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
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
us especially those in the Lord Jesus in whom thy Grace hath so exceedingly abounded as to surpass not only our deserts but the largest of our desires Blessed blessed for ever blessed be thy fatherly goodness who hast sent him from heaven so unexpectedly to visit us vile wretches who dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust Lord what is man that thou art mindful of him or the son of man that thou didst thus visit him We thank thee according to our poor ability from the very bottom of our hearts for his manifestation in our flesh for the charitable testimonies he gave of his love to mankind in the course of his life for that astonishing grace in submitting himself to dye for us for his glorious Resurrection and Ascension to heaven for the Soveraign Power and Authority which thou hast given him at thy right hand for his compassionate intercession for us and the assurances we have received of his being the King of glory and of his continued kindness to us by the coming of the Holy Ghost We will never cease to bless thee for that great salvation Heb. 2.3,4 which was first preached by the Lord was confirmed by them that heard him and for the witness which thou barest to them both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the holy Ghost according to thy own will We rejoyce in the Light of thy holy Gospel that we see the way to be happy both by the Doctrine and example of thy Son Jesus that we have the incouragement of his precious promises and such good hope of remission of sin and eternal life in the day when he shall judge the world in righteousness O how much are we bound unto thee for that comfortable hope which thou hast given us of seeing our dear Saviour in all his glory and being there where he is and reigning with him for ever We again render thee our most hearty thanks for that everlasting consolation and good hope through grace which thou hast given us and for all those benefits likewise which thou art pleased to bestow upon us to make our stay here on earth the more convenient and delightful to us We are every way obliged to thee beyond all that we are able to express or conceive Thou feedest us and clothest us thou preservest our health and our strength thou hast delivered us from innumerable dangers and when thou hast chastised us it hath been in great mercy and clemency and not according to our deserving O that all the world would shew forth thy praise and devote themselves to the service of our Lord. Let all Kings of the earth submit themselves unto him and glory in the name of his obedient subjects High and low rich and poor let them praise the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore Accept most gracious God of these unfeigned desires of us thy servants who for our parts intirely dedicate our selves both souls and bodies unto thee Resolving in all things to walk worthy of thee who hast called us to thy Kingdom and Glory and blessed us also with many other good things which make this life to be a more easie passage to a better We will never forget how much we are indebted to thee but study to express our grateful remembrance of thy mercies by living Tit. 2.12,13 soberly righteously and godly in this present world looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Favour we pray thee these holy purposes with the constant assistance of thy good spirit that we may be able to accomplish what we have begun and to perfect holiness in thy fear Help us to 2 Pet. 1.5,6,7,8 add to our faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity That these things being in us and abounding they may make us to be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ Preserve us this day especially that we swerve not presently from these pious resolutions But may give such a proof of their sincerity by our being steadfast and immoveable in all well doing notwithstanding any temptation to the contrary that we may have the better hope we shall persevere to the very end through thy continued grace in Christ Jesus in whose words we desire all that thou seest needful either for our souls or bodies saying Our Father c. At Night WE are here again prostrate before thee O Lord of heaven and earth to joyn our selves with all that holy company Revel 4.8,11 who rest not day and night saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory honour and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Blessed be thy divine goodness which hath made the children of men but little lower than the Angels and crowned us with such glory and honour that we are capable to accompany that heavenly host in giving continual thanks and praise unto thee Praised be thy name that we are now alive and that we have the use of our reason and understanding and enjoy so many of the comforts and conveniences of this present life and have attained a good hope through Christ Jesus of being immortally happy O how great was thy love which sent him into the world to direct us in the way to that happiness by his holy doctrine and life and to be a propitiation for our sins by his death and to Act. 26.23 be the first that should rise from the dead and should shew light unto the world We rejoyce in that light of life We most chearfully devote our selves to be the faithful Disciples of him the Prince of peace the Lord of life and glory It is our happiness as well as our duty to be governed by him and obey his commands We are sensible that they are all equal just and good and that thou hast done us an infinite kindness in teaching us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world And therefore we here again most heartily surrender our wills to thine desiring that we may unchangeably cleave unto it with the greatest and most intire love and affection to all its commands O that there may abide for ever in us such a strong and powerful sense of thy mighty love towards us in Christ Jesus as may constrain us freely and willingly to please thee in the constant exercise of piety and devotion righteousness and mercy temperance and chastity meekness and patience truth and fidelity together with such an humble contented and peaceable spirit as may adorn the Religion of our Lord and Master O God that these holy desires and inclinations may
most high wisdom hath set us And we desire the comfort of those that mourn the ease of those who are in pain the health of the sick the release of poor prisoners and captives the quiet and satisfaction of those who are in trouble and anguish of mind and the true content of all men in whatsoever condition they are that we may be all continually giving thanks to thee the Father of mercies for the joy thou hast set before us and the hope we have by running our Christian race with patience to come to that blessed place into which Jesus our fore-runner is already entred for us By whom we continue to desire in his own words that thou mayst be glorified every where in our well doing saying as he hath taught us Our Father c. At Night O Lord the Almighty Creator and Governour of the world Psal 104.24 How great and manifold are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all 74.16 The day is thine the night also is thine thou hast prepared the light and the Sun We thy creatures a small part of mankind prostrate our selves before thee this evening in the humblest adoration of thy divine Majesty praising thy incomprehensible perfections and rendring thee our thanks for all the benefits thou hast bestowed on the whole world especially on us whom thou hast called to the knowledge of thy grace in Christ Jesus It is a marvailous love wherewith thou hast loved us Thou hast not dealt so with all people and as for thy great and precious promises they have not known them We are bound therefore more particularly to offer up unto thee continually spiritual sacrifices by Christ Jesus and to laud and bless thy great and glorious Name in the behalf of our selves and the rest of mankind among whom thou hast left innumerable testimonies of thy careful providence in that Act. 14.17 thou dost them good and givest them rain from heaven and fruitful seasons filling their hearts with food and gladness We praise thee we bless thee we magnifie and extol thy wise and powerful goodness we thank thee for thy never ceasing bounty towards us especially that thou hast vouchsafed to send Jesus Christ to restore us by his appearing among us and his humbling himself to the death for us and his glorious Resurrection from the grave and Ascension on high to a blessed hope of thy mercy unto eternal life We can do no less than devote our selves souls and bodies eternally to thee returning what we have received from thee back again with the greatest love and most grateful acknowledgements Accept we pray thee O most gracious and merciful Father of this small oblation we make thee of our most hearty and unfeigned resolutions to worship and serve thee in the constant exercise of righteousness mercy meekness patience humility and purity with whatsoever is lovely and of good report And we humbly beg thy holy Spirit may constantly accompany us inabling us to think of these things to cleave unto them to delight in them and to persevere in a free and willing performance of all our duty towards thee and all men to our lives end And we most heartily desire the rest of mankind may at last be so happy as to come acquainted with the exceeding riches of thy grace in Christ O that Psal 67.2 thy way may be known upon earth and thy saving health among all nations Rom. 15.10.6 that all the Gentiles may rejoyce with thy people and we may with one mind and one mouth glorifie thee our God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ O that all Idolatry and ungodliness all cruelty and filthiness all rapine and violence may be abolished and rooted out of the earth and true piety righteousness holiness and brotherly kindness may flourish in the room thereof For which end we beseech thee indue all Kings and Princes especially those that are Christian with a great sense of thy Soveraign Authority over all that they may humbly obey thee as they desire others should obey them and govern all their people with great wisdom uprightness and a tender compassionate care of their welfare O that no covetousness ambition or revenge may rule in any hearts provoking them to war and bloudshed but there may be great peace in all Lands by observing the holy Laws of the Prince of peace Christ Jesus More particularly we recommend unto thy blessing these Kingdoms wherein we live beseeching thee to be merciful to our sins in giving us grace to repent of them and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance and amendment of life Bless our Soveraign and all that are imployed under him either in Spiritual or Civil affairs with all those graces which are necessary for the right discharge of their duties in such high places Prosper all their pious indeavours for the good either of mens souls or outward estates that true Religion and Vertue increasing and all ungodliness and vice being put to shame we may become a renowned Nation and a praise in the earth We commend to thee also O Father of mercies all those who are in a distressed and sorrowful condition most earnestly desiring their seasonable relief and comfort with their release from those troubles when thou pleasest And now that we are going to lay down our selves to sleep we put our selves and our habitations with all that belong unto us into thy most gracious protection hoping thou wilt take care of us when we cannot so much as think how to secure our selves from any danger that may approach us Thou hast been our helper keeper and defender therefore under the shadow of thy wings will we still rejoyce When we close our eyes let these holy thoughts of thee and affections towards thee still remain in us and possess our hearts that they may awake again with us in the morning and send up our souls in renewed love and thanks and praise to thy divine Majesty by our blessed Saviour and Redeemer Christ Jesus In whose words we continue to implore thy mercies towards 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 SATVRDAY MORNING O Lord all thy works praise thee and declare the greatness of thy Majesty Power Wisdom and Bounty which surpass all understanding Thou art good unto all and thy tender mercies are over all thy works Thou art holy in all thy wayes and righteous in all thy doings and keepest truth for ever Thy Kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations We all decay and perish the heavens themselves wax old like a garment but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end We adore thee O Lord
pains I may endure Lay no more upon me O Father of mercies than I shall be able to bear and lay upon me what thou pleasest Free me for the present from all murmuring and repining thoughts and for the future make the sickness and anguish of my body a blessed instrument to purge my spirit more perfectly from all pride and vanity from all covetousness and worldly-mindedness and from all inordinate love of any of the pleasures of this life I believe O blessed Jesus that thou livest for ever who sufferedst and dyedst for us and that thou hast a great compassion towards those who would gladly follow thee though it be through sufferings Behold Lord I commend my self to thy mighty Love desiring above all things to be made conformable to thee in meekness in humility in patience in intire resignation to Gods holy will and pleasure and in perfect satisfaction in his Fatherly love and kindness whatsoever my condition be I am sensible O God that I have not employed my time to the utmost advantage of my soul and to thy honour glory but have wasted many precious hours and several ways neglected my duty towards thee * Here reckon up the sins you may have committed and been but an unprofitable part of this world so that I am not worthy to continue any longer in it But I hope thou wilt vouchsafe me thy gracious pardon and receive me to mercy if thou callest me hence for into thy hands O Father I commend my spirit who hast redeemed me by the precious bloud of Jesus Christ And that if thou prolongest my days on earth I shall serve thee with greater diligence and strictness and zeal and chearfulness to the end of my life I desire not to live but that I may perfect holiness in thy fear and secure to my self by doing more good an happy entertainment into the society of the blessed in the other world I see already the emptiness and insufficiency of all enjoyments upon earth All flesh is grass and all the goodliness of it as the flower of the field The grass withereth Isa 40.7 the flower fadeth Psal 119.50,81 But thy word standeth fast for ever In thy word therefore O Lord and gracious promises is my hope This is my comfort in my affliction And my perfect contentment I see lyes always in thy love and favour alone which is better than life it self O settle me in a certain and unmoveable possession of it by what means thou pleasest Do but love me and preserve me in a lively sense of thy good will towards me and dispose of me as thou thinkest good In the multitude of my thoughts within me Psal 94.19 thy comforts shall delight my soul Rom. 5.2 8.28 I will rejoyce even in the midst of tribulations Psal 23.3 30.10 and glory in thy holy name who makest all things work together for good to them that love thee Though I walk through the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy power and tender care they shall comfort me Accept Good Lord of these my desires and resolutions Hear me O God and have mercy upon me Lord be thou my helper for Christ Jesus his sake my ever blessed Redeemer Amen IT will be seasonable here to put the Devout Reader in mind that when he is in distress and desires Mercy of God it ought to excite his charity to others that are in misery and dispose him to shew mercy to them For though that be not Canonical Scripture which we read Tob. 12.9 Alms doth deliver from death yet this is With the merciful God will shew himself merciful Psal 18.25 Blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble 41.1,2,3 If he do not preserve him and keep him alive yet the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing he will make all his bed in his sickness Therefore as thou recommendest thy self to God and desirest others to pray with thee so remember that Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness Tob. 12.8 A Prayer to be said by the Family with the Sick person O Lord the Father of our spirits who givest to us and all creatures life and breath and all things We sinful dust and ashes blush to lift up our eyes unto heaven when we consider our vast distance from thee and reflect upon thy unspotted holiness and our impurity thy infinite wisdom and our wretched folly thy power and our weakness thy Eternity of life and our short continuance We are but of yesterday and know nothing Job 8.9 because our days upon earth are a shadow Psal 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity Job 25.6 thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth Surely every man is vanity But so great is thy condescending grace that thou hast assured us thou wilt not despise such worms as we are Nay thou hast incouraged us blessed be thy goodness to approach unto thee with some confidence that thou wilt mercifully receive us though we have highly offended thy Divine Majesty Having sent thy dear Son into the world to save sinners to purifie our natures to indue us with a divine understanding to strengthen our weakness and to comfort us with the hope of an immortal life Behold O Lord the oblation which we make to thee of most thankful hearts devoted to thy service whose love and tender mercies have so exceedingly abounded towards us We will praise thee and glorifie thee as long as we have any being for this great salvation which Christ Jesus hath brought to light by his resurrection from the dead to an eternal Kingdom in the heavens We are humbly bold to hope in thee that thou who hast not spared thy own Son Rom. 8.32 but delivered him up for us all wilt with him also freely give us all things O thou Father of mercies and God of all comfort who hast not thought a Crown of everlasting life and glory too much to promise us we believe that thou wilt not deny us what is needful and fit for us both for our souls and our bodies in our passage through this world to that honour glory and immortality In this confidence we more particularly recommend this thy sick servant to thy infinite and most compassionate mercy Settle in his * Or her soul a stedfast faith that thou dost not willingly grieve the children of men but intendest good to him by this affliction And now that other pleasures and enjoyments fail him represent thy self effectually unto him as his true happiness and satisfaction Wherein soever he hath neglected thee or committed any offence against thee make him deeply sensible of and heartily sorrwful for his folly And as he earnestly desires pardon and forgiveness of thee so work in him a serious resolution to live more circumspectly and exactly in time to come Assist him graciously
to serve thee be a great reward Let a contented mind be instead of all that I want and a thankful heart sweeten all my enjoyments Let patience always ease me under my burdens and an entire submission to thy will breed in me a settled tranquillity of spirit Let my delight be in the excellent that are in the earth and my thoughts be very much there while I live where I desire to be when I dye That heaven being my aim my hope and the longing expectation of my soul I may conquer all difficulties in my way to it and go through honour and dishonour good report and bad report prosperity and adversity with the same chearfulness and evenness of mind till at last I come to that place of rest and peace with the glorified Jesus who is able to give eternal life to them that obey him XI Blessed be thy name who hast inspired my heart with these holy desires and wrought these purposes and resolutions in me It is an earnest I hope of thy never failing love towards me in assurance of which I repose my self with full satisfaction of heart Yea this is my joy and my glory that I know thee and that I live under the care of thy wise merciful and almighty providence at present and that I have the promise of remission of sins and of a crown of life when the times of refreshment shall come from thy presence and thou shalt send Jesus Act. 3.19 to conduct all the faithful to that glorious place where he lives This is my salvation and and all my desire 2 Sam. 23.5 Now that I see thy abundant love O heavenly Father it sufficeth Rejoyce with me likewise all ye Angels of God according to the word of our Lord that there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth Luk. 15.7 Bless the Lord ye heavenly hosts ye minsters of his that do his pleasure Psal 103.21 And O that this joy may increase continually by my daily increase in all goodness and the perfecting of my repentance till I come to be admitted into their company and enter into the joy of my Lord. XII And I wish the same happiness to all mankind which I desire for my self It will multiply my joy to see all the people praise thee O God to see all the people praise thee O make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands Serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with thanksgiving Psal 100.1 Give unto the Lord O ye kindreds of the people give unto the Lord glory and strength Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name bring an offering and come into his courts O worship the Lord with holy worship fear before him all the earth 96.8,9 More especially I desire the increase of grace mercy and peace to thy chosen people Beseeching thee to bless thy universal Church and to fill the hearts of all its members with thy love that they may rest neither day nor night saying Blessed be God Blessed be the glorious Majesty of heaven and earth whose power wisdom and goodness excel all praise and endure for ever And arise O God for the sighing of the poor and the needy let not the men of the earth always oppress them Psal 10.18 Let the salvation of thy people come out of thy holy place 14.7 Be thou exalted in thy own strength and so will we sing and praise thy power 21.13 Lord continue thy loving kindness unto those that know thee and thy righteousness to men of upright heart Let not the foot of pride come against them and let not the hand of the wicked remove them 36.10,11,12 O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end but establish thou the just 7.9 Protect O Lord and defend that part of thy Church which thou hast planted in these Kingdoms Great and innumerable have been thy mercies to us but alas we are a stubborn and rebellious people a people that set not our heart aright and whose spirit hath not been stedfast with thee And therefore thou hast justly plagued us many ways and we should have but our deserts if thy hand should still be stretched out to punish us seven times more for our sins But what is man that thou shouldst take displeasure at him or what is a corruptible generation that thou shouldest be extreamly angry with them For in truth there is none among them but hath dealt wickedly and among the faithful there is none that hath not done amiss But in this O Lord thy righteousness and goodness shall be declared if thou be merciful to them which have not the confidence of good works Psal 78.8 2 Esdras 8.34,35,36 Psal 79 8,9 118.25 O be merciful unto us be merciful unto us and do not utterly forsake us O remember not against us former iniquities and that we have so soon forgot thy works and the wonderful deliverances which thou hast given us Help us O God of our salvation for the glory of thy name and deliver us and purge away our sins for thy names sake Fill us with thy wisdom from above that we may be heartily in love with the Religion which we profess and preserve us in it for ever Defeat the counsels of all its enemies and bring their wicked devices to nought Unite us to each other in brotherly love and make us at peace among our selves O let peace be within this Church Let them prosper that love her and seek her good Save now I beseech thee O Lord O Lord I beseech thee send now prosperity And for that end indue our Soveraign Lord the King with all the gifts and graces of thy holy Spirit Hear the daily prayers of thy Church for him that he may always incline to thy will and walk in thy way and study to preserve thy people committed to his charge in wealth peace and godliness Enlighten all our Bishops Priests and Deacons with true knowledge and understanding of thy Word and enable them both by their life and doctrine to set it forth and shew it accordingly Teach all our Counsellors and Senators wisdom and give all our Magistrates courage and zeal to excute Justice and to maintain Truth Vouchsafe to all thy people increase of grace to hear thy word with meekness and to receive it with pure and sincere affection and to bring forth the fruits of the spirit Give them honest and good hearts to honour and obey the King and all that are put in authority under him to submit themselves to all their Governours Teachers spiritual Pastors and Masters to order themselves lowly reverently to all their betters to be careful not to hurt one another by word or deed to be just and true in all their dealing to bear no malice nor hatred in their hearts to preserve themselves to temperance soberness and chastity not to covet one anothers goods but to learn and labour
THE DEVOUT CHRISTIAN Instructed How to PRAY and give THANKS to GOD OR A Book of Devotions FOR FAMILIES AND For Particular Persons IN Most of the concerns of Humane Life By the Author of the CHRISTIAN SACRIFICE 1 Thess 5.17 Pray without ceasing 18. In every thing give thanks LONDON Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty MDCLXXIII Non magna loquimur sed vivimus QUI SEQUITUR ME IN TENEBRIS NON AMBULAT Cum clamore valido et lachrymis preces offâ—…ens exauditus est pro sua reverentia THE AUTHOURS PREFACE I Need not tell the well disposed Reader there being so much said and writ continually in this Argument how natural and necessary it is for all rational creatures to look back upon all occasions to the Author of their being that they may make him their hearty acknowledgements for all the benefits they have received from him and still recommend themselves and all their concerns to his continued Grace and good Providence Nor shall I go about to show how much the Publick Service of God in his own house is to be preferred before the private Devotion of Families at home there being no reason as far as I understand to make the latter necessary but only because in most places Christian people cannot meet together at the Church every day Morning and Evening to give to God the glory that is due unto his Name My business is to desire him to remember how natural it is likewise to all mankind to take such good advice before-hand when they have any petitions or thanks to prefer unto earthly gods as that they may be delivered in a decent and grave form of words as well as after a reverend manner and to consider therefore with what sober and prudent care all those expressions ought to be weighed wherein they present the humble desires and grateful affections of their hearts to the most High God the eternal Majesty of heaven and earth It hath not proved I am sure an honour to Religion that men have learnt to be less solicitous about the one than they are about the other But such have been the licentious rambles of their fancy in suddain Prayer so bold and rude have their descriptions been of Almighty God so rash their affirmations concerning him or concerning themselves and so many untrue or doubtful things have they uttered that it is sufficient in my poor judgement to blast the credit of that way of address to him as it hath done alas with too many the credit of Christian Piety which hath suffered extreamly by such extravagance I know there are great numbers that will be ready to oppose me in this particular with whom I list not to dispute in this short Preface Let me only beseech them to use so much moderation as not to discourage honest-hearted people from performing their duty to God by disgracing any longer as they have been wont to do all Book-prayers Which if they have not the advantage as I think they have of suddain conceptions and expressions yet are so necessary in the Church that without them many persons cannot pray at all And I hope they will confess upon due deliberation that though some few may have attained an habit of uttering their desires freely and becomingly upon any occasion yet as the use of it before others is too apt to minister to pride vain-glory and self-conceit so most people are so defective both in their conceptions and utterance as not to be able to discharge this holy duty as they ought without such assistance as is here offered them How well I have performed what I have undertaken I must leave to the judgement of others I am sure I have proceeded with deliberation and studied faithfully to avoid all affected expressions fantastical allusions insignificant allegories pretended wit and elegant conversions of sentences and rash application of the holy Scripture to my present purpose which have been the vices perhaps of some forms though not so frequently as well as of mens hasty inventions I have laboured also to gratifie the Reader with some variety not because I think it is always best to use it but because some weak and squeamish appetites will not be satisfied without it And besides Prayers for Families I have composed a great many other for particular persons wherein if I have failed in the clearness and perspicuity of my expressions it was much against my will and being admonished of it by my friends I will reform it or any thing else that is amiss But the length or the brevity of the Prayers sure will not be accused because there are of both sorts that they who like not the one may make use of the other Some I doubt not will complain that they find not a Prayer for some particular want of theirs not here named but that 's a defect which could not be remedied For I knew not where to stop if I had extended my thoughts beyond those necessities which are most common and the rest I hope may be reasonably well supplied out of that which I have done to serve the other It is possible also that some may judge this whole Work to be but a needless labour since they have the Book of Common Prayers at hand which they can use at home as well as in the Church With these persons I shall not contend but only deliver my opinion freely about this matter Which is that the reverence due to that Book will be best preserved by employing it only in the publick Divine Service or in the private where there is a Priest to officiate However the design of it is not to furnish the people with Prayers for all those particular occasions wherein devout souls would make their requests to God And the constant opinion of pious Divines in this and in other Churches we see by their writings hath been that other Books of Prayers which they have composed are necessary for the Flock of Christ besides their publick Liturgie That which remains is only to intreat those who will make use of this Book which is here tendered to them First to stirr up their hearts to offer their Praises Thanksgivings and Prayers unto God our heavenly Father with fervent devotion of spirit And then not to imagine the reading them out of a Book is any hindrance to Devotion but rather a considerable help and much better than trusting the memory even with a form For a mans mind hath nothing to do when he hath the words before his eyes but wholly to intend it self to the raising of its affections unto the greatest height and ardency of desire and love and joy that it is able But take heed I beseech you in the last place lest the performance of these holy duties with some affection deceive you into the neglect of all the rest Our Prayers will be fruitless if they be not attended with our serious study and earnest labour to attain that which we
ceasing to do evil â—nd constantly doing well and we â—ay glorifie thee throughout our whole life in all our actions 1 Pet. 2.9 showâ—ng forth thy praises who â—ast called us out of darkness into thy marvailous light accordâ—ng to thy abundant mercy in Christ Jesus By whom thou hast given us a good hope in thee that thou wilt hear our prayers and do for us above all that we can ask or â—hink which we humbly beg in â—hose holy words which he hath â—aught us saying Our Father c. Another at Night O Most blessed for evermore the Father of Mercies and the God of all Comfort How precious are thy thoughts to us ward how great is the sum of them Thou renewest thy favours continually and art still pouring upon us innumerable benefits of which this is not the least that thou givest us leave to come into thy presence to call thee Father and to make known our requests to thee by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving We accept O Lord with all thankfulness this thy great grace and loving kindness to us and are here again prostrate before thee this evening to acknowledge thy goodness in making us such excellent creatures capable to know thee and acknowledge thee and love thee and by being made like thee to be eternally happy with thee Blessed be thy name that we are now alive and that we have lived so long in health and strength and peace and plenty of all good things whereas our eyes might have been consumed with grief our bones sore vexed and we might have mingled our drink with continual weeping We are bound unto thee for the free use of our understandâ—ngs for the good inclinations we find in our wills for any devout â—ffections which are stirring in our hearts for all the advantages we have had by our education good company and holy examples And more especially for the illuminations of the holy Ghost by thy blessed Gospel the breathings of it frequently into our spirits the importunities thou hast used to draw us to thee and the great and precious promises whereby thy love in Christ Jesus constrains us to resign our selves intirely to the obedience of thy Precepts We ought likewise to admire and praise thee for thy goodness to all thy creatures who live daily upon thy bounteous allowance Psal 145. The eyes of all wait on thee and thou givest them their food in due season Thou diffusest thy blessings in several streams to every one of them according to their needs 104.28 That thou givest them they gather thou openest thy hand they are filled with good We give thee the glory of the plentiful provision thou hast made for them and more particularly admire thy great liberality to the children of men under whose feet thou hast put in subjection all sheep and oxen yea and the beasts of the field the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the waters O Lord we praise thee for thy goodness to those who praise thee not themselves Be thou adored and acknowledged in thy bounty which bestows so many blessings unasked and unsought and continues them notwithstanding abundance of provocations and most high offence that they have given to thy merciful kindness And let thy goodness to thy Church be never forgotten by us which thou hast in all ages protected and defended in a marvailous manner propagating the Gospel of our Saviour confounding its opposers and spreading it by the power of the holy Ghost over the face of the earth We thank thee for thy singular favour to these Countries wherein we live To whom these glad tydings of Salvation have reached and who have long enjoyed a more glorious light than many other places and been delivered from the darkness of Popish superstition and from sundry attemps that have heen made to bereave us of this happiness and are again settled after many confusions in a peaceable enjoyment of thy true Religion which thou hast also continued to us though we have not brought forth fruit worthy of the Gospel of thy Grace O that all thy undeserved goodness may have this effect upon us to make us heartily love thee and devoutly worship thee and zealously obey thee and steadfastly trust and hope in thee for ever That by a careful improvement of the knowledge of thee our God and our Lord Jesus Christ by whom thou hast given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness we may still enjoy this inestimable treasure and all thy love to us may at last be finished in those eternal joys which he hath promised to the faithful And as we have been taught exhorted and incouraged this day out of thy holy word and have likewise publickly acknowledged our obligations to thee and made profession of love and gratitude and dutifulness to thy Divine Majesty So help us all the week following openly to testifie the truth and honesty of our hearts in all this by a blameless conversation in all humility meekness temperance righteousness charity and peace with all them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart Bless our Soveraign the Defender of the Faith we profess and all imployed under him in their several offices that they may be instruments of continuing to us these holy opportunities with all other good things that may make these Kingdoms happy O that all our Friends may be thine and if we have any enemies Father forgive them Comfort and support the sick the needy and all other distressed persons with an immoveable belief of thy wise and good providence to which give them grace patiently and obediently to resign themselves And when all our senses this night shall be bound up with sleep be thou O Lord our keeper and after the refreshment of that repose and this holy rest from our labours raise us in the morning to return unto them with cheerful minds and ready wills praising still and magnifying thy multiplyed mercies to us in Christ Jesus by whom we present our selves and petitions to thee saying further as he hath taught us Our Father c. Another for the Afternoon or any other time of that day O Most Holy Glorious and Blessed Thy Name is excellent in all the earth and thou art for ever praised by all the host of heaven who are never weary of thy service We thy creatures sinful dust and ashes have many times professed it is our happiness to joyn with those heavenly inhabitants in admiring worshipping blessing and loving thee the great Lord of all with pure hearts in unity of spirit sincere friendship and brotherly accord one with another We have often spoken great things of thee and declared thy service to be the sweetest pleasure and one hour spent in holy meditations devout affections and cheerful thanksgivings to be far better than all the time we spend in other imployments How much then if we mean sincerely and according to our words should our
hearts rejoyce that we may spend a day in thy Courts are invited to a longer attendance on thy divine Majesty in the duties of thy worship and service We are ashamed that any weariness should seize on our spirits and that it should be irksome to us to renew our thoughts and acknowledgements of thy infinite goodness Behold O Lord we are resolved again to address our selves unto thee with praise and thanksgiving for giving us such opportunities to look back to thee the Author of our being to lift up our souls towards our heavenly Country and unite them to the first and chiefest good from whence we derive whatsoever we have or hope to enjoy Beseeching thee to help us to draw near unto thee with hearts full of wonder at thy incomprehensible Majesty full of love to thy most wise and Almighty goodness full of thankfulness for thy benefits full of desires to be what thou wouldst have us and full of joy that thou wouldst have us be so happy in being made thy children partakers of a Divine Nature and heirs of immortal life We admire thy glory O great Lord of heaven and earth which shines in the whole Creation thy greater glory in the work of our redemption by the miraculous Birth Life Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus and the greatest of all which we hope and wait for at his appearing when he shall come to be admired in his Saints and glorified in all them that believe Thou hast done great things for us already thou hast promised to do greater and thou art daily performing thy promises and preparing us for the accomplishment of them all in the highest blessedness O God of all grace make us wiser Stewards than we have been of thy manifold gifts and graces which we are intrusted withal Help us carefully to husband this sacred opportunity which thou continuest to us to the best advantage of our immortal souls Gather in our thoughts from our ordinary business Fix them on thy self and hold them in the contemplation of thy infinite mercies and of those divine Truths which represent our duty and thy exceeding love and kindness towards us Chase away all worldly affections and over-awe our spirits with a sense of thy divine presence that by serving thee with a religious reverence this day we may be disposed to walk in thy fear all the rest of our lives Having a grateful remembrance of thy benefits a deep and serious reflection upon our own resolutions and thy gracious promises an holy jealousie over our selves lest we should be unfaithful to them and a pious care in all things to approve our selves the constant and diligent servants of the Lord Jesus O that our thankfulness and good affections and zealous desires may not end with our prayers nor conclude with this day But we may be possessed with such a strong and habitual sense of thee and of our obligations to thee that we may every day earnestly and heartily serve thee in all the actions of Christian piety and be unwearied in well doing unto the conclusion of our lives Another O Most holy great and glorious Majesty of heaven and earth To whom all the blessed company above do with the highest admiration and love give continual praise and thanks and honour and worship and obedience acknowledging thou art above all that they are able to speak of thee or ascribe and render to thee Much more art thou exalted above the thoughts of such poor mortals as we who are clothed with flesh and live far remote from the throne of thy glory And yet such is thy goodness thou condescendest to admit nay to draw us to a fellowship with those holy spirits that we may thereby be made happy and called thy servants though when we have done the best we can very unprofitable What is man that thou art mindful of him what are the sons of men that thou dost at all consider them Thou hast crowned us with glory and honour here below and raised us to a Dominion over the works of thy hands Thou hast indued us with understandings to know thee and with wills to love thee whose most excellent wisdom Almighty power and surpassing goodness we discover in all thy works of wonder But what is sinful man that thou shouldest so much regard him as to send after him to seek and save him when he was lost Lord what grace was this that thou shouldest vouchsafe to speak with us and communicate any thing of thy mind to such forgetful and ungrateful wretches But that thou shouldst speak to us by thy Son and declare thy mind in such words of grace and favour and publish such kind intentions towards us and recover us with so much cost and purchase us to thy self with the precious bloud of thy Son Jesus and send thy holy Spirit to purifie us that we might have thy Image renewed in us and be made fit society for thy self again and restored to immortal life Lord how much doth it exceed all belief hadst thou not given us in tender mercy such abundance assurance of it We have those reasons to bless thee which the Angels have not We must admire thee not only as the great Creator and Preserver of all things which we heartily do and give thee the glory of all thy marvailous works but also as the Redeemer of mankind out of a forlorn condition by the manifestation of thy self in our flesh by the bloud of thy Son the constant breathings of the holy Ghost the light of thy Gospel and an unwearied patience which hath waited on us and propounded to us no less happiness than to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus who is advanced far above all principalities and powers and every name that is named not only in this world but in that also which is to come We praise thee O God we magnifie thy most holy Name we confess our selves bound to thee above all other creatures that we have any knowledge of for we are twice thy creatures and thou hast a double title to all we have O stir up all that is within us to bless thee and love thee and offer up the sacrifice of thanksgiving to thee Fill our hearts with joy and gladness that we have another opportunity wherein to recount thy mercies to us to be further instructed in thy mind and will declared by our Saviour and to be under the comfortable influences of heaven to cherish those holy thoughts affections and resolutions which are begun in us and to promote our growth and increase in all wisdom goodness and vertue Possess us with such a strong sense of thy continued love towards us that we may testifie our true and hearty thankfulness for it by attentive consideration of all that we hear out of thy holy Word and by laying it up in our hearts and esteeming it more than the greatest treasures of this World and endeavouring every day to have our conversation as becometh the
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
most high and most willingly joyn our hearts and voices this Morning together with all the host of heaven and earth to laud and praise thy glorious Name and give thanks unto thee whose mercy endureth for ever We think our selves happy that we know thee and that we live under the care and providence of thine Almighty and most wise goodness and that we have a good hope not only of thy blessing and favour here but of life for evermore Blessed be thy Name for sending thy Son Jesus to give us these hopes by his Death and Resurrection and Ascension to heaven and the coming of the holy Ghost Blessed be thy Name who hast trained us up in his Religion and given us the means and opportunities to know that love of thine which passes knowledge We thank thee for all the blessed operations and motions of thy holy Spirit in our hearts and that thou hast so early inclined us to fear thee and love thee and place our contentment and satisfaction in thy love and favour which is better than life it self And that thou hast also added a number of other mercies for our comfortable subsistence in this world having granted us so long health peace and plenty a great many friends loving relations and acquaintance and continued the enjoyment of them to this day though we be so unworthy of the least of thy favours We thank thee O God that now thou hast graciously renewed thy kindness unto us in protecting us the last night from all the powers of darkness and every evil accident and raising us up this morning in health and safety to praise thy goodness More especially we praise thee for any sense we have of these thy mercies humbly waiting on thee for the increase of it and for thy gracious pardon of all our unthankfulness and undutiful behaviour towards thee which we most heartily bewail and desire and will endeavour to amend And for that end we implore the help of thy holy Spirit which our Lord hath incouraged us to ask of thee and told us thou wilt not deny to those that earnestly seek it and continue to knock importunately at the gate of Mercy for it We believe all his promises to be faithful and true and therefore humbly depend on thy mighty Power to strengthen and inable us to do our duty towards thee and towards all men with care and diligence and zeal and perseverance to the end Indue us good Lord with a spirit of true and servent devotion to thee our Creator and Redeemer with upright just and charitable hearts to all our Neighbours and with temperate contented and humble minds in every condition and state of life unto which thou shalt please to call us Help us to be meek and gentle in our conversation prudent and discreet in ordering all our affairs good and useful in every relation observant of thy fatherly providence in every thing that befals us grateful for thy benefits patient under thy chastisements and readily disposed to every good word and work Preserve in us a constant remembrance of thine all-seeing eye of the many promises and vows we have made of fidelity to thee of thine inestimable love in Christ Jesus whereof thou hast given us so many pledges and of the great account we must give to him the Judge of all at the day of his appearing That so we may continue steadfast and unmoveable and be abundant in the work of the Lord knowing that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. Deliver us we beseech thee from all inordinate cares and desires from vain hopes and causeless fears and so dispose our hearts that death it self may not be dreadful to us but we may welcome it with a chearful countenance when and howsoever it shall approach O that our hearts may be so firmly settled and established in the true Religion and our minds kept so free from all delusions that nothing may afright us or shake our constancie But we may rather chuse to dye than dishonour our Saviour who dyed for us We resign our selves to thy wisdom and goodness who knowest what is best for us hoping thou wilt 1 Corinth 10.13 never suffer us to be tempted above what we are able and wilt with the temptation also make a way to escape that we may be able to bear it We commend unto thee likewise all mankind especially thy Church and chosen people these Kingdoms more particularly of which we are members that we may be all faithful to our Lord Christ and zealous of good works Bless our Soveraign his Councellors his Ministers and all imployed in publick business whether Spiritual or Civil that they may be conscientiously industrious and whatsoever they do may prosper for the good of all those who are committed to their charge Be gracious to all our friends and those who are dear unto us Keep us all in thy fear and love and obedience while we live and make us willing to dye and to be with Christ which is best of all Guide us good Lord and govern us by the same spirit of wisdom and goodness that we may be so united to thee here as not to be eternally separated when thou art pleased to order our departure hence But that we all at last may have an happy meeting in the other and better world to dwell with thee in love and joy that shall never dye through Christ Jesus our blessed Lord and Saviour in whose words we still beseech thee to hear us Our Father c. At Night ALL honour and glory thanks and praise love and service be rendred by us and all other reasonable creatures to thy great and glorious Majesty O Lord who hast brought us into the world and preserved our life most tenderly to this moment and made it easie and comfortable to us by more mercies than we can number And to all the former hast added those of this day which we have passed in peace and health and safety blessed be thy never-ceasing goodness Above all we acknowledge thy unconceiveable love in Christ Jesus by whom thou hast made a gracious provision for our souls and their everlasting happiness in the other world Having sent him to us with the promises of eternal life and to be the Way and Director to it and given him to dye that he might seal his promises with his bloud and raised him again from the dead that our faith and hope might be in thee O God 1 Cor. 2.9 Eye had not seen nor ear heard neither did enter into the heart of man the things which thou hast prepared for them that love thee We love thee O Lord and give our selves both souls and bodies to thee most earnestly desiring to be inspired with such a sense of thy infinite goodness that we may love thee more and serve thee better with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength We confess we have not walked worthy of the great
benefits we have received and therefore may justly fear thou shouldest withhold thy tender mercies and shut up thy loving kindness in displeasure But the desires and holy resolutions thou hast wrought and continuest in our souls to amend and become still more fruitful in all good works incourage us to hope in thee for pardon through the bloud of Jesus Christ and for the assistance of thy holy Spirit to inable us to accomplish that which we intend and purpose to grow more and more in wisdom and knowledge and in righteousness and true holiness O that this Image of thine may appear every day fairer and more beautiful before thee and in the sight of all men That so we may adorn the Religion we profess and be a good Example unto others and have a solid foundation of peace and comfort in our own hearts and be able to hope in thee for thy future mercy in Christ Jesus even unto eternal life We commend our selves to thy wonted grace and in a sense of what thou hast done already for us and what thou hast promised to do depend on thy goodness for what thou seest profitable and conducing to our chiefest good referring our selves wholly to thy wise will and pleasure and resolved contentedly to submit to thy appointments thankfully to receive thy mercies and to rest satisfied with our portion whatsoever it be that thou orderest for us Make us but steadfast in thy faith and love unwearied in well doing patient and constant under all sufferings full of a lively hope in thy mercy and willing to dye when and as thou pleasest and we have enough In confidence that thou hearest us and art every where and never slumberest nor sleepest we commit our selves to the custody of thy watchful providence this night to be secured and protected by thee when we cannot at all attend to our own preservation May it please thy goodness to give this whole family a comfortable rest and repose to defend this habitation and all about us from fire and such like sad accidents to deliver us from the power of evil spirits and of evil men and to raise us in health and chearfulness to praise thee and to glorifie thee both in soul and body the next day Psal 59.16,17 Then will we sing of thy power yea we will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning because thou hast been our defence and our refuge at all times Vnto thee O our strength will we sing for God is our defence and the God of our mercy 111.1 We will praise the Lord with our whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation 92.1,2 For it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord and to sing praises unto thy name O most High to shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning and thy faithfulness every night 24.1 The earth is thine and the fulness thereof the world and they that dwell therein 22.27,28 Let all the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee O that all the ends of the world would remember and turn unto the Lord and all the kindreds of the Nations worship before him For the kingdom is the Lords and he is the governour among the Nations Bless especially all Christian Kings and Princes that it may Prov. 16.12 be an abomination to them to commit wickedness and their thrones may be established by righteousness And incline the hearts of all those who have any authority in these Kingdoms to love and hold fast thy true Religion and to live according to to it that 20.28 by mercy and truth the king may be preserved and his throne be upholden by mercy We heartily desire the ease peace and satisfaction of all those who are in pain trouble and perplexity and that all poor miserable people may find supply of their wants from thy bounty and the charity of those on whom thou hast bestowed plenty and abundance We humbly also wait for thy blessing upon all our Relations and Friends trusting in thee for such a measure of health and all other good things as thou judgest useful for us and especially that the Lord Jesus 1 Tim. 4.8 will deliver us from every evil work and preserve us to his heavenly kingdom To whom be glory for ever and ever Amen Our Father c. A shorter Morning Prayer for any day in the week when there is not time by reason of some extraordinary occasions for the other O Most great and glorious God the Soveraign of the World Upon whom we continually depend to whom we owe all the love the service and the praise that we are able to render to all eternity We adore thy infinite mercy from whence we have received so many blessings for the comfort of this life and by which we have a sure Hope of good things in the life to come Blessed be thy goodness which hath not suffered us to wander without instruction after the foolish desires of our own hearts but hath clearly shown us where our happiness lyes We receive with all thankfulness those holy words which teach us the blessedness of poverty and contentedness of spirit of meekness and humility of mind of hungering and thirsting after righteousness of mercifulness and purity of heart of peaceableness and patient suffering for doing the will of our Lord Christ O that we may have grace to labour alway to be in the number of those blessed Souls that never set their hearts on any thing so much as these heavenly vertues O that we may ever think and feel our selves happy in the comfort of those great and precious promises of being made the children of the highest the heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven and at last of seeing thee our God It suffices O Lord that we have these glorious hopes hereafter which make us believe thou wilt not let us want what is necessary for us whilst we continue here We commend our selves with an humble confidence to thy watchful providence this day beseeching thee to guide and assist us that in all our desires words and actions we may keep our selves innocent and undefiled before thee and be disposed to do all good as we have opportunity And we heartily desire that all mankind may be filled with the same devotion to thee and especially that all Christian people may glorifie thy Name and be joyful in thee And the greater any are in Dignity and Power raise their spirits to the greater pitch of Wisdom Mercy and Piety that they may right those that suffer wrong and defend those that have no helper and provide for the ease and comfort of all miserable creatures to the utmost of their power In this ardent charity we commit both souls and bodies to thee beseeching thee to increase our love to thee and to all men till we be fit to be translated to the region of love and joy and perfect satisfaction through Christ Jesus
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
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
of thee and of my own good as for the small and momentany pleasures of this world to hazard the loss of those great and eternal joys which we expect in the other life But enable me O most gracious God so to behave my self that when I have passed through all the imployments and occasions of this day I may bring my self back again into thy presence so pure and undefiled that I may begin those joys which are to come in chearful praises of thee and in a comfortable sense that thou dwellest in me and art leading me by thy holy Spirit to immortal happiness through Christ Jesus Amen A Prayer for serious and effectual Consideration the better to establish all good resolutions O Most glorious Majesty of heaven and earth who art above the highest of all our thoughts and much more beyond all our words But that thou art great and mighty we know by thy works of wonder which we behold And the admirable disposure and government of all things tell us that thou art infinitely wise and knowest all things We see how good thou art by the large provision which thou hast made for all thy creatures every where Thy Precepts teach us how just and holy thou art and by thy Promises we know that thou art gracious and bountiful and by thy Threatnings that thou hatest iniquity and by thy executing of both that thou art faithful and true and wilt save the godly and punish evil doers When we consider all this we may justly wonder at our selves that we should not fear thee and reverence thee and love thee and seek thy love and favour above all things by studying to please thee in universal obedience to thy blessed will which designs to imploy thy Almighty Power to make us so great so happy and so glorious And there is no other reason I see why we are no better affected towards thee but because our thoughts are exceeding short and light and vain and we so seldom consider and deeply ponder what we confess thou art and in what relation we stand to thy Divine Majesty Vouchsafe therefore O God of all grace to awaken my mind to a more lively and stedfast remembrance of thee my Creator my Redeemer my daily Benefactor and my most loving and tender-hearted Father in Christ Jesus O that no day may pass without some serious and considerate thoughts of those things which so nearly concern my everlasting welfare And by thy powerful presence with me inlighten my mind to a clearer sense of them Quicken and inliven that sense I humbly beseech thee and make it so strong and moving that it may press upon my heart and affections till it overcome me to surrender soul and body absolutely unto thee Pardon all my former neglects of thee and let them not hinder the influences of thy holy Spirit upon me by which I may be changed into thy image and likeness Sanctifie my understanding that I may rightly conceive thy holy Truths and fully apprehend them Sanctifie my memory that I may keep in mind all that I know of thee and of thy blessed will revealed to us in Christ Jesus Sanctifie my will that I may chearfully imbrace and intirely consent to thine in all things And sanctifie all my affections that I may love thee with all my heart and soul and strength and delight in thee more than in all the contentments of this life and hope more for thy glory than all worldly preferments and fear thee more than the greatest potentate upon earth and take more care for my soul and eternal things than for this body and all its momentany pleasures and hate all sin more than my greatest enemies yea help me to love mine enemies to do good to them that do evil to me to bless them that curse me and pray for them that despightfully use me For which end sanctifie all my Passions that I may be angry at nothing so much as that I have displeased thee and in an holy indignation at my self and in revenge of my former negligence and disobedience may be more strict and severe in the performance of all my duty for the time to come Sanctifie me throughout in body as well as spirit that I may possess it in holiness and honour and all my senses may administer occasions to my mind to remember thee to praise thee and to bless thee who every way so liberally providest for me Sanctifie all my conversation with others and all the imployments of this life that I may still be heavenly minded and have a respect to my last end and everlasting good Sanctifie all the blessings of health and strength and peace and plenty and friends yea and all the crosses and afflictions of this life that they may make me more serious and considerate and help more perfectly to purifie my spirit and dispose me for the happiness of the other world Raise me O Lord to such an exceeding great delight in these holy thoughts and meditations and entertain me with such a blissful sense of thee when I address my self unto thee that I may rather be unwilling to depart from thy presence than weary of conversing with thee And when I return to my other imployments again O that my mind may be often looking back towards thee my God my exceeding joy desirous to be always with thee and longing to enjoy thee in unchangeable love and perfect likeness to thee Unto which I most humbly beseech thee to bring me for thy mercies sake declared in Christ Jesus who lives for ever to make intercession for us Amen THe better to preserve a constant sense of God in the mind and pious dispositions in the heart Here follow certain short Ejaculations as we are wont to call them in which upon several occasions any man may lift up his soul to God And if he do it fervently may find it of great effect EJACVLATIONS When he awakes in the morning he may say I Laid me down and slept I awaked for the Lord sustained me Psal 3.5 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me O God how great is the sum of them If I would count them they are more in number than the sand when I awake I am still with thee Psal 139.17,18 When he is dressing himself O how bountiful is the ornament of a pure humble meek patient and charitable spirit Help me O God to put on the Lord Jesus in these and all other vertues When he goes into the Church or his Closet My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed I will sing and give praise Psal 57.7 When he begins any business My help cometh from the Lord which â—ade heaven and earth Psal 121.2 The Lord Jesus Christ be with my spirit 2. Tim. 4.22 When he goes forth of his doors Hold thou up my goings in thy paths that my foot-steps slip not Psal 17.5 Order my steps in thy word and let not any iniquity have dominion over me 119.133 Give thy
angels charge over me to keep me in all my ways 91.11 When he walks abroad and beholds all things round about him he may say as it is Psal 104.24 O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches c. At Meals O taste and see that the Lord is good He filleth our hearts with food and gladness Psal 24.8 Act. 14.17 Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with his benefits Psal 68.19 At Candle-light Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us Psal 4.6 Or God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us 67.1 When he goes to bed I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou Lord only makest me dwell in safety Psal 4.8 He that keepeth me doth not slumber The Lord is my keeper the Lord is my defence who neither slumbers nor sleeps Psal 121.4,5 In the Night season O happy souls that rest not day nor night saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which was which is and is to come Rev. 4.8 O great God! the darkness hideth not from thee but the night shineth as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to thee Psal 139.12 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches Because thou hast been my help therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoyce Psal 63.5,6,7 On a sick-bed or in other affliction It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good 1 Sam. 3.18 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord Lam. 3.26 Blessed be the Lord for my long continued health and all his other benefits Let the remembrance of thy former mercies refresh my soul and incourage my hope and strengthen my patience with quiet resignation of my self to thy good pleasure At the point of Death I have waited for thy salvation O Lord Gen. 49.18 Into thy hand O Father I commend my self who breathedst into me the breath of Life Lord Jesus receive my spirit which thou hast redeemed by thy precious bloud and sanctified by the holy Ghost When he hears a Passing-bell Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity Psal 39.5 O teach me so to number my days that I may apply my heart unto wisdom 90.12 In a time of Plague O Lord correct us but with judgement not in thine anger lest thou bring us to nothing Jer. 10.24 In a time of War O Lord arise help us and deliver us for thy names sake From our enemies defend us O Christ Graciously look upon our affliction King Asa cryed unto God in this manner when he was going to give battle to a million of enemies Lord it is nothing with thee to help whether with many or with them that have no power Help us O Lord our God for we rest on thee and in thy name go against this multitude 2 Chron. 14.11 In any other publick Calamity Spare thy people O Lord and give not thy heritage to reproach Joel 2.17 A great Offender may often say with the Prodigal Father I have sinned against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son And with the Publican God be merciful to me a sinner After any mercy received What shall I render unto the Lord for all the benefits that he hath done unto me Psal 116.12 Every day will I give thanks unto thee and praise thy name for ever and ever 145.1 I shall mention no more because I would not invite the Reader to make this sort of Prayer too common For by that means it will be in danger to grow cold and lose its force and efficacie by growing fashionable To that purpose I remember a devout Prelate of our own Bishop Hall somewhere delivers his judgement about this matter But if any one find that he can with profit turn his thoughts this way upon all occasions he may easily invent more Ejaculations The measure of them is as that forenamed person speaks to preserve our hearts in a constant tender and godly disposition which shall be further actuated upon all opportunites by the exercise of our more inlarged and fixed devotions A Prayer for Submission to God in case of any great loss in a mans Estate Relations or Friends O Most Holy holy holy the Supreme Lord and Governour of the world who are unsearchable in thy Wisdom unspotâ—ed in thy Justice and irresistable in â—hy Power whose goodness hath no â—ounds but what thy wise and holy Will gives unto it and art immuâ—able in these and all other perfections the great God most blessed for ever It is most reasonable and agreeable to our nature most profitable and convenient to our interest most satisfactory and suitable to our wisest choice by an absolute and â—uiet submission in all things to thy â—overaign Wisdom Justice and Goodness to declare our fear and reverence of thee our unfeigned love to thee and desires to please thee our trust and confidence in thee and ready disposition to obey thee Thou art too great I know to delight in grieving us thy poor creatures and hast other ways of procuring thy own pleasure than by our misery pain and torment And therefore in a full perswasion of thy unerring providence over us and infinite Charity towards us I here most humbly and freely resign all my thoughts and desires unto thee submitting my self intirely to thy Orders and resolving by thy gracious assistance to rest contented with whatsoever thou appointest The Lord gave Job 1.21 and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the Name of the Lord. Blessed bâ— thy name who hast continued to me so long the enjoyment of so many good things Blessed be thy nameâ— that I had any thing to part withal whereby I may testifie my faith in thee and affection to thee Blessed be thy name that I have any of the comforts of this life still remaining and that they are not all taken away from me I have nothing too great or too dear to be resigned to thee from whose bounty I received all I have and who art my best and my eternal friend O that no repining thoughts may arise in my heart to disorder and discompose my duty towards thee or towards my neighbour But help me rather to think wherein I have offended thee and carefully to amend it to place my affections more stedfastly on those unmoveable things which are above to lay up my treasure and hope in heaven and to prepare my self by perfecting my purity and thankfulness and paâ—ience and all other vertues to be translated thither where our life is â—id in thee with Christ Jesus I â—hank thee O Father of Mercies that thou hast given us such everlasting consolation through thy Grace in him Every day will I bless thee
thereby to â—rust in thee at all times 62.8 and pour out our hearts before thee Tob. 4.16 7.12 for thou art a refuge for us Now the merciful God give him good success in all things These last words may serve for a short Ejaculation in his behalf at any time of the day The God which dwelleth in heaven prosper his journey and the Angeâ— of God keep him company Amen A Thanksgiving after a safe Returâ— home IN an humble joyful sense of thâ— fatherly care and providence over me ever since I went from thiâ— place to which thou hast brought mâ— back in peace and safety I cast dowâ— my self at thy feet O Lord God oâ— heaven praising thy Almighty goodness with an heart full of love anâ— devotion to thee It is of thâ— mercy alone that I am not consumed â—nd because thy compassions fail not That I am not groaning under sickâ—ess or wounds and bruises in my body nor sighing for the loss of my goods either at home or abroad is â—o be ascribed to that tender mercy which spreads its self over all thy works and hath been a covering to me night and day in every place where I have been from I know not how many dangers I thank thee â—lso for letting me see the faces of my relations and friends again and that no evil hath come nigh their dwellings but especially for preserving my soul in integrity and uprightness before thee and for delivering me from the power of temptations and from wounding my conscience by any wilful offence against thy Divine Majesty It is too little to render to thee my Praises and Thanksgivings I will pay thee my Vows wherein I stand ingaged to thee and here offer unto thee my self soul and body tâ— be made a more pure perfect and acceptable sacrifice unto thee througâ— Christ Jesus Maintain I beseecâ— thee such a lively and lasting remembrance of thy kindness in mâ— heart as may both provoke me tâ— love and to good works and alsâ— strengthen my faith and hope iâ— thee on all occasions for the time tâ— come I ought not to forget now that â— mention thy late deliverances aâ—… the rest of thy mercies which arâ— so many and so various that alas â— we take little notice of many oâ— them In the constant and undisturbed course of them we are apâ— to be less sensible how much wâ— stand indebted to thee for them Yea they have been so long continued to us and we are so far from the beginning of them that we are too prone to forget the head and fountain from whence they spring O how sad is it that we should love thee less because thou lovest us so much and that we should think the seldomer of thy bounty because thou constantly rememberest us and dost us good How much should we praise thee for our health and â—ease if we were sick or in pain but a few days And yet now we praise thee but a little though we are well many years How thankful should we be if we were freed from the Devil after he had affrighted and â—exed us but one night and yet now alas we scarce mind thy goodness which perpetually preserves us from his assaults Endue me O God of all grace with a more serious spirit often reflecting and meditating upon thee and upon thy benefits both to my soul and body for this â—ife and that which is to come That I may not be taught the value and number of thy blessings by being deprived of them but in their constant use and enjoyment may ever duly ponder them extolling and praising thy infinite goodness with sensible love to thee and delight in doing of thy Will For which end I beseech thee to indue me with power from above that I may not deceive my own soul with some passionate desires transports of joy or sudden resolutions but deliberately and with the full consent of my heart devoting my self to thy service I may conscientiously study to improve all thy mercies to the honour and glory of thy Name the credit of my Religion the good and profit of my Neighbours and my own solid peace and comfort at present and eternal joy at the day oâ— the Lord. And bless all others I beseech thee that desire the same mercy oâ— which thou hast made me partaker Receive them into thy protection 〈◊〉 conduct them safely to the end oâ— their journies Make them eveâ— mindful of thy loving kindness and careful to remember that every new benefit is a new bond to better obedience Unto which good Lord incline us all more and more for thy mercies sake in Christ Jesus by whom and for whom thy glorious Name be blessed and praised for ever Amen A Prayer to be said by one going a Voyage on the Sea Which may be used with a little alteration by his Friends for him O Most mighty Lord the God of our salvation who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth Psal 65.5 and of them that are afar off upon the Sea Under whose powerful protection we are alike secure in every place and without whose providence over us we can no where be in safety I am sensible of the tender care thou hast long taken of me and that I have been preserved by thee from innumerable dangers both in my infancy and childhood and ever since for which I have not thankt thee as I ought I most humbly beseech thee graciously to pardon this and all other my offences which might justly weaken my confidence in thee did I not feel thy grace in Christ Jesus who dyed for us to be so great as to fill my heart not only with unfeigned sorrow for them but with holy resolutions to be more grateful and dutiful in time to come This emboldens me with an humble faith in thy Almighty goodness to commend my self still to the conduct guidance and blessing of thy merciful Providence O God receive me though a sinful creature into thy favour and grace Purge my heart from all affection to every thing that is evil that I may not carry the sense of any guilt unrepented of along with me in my voyage but have my heart setled in such an unmoveable love to all piety righteousness and sobriety of mind and life that no storm or tempest or other danger may dismay me and make me afraid They are all I know in thy hands to which I commit my self with an intire trust in thee that nothing shall hurt me while I follow that which is good If thou art pleased to bring me to my desired haven Lord possess me then with these good thoughts and affections which I feel at present in my heart towards thee That my chief joy may be in thee and in the love I find in my heart to thee and I may never forget thee by intemperate mirth and pleasure in any other enjoyment But if thou thinkest good otherwise to dispose of me thy
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
none besides thee Thou art righteous in all thy ways Job 11.7 and holy in all thy works Thou lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity and art excellent in power and in judgement and in plenty of justice The earth is thine and the fulness thereof the world and they that dwell therein The heavens declare the glory of God the firmament sheweth his handy-work The sun moon and stars praise the name of the Lord for he commanded and they were created He hath also established them for ever and ever He hath made a decree which shall not pass I know O Lord that thou canst do every thing and that no thought of thine can be hindred Whatsoever the Lord pleases that doth he in heaven and in earth in the seas and in all deep places For he is great and of great power his understanding is infinite Praised be thy Soveraign goodness and tender mercy which spreads it self over all thy works O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all And they all wait on thee that thou mayst give them their meat in due season That thou givest them they gather thou openest thy hand they are filled with good The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever the Lord shall rejoyce in his works Thou always wast and ever wilt be the most holy powerful wise and good Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations One generation shall â—raise thy works to another and shall deâ—lare thy mighty acts They all pass away like a shadow but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end For ever O Lord thy word is setled in heaven Thy faithfulness is unto all generations While I live there fore will I praise the Lord I wilâ— sing praises to my God while I have any being I will praise thee O Lord with my whole heart whose name iâ— exalted above all blessing and praise For we cannot know the Almighty to perfection His wisdom is unsearchable and his ways past finding out His name alone is excellent his glory is above the earth and heaven II. O what high dignity is this thaâ— I am admitted into thy presence tâ— speak unto thee the blessed and only Potentate 1 Tim. 6.15 the King oâ— kings and Lord of Lords who only hast immortality O how happy ought I to think my self thaâ— I may draw thus nigh to thee whâ— dwellest in light unapproachable who art so happy in thy own most blessed Nature and who if thou dost but open thy self to any soul and fillest it with a great sense of thee and affection to thee thou lettest heavenly joys into it and makest it happy beyond expression For heaven cannot be separated from thee but wheresoever thou art there is peace and satisfaction joy and gladness and unspeakable bliss Adored be thy divine goodness which hath made me so happy this day as to feel some sense of thee begin to shine in my soul Adored be thy goodness which incourages me still to look up unto thee that I may feel more of thee yea hath ingaged me by innumerable Mercies to continue these addresses to thy divine Majesty O how excellent is thy loving kindness Psal 36.7 O God! 139.17 How precious are thy thoughts unto me how great is the sum of them Psal 46.5 Many O Lord my God 22.9,10 are thy wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to me-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee if I would declare and speak of them they are more than can be numbred By thee I was fearfully and wonderfully made in secret Thou art he that took me out of my mothers womb and didst make me hope upon her breasts I have been cast upon thee ever since and thou hast been my gracious God unto this moment My infancy and childhood was attended with a very careful providence And thou hast blessed my riper years with a continued health and strength of body and mind and abundance of good things to support and refresh me in my pilgrimage through this world to a better life I never have wanted my daily bread even when I was not able to ask it of thee And thou hast bestowed on me many friends and kind benefactors And prevented me likewise by a timely grace and sent me many instructors that I might remember thee my Creator and Jesus Christ my Saviour Into whose family blessed be thy Name I was early adopted and assured of thy fatherly love and tender mercy towards me O how deeply do I stand indebted to thee for all those by whose Counsels or Sermons or Writings or religious Society or godly Examples or charitable Prayers I have been helped forward in my way to heaven Blessed be thy Name for all the means whereby I have been led to the knowledge of thy great love in the Lord Jesus which passeth knowledge For ever blessed be thy Name for sending him into the world born of a woman to be a teacher of righteousness to go before us and leave us a pattern of a most holy life to dye for our sins and to rise again for our justification and then to ascend into the heavens to prepare a place for us where thou hast advanced him above all principalities and powers Phil. 3.10,11 and given him a name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should how and every tongue confess him to be the Lord to the glory of thee O God the Father Almighty I glorifie thee O heavenly Father with all my heart and soul for inspiring thy holy Apostles and Prophets 2 Cor. 4.6 and shining into their hearts to give the light of the knowledge of thy glory in the face of Jesus Christ I thank thee for calling me to faith in thee for making such great and precious promises to incourage our hope and for disposing me in any measure to be an inheritour of them I thank thee for granting such power to our blessed Lord to fulfil his word for making him a royal high-Priest and appointing him to bless us here and eternally Glory be to thee O Lord most high who hast so often favoured me with the gracious visitations of thy holy Spirit inlightning my mind drawing my will towards thee exciting in me holy desires working many pious purposes and resolutions in my heart giving me a taste how gracious thou art setting before me the hope of eternal life and perswading me by innumerable arguments to entertain those blessings which I should have been forward of my self to have desired Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord Psal 106.2 who can show forth all his praise How often hast thou spared me when I deserved to be punished How many dangers have I escaped From how many assaults of the enemy have I been guarded And how many of his designs have been defeated by an invisible and unobserved goodness which ought for
truly to get their own living and to do their duty in that state of life unto which it hath pleased thee to call them And good Lord bless the honest labours of all men among us and crown them with good success Especially of those who have any work in hand for the glory of thy name the increase of Christian piety and the peace of thy Church Reward the bounty of all charitable persons either for the honour of Religion or the relief of them that are in poverty And make the bones which thou hast broken to rejoyce Comfort all that are in a sorrowful condition and bring them out of all their troubles Send thy Angel to guide and preserve those who are in journeys upon their lawful occasions Let them that go down into the deep and do business upon the great waters observe thy providence and praise thee for thy goodness and for thy wonderful works for the children of men Forgive all that have done me any evil and requite the kindness of those who have done me any good Let their souls abide in good and their seed inherit the earth Psal 25.13 Rejoyce the heart of all my Friends and fulfil the petitions of all that have desired my prayers 106. ult Let none that wait on thee O Lord be ashamed let all them that trust in thee say continually the Lord be magnified Save and deliver every one of us O Lord our God from the hands of our enemies to give thanks unto thy holy name and to triumph in thy praise Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ from everlasting to everlasting and let all the people say Amen Praise the Lord. AFter this if the spirits be tyred it will be fit to give them some refreshment And then it will be very profitable to read and weigh seriously our Saviours Sermon on the Mount contained in the V. VI. and VII Chapters of the Gospel according to St. Matthew And such meditations may be interspersed as are most sutable to the persons condition and occasions With the addition of some of the prayers foregoing for RESOLVTION in well doing or for the DIVINE GRACE or for good SVCCESS in any business or for Friends that are TROVBLED IN MIND or are in a long JOVRNEY c. And then conclude with the following Prayer and Thanksgiving I. I Most humbly adore and worship thee O Lord most high the possessor of heaven and earth And admire thy infinite love to mankind whom thou hast thought worth the expence of the bloud of thy dear Son and the conduct and assistance of the holy Ghost and the Ministry of Angels by whom thou exercisest a most watchful providence over us and so many gracious messages from heaven wherein thou hast plainly declared that thou desirest to see us eternally happy by being made partakers of a Divine Nature When we seriously consider thy glorious perfections and thy astonishing kindness towards us we may justly wonder at our selves that we should ever refuse to be conformed to thy will nay that we should not be exceeding forward to joyn our selves unto thee in most hearty love and intire friendship with thee I am amazed at the dulness and stupidity of our Nature that there should need so many intreaties and beseechings of us to be so happy It is impossible to think of thee and to prefer any thing in our esteem and desire and choice and delight and joy before thy favour and good will towards us who art so able and so desirous to bestow the greatest bliss upon us And therefore I most earnestly beseech thy goodness that to all other mercies which I have begged of thee thou wilt add this grace to bring thy self often to my remembrance and to possess my heart with a constant serious and deep sense of thy marvellous kindness in giving me liberty to chuse so great a good as thy self and in propounding to my will such everlasting happiness and in drawing me from those ways which are contrary even to my peace and satisfaction here by such powerful motives to well doing II. Awaken O Lord awaken this sense continually in my mind Fasten my thoughts upon those unseen and eternal enjoyments Make me feel what an happiness it is to love thee with all my heart to cleave unto thee against all temptations which would allure or affright me from my duty to bless and praise thee with joyful lips to be kept in perfect peace and tranquillity while my mind is stayed on thee to be full and satisfied and to desire nothing more but to live for ever in thy love O make me more and more to conceive and remember what an infinite delight thou the infinite good canst pour forth into us how highly our Lord Jesus is dignified and exalted and that thou hast made him most blessed for ever and made him exceeding glad with thy countenance Psal 21.6 and that he will bring all thy children unto his glory Settle in my soul such strong apprehensions of these things that they may purifie my heart more perfectly and provoke me to an unwearied diligence in well doing and make me endure hardship also if need be as a good souldier of Jesus Christ who was made perfect through sufferings III. And assist me especially in these holy addresses to thee that continuing instant in prayer I may feel my heart lifted up more and more towards heaven by ardent breathings after thee And indue me likewise with such a spirit of wisdom and such sincerity of heart that I may never be discouraged though I fall short of the height of my desires but I may always thankfully acknowledge thy grace in what I have attained and labour earnestly to grow better with a quiet patient even and steady mind Preserve in me an humble confidence that thou wilt never forsake the work of thine own hands And let that confidence make me industrious but not slothful And let thy holy Spirit bless and further my endeavours and a fervent desire and hearty good will press me forward and the pleasures of Religion mightily indear it to me and the joy that thou hast set before me make me run the way of thy commandments with an enlarged heart And the nearer I come to the end of my race may it please thy goodness to present me with a clearer sight of that Crown of Life which our Lord hath promised Open to me more of the treasures of thy Kingdom and fill me with a greater joy in hope of thy glory that so I may be willing to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is best of all IV. And now O Lord what thanks shall I render unto thee for these holy thoughts desires and affections which by thy grace I feel in my heart together with all the other benefits which thou hast bestowed on me or intendest for me Great and marvellous things O God hast thou wrought for the children of men and thou hast