profession of that pure Religion in which we have had the happiness to be instructed Give us all grace to value and prize this thy great Mercy that we are Christians and such Christians as have the benefits of thy sacred Oracles O let us not be so unworthy to forsake that Religion in which only we are to expect Salvation Give us Grace to follow the Blessed Rules of good living that we have learned keep us from sin and of all sins chiefly from the sins against our own Consciences and knowledge Give us peaceable Minds quiet dispositions with a willing resignation of our selves to thy Wise Providence in all things wean our Hearts and Affections from the World let not its Vanities possess any longer our affections Let the knowledge that all things shall work together for our good cause us to submit without murmuring to all the Crosses that we may meet with And as our time here below is but of a short continuance give us grace to mind our latter end to prepare for our dissolution betimes to live always in expectation of another and a more happy life where we shall never see neither Sorrow nor Pain Bless us we beseech thee in our Callings prosper us in all our lawful endeavours to serve our Generation And let us so demean our selves in our bodily and daily Employments as that we may not forget in them to serve and glorifie thee our God which is the great and chief Employment of our lives Suffer us not to mispend our precious Talents but according to our Abilities and thy Mercies let us so dispose of them of what kind soever they be that thy Truth and Holy Name may be glorified thereby and the ends for which thou hast given them answered Bless this Family now prostrate before thee with our years increase all our Graces sanctifie and prepare us for thy Enjoyment purifie and cleanse our Hearts and mercifully continue and augment all thy Blessings upon us Take into thy protection and favour the tender and weaker part of it the Infants and Children provide we beseech thee for the welfare of their Souls as well as for their Bodies imprint thy holy fear in their Hearts that they may glorifie thee in their Lives Bless all our Relations wheresoever they be dispersed let thy Mercy and Truth guide them all the days of their Lives Bless this Nation unto which we belong punish us not according to our just deservings and provocations lay not upon us the guilt of innocent Blood But pardon the extravagancy of our lives and cause a real Reformation to be practised as well as professed amongst us thou givest us Temporal Mercies in abundance continue thy Spiritual to us suffer not our Enemies to deprive us of thy Truth and Gospel watch over us and disappoint all their wicked purposes for our Ruine and give us all Hearts to be truly thankful for the many Favours Blessings Mercies and Deliverances which from time to time in all Ages thou hast heaped upon us and our Forefathers Bless more especially the person of our gracious Prince and thine anointed grant him a long and a prosperous reign guard him from the barbarous purposes of all Murderers save him from all their Plots and Conspiracies direct him in his Councils prosper him in his Designs and give him and us all Grace to lay seriously to heart thy merciful proceedings towards us Bless all his Relations enlighten them with thy Truth sanctifie them with thy Grace and direct them by thy Spirit that they may embrace as well as know thy Sacred Truth and govern themselves according to its Holy Precepts Bless thy Church dispersed throughout the whole World preserve every Member of it from the Malice of the Devil and his Agents increase daily the number of its true Professors Let thy Gospel and thy Salvation be published in all Nations bring back the Jews and accomplish the number of the Gentiles and open the Understandings of all Men that they may see the reasonableness and excellency of that Religion which Christ hath recommended to us and not only see it but embrace and practise it setting aside all prejudice and partiality Turn the Hearts of our greatest Enemies subdue our unruly Affections reconcile our Differences publick and private and give us all Grace that we may truly serve and glorifie thee in our Lives All this we beg for the Merits and by the Mediation of our most Blessed Lord and Saviour in whose Words we sum up all our imperfect Petitions in that most perfect Form which 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 all Evil. For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen THe Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the Love of God the Father and the comfortable Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen Another Morning Prayer for a Family when Business is urgent O Merciful God and Heavenly Father by whose goodness we are yet alive Thy Holy Name be praised for the safety and quiet repose of our Bodies the last Night and for our preservation until this moment which we acknowledge to be a Mercy proceeding from thy Power and Providence We are sensible O Lord of our own weakness and frailty unable of our selves to withstand the assaults of our Spiritual and Corporal Enemies from thy Mercy therefore we humbly Beg this and all other Blessings needful for our Souls and Bodies that thou wouldest be pleased to be gracious to us and forgive us our Sins and protect us from all dangers in the following course of our lives defend our Souls from all assaults of Sin and Satan keep us in the Profession and Practice of thy Holy Religion without wavering strengthen our Mindes with a Divine Knowledge and our Wills with thy Celestial Grace that neither Error nor Vice may be able to prevail upon us Defend also our Bodies from all the Snares that are laid for us Let our lives be precious in thy sight sanctifie all thy Mercies to us and the more we are loaden with thy Temporal Blessings let us be so much the more thankful and ready to obey thy Holy Laws send down thy Blessing upon all our actions and endeavours in the Callings in which thy Providence hath placed us As our chief aim is the Promotion of thy Glory be pleased to assist us in the advancing of it Preserve our Minds from all inward troubles murmurings and disturbances and arm us we beseech thee with that unchangeable Spirit as may contemn the Losses and Crosses of the World for that purpose captivate our affections to thee and thy Service take possession of our Hearts and suffer them not to dote too much
and forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O God from whom all Holy Desires all good Counsels and all just Works do proceed give unto thy Servants that peace which the World cannot give that both our Hearts may be set to obey thy Commandments and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our Enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness through the merits of Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen LIghten our Darkness we beseech thee O Lord and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night for the Love of thy only Son our Saviour Jesus Christ Amen ALmighty God who seest that we have no power of our Selves to help our selves keep us both outwardly in our Bodies and inwardly in our Souls that we may be desended from all Adversities which may happen to the Body and from all evil Thoughts which may assault and hurt the Soul through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Almighty God who alone canst order the unruly Wills and Affections of sinful Men grant to thy People that they may love the thing which thou commandest and desire that which thou dost promise so that among all the sundry and manifold changes of the World our Hearts may surely there be sixed where true Joys are to be found through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Lord who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast Fear and Love keep us we beseech thee under the protection of thy good Providence and make us to have a perpetual Fear and Love of thy Holy Name through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O God whose never failing Providence ordereth all things both in Heaven and Earth we humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things and to give us those things which be profitable for us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen BE merciful O Lord to this Church and Nation punish us not accord-to our deservings but let thy Mercy protect and save us from the Evil hands of all our restless Enemies continue thy Word and Gospel amongst us remit our senseless Divisions open the Eyes and Hearts of all our Dissenting and disaffected Brethren that they may embrace thy Truth set aside all Prejudice and joyn with us thy Servants in the sincere Worship of thee the true God All this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake Amen O God for as much as without thee we are not able to please thee mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our Hearts through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Almighty God who art a strong Tower of defence unto thy Servants against the face of their Enemies We yield thee Praise and Thanksgiving for our Deliverance from those great and apparent Dangers wherewith we have been compassed We acknowledge it thy goodness that we are not delivered over as a Pray unto them beseeching thee still to continue such thy Mercies towards us to discover all hellish Plots contrived against our King Religion and Country and to disappoint all the black Designs of our Bloody Enemies that all the World may know that thou art our Saviour and mighty Deliverer through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Lord our God who upholdest and governest all things in Heaven and Earth Receive our Humble Prayers for our Soveraign Lord and Lady the King and Queen set over us by thy Grace and Providence And so together with them Bless the whole Royal Family with the Dew of thy Heavenly Spirit that they ever trusting in thy goodness protected by thy Power and Crowned with thy gracious and endless Favours may continue before thee in Health Peace Joy and Honour a long and happy life upon Earth and after Death obtain everlasting life and glory in the Kingdom of Heaven by the Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ our Saviour Amen BLess we beseech thee O Lord our Bishops Priests and Deacons with true Knowledge and understanding of thy Word and that both by their Preaching and living they may set it forth and shew it accordingly enable them all to be faithful in their great trust in the maintetenance of thy true Religion against the Incroachings of Popery Heresie Schism and Prophaneness Bless the Lords of the Council and all the Nobility Magistrates and Gentry with Grace Wisdom and Understanding of thy Will and Word Give to all Nations Quietness and Peace and to this thy People give Unity and Happiness help the weak-hearted raise up them that fall subdue Satan under our Feet Comfort all that are in Tribulation preserve all that are in danger shew thy pity to Prisoners and Captives Provide for the Fatherless the Widows and all that are Oppressed Have mercy upon all Men. Forgive our Enemies and turn their Hearts Preserve for our Use the kindly Fruits of the Earth And endue us with the Grace of thy Holy Spirit and amend our Lives according to thy Holy Word All this we beseech thee to grant us for Jesus Christ his sake Amen From our Enemies defend us O Christ Graciously look upon our Afflictions Pitifully behold the sorrows of our Hearts Mercifully forgive the Sins of thy People Favourably with mercy hear our Prayers O Son of David have mercy upon us Both now and ever vouchsafe to hear us O Christ Graciously hear us O Christ graciously hear us O Lord Christ O Lord let thy mercy be shewed upon us As we do put our Trust in thee WE humbly beseech thee O Father mercifully to look upon our infirmities and for the Glory of thy Name turn from us all those Evils that we most righteously have deserved and grant that in all our Troubles we may put our whole Trust and Confidence in thy mercy and evermore serve thee in Holiness and pureness of Living to thy Honour and Glory through our only Mediator and Advocate Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious Favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our Works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy mercy obtain eversasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen ALmighty God who hast given us Grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplications unto thee and dost promise that when two or three are gathered together in thy Name thou wilt grant their Requests Fulfil now O Lord the desires and Petitions of thy Servants as may be most expedient for them granting us in this World knowledge of thy Truth and in the World to come life everlasting Amen THe Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen An Evening Prayer for a whole Family sutable to the times O Merciful God here we thine unworthy Servants are prostrate before thee at the close of this day loaden with thy manifold Mercies to acknowledge the Weaknesses
purpose I know that several Pious and Learned Men have lately and in the former Age furnished our Nation with Books of this kind but I think that their religious labours fitted for those times and answerable to their private designs will not hinder this present Treatise from being useful in its kind for the prevention of the Mistakes lately crept in amongst us and the mischiefs that are intended by our Enemies at home and abroad I find them busily employed in contriving our ruine and in poisoning our people with strange Principles by spreading in the Country new Pamphlets printed for that evil purpose I wish that we were as watchful for our own preservation The best means for that intent is to employ the same policy and to furnish our People with new and fresh advices which may serve as Antidotes against the Venom of their Enemies and ours Such Treatises therefore as this I think to be very seasonable for our divided times I am certain that it is much wanting in the place where I live and to the people committed to my Charge My first design was only to have a regard to their private wants at the requests of one of my Parishioners but when I considered that tho' Providence hath given me a particular inspection over the Inhabitants of a small division in a Wilderness it is my Duty to aim in all my actions at the general good I resolved to recommend to the publick such a Treatise as might serve and be useful to all Families in our Reformed Church and in it to have a general aim at the benefit of all Christians for I think that there is none in the state of Grace or within the limits of Christ's Church but he shall in this short Tract find Prayers and Advices which may sute with the condition and temper of his Soul You therefore that desire that Religion should flourish amongst us neglect not its chief Duty but see that it be carefully observed in your own practice and that of those recommended to your care As soon as your Children begin to speak teach them to cry Abba Father which art in Heaven Call upon them Morning and Evening to implore Protection and Assistance Let their Tongues be used betimes to tune forth the Praises of their Maker and acknowledge the Providence of God Remember that Piety with the Blessings of Heaven is the best and most durable portion which you can procure to your little ones And the only means to obtain it is carefully to practise this and all other Duties of Religion As they grow to years of Understanding Let them proceed on in learning the Prayers that are sit for their capacity and suitable to their Abilities Let them know that their chief dependency is upon that Almighty Being who hath created the World and put them into it to serve and worship him This daily practice of seeking to God in Prayer will keep youth from all those extravagancies and vitious actions by which the Gallants of our time are become a reproach to Christianity and Humanity it self Thou shalt never have the displeasure to see thy Son and thy Daughter either unruly in their behaviour or prophane in their discourse or corrupt in their Lives if thou wilt when they are young train them up in the constant and continual observance of this Duty of Prayer for there is nothing more proper and of a greater force to keep the Souls of Men from the temptations of our days and from all disorders as this Correspondency with God in Prayer Man therefore in this respect is like a Watch or a Clock the least neglect disturbs the Motion and steals him insensibly into improficiency or an ossence Pray therefore O Christian Man or Woman and pray without ceasing In prosperity and adversity let your requests be made known unto God Be not silent when God requires you to speak In whatsoever estate Providence may cast you make use of those Prayers that are answerable to your condition If you can offer up the Prayers of our Church with any satisfaction to your minds use them rather than others But if your prejudices be so strong and your aversion so invincible that you cannot yet relish them use the other Prayers more agreeable to your affections However neglect not this most important this most weighty and most indispensible Duty but perform it with all the Care and Devotion that God's greatness and thy mean condition requires from thee And I beseech the God of all Goodness to hear thy Requests to grant thy Petitions to comfort and refresh thy Soul and Body with Spiritual and Temporal Mercies and that this Treatise may be as useful to the Publick as it is intended by M. D. A Morning Prayer FOR A FAMILY According to the Book of Common-Prayer O! Lord who hast promised that before we call thou wilt answer and whilst we are yet speaking Isa 65.24 Psal 6.1 Psal 25 1â— Psal 51.10 thou wilt hear Rebuke us not in thine indignation neither chasten us in thy displeasure For thy Names sake be merciful to our sins Make us clean Hearts O God and renew a right Spirit within us O! Lord we beseech thee mercifully hear our Prayers and spare all those who confess their sins unto thee that they whose Consciences by Sin are accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved through Christ our Lord. Amen O! Almighty Lord and everlasting God vouchsafe we beseech thee to direct sanctifie and govern both our Hearts and Bodies in the ways of thy Laws and in the works of thy Commandments that through thy most mighty protection both now and ever we may be preserved in Body and Soul through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Amen PRevent us O Lord in all our doings with thy most gracious favour and further us with thy continual help that in all our Works begun continued and ended in thee we may glorifie thy holy Name and finally by thy Mercy obtain everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen BLessed be thy Holy Name O Lord for thy continual and daily Mercies granted to us for thy Protection and Preservation till this time for the safety and quiet Repose of the last night for the welfare and Health of our Bodies and for all thy Temporal Blessings which thou heapest upon us Gracious God we acknowledge these and all other Mercies which we enjoy to be undeserved Favours proceeding from thy bountiful hand and fatherly goodness Continue them we beseech thee to us and all other things needful for our Souls and Bodies and give us grace in the use of them to glorifie thy great Name and to be truly thankful in our Hearts and Lives for all expressions of thine unwearied Liberality All this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake Amen O God the Protector of all that put their trust in thee without whom nothing is strong nothing is holy increase and multiply in us thy Mercy that thou being our Ruler and Guide
we may so pass through things Temporal that we finally lose not the things Eternal for Jesus Christ his sake our Lord. Amen GRant O Lord we beseech thee that the Course of this World may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance that we and thy whole Church may joyfully serve thee in all Godly quietness through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen LOrd of all Power and might who art the Author and giver of all good things Graft in our Hearts the love of thy Name increase in us true Religion nourish us with all goodness and of thy great Mercy keep us in the same through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O Merciful God bless and preserve we pray thee our Princes defend them from all their Enemies direct them in all their Counsels assist them in all their religious purposes grant them and the Church amongst us peace and prosperity in this Life and everlasting Happiness in the life to come Bless all the Royal Family the Nobility the Magistrates the Gentry and People of this Land Grant us Peaâ—e and Truth and preserve us from Heresie Schism Superstition and Idolatry for Jesus Christ his sake Amen 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 wâ— forgive them that Trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from all Evil. For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen THe Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen Another Morning Prayer for a Family when Business is most urgent TUrn thy Face away from our sins O Lord and blot out all our Offences Make us clean Hearts O God and renew right Spirits within us Ps 51. Almighty and Everlasting God mercifullly look upon our Infirmities and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth thy Right Hand to help and defend us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen O God whose Blessed Son was manifested that he might destroy the Works of the Devil and make us the Sons of God and Heirs of Eternal Life Grant us we beseech thee that having this Hope we may purifie our selves as he is pure that we may walk in newness of life and follow the Examples of his Patience Piety and Holiness that when he shall appear with Power and Glory we may be made like unto him in his glorious Kingdom Amen O Lord be merciful to us and our Nation bless the King's Majesty and our Queen with Life and happiness their Counsellors with Wisdom their Armies with Victory their Subjects with Peace and Prosperity Bless the Nobility the Clergy and Commonalty in their goings out and comings in Bless us we beseech thee and all our Relations with Spiritual and Temporal Mercies And all these Blessings we beg for Jesus Christ his sake in whose perfect Form of Prayer we sum up all our desires 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 all Evil. For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen THe Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the Love of God the Father and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all Amen Another Morning PRAYER for a Family O Gracious God the Creator and Protector of Mankind whose continued goodness we have lately experienced in the safety and preservation of the last Night We bless thy Holy Name for this and all other expressions of thy Mercy to us we acknowledge that as thou art the Author of our Beings it is thy good Providence that maintains and defends them from all dangers and Enemies that incompass us about It is thy watchful Eye that sees all their contrivances to destroy us It is thy Wisdom that knows how to defeat their Craftiest purposes It is thy Power alone that can disappoint and oppose their wicked and hellish Plots We are not ignorant O Lord of their malice and our continual dangers dangers that proceed from the contrivances of Spiritual and Temporal Enemies we desire therefore to be heartily thankful for we are really sensible of thy merciful protection hitherto and to ascribe all the Honour and Praise of our preservation and deliverance to thy Wisdom and Providence alone But O merciful Father let this expression of thy goodness the foundation of all thy Blessings be still continued to us we are sensible of our undeservings our sins and wickednesses are multiplied our provocations and ingratitudes have been many our many deficien ies in all our Duties might justly cause thee to leave us to our selves for the future and expose us naked to the subtilties and power of our Enemies who would quickly devour us But we implore thy mercy at this time and intreat thee to forgive us our Trespasses to pardon our Infirmities and to pass by all our Transgressions for the Lord Jesus his sake In his Name and through his Merits we approach with all humility to the throne of thy grace to beg the forgiveness of all our Iniquities and the continuance of thy protection and Mercies Temporal and Spiritual How weak are we of our selves How soon cast into our Graves and what is Man that he should be able to defend us when the least blast deprives him of Life and Being Thou art therefore and thou alone O great God of Heaven thou art only able to defend us in the following course of our Life from visible and invisible perils Let thy Mercy be continued to us shelter us from the malicious designs of all our Enemies frustrate their wicked purposes lead us in all our ways direct us in all our paths bless us in all our undertakings we live in a crooked Generation in a world that overflows with sin and wickedness and our Conversation is amongst evil-doers let therefore thy Wisdom and thy fear so possess our Souls that we may not be drawn away by the Vices of the Age nor intangled in such Labryinths of Sin as might indanger our eternal welfare Suffer us not to be inticed with the allurements of unlawful Pleasure and Profit We trust not to our selves O Lord and our own frail resolutions because we have broken them so often that we have cause to mistrust our selves and to rely chiefly upon thy merciful guidance Let thy Truth direct us and thy Spirit lead us as well as thy Power protect us from the invasion of Error and Vice give us a right understanding of thy Will an unchangeable resolution to practise it suffer us not to be drawn aside neither by fear nor by profit from the
keep them in these troublesom times defend their Bodies from Death and danger and their Souls from Error and Vice preserve the King's Majesty and all the Royal Family in Health and happiness And send to all this Nation a continuance of Peace and Prosperity with a real Reformation of their Lives Grant these and all other Mercies necessary for them and thy whole Church through and by the Mediation and glorious intercession of my Blessed Saviour who hath thus taught me to sum up all my imperfect Prayers 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 all Evil. For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen Let thy merciful kindness O Lord be upon me like as I do put my trust in thee Psal 33.21 A Morning Prayer for a younger Person O Almighty God who hast saved me alive till this time preserved me from my Mothers Womb and guarded me from the dangers of the last Night thy Holy Name be praised for this and all other expressions of thy Mercy and Goodness to me give me grace to employ this Life which thou sparest me to thy Honour and Glory keep me from Sin and Temptations and whatsoever might prejudice my Soul or my Body I recommend my self into thy hands and protection save me from the Dangers and inconveniencies of this Life grant me thy Wisdom and thy Fear increase in my Soul all knowledge give me a right understanding of thy Will and Grace to practise it Preserve me from the Vices of the Age from the Allurements of Sin and the Corruptions of the Times Season my tender Soul with a Love for thee my God and a sincere dread of thy Power and Divine Majesty Protect me in the Profession of thy true Religion and Bless me with Spiritual and Temporal Blessings and grant me that holy Resolution and Temper that I may so live in this Life and so spend my days that I may attain at last to Everlasting Life Preserve my Parents Relations and those whom thou hast placed over me in Health and Prosperity send them an increase of all thy Blessings save the King's Majesty from all his Enemies grant him Health and Prosperity and the whole Nation peace and happiness for Jesus Christ his sake 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 all Evil. For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen The Lord preserve my going out and my Coming in from this time forth and for evermore Amen Psal 121.8 A Morning Prayer for a Child UNto thee lift I up mine Eyes O thou that dwellest in the Heavens Psal 123.1 Thy Holy Name be praised for the last Nights Rest and Preservation protect me also this day from all dangers Bodily and Spiritual keep me from sin teach me thy Ways grant me thy true Wisdom increase my abilities to serve thee bless me in my endeavours and actions sanctifie my Soul and Body give me the understanding of thy Word and Laws and a Heart to practise them keep me in the Profession of thy true Religion and from the Wicked designs of Schism and Idolatry imprint thy fear in my tender Soul and a sense of thine infinite Presence that I may glorifie thee here on Earth O my Creator and Heavenly Father and at last attain to that Glory which thou hast promised to those that shall obey thy sacred Commands Bless and preserve my Parents Kindred and Relations save the King's Majesty and grant him Health and Prosperity All this I beg from thine infinite goodness for Jesus Christ his sake my only Saviour and Mediator who hath taught me thus to Pray 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 all Evil. For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen Blessed be the Lord God of our Israel from everlasting and World without End Amen An Evening Prayer for a private Family according to the Book of Common-Prayer with some Collects for the Times O Lord correct us but with judgment not in thine Anger lest thou bring us to nothing Hide thy Face from our Sins and blot out all our Iniquities Jer. 10.24 Psal 51.9 ALmighty and most Merciful Father we have erred and strayed from thy Ways like lost Sheep We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own Hearts We have offended against thy Holy Laws We have left undone those things which we ought to have done and we have done those things which we ought not to have done and there is no Health in us But thou O Lord have mercy upon us miserable Offenders Spare thou them O God which confess their faults Restore thou them that are penitent according to thy Promises declared unto Mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant O most merciful Father for his sake That we may hereafter live a godly righteous and sober life to the glory of thy holy Name Amen Lord Let this be repeated by all the Family have mercy upon us Christ have mercy upon us And forgive us all our Sins 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 all Evil. For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen O Lord shew thy mercy upon us And grant us thy Salvation O Lord save the King and Queen And mereifully hear us when we call upon thee Endue thy Ministers with Righteousness And make thy chosen People joyful O Lord save thy People And bless thine Inheritance Give peace in our time O Lord. Because there is none other that fighteth for us but only thou O God O God make clean our Hearts within us And take not thy Holy Spirit from us ALmighty and everlasting God who hatest nothing that thou hast made and dost forgive the sins of all them that are penitent create and make in us new and contrite Hearts that we worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness may obtain of thee the God of all Mercy perfect remission
all the Endowments and Faculties which cause me to excel all other visible Species in providing so well for me and defending me in my Infancy from the dangers unto which its infirmities are exposed in bringing me to an age of discretion and supplying all my Wants with fresh and continual Blessings in preserving my Body and Soul from all Evils and Enemies unto this Moment in blessing my Labours and augmenting the Provisions for my subsistence I am not able O Celestial Good ness to reckon up the chief Heads of thy continual Favours O that I may learn to imitate this Heavenly Goodness and to express it in my behaviour and actions to my fellow Creatures Is it for me alone that thou hast given so many and so great Blessings should I not impart and bestow them upon those that want Supplies Must I ingorge and swallow all Must I keep with a tenacious hand what thou sendest to me that I may convey it further with discretion to such as are not so plentifully stored that they also may have cause with me to praise thy Holy Name and liberality Give me not only good things but also as good and distributive a mind and as liberal a hand to send them abroad that other my fellow Servants may likewise feel and have a sense of thy bounty to me and them O! Divine Goodness make me to be like thy self and bring me nearer to thy self that what I now experience at a distance I may find in thee in a nearer approach unto thine Eternal Presence This sweetness that I relish in thy Creatures invites me and promiseth greater and more unspeakable delights when I shall appear before thee my God who art the only Source and inexhaustible Fountain of all sincere pleasure and joy Give me such an heart to manage and behave my self amongst these Earthly Comforts that I may not forfeit my right to the Heavenly but that I may lay up in store for my self such a good Foundation against the time to come that I may lay hold on Eternal Life Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon the Mercy of God in the Redemption of Man by the Lord Jesus Christ O Supernatural Goodness it is in this Action that thou hast discovered to all intelligent Beings the unfathom'd depths of Love Kindness Mercy Liberality and Compassion Here it is that the Divine Bounty appears in its greatest Splendour Is my God come to visit me in my decayed Estate Doth his mercy stretch forth a hand to fetch me out of that Abyss of Misery into which I was with the rest of Mankind falling irrecoverably Has he so much love and humility as to cloath himself with the rags of my mortality that I might be lifted up and one day adorned with the Crown of his Glory O blessed exchange that bespeaks a mercy and love in my Saviour beyond my apprehension What wonderful and surprising Methods appointed by the Divine Wisdom to bring to pass this happy end Give me leave with the Wise Men of the East and the Shepherds of the Fields my merciful Saviour to visit thee in thy Nativity and from thence to view the footsteps and proceedings of this stupendious Mercy as they appear in every part and passage of thy Life and Death of and our Redemption O Merciful God the wonder of thy mercy in thine Incarnation is clearly seen in the greatness of thine abasement in the conformity to such an apostate and offending Nature in submitting to the weakness of our Humanity and ingaging thy self in a Race full of the most grievous Sufferings without the ordinary conveniencies of Life to sweeten the bitterness of thy griefs and mittigate thy sorrows How merciful dost thou shew thy self to such as wanted thine assistance Thy mercy gave eyes to the Blind feet to the Lame health to the Sick soundness to the Distemper'd deliverance to the Possessed pardon to the troubled in mind and life to the dead Never any did seek unto thee for help but thy compassion did as soon grant it as it was desired unto them also whose estate rendred them incapable of thy most signal favours Not only thy Friends but thine Enemies too have felt and experienced the tenderness of thy mercy What tears of compassion didst thou not shed at the sight of Jerusalem's Sins and at the consideration of its approaching Judgments How full of mercy was thy just indignation to behold the hardness of the Jews hearts after so many and such aparent Miracles the Evidences of a Divine power and approbation How full of mercy was this dying Saviour to pray for his Enemies at the very moment of loading him with affronts and contempt O Divine Sacrifice of Mercy to live such a painful Life for our sakes was a great expression of thy love and mercy but to dye for us to pay for the price of our Redemption and suffer such an ignominious and grievous Death was a far greater Mercy O my Saviour leads thee through Death and the Grave to a joyful Resurrection Every step is a step of Divine Mercy relating to us it shines most visibly in releasing our great Surety out of the Grave where our Enemies had shut him up in affording us such an assurance of the accomplishment of our Redemption and in admitting our Nature into the Coelestial Mansions Blessed be this wonderful Mercy in that it hath called us to and made us partakers of the Benefits of our Redeemer's Death and Passion and giveth us such fair hopes and assurances of a Glorious immortality with and by him I beseech thee let me never be unworthy of so much goodness And seeing thy mercy O my God hath look'd upon the greatest of Sinners shall I doubt of or question whether it will be extended to me Seeing it was designed for my benefit and this good Saviour bore my Sins upon his Cross shall I exclude my self by my unbelief shall I lessen that which is infinite and unspeakable and that which I ought to magnifie by my confidence upon it Prepare me for the reception of it forgive and pardon all my Sins admit me into thy favour and into the number of thine Elect. Give me such visible Evidences that I may rejoyce in thy Salvation confirm my faith and strengthen my reliance upon the tenderness of thy Compassions and as thy Mercy is extraordinary to my Soul let me not be cruel to my fellow Servants but courteous compassionate kind and merciful to them that I may be a real imitator of thee my great God and Saviour and copy out in my actions the expressions of thy wonderful mercy to my Soul Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon the Justice and Holiness of God O Dreadful Majesty as we gratefully acknowledge thy mercy and goodness to be infinite and unspeakable to us poor men so we humbly adore thy Divine Justice and know it to be most terrible to such unworthy Creatures as provoke thy Displeasure Thy forbearance may suffer the wicked to Flourish and
THE Divine Art OF PRAYER Containing the Most Proper Rules TO PRAY WELL. WITH Divers Meditations and Prayers Suitable to the Necessities of Christians useful in every Family To Which Are annexed Seasonable Prayers for Souldiers both in Their Majesties Army and Fleet. By Marius D'Assigny B.D. LONDON Printed by R. Everingham and are to be Sold by John Everingham at the Star in Ludgate-street near the West end of St. Paul's 1691. Augustissimis Serenissimis OMNIBUS VIRTUTIBUS Pietate Religione Ornatissimis Principibus GULIELMO MARIAE D. G. Angliae Scotiae Franciae Hiberniae Regi Reginae Fidei Defensoribus c. Hunc Libellum Reipublicae Anglicanae perutilem in observantiae suae testimonium humillimè Offert Consecrat Dedicat MAJESTAT vest Addictissimus Marius D'Assigny THE PREFACE To the Devout Christian I Need not use any Arguments to recommend unto you the use of this Little Treatise your Religious Disposition will I hope after a perusal find that pleasure and benefit that is intended for doubtless you will meet here with such considerable Assistances to your Devotions as will not suffer you to reject them because of the smallness of the Book the obscurity of the Author or the frequency of the Subject For here are perhaps some Observations Directions and Reasons that are not usually met with and proceed from a long Experience in the Service of God and Religion I confess that I first designed these Meditations only for my Countrey Neighbours at the Request of some Religious Persons they being in a Wilderness at a distance from other like Books of Devotion of which they were altogether ignorant And I conceived they might more readily embrace my Advices in this kind because of their Acquaintance with me and esteem of my Person The Language therefore and Style was made the more easie and plain that it might be levelled to their Capacities for I design not Words but Things not to wrap them in a Cloudy Discourse or Lofty Expressions but to lay them open to the apprehension of the Vulgar Sort. And to the Helps and Encouragements of Prayer I have purposely added divers Meditations and Prayers that you might have here the Practice as well as the Rules of Devotion Let not therefore your Familiarity with the Works of other Divines cause you to mistake this as useless or a repetition of the Gift of Prayer you will find the Design to be otherwise to enable the Soul not so much to speak the Words as to recommend the Things that we want to the Divine Bounty with that Decency Humility Respect and Qualifications that are required from us as Creatures and Servants of so Holy a Majesty Therefore as I design nothing but your Assistance and Comfort I doubt not but to meet with favour and acceptance from all Rational and Grateful Christians whose business is Devotion and Religion Farewel M. D. The CONTENTS A Discourse to encourage to Prayer with the most proper Helps and Directions to Pray well pag. 1. A Morning Prayer according to the Book of Common Prayer 127 Another Morning Prayer for a Family when business is most urgent 131 Another Prayer for a Family 133 Another Prayer for a Family when business is urgent 139 A Morning Prayer for a single Person 143 A Morning Prayer for a young Person 149 A Morning Prayer for a younger Person 153 A Morning Prayer for a Child 155 An Evening Prayer for a private Family according to the Book of Common Prayer with some new Collects for the time 157 An Evening Prayer for a whole Family suitable to the times 165 An Evening Prayer for a single Person 171 An Evening Prayer for young Persons and Children 176 Prayers before Meat 179 A Profitable Meditation at the sight of a Table spread or covered with food for our Bodies 180 Another Prayer before Meat for a Child 184 Vsefel Meditations and Prayers upon God and his Divine Attributes 185 A Meditation and Prayer upon the incomprehensible Being and Presence of God Ibid A Meditation and Prayer upon the immutability of our great God 187 A Meditation and Prayer upon the Eternity of God 189 A Meditation and Prayer upon God's Almighty Power 190 A Meditation and Prayer upon the Wisdom of God and his infinite Knowledge 192 A Meditation and Prayer upon the goodness of God manifested in Nature and Providence 195 A Meditation and Prayer upon the Mercy of God in the Redemption of Man by the Lord Jesus Christ 199 A Meditation and Prayer upon the Justice and Holiness of God 202 A Meditation and Prayer upon Plenty and Riches 208 A Meditation and Prayer upon the consideration and sence of Poverty and Want 211 A Meditation and Prayer at the enjoyment of Prosperity 216 A Comfortable Meditation and Prayer for such as are in Adversity and Afflicted with Crosses and Losses in the World 219 A Meditation and Prayer in time of health 233 A Meditation and Prayer useful in time of Sickness 226 A Meditation and Prayer when the Symptoms of Death appear 233 A Meditation and Prayer for such as are going to the Publick Assemblies to hear the word of God 237 A Prayer for Souldiers before a Fight 241 A Prayer for a Ship 's Company before an Engagement at Sea 243 Seasonable Ejaculations and short Prayers in the midst of a Fight either by Sea or Land 245 A Prayer for Mariners in a furious Tempest 246 A Thanksgiving after a Victory either by Sea or Land 247 A Prayer for the Preservation of the King's Person 250 A Prayer for the Church Militant 251 A short Prayer for such as are desperately wounded 252 A DISCOURSE To encourage to PRAYER With the most proper Helps and Directions to pray well THERE is no Duty of Religion more excellent more divine more beneficial and of a greater Concernment to us all than that of Prayer For in respect to God it is an Adoration and an open acknowledgement of all his glorious Attributes at once and the best and onely return that we poor Men are capable of for all the Expressions of his unwearied goodness and in respect of Man the Petitioner it is the most effectual means to supply our continual wants to procure and increase the divine Graces in our Souls to arm us against all the attempts of Worldly Misfortunes and predispose us for an Eternal Communion with our great Creator So many and such real Advantages which we reap from the performance of this our Duty are sufficient Encouragements to stir up our negligence and to oblige us to present our selves very often in Prayer to the Divine Majesty whose power is answerable to his Goodness of an infinite extent and may discover the folly of those frivolous Objections that men of corrupt minds and manners invent to disswade us from praying For when a considerable Benefit appears together with the express Command of our God if the Sense of Duty be not sufficient to move us the expectation of our own good
two extreams it is not possible to pass from the one to the other in a moment or without some mediums that are appointed to rid us of the indisposition of the one and prepare us for the acceptance of the other It is for that good purpose that his Wisdom condescends to send us the assistance of his divine Graces by which our Souls are not only cleansed from the filthiness of our sinful habits but also enabled to this blessed Correspondency with God in Prayer the Fountain of all spiritual Joy and Comfort Let not therefore any Perswasion or discouragement hinder thee O Christian from visiting often thy God in Prayer Let not the sinfulness of thy Actions the vitiousness of thy Disposition the multiplicity of worldly business the Cares and Troubles of the World nor any mistake of God or of thy self cause thee to omit this beneficial Duty What if thou art sinful or naturally indisposed to so holy a Performance Remember Christ in Heaven sits at God's Right Hand to intercede for thee to render thy Prayers effectual to sanctifie thy Groans and offer them up to thy God What if thou makest thy Addresses to a glorious Being of an infinite Power and Majesty If thy disposition be suitable to the Duty thou mayest draw near with confidence to the Throne of his Grace for he is thine Heavenly Father he desires nothing more than to render thee happy and to bestow upon thee his Mercies Consider his gratious invitations and many encouragements in his holy Word Come unto me all ye that travel and are heavy laden and I will refresh you Matth. 11.28 Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will hear thee and thou shalt glorifie me Psal 50.15 The Lord is good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon him Psal 36.5 Before we call he will answer and while we are yet speaking he will hear Isaiah 65.24 To all that turn to him the Lord is gracious and merciful slow to anger and of great kindness Joel 2.13 He will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoaking Flax Matth. 12.20 Shall his mercy be so ready to receive thee and wilt thou be so unworthy to draw back Shall his goodness long to bestow upon thee what thou wantest and wilt thou be so unreasonable to contemn it Shall his Love desire to be acquainted with thee by thy frequent Addresses and wilt thou be so ungrateful to slight his offered kindness Take notice of the just punishment of those ungracious Souls whom his Wisdom invites in vain to her self Because I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded but ye have set at naught all my Counsel and would none of my Reproof I also will laugh at your Calamity I will mock when your fear cometh Then shall they call upon me but I will not answer they shall seek me early but they shall not find me c. Prov. 1.25 26.28 Adversity may have that Power to awaken many who in prosperity from one year to another scarce think of praying to their God But what can such expect in reason from his Bounty which they in their flourishing Estate despise or neglect Those Services can never be thought real and sincere unto which necessity drives Men and those persons that make a mock of this Duty at any time cannot probably receive from it in their greatest urgencies the benefits they expect It is therefore Wisdom constantly to practice that which may stand us in good stead and without which we shall assuredly be at a loss Prayer may help and comfort thee O Man when all other helps and comforts forsake thee when thy Riches and thy Guards thy Treasure and thy Friends thy Power and thy Glory shall leave thee to be Tormented with the Pangs of a Disease or suffer thee to pass alone and naked through the dark and mournful Vale of Death In a word when all the World can yield thee no assistance Prayer alone may assist and relieve thee I cannot prescribe to any persons the times and moments for every one to make his Addresses to his God There is no hour of the day nor night but the divine goodness is ready to receive the humble Application of a dutiful Supplicant No wonder therefore that St. Paul adviseth us to pray without ceasing Which words we must not so understand as to spend all our time in this Duty leaving all other necessary Employments of Life as the antient lasie Hereticks sirnamed by the Fathers Euthicks taught by their Doctrine and Practice But this Command may admit of a threefold interpretation equally necessary for the observance of a Christian First We may go far to the compleating of the Apostles Counsel by sending up unto God without intermission our hearty desires our sighs and groans when we are busie in our daily works to implore his needful assistance and protection The constant business of this Life should not hinder thee from this preparation for the next nor the incumbrances of the World clog thy Soul from this elevation to its God with whom an uninterrupted correspondence will wonderfully advance our present affairs as well as dispose thee O Man for a more blessed Estate Secondly in imitation of David of Daniel and of other Religious Men mentioned in holy Writ we may pray always by a constant performance of Prayer at those times that chiefly require a divine assistance and an acknowledgment of Gods continual Mercies Evening Morning and at Noon will I pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my Voice saith David Psal 55.17 And Daniel could not be frighted with the sear of the Lions fury from praying three times a day to his God In the Morning when our Eyes are open again to behold the wonderful works of God's Power and Wisdom in the Creation and Preservation of the World it concerns us to praise his divine Attributes that shine as bright as the Sun over our Heads When we receive a fresh expression of God's goodness in keeping us safe from the dangers of the preceding Night in adding another day to our Lives and a continuance of all his Temporal Favours doth not Justice and Reason call upon us to be as mindful of God's Bounty as he is of our necessities and to be as liberal of our thanks as he is of his Riches When in the Morning thou art going about thine Employments and considerest that all thy labours will be to little purpose without God's Blessings that thou art going through a world of dangers Spiritual and Temporal a World of Enemies subtle malicious and powerful that besiege thee on all sides â—s it not thine Interest to beg the favour and Protection of that good Creator that thy Soul and thy Body may be preserved in the midst of all their envious attempts that thy designs and undertakings may be successful thy labours fruitful and all thy proceedings prosperous At Noon when thou
called thy Son make me as one of thy hired Servants A greater Humility in such a Case ought to prepare our Persons and Prayers for God's acceptance The more unworthy sin hath made us the more lowly ought our approaâ—hes to be to him The alteration in our behaviours should cause an alteration in our Souls before we present our selves before God Instead of alienating our minds from him the consideration of our weakness should incourage us to fly to him by prayer and seek from his all-sufficiency strength against future Temptations In such a case I would have a repenting Christian understand that God our merciful Creator is not so soon estranged from us as we are from him The Sin that disorders our Souls and causeth us to shun his presence may cause him to correct us for our good but it will never oblige him to cast us away if there be any sense of our Guiltiness in us accompanied with the hopes of his Mercy Therefore this ought not to be long an impediment to our Prayers or the cause to interrupt our daily correspondency with God Morning and Evening for we see it often happen by woful experience that by such an omission of our Duty many are insensibly brought into dangerous Snares And God withdraws his protection from such as were not mindful to take it along with them To avoid such miscarriages and dangers Prayer is as needful to a Christian in the beginning and close of the day as Armour and Weapons to a Souldier and Shoos and Cloathing to a Traveller to defend him from the injuries of the Way and Weather It emboldens the Soul against all accidents it gives Life and Heart to a Christian and makes him walk every where and lye down with David's Confidence Tho' I walk through the Valley of the shadow of Death I will fear no ill for thou art with me thy Rod and thy Staff they comfort me Psal 23. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my Life Psal 4.6 Likewise in the midst of a danger at the Tidings of Losses or Successes at the beginning of any Business of weight or moment and at several other times and occasions it concerns us to address our selves in Prayer to God the chief and only Author of all Temporal and Spiritual happiness for as this Devotion will disappoint the mischievous intent of Evils and Crosses it will infallibly draw a Blessing upon all our undertakings I have therefore endeavoured in this Book to furnish you my Christian Brethren with all the Prayers that are suitable for many Occasions and Casualities and Accidents needful in these wicked and dangerous times in which we now live If you offer them up in the manner as you ought you need not doubt of the Success The Prayer of a devout Soul hath an invincible Power The whole Creation is not able to resist or render ineffectual the religious Prayers of a Child of God Joshua's Prayers arrested the Sun in the middle of its Course Moses's Prayer dryed up the Waters of the Red Sea The Israelites Prayers undermined the Walls of Jericho Hezekiahs's prayer obtained fifteen years to his Life already condemned by the furiousness of a Disease naturally irrecoverable and caused an alteration in the common Course of Nature David by his Prayers marched safe through many dangers and was secure in the midst of all the Risings and Tumults of his Enemies Ahab's humility and prayers suspended and put a stop to God's Judgments that were going to fall upon his Idolatrous House Manasses's Prayer freed him from the Chains of Babylon and restor'd him against all probability to his Kingdom and Throne Daniel's Prayer shut up the Lyons mouths and disarm'd those furious Beasts Esther's Prayers changed the Sentence of death established against against the Jews and caused the mischief to fall upon their Enemiâ—s Heads The Churches Prayers unfettered St. Peter in the midst of his Guards opâ—ned for him the Iron Gâ—te and set him at liberty Elijah's Prayers shut and opeâ—'d thâ— Windows of Hâ—aven The thuâ—dering Roman Lâ—gion by Prayer reliev'd their fellow Souldiers with fresh showers of Rain and discomfiâ—ed their Enemies with strange Lightning and Thunder So many and such strange Events above all expectation and humane Power have been brought to pass by zealous Prayers that we have good cause in the greatest difficulties to be full of hopes whilst we have liberty to pray The Heavens the Seas the Earth the Elements and all the Creatures animate and inanimate seem to be at the Devotion of a devout Soul For the great Author and preserver of all Created Beings causeth them to yield help to the assistance of the humble and contrite Petitioner As they are alway in his hand and at his disposal he employs them in their Relief and for the accomplishment of such desires as tend to the Universal good of his Creatures and his own Glory What is not Prayer able to bring to pass when it intâ—râ—sseth an Almighty Power and an infinite Goodness in our Affairs and fetches to its assistance that same Omnipotency that created the World out of nothing Nihil fortius saith a Father homine legitime Orante There is nothing more powerful than a Man praying as he ought For the efficacy of Prayer depends not upon the holiness of the Petitioner but upon God's promises that are unchangeable Christ's Merits that are truly meritorious and his intercession that is unresistable At the right hand of God where he sits above this unconstant World he is employed in offering up the requests of his Members and Sâ—rvants on Earth and there before the Mercy Seat to perfume them with the Frankineense of his Passion that they might be acceptable to our Heavenly Father Whilst we have such a prevailing Mediator never doubt of the success of a Prayer procceeding from an humble Soul sit for the acceptance and encouragement of our merciful Saviour And if at any time thou feelest thy self indisposed or not able to offer up thy Prayers with that Devotion that is requisite be not therefore discouraged despair not of the success know for certain that it is not so much thy weakness as thy negligence not so much thy inability as thy sloth and indisposition that clogs thy Prayers and stops them in their ascent to Heaven Know for certain that God regards more humility truth and sincerity than the flourishes of Wit and the excellency of the language or the vehemency of the expression in all thy Requests That the Sighs and Groans of a broken heart or of a devout Soul are more powerful with God than the strongest Arguments or the longest Prayers God is not wont to proportion his mercies only to our deservings or reasons but rather out of his inexhaustible Treasuries to take and bestow upon us Men beyond all merits and expectation Therefore slack not thine Endeavours to pray well God's greatness and thine estate in relation to him calls for the greatest Respect the profoundest
have any regard to God our merciful Creator I think there is no person so simple as to imagine that the Eloquency of the Tongue or unusual expressions can have a greater influence upon him than the Common Prayers of the Church It is not the Tongue but the Heart that God Eyes in all our Services The whisperings and private Complaints of the one are heard when the loud Cries of the other are rejected The Door of Mercy flies open at the beatings of a devout Heart when it remains bolted at the furious assaults of the most eloquent Tongue Therefore as it should be our chief regard in Prayer to examine that which is most pleasing to God not that which gratifies our own Humour We should chuse those Prayers to offer up to him wherein our Hearts may be as well concerned as our Tongues In order thereunto as the Set Forms of Prayer are the greatest helps that we can procure both to the learned and the unlearned to the wise and the ignorant I see no reason wherefore Men should be deprived of them and extemporary Prayers set up Those Forms I mean where things are spoken and not only words where the Conceptions are plainly expressed and the Prayers fitted for the use of the weakest Capacities They can never be too plain nor too easie and the Wise and the Learned ought not to think it a trouble to condescend in their Publick Worship to requests worded in a manner answerable to the meanest abilities for Christianity requires from them an Union with the weakest of their Brethren who is in as great a likelihood of God's mercy and obtaining God's Glory as persons of the greatest Reach and Judgment I know that it is the common use of our Dissenting Brethren to upbraid us in our Devotions with too much Formality in regard of our being so fond of Set Forms with an exclusion of all new composed Prayers I heartily wish that we our selves the Clergy and the People did not give cause for this aspersion but that it may not deceive the ignorant with its first plausible appearance let me tell them that we are not guilty of Formality nor to be condemned for it because that we use set and prescribed Forms but because we use them not right with that Devotion Respect Humility and inward Affection as becomes Christians and Petitioners of the God of Heaven Because in our Publick Service we repeat only the Words and mind not the uttering them with the affections of the Soul because some make it only a trade to go to Prayer others run them over as a Task and too many mind the Form but few mind the Substance of Prayer that is to express and offer them up to God with those inward qualifications and outward humility that I have now recommended to the practice of our Christian Brethren This causeth me to pass to the second particular that I have promised to examine The causes of the Peoples Contempt of our Liturgy and their neglect of the Forms of Prayer enjoined in our Church of England I could name a great many Causes that we our selves give but I shall reduce them all for brevity sake to these six following First I must accuse the Clergy both high and low great and small for having given the greatest cause of the contempt of our Liturgy and Rubrick by their indifferent Practices By their over hasty reading of them and by their omission of that respect which they should outwardly express and that devotion which is due to God they give occasion to many to slight the very Prayers themselves As they are the Peoples mouths to God they should be the Peoples Examples and Patterns to shew them how to beg God's Mercies as well as to endeavour to obtain them for their relief And the greater care they should take to observe all the motions of reverence because their practice hath so great an influence upon the Congregation and is of so great a consequence that they oblige Men to esteem those Prayers that are offered up to God For this reason a person that officiates in the audience of a Congregation should read over the Prayers not as we peruse a Story in a Book but with his Hands and Eyes lifted up to Heaven and upon his knees he ought to pronounce the Prayers as if he were speaking to God's Divine Majesty visibly present and to deliver them with the most apparent signs of sincerity of reverence and earnestness imaginable Endeavour to grace the godly Prayers of the Church with thy graceful and comely delivery with thy decent and respectful postures and gestures and let the Eyes of the Assembly learn from thee my reverend Brother the manner how to pray as well as the words and expressions of Prayer O! let not the negligence and sloathfulness of so many be laid to thy charge but strive to be zealously affected thy self that this disposition may be communicated to thy hearers I speak to you chiefly whose office and happiness it is to sing daily praises to God in Cathedral Churches Think not that you have sufficiently discharged your Duty if you have observed your distances your tunes and pleased the Auditors with your melodious Voices O! Remember my Christian Brother that thou must likewise please thy God with the harmony of the Soul and tune as well his praises with the inward affections as well as with the outward concerts of Musick Take heed lest thy behaviour or thy negligent discharge of thy Duty give scandal to our dissenting Brethren who are too apt to be offended at the least sign of weakness which thou mayest discover at such a time Secondly Another cause of the contempt of our Liturgy given by the Clergy is the negligence of the Superior and wealthiest Clergy who seldom read the Prayers of the Church themselves unless it be some small portion but commonly employ their Deacons or the meanest persons of the Church to offer up those Prayers that are of the greatest concernment to us and the chiefest of the Rubrick As if that Office were too mean for their Promotions and Dignity whereas it is the most glorious Employment that we Men can pretend to It makes us like our divine and great Saviour who intercedes for us in the presence of God and offers up our Requests Is there any that nameth himself a Christian that scorns to imitate the Author of our Salvation and to offer up the Prayers of their Congregations to God No person can be too worthy for so excellent an Employment and because the usual method observed in Cathedrals cannot well be changed I could wish that the Superior Clergy the Bishop the Dean and the Canons would sometimes perform those parts of Devotion which they have totally appropriated to the meanest of their Foundation and Society that thereby they might remove from the minds of Men the disesteem of our Prayers which they are apt to conceive and entertain thereby For as in the Days of Jeroboam
Evening Prayer for a single Person O Being of Beings the great Creator of the World and preserver of Mankind by whose gracious goodness I am now alive and brought safe through the many dangers and inconveniencies of this mortal Life to the close of this day I humbly acknowledge thy Providence and merciful Protection Thou hast fed me with thy Creatures defended me by thy Power instructed me in thy Truth admitted me into thy Church for these and all other Mercies received from thy Bountiful hand I return thee my homage and Thanks and confess my self unworthy of the meanest of thy Favours by reason of the many Provocations that I am guilty of O Lord I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son my Transgressions are multiplyed every day and mine Iniquities are without number How easily have I yielded to the Power of Temptations how often have I broken thy sacred Laws Gracious God be merciful be merciful to me a Sinner blot out all mine Iniquities and forgive me for the sake of my dear and only Saviour who is dead and intercedes for me Accept his Sacrifice and Mediation for my poor Soul grieved with the sense of Sin Give me true Repentance and that Frame of Spirit and Holy Resolution unto which thou hast promised in thy Holy Word mercy and forgiveness As thou hast begun the Work of Reformation in me perfect it I beseech thee by the continual influences of thy Holy Spirit forsake me not good God nor leave me to my wretched self but let thy Truth and Wisdom direct my Understanding and thy grace govern my Will in the practice of Piety Suffer me not to be overcome by the mistakes and inticements of Sin and Satan defend my Soul from all wicked impressions and infections of the World As thou hast redeemed me for thy self let not Vice nor Error draw me from thee nor the dangerous Allurements of Earthly Vanities but as my dependency is upon thy Power let my expectation of Happiness be from thy Bounty and my delight be in fulfilling thy holy Will Strengthen and increase in me all goodness Let every day bring me nearer to thee and to that Purity and Holiness without which no Man shall see thy Face Time that carries me apace to my cold Tomb minds me of an Eternity of a Resurrection and the last Judgment Prepare me I beseech thee for this last Account and that terrible Day wherein every Man shall give up an account of his Actions before a Righteous and Impartial Judge Grant that I may find Mercy and Favour at the hands of my great Redeemer and be admitted into the Joys of his Paradise And as I am now going to lye me down to refresh my weary Body with rest blessed God be merciful to me this Night protect me from all dangers and Evils Suffer not the Malice of the Devils nor of Wicked Men to hurt this outward Tabernacle nor the precious Soul that is within keep from me all troublesom Dreams and Thoughts and whether sleeping or waking let my Soul be armed with a reliance upon thy Goodness and Power grant me a moderate Rest that I may be better enabled to serve thee in my Generation and proceed on in the Employment unto which thy Providence hath called me In which let my chief aim be to advance thy glory rather than my own fordid Interest and to mind the careful management of all the Talents which thou hast put into my hands that I may as a good Servant and Steward improve and increase them Look in mercy upon all my Relations wheresoever they be let thy Grace thy Truth and Goodness accompany and protect them during their abode here below Crown with the choicest of thy Blessings our Religious King and Queen shield them from the wicked attempts of all their Enemies and give them long Life Health and Prosperity now and at last receive them into everlasting happiness Bless all their Royal Relations give them all Grace to be instrumental in promoting the Interest of thy Truth Godliness and Virtue that they may answer the good ends for which thou hast put much into their Hands Bless all Governours and Magistrates give them Grace to prefer thine Honour and Glory to all other Corrupt purposes whatsoever Defend this Nation from all Plots and Conspiracies defeat the Designs of all our Enemies and disappoint all Combinations against it If thou wilt afflict us good God let it be for a time take not thy Truth and Gospel from us and our Posterity and sanctifie all thy Judgments and Mercies to us that they may effect and produce in us that Reformation and those Graces for which they are intended Spread thy Gospel and Truth all over the World pull down Antichrist let all Nations understand thy Will and readily submit unto it Be merciful unto all Sons and Daughters of Affliction comfort and succour all sick Persons and such as are grieved with the loss of Goods Friends or Relations Be thou their good God and Saviour in thy due time giving them grace to submit to thee to trust upon thee and to expect from thy mercy alone a seasonable and proper Remedy to all their pressures and troubles And now blessed Lord I recommend my self again into thy merciful hands and conclude these my imperfect Prayers with that most perfect Form recommended to us by my good Saviour in whose Name I beg aâ—â— for whose sake I intreat thee O merciful Father grant me these my Requests and all other Mercies which thou knowest needful for my Soul and Body OUR Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread And forgive us our Tespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from Evil For thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen An Evening Prayer for young Persons and Children O God who hast received me amongst thy Children instructed me in thy Truth and called me to be a Professor of thy Holy Religion Great and merciful Creator who hast been my Proteor and Defender from all dangers look down in mercy upon me and continue thy Favours to me the remaining part of my Life I see and experience every day the manifold expressions of thy goodness Thy Holy Name be praised for them all Give me more and more a Sense of thy mercifulness and a grateful heart that in these tender Years I may learn my great Duty to serve and glorifie thee on Earth and prepare my self for an Eternity for this purpose increase my knowledge and the graces thou hast been pleased to bestow upon me through a good Education of my Religious Parents Bless all my endeavours and theirs imprint thy holy Fear in my tender Soul preserve me from ill Company from the Vices and Errors of
Triumph in impiety but certainly as thou art a wise God thou hast appointed a time for a retaliation and to render unto every one according to their deeds Shall men live and act in defiance of thine Almighty Power Shall they violate thy Sacred Laws and tread under foot thy Divine Authority and shall not thine All-seeing Eye take notice and thine affronted Majesty be sensible of such hainous Crimes I appeal to the Consciences of the most obdurate Wretch and vilest Contemner of a Deity whether the fears and disquietness of their inward Being which we call the Soul the Spirit or the Mind do not suffiently witness and tell them there is a Superior Justice to which they are answerable for their offences In Nature this Divine Wisdom and Justice shine together in the great Fabrick of the World in that excellent order of the several pieces in the disposition and tendencies of the Created Beings in the Laws Rules and Orders that preserve them from decay And thine Almighty Power O my God is seen in the preservation and support of all these things in the midst of so much and such violent Commotions as well as in their Creation and shall thy Divine Justice be wanting in this in suffering the Rational Beings to break thy Laws to contemn thy Power and spurn at thy Majesty without a check shall they disorder the humane World and overthrow thy Sacred Constitutions unpunished for ever Look back O my Soul into former Ages and see whether thou canst find in the Records of Antiquity any former footsteps of this Justice I see it appear visible in the overwhelming the first World and commanding the waters of the Seas and the Heavens to wash away the first Generations of Men. How terrible and impartial in drowning so many millions of all sorts of Creatures for the Sins of mankind How hot and dreadful was thy Justice when that delicions Paradise of Sodom and Gomorrha was by fire and brimstone from above turned into a stinking and noisom Lake that yet to the World's end shews the Signs and Tokens of a Divine Displeasure How grievous was thy Justice in punishing the Nation of the Jews and that rebellious City Jerusalem for the Crimes of its Inhabitants when hundreds of thousands were destroyed their Glory levelled in the dust and the rest scattered among all Nations But what need we search so far for the declarations of thy Justice Are not those Scourges of War Famine and Pestilence that sweep away thousands in a moment into their Graves without any regard of Crowns and Dignities sufficient and visible expressions of thy Divine Justice O my God! I see it in the punishment of many vile wretches in the destruction of States and Empires in the overthrowing of Towns and Cities in the Earthquakes and Hurricanes in the wonderful Alterations and Revolutions of the World I hear it denounce Death and Destruction to wickedness and iniquity in thy Holy word The light of the wicked shall be put out terror shall make him afraid on every side and shall drive him to his feet his strength shall be hunger-bitten and destruction shall be ready at his side his confidence shall be rooted out and it shall bring him to the King of terrors his remembrance shall perish from the Earth and he shall have no name in the street Job 18. The wicked man shall be turned into Hell and all the Nations that forget God Ps 9.17 The Lord preserveth all them that love him but all the wicked will be destroyed Though hand joyn in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished Prov. 11.21 Hath thy Truth O my God pronounced these dreadful Threatnings and many more and shall not thy Power and Justice execute them All the World is at thy devotion thou can'st command the Heavens the Earth and all the Elements to accomplish thy Will O Divine Justice thou art a Consuming Fire and no respecter of Persons the Prince and the Subject the Rich and the Poor shall be treated all alike and thou art not to be deceived with the paint of Hypocrisie and Dissimulation nor to be cozened with the impudent pretences of deceitful men Thou seest O my God into the very heart and soul and canst not be imposed upon or deceived in the examination of our actions When therefore I consider the excellency of thy Sacred Laws and the aversion that thou hast declared against Sin and the severity of thy Justice O Holy and Dreadful Majesty I cannot but tremble to think upon my guilt and the number of mine offences to think that I must appear before thy last Tribunal before a Glorious and Impartial Judge when so many Creatures that I have abused shall all witness against me when my Conscience shall lay before me all my Crimes and the most secret Contrivances shall be disclosed with all the aggravations of thy mercies forbearance and goodnesses What shall I answer how shall I escape when the Executioner shall be there ready to drag me away into endless Torments from whence there can be no Reprieve How grievous will it be to lye under the heavy strokes of thy severe Vengeance for ever O my God that I may be now so sensible of thy Justice that I may never experience it Make me an eternal monument of thy mercy that I may never feel the severity of thy wrath and Justice Grant me that exemption which thou hast provided and promised to thy chosen an interest in my great Saviour in his Death and Passion for his sake spare me and forgive all my Crimes Accept of his Sacrifice I flye from the Terrors of thy Justice to thine unspeakable Mercy in Christ at his Death and at his Resurrection Thou hast proclaimed Pardon to all believing Sinners Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief I lay hold on thy favourable Promises and though I have deserved thy wrath provoked thine indignation stirred up thy vengeance I expect through the merits and mediation of my merciful Saviour who hath been a sufficient Propitiation for all our Sins to obtain forgiveness and thine Eternal favour with an admittance into thy Coelestial Paradise Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon Plenty and Riches O Heavenly Father how great is thy goodness to me in bestowing upon me these Possessions and Blessings of this Life in granting to me this Plenty and these Conveniencies my Lott and mine Inheritance declares what regard thou hast to me above all other thy Servants and Creatures this comes not to me by chance neither is it my Labour and Industry that have procured it but thy Divine Appointment and thy Liberal hand to thy holy Name be ascribed the praise and the glory of all these things I hold them with a relation to thee my great Lord unto whom they do really belong and to whom I must pay my Tribute as the acknowledgement of thy Propriety I look upon my self only as thy Steward bound to mannage and dispose of these Blessings according to thine Orders
thou designest yet to continue me some time longer in this Earthly Tabernacle grant me a resolution to live with more circumspection that I may be more careful of my behaviour a more religious observer of thy Holy Laws more zealous and mindful to work out my Salvation with fear and Trembling That I may emprove the few moments that I have yet to live to prepare for a long Eternity and not waste my precious time in vanity as I have formerly done mitigate I beseech thee my great pains take away thine heavy hand from me and give me ease or a sufficiency of Patience to endure what thou shalt think convenient to lay upon me let me receive these admonitions from thee in that dutiful manner as becomes me thy poor diseased Servant that I may never depend too much upon my present being but always think upon and look for my departure that I may be always prepared for a removal out of this incommodious Inn into that House that is not made with hands out of this life checker'd with so many Sufferings into an uniform and blessed Estate where all these Sorrows shall be swallowed up in everlasting Joy and Pleasure O my God let not thy grace and goodness forsake me or leave me to my self suffer me not through impatience to hasten my death or to desire it before it be thy will to take me hence Let me never be guilty of so great a Crime to dispose of my own Life which thou hast reserved to thy self alone but strengthen my resolution and courage to bear without murmuring or complaining with a quiet and contented Spirit what thy wisdom shall judge convenient for me and to wait with a Christian temper for my appointed time when thou O my God shalt put an end to all my pains release my Soul out of this crasie and polluted Prison and take this immortal Being out of this decaying House whereof the Pillars and Foundations have been so terribly shaken by my present Disâ—ase that I have justly thought it would before this time fall into ruine Prepare me for thy self O my God and when thou shalt call me away receive me into thy Holy and Heavenly Sanctuary where my ever blessed Saviour sits at thy Right hand to intercede for me Amen A Meditation and Prayer when the Symptoms of Death appear O Almighty God and Heavenly Father I perceive it is thy will to remove me out of this Earthly Tabernacle to call me from my present station out of thy Vineyard where I have been employed in thy Service Lord I confess my negligence and carelesness that I have not been so diligent as in Justice and Reason I ought The Task that thou hast given me to end I have but begun the World and its Vanities have stole away my Cares and employed too much of my precious time and the pleasures of Sin have bewitched my Soul so that I have been to my great grief an unprofitable Servant But O my God there is mercy with thee and a sufficiency of mercy to pardon my greatest and most hainous Offences Declare I beseech thee the Infiniteness of thy Mercy in the forgiveness of my notorious Transgressions thou art able to save to the uttermost all that come unto thee through my Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ Hast thou been merciful to a Thief upon the Cross to a David and a Peter to a Mary Magdalen and the greatest of Sinners and wilt thou deny me a share in this Divine Mercy O strengthen my Faith in thy Gracious Promises I Believe help thou mine Unbelief I seek not unto thee with any confidence upon any merits or vertues in my self or actions but as the Prodigal Son or poor Publican with an assurance upon thy pure and disinteressed Love and the Blood of my Saviour that speaks better things than that of Abel Cast me not away from thy presence now in the time of my distress look upon my groans my tears and sufferings The pangs of death have already seized upon me I am departing out of this miserable World my Soul is weary of this loathsome Tabernacle of my Body I feel my strength decaying more and more I see the Grave is ready to receive my Carcass and the Worms to devour and feed upon it let mine immortal Soul be precious in thy sight wash and cleanse it in the blood of the immaculate Lamb slain and buried for my Sins and risen again for my Justification Farewell vain World that I have too much adored and served thou art not able to assist me with any comfort or advice in my need but my dependance is upon my God to his mercy alone I seek for shelter and relief I now perceive the emptiness of all those things that worldly minds so highly esteem what advantage can I receive from my former Riches from my Attendants and Friends The Preferments Grandure and Titles of Honour cannot benefit me in my present Estate Death is going to strip me naked and deprive me of all present Comforts I see the folly of my past Labours and extraordinary earnestness after these Vanities Had I but any longer time to continue on Earth I would flight these deceitful shadows of happiness I see another and more lasting happiness beyond the Grave O my God an Eternal happiness in another Estate not subject to any casualty or change secured to the owners by thine Almighty Power grant me that I may attain unto it that I may be admitted into thy Holy and Heavenly Sanctuary that with the rest of thy chosen I may be an Eternal Monument of thy Goodness and Mercy Remove from me all disorderly affections compleat the good work that thou hast begun in me and accept of the groans and prayers that I shall breath out unto thee my Heavenly Father at my last gasp send thine Angels to Comfort and secure my Soul and receive this precious Being into thy Custody and Protection Defend and preserve me from the malice and temptation of all Evil Spirits at this Critical and last moment Look in mercy upon all my Relations that I leave behind me supply the want of my Presence with the continual favours of thy good Providence be thou a Father to the Fatherless and a Husband to the Widows a true Friend to such as are forsaken moderate their grief for my departure with the assurance of a sinal Resurrection Keep them all in thy fear and favour from the Corruptions of the Age and bring them to thine Eternal Kingdom O my merciful God I am weary of this wicked World and painful Life release me at thy good and due time and though I see a mournful Spectacle in the dissolution of my Body into loathsom dust I can see further beyond my Grave to the great and joyful Morning of the Resurrection when thou shalt awaken this sleeping dust of my Body when thou shalt find out every Grain and Particle of this Earthly Tabernacle to joyn it again together to live with
Kingdom when ever it shall please thee to call them out of these Tabernacles of misery and affliction Good God we resign our selves into thy hands dispose of us as it shall seem good in thy Divine Wisdom O Blessed Jesus unto whom all Power is committed in Heaven and in Earth receive us into thy Protection and Mercy we pray thee and intercede for us to thy Heavenly Father Amen A Prayer for a Ship 's Company before an Engagement at Sea O Merciful and Great God whose Power Wisdom and Providence is so visibly seen upon this unconstant Element we humble our selves before thee at this time of danger to implore thine Assistance Protection and Blessings to our necessary Endeavours for the Preservation of the Rights of the Nation unto which we belong We acknowledge our selves to be miserable Sinners and guilty of many provocations against thy Divine Laws but it belongs to thee O Heavenly Father to have mercy upon thy poor Creatures and Servants Lay not to our charge our hainous Offences but pardon we beseech thee all our former Sins and give us true Repentance that if thou shalt yet spare our Lives we may amend Let not our Guilt and Crimes hinder the Blessings of Victory and Success which we beseech thee to grant to our present Fleet and Arms. For that purpose command the Seas and the Winds to yield unto us all needful assistance and let thy Holy Angels protect our Persons and our Ships from the fury of the Enemies shot and all Casualties Good God we depend not upon our selves our Skill or Provisions or humane strength but upon thy Power upon thy Mercy O Holy Saviour upon thy protection and favour grant unto us we beseech thee Safety and Victory that we may live to admire thy goodness in our deliverance and learn by these instances of mercy to honour and praise thy Holy Name when we shall be escaped out of so great dangers Save us we intreat thee O merciful God save us our Bodies and our Souls that they may be employed again in thy Service but let our immortal Souls be dear in thy sight whenever or however thou shalt be pleased to call them out of these Earthly Vessels receive them we pray thee into thine Heavenly Sanctuary This we beg and all other things which thou knowest needful for us through the mediation of our Divine Saviour who sits at thy Right hand and whose intercession we humbly implore in the words that he hath taught us saying Our Father c. Seasonable Ejaculations and short Prayers in the midst of a Fight either by Sea or Land LOrd have Mercy upon us Save and Deliver us Good God abate the Pride and Fury of our Enemies Merciful Saviour Protect us by thine Almighty Power Lord Jesus Strengthen and Defend us O Blessed Saviour receive our Bodies and Souls into thy Favour and Mercy Good God Deliver us O Holy Jesus our Dependance is upon thee O Lord of Hosts we trust upon thy goodness and Protection and not upon our selves Save us Good Lord Save us that we may live to praise thee in our Generation Have mercy upon our Souls We recommend our present and future Beings into thy Hands O Merciful Creator Give us Victory we pray thee for Christ his sake that we may Glorifie thee and thy Mercy Amen A Prayer for Mariners in a furious Tempest at Sea O Almighty and Eternal God at whose disposal are all the parts of this great World and these violent Waves upon which we are tossed Look down in mercy upon us and give a check to the fury of these Seas We see before us nothing but Death the Deep is open to swallow us up our only help is in thy Providence and Protection Save and Preserve us we humbly beseech thee lay not to our charge our former Sins let not this heavy load and burthen sink us now into Eternal destruction but deliver us for thy mercies sake still the rage of the Sea stop these boisterous Winds and calm this mighty Tempest As thou hast manifested thy great Power to us in this occasion let us be likewise sensible of thine extraordinary mercy in our Deliverance Thou hast promised that not a hair of our heads shall fall without thy Heavenly permission O suffer us not to perish but rescue us we pray thee in this our great necessity and let us live yet longer to glorifie thy Holy Name Send us such favourable Gales as may bring us to our desired Havens and give us all grace to learn by this and other instances of thy Power and Providence that our whole dependance is upon thee our God and that thou canst quickly deprive us of Life and Being if we offer to forget our selves and thy former Mercies if we extravagantly abuse either in word or deed thy dreadful Name and holy Profession Spare us good Lord spare us at this time and we vow unto thee all submission and obedience and a sincere reformation of our Lives for the time to come To this purpose assist our good resolutions with thy heavenly Grace that all these accidents and dangers may turn to our Eternal benefit to the safety and security of our immortal Souls And all this we beg for Jesus Christ his sake our only Mediator whose intercession we humbly implore and conclude these our imperfect Prayers with his most perfect Form Our Father c. A Thanksgiving after a Victory by Sea or Land NOT unto us O Lord not unto us but to thy holy Name be ascribed O blessed God the honour of this Victory and Success We Praise thee for having spared our Lives and suffered us yet to enjoy the light of the Living We acknowledge thy Power and Providence in this great preservation of our Persons from the fury of our Enemies whom we see lying before our eyes breathless and senceless whereas thou hast been gracious to us our good God and sheltred us in the midst of those dangers that have swallowed up so many of our fellow Creatures O let us never forget this great deliverance but let these Bodies which thou hast made and preserved at this time be employed for the time to come in thy service and for thine honour Let these Members which have been secured by thy Providence from wounds and maiming be consecrated to Holiness and Piety and to advance thy Gospel Religion O Let us all make a right improvement of this great Mercy and Salvation Let it not become an aggravation of our Crimes and ungratitude Give us with all thy Mercies thankful hearts humble and dutiful Souls that in the midst of all this Worldly Prosperity and Successes we may behave our selves as becomes true Christians Sanctifie therefore this great Blessing to us all let us not demean our selves too insolently over our fellow Creatures but treat them with compassion as thy Subjects and Servants as well as we O Let this Deliverance and Safety be so recorded in our hearts and minds that we may ever glorifie thee our God for it and oblige thee to a continuance of thy favours to grant to us and our Endeavours such Success and Prosperity that we may be a Safeguard and Security to our King and Kingdom to preserve them from the violent attempts of all their Enemies and ours 'till it shall please thee out of thine infinite goodness to put a stop to this raging War and grant us a lasting and honourable Peace These and all other Mercies which thou knowest needful for us our King and Kingdom we humbly beg through the Mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ our only Saviour to whom with the Father and Holy Spirit Three Persons and One God be ascribed from this time forth and for evermore all Honour Glory Dominion and Praise Amen A Prayer for the Preservation of the King's Person O Gracious God King of Kings and Supream Monarch of this inferiour World we humbly beseech thee to take into thy merciful Protection the Sacred Person of our King Save him from the Power and Designs of all his Enemies frustrate all their Plots and Conspiracies Preserve Him in the midst of the greatest Dangers that He may always prove an happy Instrument to promote thy Glory and true Religion amongst us For that purpose assist His Fleets and Armies bless us that Fight for Him and the Publick Interest Crown all His Endeavours with Victory and Success here and with everlasting felicity hereafter and all we beg for Jesus Christ his sake Amen A Prayer for the Church Militant GOod God look down from Heaven upon all thy Servants dispersed all over the Dominions of Antichrist and elsewhere deliver them from their grievous Oppression give a check to the unmerciful Enemy preserve them from Sin and Apostacy assist them with the Directions of thy Holy Spirit Sanctifie all their Afflictions and Crosses to them and in thy due time rescue them out of the Cruelties and Barbarous usage of their implacable Enemies For that intent bless all those Worthies that design to do them good and open the eyes of all men to understand and give them Grace to profess thy true Religion call the Jews Turks and Infidels into thy Sacred Fold compleat the number of thine Elect and bring us all to that Eternal Kingdom which thou hast provided and promised to thy chosen People Amen A Short Prayer for such as are desperately Wounded HAve Pity and Compassion upon me O Merciful God! I submit to thy Will if my Body be destroyed save mine immortal Soul Pardon all my Sins for Christ his sake Receive me into thy favour support my Spirit under all my torments Give me an assurance in thy love by a reliance upon thy gracious Promises and deliver me out of this World of Sorrow and Suffering and admit my Soul into thy Kingdom of Peace Lord Jesus receive my Spirit Amen FINIS