his advantage since even thus it is not invocated by but on them and thence would fain perswade his Readers that Jacob here exhorts his Sons to pray to him when dead and to their forefathers Though I can hardly think this Author himself was so perswaded but offerred as much violence to his conscience as to the Text when he alledged it as a proof of that to which it hath not the least reference being spoke onely of his taking Ephraim and Manasseh into the number of his Sons according to ver 5. of that Chap. and so they were afterwards reckoned with the rest as Heads of their respective Tribes Is it any wonder by the way if this sort of men have such a low esteem of Scripture when they can have no more service from it at their greatest needs Upon this occasion it was that before the Exposition of the Lords Prayer I have in an Answer or two shewn to whom it is we ought to direct our prayers viz. to God onely through Jesus Christ of which I have there I hope given sufficient evidence So plain and justifiable is the doctrine and practice of our Church in this and all other matters of moment in controversie betwixt us and the Church of Rome they themselves not daring to disapprove of what we doe whilst we justly reject and sufficiently disprove their additions to Christianity wherewith they have loaded and corrupted it Throughout the explication of the Creed there being seldome any need under the other Heads I have been careful to annex Scripture-Proofs to all those points which might in the least seem to need them and were capable of that way of Proof In the end I have added two Forms of prayer useful for families that have no better helps two also for the younger sort together with two graces to be used before and after meat In the drawing up of which I have been so careful that I hope there lies no considerable objection against the matter of them And then as for those who think a Form it self unlawful I shall not stand to concern my self with their objections or censure May but these weak endeavours conduce any thing to the promoting of the knowledge and practice of that Doctrine which is according to Godliness that is of our Christian Religion all whose doctrines and Precepts are every way sitted to make men godly here and blessed hereafter I shall then have my end and let God have the praise AN EXPLICATION OF THE CREED Q. SInce by your Baptism you have taken upon you the profession of Christianity what is required of you to make good this profession A. I must believe all that God by Jesus Christ hath revealed and do all that he hath commanded Q. What brief Summary have you of the Christian Faith A. The Creed commonly called the Apostles Q. Rehearse the Articles of your Creed A. I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his onely Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty from thence he shall come to judg the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy-Ghost the holy Catholick Church the communion of Saints the Forgiveness of Sins the Resurrection of the Body and the life everlasting Amen Q. What mean you by saying you believe in God c A. I believe there is one first and most glorious Being without beginning or end the Maker of all things who is infinite in wisdom power goodness and all perfections Q. What reason have you to believe there is such a Being since you cannot see him A. Because I see those things which can come from no other cause Q. What be those A. This great world and all the Creatures in it which arè made and governed in so wonderful a manner Q. How was the world made A. Out of nothing by the word of God in the space of six days Q. Are there more Gods than one A. No there is but one Q. Why do you call God Father A. Principally as he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in a peculiar and unspeakable manner Q. Have you any other reason A. Yes as also he is the Father of Spirits both Angels and men and especially of those who love and serve him as dear children Q. What mean you by saying God is Almighty A. I thereby mean that God hath power to do all things that contradict not his wisdome and goodness and hath right and authority to dispose of all things as he pleaseth Q. How is Iesus Christ the Son of God A. As he was begotten by the Father before all worlds in a manner peculiar to himself alone and by us not to be declared or understood Q. What do you apprehend of Christ by this eternal generation A. That he is true God one with the Father being the Second person of the blessed Trinity Q. But is he not man as well as God A. Yes he is both God and man in one person the humane nature being united to his Divine person Q. How did the Son of God become man A. He was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary and in this respect also he is styled the Son of God Q. Wherefore was this wonderful conception A. One reason was that he might be pure from all sin wherewith the nature of others is polluted Q. Why should so glorious a person stoop solow as to become man A. That he might be fit to obtain Redemption and salvation for mankind Q. What is signified by his names Jesus and Christ A. Iesus signifies Saviour and Christ Anointed to let us understand that he is anointed or set apart to be our Saviour and Redeemer Q. How came man to stand in need of a Redeemer A. By reason of that sinful and miserable estate into which he fell Q. How came sin and misery first into the world A. By the disobedience of our first Parents Adam and Eve Q. In what estate were they created A. In an holy and happy estate Q. What was the particular Sin by which they fell A. Their eating of the fruit of a certain tree in the Garden of Eden of which God had commanded them not to eat called the Tree of knowledge of good and evil Q. What mischief did this their sin and fall bring upon us A. By one mans disobedience many were made sinners and the Fountain being unclean so are the streams Q. And what is our danger by reason of this our sinful condition A. We are liable to the wrath of God and to whatever miseries it shall please him to inflict either here or for ever hereafter Q.
justifying and rewarding the righteous Q. Who is the Holy ghost A. The third person of the sacred Trinity proceding from the Father and the Son being one God with the Father and the Son Q. Why is the Divine Spirit called Holy A. Not only as he is holy in himself but also as it is his peculiar office to make men holy Q. What hath he done or still continues to do toward the making men holy A. He hath revealed the will of God in the holy Scriptures and carries on the interest and design of Christ in the world by turning mens hearts from the world to God from sin to holiness Q. For what reasons do you believe that the holy Scripture was wrote by men inspired by the Holy ghost A. Because the Doctrines of it are so worthy of God and have the confirmation of such miracles Q. Is the will of God perfectly revealed in Scripture A. God hath so perfectly revealed his will and our duty therein that nothing ought to be required of us either to be believed or practised as necessary to salvation which is not plainly contained in this his holy word Q. Are there not some Traditions as needful as the Scripture and of equal value with it A. We need no Traditions beside the Scripture but the Tradition or delivery of Christian Religion and the Holy Scriptures from one generation to another ever since the time of Christ and his Apostles gives us great assurance of their truth and helps us to judge what books belong to the Canon of Scripture and what do not Q. How does the Holy Ghost carry on the work of Christ upon the souls of men A. By enlightning their minds to discern the vanity of the world and the evil of sin and thereby enclining them to come to Christ that through him they may be reconciled to God and made happy in his love Q. How does the Spirit work these â—ffects upon the Soul A. By opening our hearts to attend to the word wherein our duty with the motives to it is revealed and by keeping the truths thereof upon our minds till they become effectual to our conversion though the way of its working cannot be distinctly told Q. Can a man be saved without the help of the Spirit A. No for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Q. To what end is the spirit so necessary A. Both to implant grace in our hearts and to confirm and encrease the same to comfort and guide us to strengthen us against temptations and to help us in the performance of all duties Q. To whom do we owe the praise of any good thing wrought in us or performed by us A. To the Spirit of God who works in us both to will and to do Q. But where lies the fault if men live all their days in sin and are never converted and brought home to God A. Wholly on themselves and not on God in the least Q. But how can that be since his Spirit alone can sanctify them can they help it if they are not sanctified A. Yes for by their sloth and wilfulness they grieve the good Spirit of God and hinder his workings and by their not improving that grace they have already received are themselves the cause why they receive no more Q. Is there then any thing to be done by us in order to our own conversion and salvation A. Yes for God commands us to work out our own salvation Q. What is it that we are to do A. We must hear and read the word of God and consider of it examine our hearts and keep continual watch over our ways and earnestly beg of God his holy Spirit to enable us to do what he requires of us Q. What do you mean when you say you believe the Holy Catholick Church A. I do hereby profess to believe that Jesus Christ hath a Church upon earth made up of all his true and living members which may be called that Body whereof he is the Head Q. Is there not some one Person here in earth appointed to be visible head over this Universal Church who is to be held Christs Vicar on Earth A. We read of no such thing in Scripture and therefore have no reason to believe it but under Christ Princes and Pastours are the Heads and Governours in their respective dominions and Churches Q. Why is this Church called holy A. Because the members thereof are separated from the rest of the world dedicated to God and engaged to holiness in heart and life Q. Who are they that belong to this Church A. As to outward appearance all such who are baptized into the name of Chriâ—t and do credibly profess their belief of the Gospel and their resolution to obey it Q. Who are the true and living members of this Church A. Such whose belief and life is agreeable to their profession Q. Why is it called the Catholique or Universal Church A. To shew that it is not confin'd to any particular place or nation as the Church of the Jews was but is spread abroad over the face of the earth Q. Is it proper then to give the name of Catholick onely to those who are of this or that particular Church or Sect A. No not at all but very unreasonable Q. How is it then that some say that the Church of Rome is the Catholique Church A. There is neither sense nor charity in it since it is as much as to say that one part and a bad one too is the whole and that no man can be a true Christian except he be of the Church of Rome Q. Are not all Christians in the world bound to be subject to the Church of Rome A. No not though it should be Reformed any more than they are bound to be subject to the Church of England or Scotland which are but parts of the Universal Church And many good Christians there were in the world before there was a Church at Rome and many have been since who perhaps never heard of any such place Q. Is it not all one then to be Papists and Catholicks A. Upon no account since Papists how many so ever they be are but a particular Sect of Christians as Anabaptists or Quakers are and a Sect that hath done a world of mischief to the Church of God by their dangerous innovations both in opinion and practice Q. Who then is properly and truly a Catholick Christian A. He that heartily believes all that Jesus Christ hath revealed and sincerely endeavours to do all that he hath commanded is the true Catholick of what Church or nation soever he be Q. What is one of the best signs of such a true Catholick A. To have a great deal of charity for all his fellow Christians though they are not in all things of the same opinion with himself Q.
of men we desire to render humble and hearty praise to thy divine Majesty Yea blessed and for ever praised be thy name oh God that thou hast not only shewn much mercy to our bodies but hast also made abundant provision for the everlasting welfare and happiness of our precious souls Most fully hast thou declared to the world both in thy word and by thy works that thou hast no delight in the death of sinners but hadst rather that they would turn and live For even then when we were fallen from thee and from that blessed estate wherein our first Parents were created and so stood liable to thy wrath and to everlasting damnation then wast thou pleased to take pity on us when none else in heaven or earth did pity or could relieve us Even then didst thou give thine own Son Iesus Christ from heaven to be our Saviour and Redeemer to teach us thy will to give us thy Spirit and to die for our sins that as many as believe on him and obey him should not perish but have everlasting life Oh what manner of love is this which thou the Father hast shewn and which thy Son Iesus hath shewn to us worthless creatures to us vile sinners The sense of our own unworthiness may justly encrease our admiration of thy kindness and when we consider all this thy goodness great cause we have to humble our souls before thee in the remembrance of our own sinful and most unsuitable carriage toward thee the God of love We did indeed bring along into the world with us sinful natures and inclinations for in sin we were conceived and brought forth in iniquity And alas how many sins have we committed since we came to the use of our Reason Though thou hast always been doing us good yet like foolish and unthankful wretches we have returned evil for good We have been far from loving thee and trusting in thee as beseems thy creatures but rather have we wasted our love upon the vain and fading enjoyments of this present world in them have we delighted and in them have we placed our confidence Though we have called thee our Maker and Owner yet have we not quietly and patiently submitted to thy will as we are therefore bound because we are thy own But very ready we have been both to murmur and repine at thy providences when they have gone cross to our carnal desires and to find fault with thy laws as if they were too strict and severe because they are contrary to our foolish sensual inclinations Oftentimes have we neglected the duties of thy worship mis-spent and profaned thy Holy day and have look'd on prayers Sermons and Sacraments as burthensome and needless things And very trifling and careless have we been in those duties we have performed not duly considering what an holy and glorious God thou art with whom we have to do Thou indeed hast commanded us to love our neighbours as our selves but we through the sinful and excessive love of our selves and our own concernments have been very much wanting in the duties of justice and charity to others Much of our precious time we have wasted in idleness and vanity in unprofitable and sinful company and too frequently we have abused thy good creatures for the satisfaction of our own base lusts Often have we given way to our own unruly passions and sinful inclinations breaking thy laws and grieving thy Spirit merely for the tasting those pleasures of sin that are but for a season And these deeds of darkness these sins of ours we have committed in the open light of thy Gospel contrary to the plain commands of thy word which we have often read and heard yea contrary to the motions of thy Spirit and the checks of our own consciences which we have felt within us Most justly therefore mightest thou pour out the hottest of thy fury upon us as having been of those disobedient servants who have known thy will and yet have not done the same Nor can we expect any other than to be made infinitely and eternally miserable if thou should'st deal with us after our deservings But there is yet through thy grace a door of hope open for us thou thy self hast provided a refuge to which poor sinners in this life-time may fly for safety and comfort For thou oh most merciful Father hast promised that thou wilt for thy Son Iesus sake have mercy on all those who are truly grieved for their sins humbly confessing and speedily for saking the same Now we must needs acknowledge those thy conditions of mercy are exceeding equal and gracious and most just it is we should perish for ever if we refuse the same For we cannot oh God in reason expect that our sins should be pardoned if we wilfully continue in them Nor can we ever hope that Christ should be our Saviour if we do not own and obey him as our Lord Nor can we look for the joys of heaven whilst we walk in those ways of wickedness which lead to Hell and damnation Oh wilt thou then make us sincerely willing to do what we our selves own to be so just and reasonable that we may not dare in an hardned and impenitent manner to go on in those ungodly courses which we are convinced are so dangerous and mischievous Let not our own vile lusts nor the temptations of Satan our malicious enemy prevail with us to reject our blessed Saviour and that eternal life which he purchast by his death and now offers to us in the Gospel How shall we then escape if we neglect so great salvation Or what shall we plead for our selves at the last great day if we that are called Christians should be found depisers of Christ How justly may he then destroy us not only as enemies but as Mockers and may give us our portion in the hottest place of the burning Lake with Hypocrites and unbelievers Wherefore we do now most humbly and earnestly beseech thee oh thou Father of mercies and God of all grace give us not up to such a reprobate mind and feared conscience but together with enlightned minds give us such soft and tender hearts that we may look back on the sins we have committed with shame and sorrow and may cast away from us even our most pleasant sins with bitter loathing and hatred never more to be reconciled to them And for thy Son Iesus sake be thou merciful to us own us as thy Redeemed ones and make us partakers of those great mercies and blessings which he hath purchast for all his faithful servants For his sake alone we beg from thee the forgiveness of our sins a freedome from thy wrath and from everlasting damnation And we do also beseech thee by him to deliver us from the evil of this present world even from the snares of the Devil and from the power of our own corruptions that no sin may reign in our mortal bodies so that we should yield obedience thereunto
of our precious souls And this whilst we have taken on us the name of Christians and have profest to believe all that is revealed in the Gospel Whilst we our selves have spoken much against sin and of the mischief and danger of it yet have we securely allowed our selves in it and have neglected those very duties which we have confest to be just and reasonable and for our own greatest good Whilst we have seemed to contemn this world as vanity our chief business hath been to seek after it and whilst we have spoke much of the joys of heaven and with our tongues have extoll'd them yet we have taken little pains to make sure of them by walking in those ways of holiness which can only bring us to the enjoyment of them Yea these and such like confessions as these have we often made before thee and yet still have continued in the very same temper of mind and course of life which we acknowledge to be so exceeding sinful and dangerous as if we thought it enough for us to condemn our ways without reforming them to confess our sins without forsaking them The very sins of our prayers themselves the hypocrisie we have therein been guilty of is enough for our condemnation Often have we prayed that thou wouldst vouchsafe to keep us without sin and yet presently we our selves have carelesly and wilfully run into it and when we have been begging that the rest of our lives might be pure and holy we have strait-way gone and polluted our selves with impure and ungodly actions And after we have gone from the hearing and reading of thy holy word we have quickly forgotten and disobeyed it What then shall we say unto the most righteous God or wherewith shall we excuse our selves For alas our transgressions are multiplied before thee and our sins they do testify against us And if thou shouldst now be extream to mark what we have done amiss and to deal with us accordingly how then shall we appear in thy presence or whether shall we flee from thy wrath But oh thou that art the Preserver of men ever ready to shew mercy to the humble and penitent look on us poor sinners with an eye of pity and tender compassion And do thou now work in our souls that unfeigned sorrow for the sins we stand guilty of that we may be fitted for mercy and pardon that so iniquity may not be our ruine We come to thee oh God in the most blessed and prevailing name of thy Son Jesus through him our Prince and our Saviour begging both repentance and remission of sins For his sake turn from us thy wrath and receive us into thy favour Let his precious blood which he shed for sinners cleanse us from all unrighteousness And oh that this love which he hath shewn in dying for us may prevail with us to trust our souls with him to love him and obey him that so he may become to us the Author of eternal salvation Oh Lord grant we may never be so wickedly disingenuous and perverse as to encourage our selves in sin because Christ died for sinners as if we might therefore hate him because he hath loved us but make us ever so duly sensible of the ends of his death that we may entirely give up our selves to him who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie us to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Do thou graciously enable us by our holy and unblameable walking to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things and let this grace of thine which hath appeared to the world bringing salvation teach us to deny ungodliness and all worldly lusts and to lead righteous sober and godly lives whilst we are in this present evil world To this end we beseech thee oh God through thy Son Jesus to shed abroad thy holy Spirit into our hearts and thereby to cleanse us from all filthiness of flesh and spirit that we may perfect holiness in thy fear Sanctifie us throughout both in body and soul that we may be holy in heart and life even in all manner of conversation Take off our affections from all things here below and six them on thy blessed self and the glory that is above that we may never be so foolish as to expect happiness from riches pleasures friends or any worldly comforts which are daily decaying and dying away but let us ever trust in and depend upon thee the living God who givest us all the good things we enjoy and who alone canst make us perfectly happy in the enjoyment of thy self for ever Whilst we are here in our travail through the world we only beg of thee such a measure of outward comforts as thou seest most convenient for us and ours Let us have thy blessing with whatever we enjoy and give us patient and contented minds under all thy dealings with us Make us faithful in obeying thy Command first to seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the righteousness thereof and then we know thy promise shall be fulfilled that all other things shall be added to us so as thou seest will be best for us To thy will oh God we desire humbly to resign up our selves and all our affairs only do thou keep us continually in thy fear and favour and then deal with us as seems good in thy sight Encrease in us a sincere love to all men that we may carefully perform our duty to them doing good to all to the utmost of our power but never doing any kind of hurt or wrong to any either in thought word or deed Lord preserve us from envying the richest or despising the poorest and keep us ever free from hatred malice uncharitableness and from all desire of revenge Let thy grace so curb our passion and change our corrupt natures that we may not render evil for evil but may always study to overcome evil with good Whenever we receive injury from others do thou enable us from the heart so to forgive them as we for Christs sake hope to be forgiven by thee Let us all in this Family live in peace and love and in the fear of thy great name faithfully performing our duties one to another in our several Relations Help us oh heavenly Father to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear as Pilgrims and strangers abstaining from those fleshly lusts which war against our souls that laying aside every weight and hindrance we may with patience run the holy Race that is set before us Keep us always mindful of that everlasting state toward which we are daily tending that we may spend this short life as beseems those who know that Death is hasting upon us and that after death comes judgment when thou the righteous God wilt call us to an account for all our deeds done in the body and wilt accordingly dispose of us either to happiness or misery for ever Oh Lord make us in good
earnest in these our prayers and help us to live as those that believe the great truths of thy Gospel that we may ever have such a sense of them upon our minds that we may not dare at any time upon any account to allow our selves in any one sin or in the neglect of any known duty but by patient continuance in well doing may seek after and make sure of that glory and immortality which thou hast promised through Iesus Christ to them that love and serve thee With us shew mercy to the whole world Let the Gospel of thy Son run and be glorified throughout all the earth let it be made known to Heathens and Infidels let it be obeyed by all that are called Christians Let all popish darkness ignorance and Idolatry with all other errours and heresies be driven away by the light and truth of thy pure Gospel and let the coming of Christ in glory be hastned Be merciful to these nations wherein we live and grant we may be so humbled and reformed that we may be pardoned and spared Be gracious to our dread Soveraign with all his royal Relations and enrich them with the graces of thy holy Spirit Make all our Magistrates faithful and zealous in punishing and suppressing wickedness and in promoting vertue and godliness and make us and all other Subjects loyal and obedient to our King and to all in power under him Let thy blessing be upon the faithful Preachers of thy Gospel encrease daily their number and let their labours be blest and succeeded Let all our differences be so composed that we may live in peace and love and with one heart and one mouth may glorifie thee our God Bless ad our friends and relations and make them thy faithful and obedient servants Visit in mercy all the children of affliction whatever their particular necessities and burthens are whether of soul or body do thou seasonably and suitably comfort and relieve them We humbly bless thy name for the mercies of this day that thou hast safely brought us to the end thereof and earnestly we beg thy pardon of whatever sins we have been guilty whether of omission or commission in thought word or deed Take us we beseech thee and all that is ours into thy care this night and keep us if it be thy will from all evil of body especially of soul And so refresh us with rest and sleep that we may be fitted for thy service and our lawful imployments in the following day And all we humbly beg for Christ Jesus our Saviours sake with whose words we conclude our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us Our Father which art in heaven c. Two Forms of Prayer especially intended for the Younger sort MORNING PRAYER GReat and Glorious Lord God Thou hast commanded us to remember thee our Creatour in the days of our youth and here am I thy unworthy servant desirous to manifest my remembrance of thee I praying to thee according to thine own appointment My only hope of acceptance is in thy goodness and mercy who art a loving and tender Father to us thy poor creatures and art ready to accept of the weak services and prayers of those who do heartily desire to please thee and obtain thy favour Wherefore I now most humbly beseech thee to be gracious and favourable to me a worthless sinful creature I have indeed been a transgressour from the womb and have shewn my evil and wicked nature by my great forwardness to run into any kind of wickedness that I have been capable of When I could do little else I had soon learnt to sin against thee very early I began to be stubborn and self-will'd proud and slothful quarrelsome and revengeful And to this very day have I continued in my sins which have encreased together with my years and have been given up to the pleasing of my self and satisfying my own vain and childish inclinations but have taken little thought for the pleasing and serving of thee my Maker and Preserver Though I have had so much reason that I could love my Parents and Friends those that did me good and have been afraid of displeasing them and of being corrected by them yet have I had little love for thee my God who art the giver of all good nor have I been afraid of thy wrath who canst destroy both body and soul in Hell This oh Lord hath been my great folly and a very great cause of all my other sins that I have lived most of all by sight and have little minded any thing but what is now before me Therefore have I forgotten thee and lived as if there was no God because I could not see thee with bodily eyes and have preferr'd any foolish pleasure now in hand before the everlasting joys of heaven which are yet to come and because I could not see Hell-torments nor hear the roarings and out-cries of those who are damned for their sins therefore have I made so light of sinning against thee But of this my folly and all my wickedness the fruit of it I desire to to be ashamed before thee confessing that I have herein behaved my self more like a bruit Beast than a reasonable creature whilst I have been led by my senses more than by my reason or by the belief of thy holy word And most justly mightest thou deal with me accordingly and mightest shut me out of those joys which I have so little loved and sought after and mightest make me for ever feel those torments of which I have not been afraid But I humbly beseech thee oh merciful Father for thy Son Iesus sake take pity on me and freely forgive me all my sins and save me from those miseries which for my sins I have deserved And I beseech thee to give me thy holy Spirit that I may thereby have my mind enlightned my heart softned and my nature so throughly renewed and changed that I may be taken off from the love of all sin and may take such pleasure in thy service here that I may live with thee in happiness for ever hereafter Since through thy great mercy I have been baptized in my infancy and thereby given up to thee my God and engaged to be thy servant do thou help me rightly to understand and carefully to perform the duties to which by my Baptism I am bound that I may in heart and life renounce the Devil and all his works the lusts of the flesh and the pomps and vanities of this world and may remain Christs faithful servant unto my lives end Let thy grace preserve me from all those snares and temptations which in these my younger years I am most in danger of Oh keep me that I may never fall into rioting and drunkenness whoredom or any kind of wantonness and uncleanness Do thou help me at all times to watch over my ways that I may not wilfully run into any temptations and occasions of sin that I may
not be given up to idleness gaming nor the excessive love of any sports or pleasures nor may venture amongst such wicked companions as would entice me to ungodly courses neither let their jeers and scorns ever make me ashamed of a strict and holy life Make me ever careful to hearken to the reproofs and instructions of godly friends and to keep my self employed in honest and lawful labours or in the duties of religion And whilst I shall continue in this dangerous world be thou oh God my upholder and my guide I desire heartily to give up my self to thee to be disposed of as seems good in thy sight begging only that in every condition through my whole life I may be kept faithful to thee and diligent in thy service that so at length I may be brought safe through all difficulties and dangers into that everlasting rest which remains for thy people Be merciful to the whole world fill the same with the knowledge of thy Gospel and let the coming of Christ in glory be hastned Be gracious to these nations to our King with all his royal Relations and all Magistrates under him Bless the Ministers of thy holy word with all thy people and my kindred and friends Shew mercy to all them that are in affliction and let thy blessing be upon this Family to which I belong I praise thy name for the mercies of this last night and beg thy presence with me this day that I may not do any thing which is displeasing to thee but may ever so live in thy fear that I may be sure of thy favour both here and to all eternity And all I humbly beg for thy dear Son Jesus sake who hath taught us to pray saying Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed c. EVENING PRAYER MOst great and glorious Lord God Thou dwellest in the highest heavens and yet thou regardest the meanest of thy creatures here on this earth and art ever ready to shew mercy to such as do humbly and earnestly seek to thee for the same Wherefore I do now most humbly beseech thee to take pity on me a weak and worthless creature and to deal with me not after my deserts but according to the multitude of thy tender compassions I cannot alas plead any deserts of my own for though I am thy creature yet am I a vile sinner one that deserves not the least of all thy mercies I was born into this world with a sinful and corrupt nature which is prone to wickedness and very backward and listless to any thing that is good And I have already shewn forth the sinfulness of my nature in those sins which I have committed against thee Though my years have been but few yet my sins have been many and very grievous Of that little time which I have lived in the world I have wasted much in folly and idleness in sports and pleasures seldom thinking what I was sent into the world for or how I might do to make my self happy for ever I have indeed been often taught that I was made on purpose to serve thee oh God in obeying thy commandments that so I might live with thee for ever in heaven yet have I grievously neglected thy service and have not made it my business to get acquainted with thy holy laws and those plain commands which I have known I have often wilfully broken Little delight have I had in praying to thee in reading or hearing thy holy word but have greatly neglected these duties and have oft spent the Lords day in idleness and playing Yea with shame I must confess I have taken pleasure in reading any foolish book rather than in the holy Bible And though I could well enough remember idle stories vain and wanton songs yet have I soon forgotten thy blessed word after I have read or heard the same Many times have I been disobedient to my Parents and to those who have had rule over me and when I have committed faults I have been presently ready to tell lies for the excusing my self though I knew I did ill therein Very easily have I been drawn into ill company and to joyn with them in doing evil and though I have seen many of my companions as young as I die before me yet have I seldome thought with my self how I should do to get fitted for death or what would become of me after death in another world Now oh Lord I beseech thee to open my eyes and soften my heart and work in me a true sorrow and repentance for these and all other the sins which I have at any time committed against thee that so I may find mercy and forgiveness from thee Have mercy upon me oh thou God of mercy and for the Lord Jesus sake be at peace with me Let his precious blood wash me from all my sins and procure thy favour that I may escape those eternal torments which I have most justly deserved Through the Lord Jesus do thou become my gracious loving Father owning me as thy dutiful child And help me to shew that I am so by living in a careful obedience to all thy holy laws Oh that the time past of my life may suffice to have spent so vainly and carelesly Lord make me for the time to come diligent and careful in serving thee and in working out my own salvation Make me so wise for my own good that I may put off the amending of my ways and leading a godly life till hereafter Let me not think it too soon to set about that work for which all my life was given me and is all little enough Justly then maist thou shorten my days if I should wilfully defer my repentance and reformation Yea justly maist thou refuse to accept of me in old age if now I spend my youth and the best of my days in serving the Devil and satisfying my own lusts Wherefore oh Lord I beseech thee now betimes to encline my heart to thy fear and service that when I am old I may never depart from thee Make me always sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of my life that numbring my days I may apply my heart to wisdome and through my whole life may make this my great study and care to get an everlasting happiness in the world to come Oh never suffer me good God to become so foolish as for any pleasures of sin to part with the hopes of eternal glory and to sell my soul into the hands of Satan to be tormented with him for ever But do thou oh Lord strengthen me by thy grace against all his temptations and against the allurements of the world and the flesh that they may not prevail over me Help me to flee all youthful lusts and to follow after sobriety chastity and all manner of purity virtue and godliness When-ever I am ready to run into sin oh then fill my mind with the thoughts of that Hell to which sin leads and let the hopes of