by the assistance of thy most holy and eternal Spirit Amen A Prayer for Divine Assistance and increase of Grace MOST Glorious and Blessed God! Thou art Infinite in all perfections thy Will is pure and all thine Excellencies are unchangeable But though thou hast been pleased to derive upon us some small degrees of thy glorious Nature though we act for the sake of such ends as we our selves propose and chuse yet our faculties are weak our sensitive appetites impose upon our reason The law of our members prevails upon the law of our mind â—om 7.15 16 c. that we cannot do the thing that we would O work in me O Lord what thou wouldst have me both to will and do â—hil 2.13 assist me by thy Grace that the power of evil habits may decay and dye in me that the life of God and all the Graces of the Holy Spirit may grow more vigorous and strong Break not O Lord Mat. 12.20 the bruised reed nor quench the smoaking flax but assist my weakness strengthen my faint desires encourage my sincerity confirm my Faith inflame my Love cherish mine Hope and enlarge my Charity support me under all my conflicts and carry me through all temptations that I may chearfully do and suffer whatsoever pleases thee Matt. 5 6. Psal 63.1.84.2.42.1 Phil. 3.14 O how I hunger and thirst after righteousness how my soul longeth after God! how chearfully could I leave all things that hinder me behind and press forwards for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ if by any means I may attain the resurrection of the dead O perfect what thou hast begun Eph. 3.47 Gal. 4.19 Ps 73.24 dwell in mine heart by faith and form thy self in me Guide me by thy counsels here and receive me at last into thine everlasting glory through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen A Prayer for a due intention of Mind in the Celebration of Religious Duties O Father of Mercies and God of all our Consolations It was Thine own essential Goodness that first inclined thee to create us that thou mightest communicate thy self unto us and exercise thy Grace and Bounty upon us Thou hast given us all the assurances that our hearts can wish That thou delightest to do us good and that thine ears are open to our prayers 1 Pet 3.12 How justly then art thou the desire and the Worship of all nations O that I could praise thee with understanding and recount thine Excellencies with that Sense and Adoration as I ought O that I could make my Prayers unto thee with a perfect Heart with true desire and sutable endeavour that in all the Solemnities of Religion I could approach thy presence with such an holy frame with such a temper and affection of mind as the duty may require But O Lord I cannot enough bewail mine own formality and deadness in things Divine and Spiritual How difficult do I find it to raise in my mind a lively sense of God even in the most solemn duties How hard it is to bring my Soul to such a perfect Unity to such an intire concurrence as it ought to have with the outward celebrations of Religion But O blessed Jesus who once didst pity and forgive the infirmities of thine own disciples Matt. 26.45 who could not watch with thee an hour have mercy upon me Warm mine Affections by the irradiations of thy Love refine my Nature and raise me above the body Enlighten my Mind that I may know Thee correct the perverseness of my Will that I may chearfully obey Thee mortifie all mine inordinate desires that I may prefer and chuse Thee heal all my bodily distempers ease my worldly cares subdue mine unruly passions and preserve me from too strong temptations that my Mind may be always steddy and composed always fit to serve Thee here that I may sing an eternal Hallelujah to thy Praise hereafter through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer to be said by well meaning persons under any dejection or despondencies of Mind O Most Merciful God and Father Thou correctest Jer. 10.24 but it is with judgment not thine anger that thou shouldst bring us to nothing Heb. 12.6 thou chastenest every son whom thou dost receive All the evils that we suffer in the world are the directions of thy Wisdom for our Good Heb. 12.10 I therefore bless thy Holy Name for all thy Fatherly corrections wherewith in Mercy thou hast ever visited me And I humbly implore thy Divine Assistance that I may now behave my self with the most intire and perfect resignation to thy Will under that confusion fear and terror of mind which thou art pleased to lay upon me I rejoyce in the midst of this sore affliction as it is a token of thy care and Love how severely soever it may affect me Lord bring me nearer to thy self and preserve me stedfast in my duty to the end how sharp soever the means may be But O most gracious Father if the hiding of thy Countenance from me for a time has wrought those happy effects upon me for which thy Wisdom and Goodness did design it Restore me O restore me for Jesus Christ his sake to a sense of thy Love to peace in my Mind again Ps 6.6 I am weary of my groaning all the night long do I water my couch with my tears my Soul is disquieted within me sunk down into the dust of death even into the pit of hell Visit me O God Ps 106.4 with thy salvation cause thine Holy Spirit to descend into mine heart that he may defend and guard me in all my tryals support and quiet my dejected Mind Is 50 2. 59.1 Matt 8.8 Thy hand is not shortned that it cannot save say but the word O Lord and thy servant shall be healed O how would I magnifie thy Glory imitate thy Life and obey thy Will if Thou shouldst be pleased to trust me with Health and Peace again Lord pardon and hear the importunity of thy servant my heart is full Psal 6.4.55.5.142.1 Psal 60.1 Lam. 5.20 21. my soul also is sore troubled Lord how long wilt thou punish me O turn Thee again and have mercy upon me consider my complaint and let my crying come unto Thee O how chearfully would I do or suffer any thing whereby I might testifie the sincerity of mine Adoration Love and Duty to Thy Sacred Majesty I have none in Heaven but God Ps 73.25 and there is none upon Earth that I desire in comparison of Thee O when shall I feel that joy and peace in my mind which Thou hast promised to those that Love Thy Law Ps 119 165. O when wilt thou dispel those clouds of diffidence and fear which depress and trouble me even now that I find in my self the most sincere desires to do my duty in the World Yet not my will Matt. 26.42 O Lord but Thine be done here I am
and Virtue which are the indispensable conditions of our acceptance We may prevent our growth in Grace by thinking our selves unfit to use the means thereof An hearty desire of perfection with such endeavours Improvements Devotions and preparations as our capacity and opportunity will permit intitle us to the use and to the benefits of the Holy Sacraments For how could they be said to be the means of Grace if none but persons already vested with it in great degrees were allowed to use them So that the sincere though imperfect Christian at the present has a particular propriety in the Holy Sacrament because they are appointed of God to be the means of obtaining that which these especially want For I am not come Matt. 9.12 13. says our Saviour to call the righteous but sinners to repentance And again The whole need not a Physician but the sick Not that there are any so righteous as not to need Repentance or so whole as not to need a Physician but the more confirmed and establisht Men are in a course of Obedience to God the more they are under the power of Religion and the longer they have so continued These comparatively speaking have the less occasion to use the means I say not this to encourage carelesness or indifference in the worship of God in any God knows the frailties of the best are so great and so many that there is little fear of diverting a good Man from the worship of God because of the comfort and support he feels therein and the great necessity in this state of uncertainty and war that he finds thereof But since our Saviour allows it I would by His own similitudes expel and dissipate all fatal scruples out of the minds of the sincere though young Beginners in Religion Par. Sir I thank you for your pains and I hope they are not ill bestowed by the Grace of God you shall see the good effect thereof in a little time Min. Ay that is the end of all I pray God confirm your Resolutions and be sure you let me see you as often as you can that I may explain or enlarge upon any Article of our Discourse or refresh your Memory as occasion may require THE END Proper Prayers suited to the foregoing Account of the Holy Sacrament A Preparatory Prayer OAlmighty God! although thy Councils are unsearchable Rom. 11.33 and thy ways past finding out tho' neither I nor the Angels of thy presence shall ever comprehend the mystery of Man's Redemption thro' Jesus Christ 1 Pet. 1.12 yet it is enough for me that thus it is revealed and therefore I believe with all mine heart I adore the mystery and resolve my hope and trust into the merits of the Cross I will now and ever implore thy Pardon Grace and Assistance for His sake alone whose Body was broken and whose Blood was shed for the Remission of my sins mine only Saviour and Redeemer And O that I might meet my Lord this day in the appointed Signs and Sacrament of his Passion with an heart as sted fast in the Faith as if I had seen his Miracles as full of Love as if I had been healed of my diseases by his Power as full of Joy as if Himself had said unto me Be of good chear thy sins are all forgiven Matt. 9.2 as constant in my Resolutions against all Impiety and sin as if I had seen my Lord in his Agony and heard Him say My God my God why hast Thou forsaken me Matt. 27.46 O Lord encourage my sincere desires and enable me to perform the intended duties with these and all such holy dispositions as Thou requirest of me assist my weakness by thy power support and strengthen all those Graces which Thou hast begun and perfect them at last in habits of Obedience Love and Praise through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A short Ejaculation upon the receiving of the Bread O Lord I am a sinful man Matt. 8.8 not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof O cleanse my soul from all impurity and filth make me fit to receive so glorious a guest and then abide and dwell in me for ever thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A short Ejaculation upon receiving of the Cup. Lord Mar. 9.24 I believe help thou mine unbelief that the Bread which I eat and the Wine which I drink thus blessed and given by thy Command may be indeed the Body and Blood of Christ to me the Seal of my Pardon and the earnest of Eternal life thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer to be said immediately after you have received the Elements O Most merciful God and Father How wonderful is Thy love to me a wretched sinner that Thou now vouchsafest to receive me as a guest to thine own Table and hast fed me with the Bread of Heaven Joh. 6.55 That thou shouldst make an offer of peace and reconciliation to me That Thou shouldst never be weary of shewing mercy That the blood of our Saviour should be salutary still and exhibited for ever to the relief of all that are willing to be healed Lord what is man that thou art so mindful of him Psal 8.4 or the Son of Man that Thou so regardest him O make me worthy of this inestimable blessing purifie my thoughts rectifie my will sanctifie mine affections strengthen my resolutions that I may go on from one degree of grace unto another Col. 1.28 Mat. 25.23 till I come to be perfect in Christ Jesus that I may improve my Talent and be the better sensible for every Sacrament I receive till my Faith shall at last be perfected in Vision and the Communion of thy Body and Blood shall be finally resolved into the full enjoyment of thine Eternal Deity O Blessed Jesus Amen A Prayer to be said in your Closet after your return from the Holy Communion O Eternal God! Ps 7.9 Rev. 2.23 Ps 51.6 That searchest the hearts and triest the reins of men Thou that requirest truth in the inner parts O purge my soul from all Hypocrisie and guile that I may now and always serve thee with that sincerity and purity as I ought to do O Lord I hope my inward self my very soul and heart did indite the Praises Prayers and Vows of my Tongue this day before thee O thou that remembrest whereof we are made Ps 103 14. and considerest that we are but men Heb 4.15 O Thou our great High Priest who art touched with the feeling of our infirmities accept of my good intentions and forgive the coldness of my Devotions and the remisness of my mind the wandring of my thoughts and the many imperfections of this and of all mine Holy things and O Lord I beseech thee continue upon my soul that Holy disposition that Religious sense which by thy Grace I have been affected with this day that I may be united to thy self in the same affections and
believe his Word and rely upon his Promises because he is Truth it self and cannot be deceived he is Wisdom it self and cannot propose or promise at adventure he is Power it self and can bring into act whatsoever he decrees He is Goodness it self and neither can nor will deceive us If therefore our Love of God be sincere and with understanding the most intire and perfect confidence in his Word and Promises are necessary We shall inquire into his Will study his Laws submit our apprehensions to his determinations and stedfastly believe whatsoever he reveals If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of dreams Deut. 13.1 2 3. and giveth you a sign or a wonder and the sign or wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee saying go after other gods which thou hast not known and serve them thou shalt not hearken to that Prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord thy God proveth thee to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul The adhering firmly to the Word of God though a Wonder should be wrought in confirmation of a contrary doctrine is made a test of our Love of God by God himself That is the Second The Third particular implied in the Love of God with all the heart and with all the Soul is such an imitation of the Divine Perfections as our present state and capacity will permit Self-love or a desire of being happy and perfect in the kind is the necessary inclination or the first principle of every being And therefore whatsoever Good or excellence we clearly understand as essential to or perfective of our being or conducible to the ease and convenience of our life we cannot chuse but desire the possession of it It is not so properly an act of reason as an instinct of nature But if we love the Lord our God with all our Heart and Soul with sincerity and understanding we shall discern the beauty capacity and perfection of our own nature in the Qualities and the life of the first and most perfect of rational Beings and shall therefore necessarily desire to imitate those Divine vertues which we so adore and love The abstracted essence of God is impossible to be comprehended by a finite understanding but we judge of the Divinity as of all things else by effects and operations by his works of Creation and Providence by his Universal righteousness wisdom purity and goodness so visible in the government of the World If we therefore apprehend and admire these glorious Attributes of God we shall endeavour to transcribe his Copy and model our Souls according to this Exemplar because the resolution of the mind that such a quality is worthy and excellent includes desire and imitation we shall endeavour to be holy as God is holy in all our conversation that as he is so we may be in the World wise in the management of our ends just in our dealings merciful to the distressed ready to forgive our enemies in all things aspiring after the Divine perfections and setting the Life of God before us as the Rule of our Conversation That 's the Third The fourth particular implied in the Love of God with all the Heart and with all the Soul is a constant uniform Obedience to his Will What a chearful flexibility what a readiness to do any thing that may be grateful and pleasant to each other may be observed in the love of equals If therefore love has such a power where the authority is precarious only and by consent how much more will the Love of God oblige us to the most diligent observance of His will forasmuch as the love of our Superiors includes obedience in its nature No man can intirely love a Prince or a Father that does not approve and obey his Precepts and therefore St. John defines the Love of God by keeping his Commandments 1 Joh. 5.3 This is the Love of God that we keep his Commandments We cannot add to infinite perfection we cannot oblige Him in any real services who is already Lord of all there remains therefore no possible testimony of our Love to God without the resignation of our opinions desires and actions to his will This is all we have to offer If a man Love me says our Saviour he will keep my words Joh. 14.23 and he that hath my Commandments and doth them he it is that loves me Would it not be the greatest solecism in love if our friend should prescribe us a method of happiness promise his assistance assure us of success and we should receive it civilly applaud his judgment believe all he says but never proceed to accomplish the methods he proposes Hence those who live in disobedience to the Laws of God are said to hate Him Exod. 20.6 Indeed if we have any true conceptions of the Divine perfections which love supposes we know that God is infinite in wisdom to direct and guide us infinite in goodness and will suit his commands to our abilities full of mercy and compassion and will pity our weakness and pardon our failings If therefore love wheresoever it is sincere is apt to create an extravagant desire of pleasing the object even with the utmost hazard and sometimes by unlawful practices by humouring vices flattering deformities serving the basest ends any thing indeed that they think may gratifie the person How much more will the love of God oblige us to the strictest care and observance of His will because we know that His will is perfect He can command us nothing nor can he be pleased with any thing that is not truly Good He cannot be giddy and inconstant frequish and uncertain humorsome and hard to be pleased as imperfect objects are but He will receive our addresses and accept our services He will enable us to obey him and make the best construction of all our sincere endeavours and at last compleat our love in the everlasting enjoyment of Himself That 's the 4th The last particular implyed in the Love of God with all the heart and with all the Soul is the most hearty sorrow whensoever we shall offend him with an earnest desire to be reconciled Whosoever loves will endeavour to recommend himself by an obliging deportment to the good opinion of the object pursues a kind acceptance waits a sutable return and expects at length the enjoyment of his hopes If therefore he has given any just occasion of Offence by omitting what was necessary to be done or by doing any thing that was contrary to his Pretensions or inconsistent with his Love it must needs affect him with indignation against himself that he should bring his own sincerity into question injure the person whose happiness is his greatest Joy retard his progress towards that end he chiefly aims at and superinduce a Cloud upon that Sun by whose influence he lives Thus also in respect of God if we love him with Understanding we cannot but