee thy face now from me and put not thy servant away in displeasure Thou hast been my help leave me not neither forsake me O God of my salvation But for Jesus Christ his sake I humbly intreat thee to pardon and pass by all my neglects of thee and unthankfulness to thee and offences against thee And as I here sincerely devote and dedicate my whole self soul and body to thy service so help me O my God and further me in the performance of my duty by the grace of thy holy Spirit To thee all hearts are open and from thee no secrets are hid deal with me according to the earnest desire and full purpose of my soul to conform my self in all things to thy holy Will Settle in me an unmoveable faith in thy infinite Mercies a constant love and chearful affection to my duty and a readiness of heart to obey thee and to submit to thy wise appointments in every condition The whole earth is full of thy Mercy thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing O refuse not the humble desires of my poor soul which gaspeth after thee even as the thirsty land Thou who givest to the Beasts their food and to the young Ravens when they cry O satisfie me early with thy Mercies that I may rejoyce and be glad all my days Compose my broken and disturbed thoughts quiet my troubled and disordered spirit and appease all the ragings and tumults there by a sweet sense of thy most tender mercies which have been ever of old and endure continually Banish from me all causless fears and jealousies deliver me from all unprofitable sadness and dejection of spirit keep me from rash judging of my self and much more from charging thee foolishly Bestow upon me a chearful spirit by an humble hope in thee and by referring my self wholly to thee Endue me with such wisdom and uprightness that I may neither neglect my duty nor suspect thy gracious acceptance of me Give me an hearty zeal to do the best that I am able and a setled perswasion that thou requirest no more of me Defend me O my gracious God from dishonouring thee and my Religion by distrusting thy goodness and calling thy loving kindness in question towards those that are sincerely bent to please thee Remove all troublesome imaginations from me and give me a clear understanding of thee and of my self Or when I am in darkness and confusion of thoughts grant me so much light and judgement as not to conclude my self forsaken by thee but to reflect upon thy long continued favours to me and many deliverances of me that so I may resolve still to hope in thee to bear my present trouble patiently and to resign my will absolutely to thy good pleasure And good Lord enable me to look beyond these clouds to that blessed state whither my Saviour is gone in which there is no darkness at all and in an humble hope of coming to the same place where he is to content my self with any condition whilst I am here so far remote from that Region of light and glory Hear me most loving and merciful Father I most humbly beseech thee Pitty my great dulness and deadness of heart Strengthen my weak and feeble endeavours Support my fainting spirit and cause it humbly to hope in thee for ever Confirm and establish every good thought desire and purpose which thou hast wrought in me Perfect that which thou hast begun Make me to grow in wisdom faith love and willing obedience Conduct me hereafter so evenly and steadily so peaceably and quietly so chearfully and securely in thy ways that I may glorifie thee whilst I live by incouraging others to accompany me in thy service And when I come to dye may resign my soul unto thee with an undisturbed mind and in an holy hope also of a joyful resurrection of the body at the great day of the Lord Jesus to whom be glory and dominion for ever Amen A Prayer to be said by others for one that is troubled in mind O God the only Hope the Refuge the Comfort and satisfaction of our souls Of whose Goodness and tender mercy all the world hath so many testimonies and we our selves have had such long experience that we are incouraged thereby though most unworthy to make this humble address to thy Divine Majesty Thou seest we know and pittiest the misery and torment of this afflicted spirit none of his * Or her sighs or groanings are hid from thee But to express also our charity and compassionate
O how comely a thing is judgement for gray hairs and for ancient men to know counsel Pardon me good Lord that I have made no better improvement of my time and experience for the furnishing of my mind with this wisdom and with those vertues Pardon all my negligences and all my offences * Remember them particularly And fill my heart with a comfortable sense of thy pardoning mercy in Christ Jesus that having no other burden but that of age to oppress my spirit I may rejoyce in thee as long as I live and at last lay my self down to rest in peace and return my soul back unto thee chearfully whensoever thou callest for it in sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the dead and of that glory honour and immortality which thou hast graciously promised us by thy dear Son my most blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus With whom I desire to live to give thee eternal praises Amen A large FORM OF DEVOTION When any person is disposed to spend a day or part of it in Devotion the usual addresses to God in the morning may be continued in this manner O Most High and holy One who inhabitest eternity and art God over all most blessed for evermore Happy are they who stand continually in thy presence and are always admiring praising loving and obeying thee and rejoycing in thy love and favour towards them The highest Angels can desire no greater bliss than to be thus knit unto thee and to live in such constant union and friendship with thee An happiness I am sensible that is above our reach who dwell in houses of clay and groan under the burden of this flesh but which we aspire towards and our uncloathed spirits hope for in the other world And blessed be thy infinite goodness we are incouraged by Christ Jesus to look up unto thee for the beginning and taste of this happiness whilst we remain here below at this great distance from the Throne of thy Glory And accordingly I humbly prostrate my self before thee at this time beseeching thee in the name of my dear Saviour who gave himself for me that thou wilt graciously vouchsafe to inspire me with such delightful thoughts of thee and such a transforming love unto thee as may fill my heart with unspeakable joy and satisfaction whilst I am in thy presence to admire and adore thee to praise thy incomprehensible perfections to acknowledge with all humility my intire dependence on thee thankfully to remember all the benefits thou hast done unto me sorrowfully to bewail my ungrateful behaviour towards thee most earnestly to deprecate thy displeasure to implore thy grace and favour and to make an absolute surrender of my self to thee with most hearty Devotion to thy service It is the unfeigned desire of my soul to spend some time in attending wholly to these duties the better to dispose me to serve thee in the rest of my life But alas O Lord what am I or what can I do unless thou wilt make thy self present to me and send down thy holy Spirit upon me My thoughts and affections are exceeding dull and heavy and they will soon flag and grow weary unless thou wilt be pleased by thy Almighty Power to raise and bear them up towards heaven I most humbly therefore again beseech thee in thy infinite mercy to touch my heart with such a lively sense of thy Divine Majesty as may fix my wandring thoughts and compose my tumultuous affections and stir up my flat and cold desires and may make me feel the power and taste the sweetness of every Divine Truth whilst I read or meditate in thy holy Word and whilst I pray to thee and praise thee and bless thy holy Name O that all other things may be shut out of my soul and that I may be so alone with thee as to be more apprehensive of thy greatness and of thy goodness and of thy purity and of my near relation to thee and the innumerable obligations which I lye under to be thine intirely O that nothing may be so bitter to me as to think that I have in the least offended thee and that nothing may be so marvellous in my eyes as thy exceeding abundant love in the Lord Jesus by whom thou hast incouraged sinners to place their faith and hope in thee Help me O my God through that new and living way which he hath consecrated to draw nigh unto thee and to throw down my self at thy feet waiting for a gracious look from thee resigning my will to thee strongly uniting it in hearty affection to thy holy Will and resolving never to rise up any more in opposition to it but to live in thy love and in sincere obedience to all thy commands So shall my soul bless thee as long as I live I will alway be speaking good of thy Name and will shew forth thy praise as well as I am able to all generations Amen AFter this short address to God for his assistance consider a while who it is to whom you have begun to speak Cast your eyes upon the heaven and the earth and think of the glory of that Majesty which fills all things and cannot be contained in any Then labour to affect your heart with your own mean vile and sinful condition For which end examine what particular sins you have been guilty of Set them down in writing before your eyes that they may be confessed and lamented And likewise consider in the same manner what particular blessings you have received that they may be most thankfully acknowledged In all which you may assist your selves and be much excited by reading some of the Psalms of David and some part of such pious Books as you are acquainted withal After which proceed to express the sense of your heart to God with the greatest deliberation in the manner following pausing a while and ruminating upon what you have said at the end of every part thereof I. O Most glorious Majesty of heaven and earth upon whom all creatures depend for life and breath and all things I most thankfully embrace and desire wisely and faithfully to improve this happy leisure which thou vouchsafest me of retiring from this world and making my resort to thee 2 Cor. 1.3 the Father of mercies Rev. 5.13 and the God of all comfort Psal 48.1 Thou art worthy Rev. 4.8 O Lord to receive from me and from the whole world blessing 1 Sam. 2.2 Psal 145.17 45.7 and honour and glory and power Job 37.23 for thou art great and greatly to be praised Psal 19.1 All the host of heaven continually praiseth thee Job 42.2 Psal 135.6 and so ought all the Church on earth 148.5,6 147.5 saying Holy 104.24,27,28,31 holy holy Lord God almighty which is which was 145.4,13 102 27. 119.89 146.2 111.1 148.13 and which is to come There is none holy as the Lord for there is
waves and the tumult of the people The Lord giveth strength to his people the Lord blesseth his people with peace When Plenty is restored say Psal 65.9,12 132.15 147.14 Joel 2.23 Thou hast visited the earth and blessed it thou hast made it very plenteous Thou hast crowned the year with thy goodness and thy clouds have dropt fatness Thou hast blessed our provision abundantly and satisfied our poor again with bread Blessed be the Lord who hath caused the former and latter rain to come down for us in their season and filled us with the finest of the wheat We eat in plenty and are satisfied Praised be the name of the Lord our God that hath dealt wondrously with us But above all thy great and glorious name is to be praised for thine incomprehensible mercy in thy Son Christ whom thou hast sent unto us with better blessings to be the Mediator of our peace with thee to heal all the diseases of our sinful natures and to deliver us from the power of Satan and of Hell and Death and to restore us to an immortal life Thanks be to thine infinite goodness which hath taught us by him the way of truth and righteousness and made him an offering for our sins and raised him from the dead to the Throne of Glory in the heavens and sent from thence the holy Spirit to enlighten our minds with the whole knowledge of thy will and to shed abroad thy great love in our hearts and to be the earnest of an heavenly inheritance together with our blessed Lord who is heir of all things having the hosts of Angels subject unto him whom he hath appointed blessed be thy Name for the guard and defence the succour and help of all his faithful servants I thank thee O Lord that thou hast pardoned so many offences so graciously importuned me to return to my duty and afforded so long time and space of repentance and waited so patiently for my amendment and continued to me constantly as I must again confess so many blessings which I have abused or restored them to me after a short correction of my faults I cannot wish for any further happiness but only for an heart gratefully to resent thy love and to delight to meditate continually on thy tender mercies that so I may love thee more and thank and serve thee better the rest of my days and live in good hope to pass from all this happiness here to eternal bliss And this grace thou hast likewise promised to bestow upon me yea I feel the motions of thy holy Spirit in my heart exciting in me a sense of thy goodness and provoking me to love and to good works O my soul never forget the loving kindness of the Lord. Let his name be daily blessed and praised with a joyful heart for his goodness endureth continually Psal 52.1 To him I ought to live and not unto my self for he is my Creator and Saviour and Comforter who daily loadeth me with his benefits Therefore I ought to glorifie him both with my body and with my spirit which are his Accept good Lord of the unfeigned desires and purposes which thou seest in my heart in all things to be conformed to thy Will And accordingly assist me always with the renewed influences of thy heavenly grace that I may grow in spiritual wisdom and knowledge of my duty and that I may heartily love it and faithfully remember it and give all diligence to perform it notwithstanding any difficulties that I meet withal to oppose it In able me to maintain a constant sense of thy divine presence to reverence thy holy Name and Word and to walk before thee in all humility thankfulness patience heavenly mindedness and contentedness of spirit And help me likewise to exercise all justice charity meekness and forgiveness towards all men and to live in a sober chaste and moderate use of all the good things of this world Let thy fear always curb the disorders of my passions and thy love be a spur to my indeavours and the example of the Lord Jesus and all the Saints provoke me to zeal and fervency of spirit and the hope of eternal bliss strengthen incourage and make me constant in all the troubles and hardships of this life that persevering in well doing I may finish my course with joy and win the Crown of Righteousness which he hath promised to all the faithful Amen Amen Assist me mercifully O Lord in these my Supplications and Prayers and dispose the way of thy servant towards the attainment of everlasting salvation that among all the changes and chances of this mortal life I may ever be defended by thy most gracious and ready help through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A short Prayer for a Student I Look up unto thee O Lord from whom cometh every good and perfect gift beseeching thee to direct assist and bless all the labours of my mind Illuminate my understanding O Father of lights and lead me unto right apprehensions in all things In due me with that humility and soberness of mind which thou delightest to reward with more of thy gifts and graces Bestow upon me a discerning spirit a sound judgement and an honest and good heart sincerely disposed to imploy all the Talents which thou hast or shalt intrust me withal to thy honour and glory and to the good of mankind For which end I beseech thee to excite my thirst after useful rather than much knowledge And especially inrich me with the treasures of that inspired wisdom contained in thy holy Scriptures which are able to make me wise unto salvation That growing in understanding and goodness as I grow in years my profiting may be apparent unto all men and I may give a comfortable account of my time to thee my God at the day of the Lord Jesus Amen A Prayer that may be used any time of the day when a person hath leisure to retire O Lord the great Creator and Governor of all things I prostrate my self before thee in the humblest adoration of thy incomprehensible Majesty acknowledging that I depend intirely upon thee praising and magnifying thy most glorious Power Wisdom and Goodness which are conspicuous every where and rendring unto thee my most hearty thanks for all the benefits which thou hast so freely and undeservedly conferred on me Thou art bountiful to the whole world All thy Works praise thee and we the children of men ought more particularly to bless thee and speak good of thy Name who have received singular marks and tokens of thy favour grace above all the rest of our fellow creatures Thou hast made us after thine own Image and indued us with reasonable and immortal spirits and given us a capacity to reflect on thee the author of our being and to be like unto thee in wisdom holiness goodness and truth But above all I ought to remember continually that great demonstration of thy love in sending thy dear Son
will O Lord be done I commend both my body and my spirit into thy hands who art able to make the Sea give up her dead by thine Almighty Word Help me always to hold fast that hope of eternal life as an anchor of my soul both sure and stedfast Heb. 6.19,20 which may preserve me in unshaken comfort and joy at the hour of death it self And looking up to that quiet place whither Jesus our fore-runner is entred for us I may begin those Praises and Thanksgivings which I hope shall have no end but be continued for ever in the company of the blessed in the other world Unto which I beseech thee of thine infinite mercies to bring me through Christ Jesus who is made an high priest for ever Amen A Thanksgiving after it is finished and the party returned home again O Blessed Lord Thou art great and greatly to be praised for by thy word the heavens were made Psal 48.1 33.6,7 and all the host of them by the breath of thy mouth 135.6 107.24 c. Thou didst gather the waters of the Sea together as an heap and laidst them up in the store-houses of the deeps They are all at thy command and whatsoever thou pleasest that dost thou in heaven and in earth in the Seas and all deep places I have seen thy works O Lord and thy wonders in the deep For thou spakest the word and the stormy wind arose which lifted up the waves thereof And again when we cryed unto thee thou madest the storm a calm so that the waves thereof were still Blessed be thy Almighty Goodness which carried me safe through such great and dreadful dangers Blessed be thy goodness that the deep hath not swallowed me up and that I am not gone down into silence Blessed be thy goodness that neither my body nor my goods became a prey to unreasonable men but that thou broughtest me to the haven where I would be and hast now returned me home in safety O God that I may never forget the vows which I was forward to make when I was in trouble Preserve in me for ever an awful sense and apprehension of thy great power who bringest the wind out of thy treasuries Psal 135.7 89.9 and rulest the raging of the Sea Jer. 5.22 and stillest the noise of its waves Psal 120.11 Who would not fear thee O Lord who would not tremble at thy presence who hast placed the sand for the bound of the Sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass it and though the waves thereof toss themselves yet can they not prevail though they roar yet can they not pass over it O possess my heart with a greater reverence of thy divine Majesty that I may ever serve thee with fear and rejoyce before thee with trembling Especially make me fearful of offending thee who art so great and powerful and hast done such great things for me and canst do greater and wilt do them as thou hast promised by Christ Jesus Philip. 3.20 who hath power to subdue all things to himself Heb. 2.3 Blessed be thy infinite grace which hath wrought such a marvellous redemption for us by him How shall I escape if I neglect so great salvation How miserable shall I be if after all the dangers from which I have now been rescued I should for my ingratitude and disobedience be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone O God that all thy mercies and deliverances here may by a thankful remembrance and careful improvement of them only prepare me for that glorious deliverance at the day of the Lord Jesus And as by thy good providence thou hast saved me from the violence of storms and tempests and other hazards so by thy grace deliver me from the power and violence of all temptations and enable me stedfastly to persist in well doing and patient suffering unto the end Endue me with such a right sense of my Religion as may make it to be my delight that so I may be out of all danger of being prevailed withal to forsake that which is so sweet and pleasant to my soul O that it may be my guide in prosperity and my comfort in adversity the rule of my life and my great satisfaction in death Sanctifie every condition unto me that sickness or health poverty or riches honour or disgrace may prove real blessings to me and make me profit in piety and vertue And let a great sense of thee and of Religion intermix it self with all my employments Teach me so to behave my self that I may be acceptable in thy sight not only when I make such addresses as these unto thee But whether I eat or drink or whatsoever I do else I may abide in thy love and be approved by thee for a good and faithful servant All which I most humbly beg of thee and whatsoever thou seest good for me in the name of the Lord Jesus by whom and with whom in the unity of the holy Ghost all honour and glory be unto thee O Father Almighty world without end Amen A Prayer to be used by a woman with Child O God the Author of our being the Fountain of life and all other good who hast begun an excellent work in me which no eye but thine sees and no hand but thy Almighty power can finish I adore thy great and glorious Majesty in this and in all other thy works of wonder Thou dost great things without number but art more particularly to be acknowledged in the formation of mankind who are fearfully and wonderfully made after thy own image and likeness Be pleased O Lord in thy infinite goodness to perfect and compleat that which thou hast begun Preserve the smallest degree of life which thou hast inspired Bestow upon it intireness of all its parts and prepare a convenient habitation for an understanding spirit capable of the best wisdom and inclinable to vertue and goodness Prevent good Lord the miscarriage of my hopes and ripen them to a good issue And the nearer they come to their full growth strengthen the more my humble trust in thee and submission to thee and hearty desires to encrease the number of thy faithful people together with my own Family That ought to be the chiefest desire of my soul to be formed my self in all things according to the mind and will of thee my God that so I may be an instrument of doing good to others O thou who hast wrought many holy purposes and resolutions in my heart preserve and confirm them that they may not prove abortive but bring forth continually the fruit of good living Perfect me in Knowledge in Faith in Love and in Obedience Enable me so discreetly and carefully to discharge the duties of all the Relations wherein I at present or shall hereafter stand that I may be a comfort to them and a credit to Religion And howsoever thou disposest of me or them Lord make me well
contented and in every condition to give thanks unto thee and rejoyce in thy holy Name and in the hope of eternal life through Christ Jesus my most blessed Lord and Saviour Amen A Prayer when the time of heâ— Travel draweth near O God the helper and delâ—verer of all those that trust iâ— thee by whose power I was formed in my Mothers Womb by whoâ— care I was brought from thence anâ— by whose merciful kindness I havâ— been preserved in many dangers since I praise and magnifie thy great and glorious Name and am encouraged by the remembrance of thy mercies which have been ever of old to implore thy compassionate help in the approaching time of my need pain and danger Thou art present to all thy creatures and hearest the cryes of the beasts of the earth which all wait upon thee O be not far from me when trouble is near but hearken unto me and save me when I call upon thee Shorten my pains or lengthen my patience which thou pleasest Bear up my spirit in submission to thy will and in some humble hope that I shall forget my anguish for joy that a man is born into the world Joh. 16.21 Psal 138.8 22.4,5 Forsake not the work of thy own hand but in due time perfect it and bring forth that which thou hast wrought in secret into the light that we may all see the wonders of thy wisdom and praise thy goodness and thy power My parents trusted in thee they trusted and thou didst deliver them They cryed unto thee and were delivered they cryed unto thee and were not confounded In thee likewise do I humbly put my trust and confidence which nothing disheartens but my own great unworthiness by reason of my forgetfulness of thy benefits and unthankful returns for former mercies bestowed upon me But thou hast taken care that this should not discourage me neither by proclaiming a gracious pardon by him that was born of woman and dyed for us unto contrite and reforming sinners Accept I beseech thee of my sincere resolutions to preserve hereafter a more affectionate remembrance of thy love to me and to dedicate my self and all I have to thy service 1 Tim. 2.15 in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety Or if thou art pleased oâ—herwise to dispose of me I resign â—y self heartily unto thee Lord â—eceive me to a better life where all â—ghing and sorrow shall be done away and eternal joy intirely posâ—ess our hearts Amen for Christ Jeâ—us his sake Amen 〈◊〉 Prayer to the same purpose to be said by her Relations O Most mighty Lord who hast already given us innumerable â—ledges of thy love and many arâ—uments to trust in thee for ever â—nd to expect with quiet and patient â—inds the issue of thy wise and good â—rovidence Thou hast respect to all â—e works of thy hands especially 〈◊〉 the sons of men and to those aâ—ove the rest who seek thy favour â—d give thee the glory of all thy â—ercies and are resolved to devote â—emselves and their children and all they have to do thee honour in the world We most humbly commend thy servant drawing near the time of her Travel to thy care and blessing beseeching thee to give her a gracious deliverance and to ease her of the burden wherewith she labours We our selves are monuments oâ— that mercy which we beg of thee Thou broughtest us into this world and didst unloose the bands wherewith we were swadled in our mothers womb We have had long experience also of thy readiness to succour us and to do us good eveâ— since many times beyond our desires and hopes and always beyond our deservings We dare not buâ— commit our selves and every thing belonging unto us most heartily into thy hands remembring that thou hast the same power and goodnesâ— still by which we came into thâ— light of the living and that thou still exercisest them as thy wisdom thinks most meet We cannot desire to be better provided for than as thy infinite understanding and counsel judges most convenient for us Unto that we refer our selves beseeching thee if it be thy good pleasure that her deliverance may be as speedy as her cryes unto thee or her patience as great and long as her pains Thou who ripenest the fruits of the earth and then givest us to gather them to our comfort blast not our humble hopes of the fruit of the womb But after thou hast brought it to maturity deliver it into our hands as a new pledge of thy goodness to us for which we will ever thankfully acknowledge and praise thy Name Or if thou hast otherwise determined Lord give us grace to submit to thy holy will and to rest satisfied in thy wise appointments and never to distrust thy goodness and care over us Yea help us still to bless thee and to speak good of thy Name saying The Lord gave and tâ—e Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord from henceforth and for ever Amen A Thanksgiving to be used by those present after her safe Deliverance WE thank thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth for thy long continued goodness to us thy creatures who are unworthy of the least of thy favours In thee we live and move and have our being And it is only of thy mercy that we have not lived in perpetual pain and torment spending our days in sighs and lamentations but have enjoyed much health and ease and had innumerable occasions to praise thee and to rejoyce in thee who loadest us daily with thy benefits Blessed be thy Name O Lord who forgivest all our iniquities and healest all our diseases Who redeemest our life from destruction and crownest us with loving kindness and tender mercies More particularly we thank thee that thou hast heard the humble supplications of this thy servant to whom thou hast now granted a gracious deliverance and turned her sorrow and heaviness into joy and gladness We thank thee that thou hast sent her seasonable helpers and blessed their endeavours for the preservation of her and of the fruit of her womb And that thou likewise vouchsafest her all needful things for her refreshment in this weak condition wherein she lies waiting upon thee for the perfecting of thy mercies towards her Accept we beseech thee of our hearty acknowledgements of thy powerful and good providence over her and over any person here present in the like necessity which we now thankfully call to mind and desire may never be forgotten O that a lively remembrance of this and all other thy mercies may so mightily affect our hearts that we may be moved thereby to fear thee all our days and to love thee and to put our trust in thee and with quiet and resigned minds to cast all our burdens and cares on thee in a constant and chearful obedience to all thy holy commands And since thou hast begun to be so gracious to this thy hand-maid grant