the good name and reputation of another Or hast thou pleased thy self either in inventing or spreading rumors of that kind III. Dost thou willingly give ear to Slanderers and to such as go about with lies or dost thou abhor them both in thy self and others The Examination upon the tenth Commandment I. DOst thou rest contented in that condition or state of life wherein God hath placed thee or hast thou at any time inordinately lusted after that which belongs to others II. Hast thou entertained secret covetings in thy thoughts with any delight or complacency Or hast thou labour'd to restrain them and quench them in their first beginnings When you have consider'd seriously and answered your self in these particulars one by one sum up the Account you have made where you find your self innocent give the glory to God whose Grace hath kept you from falling into those sins but where you find your self guilty humble your self before God in Prayer confessing sadly the evil you have done and imploring mercy in these or such other words as the devotion of your heart shall suggest to you An humble Confession after Examination O The God of my Soul with all humble Reverence I appear this day before thee not as the proud Pharisee to justifie my self but as the poor Publican who striking his breast durst not lift up his eyes towards Heaven nor say any more than this Lord be merciful to me a sinner For I have sinned O Lord I have sinned Wo is me I cannot cast my searching eyes into any corner of thy Commandments but I find my self miserably guilty But in what manner soever I have offended thee O my merciful Lord whether in Thought Word or Deed whether secretly or openly I am now sorry for it from the very root and bottom of my heart beseeching thee to look compassionately upon the frailty and ignorance the wilfulness and presumption of my life and graciously to forgive all that I have done amiss For alas I am neither able to stand thine indignation nor present thee with any thing of mine own but tears and prayers to appease thine anger Be reconciled therefore to me O God in the blood of thy dear Son which was so freely offered up to thee as a full ransom for the sins of the whole World O require not that payment again of me a poor and bankrupt sinner but for his sake for his abundant Satisfactions sake cancel the hand-writings that are against me blot out all my sins past new and old and for the time to come let there be an everlasting tie between my Soul and thee that thou maist be my God and I may live and die thy servant Amen A Protestation to be made after Confession O My great and glorious God I who am less than the grain of dust that hangs upon the balance profess seriously and with the remorse of a wounded spirit that I am not only sorry but ashamed and confounded within my self that I have so many ways sinned against so good a God so gracious a Father But what is past I cannot recal though thy mercy may forgive But for the time to come I call all thy holy Angels to witness that I this day sacrifice my self wholly to thee resolving to break of from all sinful courses and fully purposing never to offend thee more But because thou knowest my failings and my weakness is not hid from thee I beg of thee O my God to shew thy strength in my weakness and to confirm my infirm mind in this holy Resolution That so never repenting of this Repentance nor wavering in those Resolute Purposes which I have now by thy Grace fo deliberately made I may go on constantly in a pure and holy life till in the end of my days I come to everlasting joys which thou hast prepared for them that love thee through Jesus Christ my Lord Amen A Prayer before the receiving the holy Sacrament O My most blessed Saviour who in the bowels of thy Mercy towards Mankind didst not only offer thy self a Sacrifice for the sins of the whole world but didst institute this heavenly and holy Sacrament as the means to convey the Benefits of thy precious death to all such as with humility and repentance come unto thee Accept I beseech thee this my humble Address who here present my self a woful sinner I confess but such a one who am heartily sorry for my sins and penitent for my offences Direct me therefore O my God in this great action with such a reverent and awful fear that all the faculties of my soul may be attentive rightly to apprehend and joyfully to receive this wonderful Mystery of thy Body and Blood O my Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof let thy Holy Spirit therefore before thy coming prepare and dress up a Lodging for thee in my Soul cleansing it from the stains of sin and suffering nothing to abide in it that may keep thee out so that being wholly possest by thee all sinful thoughts and unclean suggestions may not only presently vanish but never find entrance more Grant this O my Jesu and so this day receive me into thy favour that I may with joy receive thee into my soul and being once united with thee thy Grace may never depart from me that so thou maist live in me and I in thee for ever Amen A Thanksgiving after the Receiving of the Sacrament O Lord the only Spring and everlasting Fountain of all good who hast this day revived and quickned my poor Soul by giving thy self unto me after a wonderful way in this Blessed Sacrament I praise and glorifie thy holy Name for this thine infinite mercy beseeching thee to crown what thou hast begun by a continual supply of thy heavenly grace that I may never forget whom or what I have received but being purified by thy Blood and strengthned by thy Body against all future Temptations I may constantly run through all the parts of an holy life to the possession of thy glorious Kingdom World without end Amen Amen Rules of Devotion to be observed toward the Evening or some time of the Afternoon I. THat you fail not unless some extraordinary or unavoidable accidents hinder you to allot some part of the Afternoon or toward the Evening for the advantage of your soul when freeing your self from business and company you may retire into your Closet or private Oratory and there direct your thoughts without disturbance upon God alone II. That being thus retired you constantly make it your business to read some part of the Holy Scripture especially in the Psalms which if all other Books of Devotion were lost are sufficient to supply us in that kind having begun there go on to the reading of some part of the New-Testament not carelesly or in haste as if you had a mind to have done but so attentively as to be able to give some account of what you have read or
divine Love able to enflame the Will with fervent Affections and keep us from damps of coldness and indevotion And when we have thus put our selves into the presence of God with an awful Reverence and Adoration of him as present we have then mounted the first step and degree of this Ladder O Heavenly Father who hearest the Prayers of all that seek Thee purifie the Intention of my Soul in all the Prayers I make to Thee that I may neither seek nor desire any thing but in relation to Thee through IESUS CHRIST Amen THe second step or act of the Soul is To look to the directing of the Intention to fix it entirely upon God and take it off from all earthly things For as the least Grain and Atom of dust offends the eye so this Intention admits of no mixture no vanity of being seen or heard at your Prayers no curiosity of thinking to climb up by this Ladder into the secrets of God no spiritual Pride in reflecting upon your self as more devout than others for as it must be sincere so it must be humble directed to the Glory of God alone which in this ascent of your Soul must be always in your eye as the Centre in which all the lines of Prayer must meet But then this Intention of the Supplicant must be accompanied with some Offering too For it was Gods Command to his People that none should come into his presence with empty hands Being therefore come into his presence deal generously and freely with him offer him the thing which he most desires even thy heart with all the thoughts and affections of it to be disposed by him not only during the time of Prayer but for all thy life For this Offering of thy Heart to God if it makes way for thy Prayer and breaks through those Clouds which thy sins have interposed between God and thee O Eternal God who for all those Infinite Blessings which thou hast bestowed on me requirest nothing back of me but my Heart Behold I offer up to thee the Heart which Thou demandest And since it is now Thine fill it with Thy Gifts and adorn it with thy Graces that every beating every pulse of it may be a Prayer and every Prayer being kindled by Thy holy Spirit may be a Sacrifice fitted for Thine Altar through Iesus Christ. Amen AFter this Offering the next step is by raising the Understanding and the awakening of our Faith to a due consideration of that which you are about Being therefore retired into thine Oratory make these few Questions to thine own Soul and engage thy self to an answer O my Soul Wherefore art thou retired into this place What is thy Design What thy Pretension Where is thy God whom thou comest to Treat with Is he present Doth he hear thee Or is he merciful Will he help thee What is thy business thou art to negotiate Is it the saving of thy Soul or the satisfying of thine earthly Desires What words wilt thou use to move thy God to hear thee What humble gestures What profound reverence Answer thy self briefly to every one of these Interrogatories as thy own Conscience dictates to thee For by this discourse made with thy self thou shalt be the better prepared to discourse with God But to make this preparation the more compleat the quality of the Persons engaged in this Treaty is necessarily to be weighed Consider therefore first with my self who thou art that makest thy approaches to speak with God That thou art but dust and ashes Abraham himself was no more Consider again the motives that may drive thee to this duty Thy sins many thy strength little thy self nothing thy dangers great thy case the same with the Disciples in the Storm when they cried out Master save us or else we perish For he that really lays these three things to heart 1. The extreme necessity that he is in 2. The small possibility of help either from himself or any other Creature 3. The high importance of that which he is about that it is as much as his Soul is worth will never dare to come coldly and carelesly to a work of that concernment Having thus far reflected on your own condition you are in the next place to raise the Prospect from your self to the Person you pray to to consider that he is no less than God who clothed himself with light as with a Garment A God infinitely wise from whom nothing can be hid infinitely powerful to whom nothing is impossible infinitely good ready to shed and diffuse and impart his goodness to his Creatures that therefore though his Majesty may terrifie thee yet his Mercy may invite thee especially if you consider God as he is in Christ reconciling you unto himself For as the one may strike a reverence into you so the other will infuse a confidence without which our weak Prayers will never have strength enough to reach the Throne of Grace O My Glorious God Thou art the Holy of Holies but I the Impurest of sinners Thou art Mercy it self I Misery even Misery it self What should I seek farther to know either of thee or my self Let my love of Thee make up the knowledge that is wanting For what should Misery be in love withal but Mercy Or where should Mercy exercise it self but where there is so much Misery THe Understanding being awakened with these Considerations the fourth act of the Soul in relation to Prayer is to rouze the Affection which is seated in the Will This being so necessary an Ingredient in your Prayer that is it but a cold Offering without it The understanding may provide for you this Spiritual food but it is the Will that must taste and swallow and digest it into nourishment the one may make you wise but the other must make you holy The Prophet tells you that the Seraphins in God's presence with two of their wings cover their face and with two other their feet leaving only their breast open which is the seat of Love When therefore you present your selves in the sight of God be sure you so far imitate these Seraphins that though your eyes be vaile you cannot look into his Glory you cannot know him as you would your Breast the seat of your Affections be open to receive and emit those beams of divine love which only can kindle devotion to the height and unite your Soul to God by a most intimate Union But alas you will say those blessed Spirits that are in such a nearness to God may well be all fire and love but you at such a distance cannot find the effects of it the wood lies upon the Altar but you want fire to kindle it all that you can do is to search in the ashes for some small spark to blow at But know you not saith Siracides how great a fire a small spark may kindle The same Spirit of God that moved upon the Waters till it had produced the World moves upon
make daily use of the humors of the body the distempers of the mind the weakness and weariness of the flesh the injuries and oppressions of the Time the cares and distractions of the World Of these they make their Engines to assault us and weave their Nets to entangle us And as S. Bernard observed by his own experience they are never more earnest to disturb us than when they see us most earnest in this duty As it was said therefore of the Christians That that Religion could not but be very good which Nero persecuted so we may very well conceive of Prayer that it must needs be some divine and heavenly thing which the Devil with all his Engines so violently opposeth And the truth is he hath so much the more reason to set himself against it for nothing is more destructive nothing more terrible to him than a Soul armed with Prayer for he trembles at the sight of it saith St. Chrysostom When St. Paul therefore having first shewn us what Enemies we were to deal with that we were to wrestle with Principalities with Powers with the Rulers of the Darkness of this World with spiritual wickedness in High places when I say after this fearful Muster-Roll he adviseth us to arm our selves with the whole Armor of God with the Breast-plate of Righteousness the Shield of Faith the Helmet of Salvation the Sword of the Spirit he adds in the last place Pray always with all manner of Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit as if all the rest were nothing without Prayer And this the Apostles themselves found to be true who being not able to cure the Lunatick and to drive the evil Spirit out of him our Saviour shewed them wherein they failed by telling them That this kind is not cast out but by Prayer and Fasting For though they might have so much Faith as to remove Mountains yet without prayer that Faith could not remove the Devil For this only is that perfume whose smoke will make him fly as far as did that unclean Spirit whom Tobias his perfume did drive away But there is an Hostility more dangerous than this because being more inward and domestick it makes the heart the seat of the War and opposeth Prayer in the proper place and bed of the conception of it which the Devil immediately and directly cannot do Of these inward and intestine Enemies to Prayer St. Bernard reckons up four kinds For there are our past sins to wound us our present cares to distract us our distempered Passions to disorder us and a whole swarm of loose and floating imaginations to molest us And of these Ingredients is that cloud made up which the Prophet Ieremiah complains of That God was covered with a Cloud that our Prayer could not pass through to him For as gross Vapors ascend from the Earth and being in the upper Region of the Air condescend into Clouds hinder us from seeing of the Sun and enjoying the heat and splendor of it So saith St. Gregory out of our earthly hearts arise those several Vapours which being joined and cast into a Cloud beats back our Prayers and intercepts the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness from shining on us St. Austin likens a Soul in this condition to a man that is unhappily married for as he having spent the day in managing his affairs abroad trembles at the very thought of coming home at night being sure to meet with nothing but bitterness and disquiet there So the troubled Sinner being haunted with these ill Guests entertains his Thoughts contentedly enough with objects abroad but trembles to call them home and fix them upon Prayer But there is no remedy home we must come and sweeten as well as we can the Discontents we find there Though the mind be clouded and troubled this must not make us cast aside our Prayers but cry out the more earnestly as David did Save me O God from the great Waters that are come even into my Soul Deliver me from mine enemies for they are too mighty for me Cast out these Temptations that come about me like Bees quiet my thoughts compose my mind so that I may not fear to look home or find that to be a torment to me which was made to be my comfort But to consider these Enemies of Prayer apart we shall find in the first rank of them our unrepented sins When our Conscience stands up against us and cries out to us First make peace with me or else never think to make peace with God For he accepts of no unclean no unwashed Sacrifice and if Repentance usher not in Prayer will never find admittance Holy David deeply apprehended the Consequence of this If saith he I incline my heart unto wickedness God will not hear me For what an impudence were it to expect pardon for those sins which I am yet so far pleased with as I am not resolved to leave or to look for Mercy when that Lust is not yet cool'd with which I have offended Bring therefore no more vain Oblations your Incense is an Abomination to me saith God to that people of his who honoured him with their lips when their hearts were far from him Your appointed Feasts my Soul hates they are a trouble to me I am weary to bear them When you spread forth your hands I will hide mine eyes from you yea though you make many Prayers I will not hear Would you know why The very next words will satisfie you Your hands are full of blood you have not washed them in the waters of Repentance you are yet in your sins therefore you are not heard But what is to be done then in this case God tells you by his Prophet Wash you make you clean put away your evil doings from before mine eyes cease to do evil And when you have done this Come saith the Lord and let us reason together As if he should say You are now qualified for a Conference with God your Prayers will be seasonable and for your sins which hitherto have hindered you Do but confess and resolve to leave them Though they be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow though they be red like Crimson they shall be white us Wool The Enemies of Devotion in the second Rank are our Passions which though they are not in their own nature sins yet quickly slide into them and being prone to be irregular are like cross winds to hinder us unless we can allay and temper them For unmortified passions at the time of Prayer is like loud musick at a meeting of Friends which suffers them not to hear one the other When God appear'd in the flaming Bush to Moses on purpose to be seen by him yet he would not suffer him to make any near approach to him till he had put off his shoes which signifies something more than is in the Letter and relates rather to the heart than to
the feet As if he should say to thee Here I am even I thy God but come not near me till thou hast put off thine earthly Affections till thou hast devested thy self of whatsoever is displeasing in my sight if not take heed No man can see me and live that is saith St. Gregory None can see me spiritually that lives carnally It was an high expression of him who was so great an Admirer of Euripides that he was wont to say That if he were sure there were any sense in death he could be content to die only that he might see Euripides But then to see God who would not mortifie himself Say therefore with that earnestness as St. Austin did Moriar ut te videam O Thou Fountain of Life Make me die that I may see Thee Mortifie me that I may enjoy Thee Strangle me take away my breath that I may speak to Thee But then again Videam te ut Moriar Let me in some measure see Thee first that I may value Thee that I may be content to die to the end I may see Thee further For if I know not at all how to contemplate Thee I shall as little know how to mortifie my Affections so as to fit my self for Prayer THE third Assault that is made upon the Soul is by the Cares of this Life which like so many Thorns are ready to choak the seeds of Grace as soon as they are sown For overmuch solicitude and anxiety of Mind in worldly things casts such an heap of Earth upon our Prayers as will not suffer them to ascend taking up the Mind and all the Faculties of it and hardly admitting so much as a Thought of Heaven But as they say of Thorns That they may do well in an Hedg but ill in a Garden so is it with these Cares which being kept within their bounds and measures hurt not the Soul but if we admit them among our Prayers they corrupt the very nature of them and turn them into Sin When thou art therefore setting thy self to thy Devotions imagine that thou hearest thy Saviour calling to thee as he did to Martha Why art thou so careful why art thou troubled about many things One thing is only needful the saving of thy Soul Since therefore thou art come to treat about it dismiss whatsoever may disturb thee lay aside thy Cares as Mary did place thy self at my feet hear me in my Word that I may hear thee in thy Prayer O Gracious Iesu I am come at this time to humble my self at thy Feet and to beg Mercy for my Soul which ought to be dearer to me than a thousand Worlds O suffer not then any Worldly Cares to divert or hinder me Root out this Bed of Thorns and sow holy Thoughts instead of them Let me not be like Martha troubled about many things but fix me upon that One thing needful which I am come about that so having chosen the better part it may never be taken from me Amen BUt the Conflict is not yet done when these former Enemies are overcome there may be a swarm left of busie vain impertinent thoughts of which we may complain as David did that they have compassed us about like Bees For the Imagination being naturally unquiet and tumultuous interposeth it self many times without asking leave of us casting thoughts in our way and forcing the Understanding to reflect upon them And these she either fetcheth from Objects without from something that we have either seen or heard or done or if it fail of new plies from thence it presently busies it self within in forming of various Images Figures and Forms which like so many Atoms casting themselves into several Schemes trouble and vex the Soul in the midst of her Devotions not unlike the Birds which would have hindered Abraham in his Sacrifice And happy it were if we could as easily chase away these thoughts from us as Abraham drove away those Birds But their pertinacy is such that when you drive them out of one Form they assume another and are so importunately troublesome as makes many think it a thing impossible to be freed from them Cassianus confesseth of himself that he was brought very near to a dispairing of it till opening himself to a devout man of more experience himself being then but young he was brought off by this Similitude Should you ask saith he one that could neither swim himself nor ever saw others swim Whether he thought it possible that the heavy body of a Man could spread it self upon the water without sinking Would not he answer peremptorily That it was not possible But let the same man see once with what ease the Swimmer keeps his head above the water Would he not as suddenly change his mind upon the sight of this Experiment and apply himself to practise it You say it is impossible but you do not try whether it be so or no. For either holy Men have deceived us or some of them by the Grace of God assisting them have attained such a degree of Power over themselves as the Centurion in the Gospel had over his Souldiers they could have given the Law not only to their outward senses as Iob did to his eyes that they should not so much as look on Vanity but to their more inward Faculties they could command their Appetite to love or hate their rational Faculty to meditate their imaginative to think on this or not to think on that For the same St. Paul who humbled himself so low as to say that of himself he could do nothing could say too without arrogancy That he could do all things but then it was in Christ that strengthned him All things in Christ nothing of himself The Centurion whom we spake of that had his Souldiers so absolutely at his Command confesseth ingenuously that he himself exercised his Authority under another For in all powers subordinate the way to be obeyed is to obey Nor can these Imaginations be possibly subdued to Reason till Reason be subdued to Faith Submit thy self therefore to God O my Soul and there will follow a glorious Victory But you must strive for it for this unruly swarm of thoughts hurt none but those that yield to them When they buz about thee like Flies in a hot day drown their noise with the louder cry of thy Prayers And as Spiders cannot easily weave their Nets in a High Wind so neither shall whole Armies of vain Imaginations be able to ensuare thee as long as thy earnest Prayers like a vehement wind shall blow against them O Most mighty God who seest my Weather-beaten Soul tost and driven by vain and various Imaginations like a torn Bark by contrary Winds and not suffered to sail on in a straight Course towards Thee send thy Holy Spirit to calm this Tempest and to lay these Winds that they may no longer hinder me in my way to Heaven or disturb me in my Prayers
FIrst you are to remember when you settle to Prayer you then place your self in the presence of God whose eyes are upon all men but especially upon such as call upon him II. Secondly the consideration of his presence is to put you in mind with what humble Reverence both of Soul and Body you ought to appear before so great a Majesty III. Thirdly before you begin to Pray you are to resolve within your self seriously to intend the Duty you are about that your heart may not wander but go along with your Prayers or if through weakness it happen to stray to call it back again and to ask pardon for it in some such short Prayer as this Lord strengthen me and restrain me and lay not this weakness to my charge A Prayer preparative O My dear and blessed Saviour who with so much zeal didst drive out those who turned thy House of Prayer into a Den of Thieves clear at this time the Temple of my Soul from vain and sinful thoughts cast out all wandring Imaginations leave nothing behind that may either disturb or distract me in the performance of this my duty that my Prayers may ascend as Incense and thy Grace and Mercy may descend as Dew to the saving of my Soul and to the glory of thy Name Amen Morning Prayers collected out of the Psalms I. DEfend me O God under thy Wings and keep me safe this day under thy Feathers Give thine Angels charge over me to keep me in all my ways Preserve me as the Apple of thine eye hide me under the shadow of thy Wings That no evil may happen unto me nor no plague come nigh my dwelling Create in me a clean heart and renew a right Spirit within me O hold thou up my goings in thy Path that my footsteps slip not Who can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret sins but above all keep me from presumptuous sins lest they get the Dominion over me so shall thy Servant be undefiled and innocent from the great offence Amen II. Unto thee O GOD lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the Heavens Yea unto the Hills will I lift up mine eyes from whence cometh my Salvation For whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee Into thy hands therefore I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of truth Blessed art thou who hast lightned mine eyes that I sleep not in death Who hast delivered me from the terrors of the night and from the evil that walketh in darkness Who hast driven sleep from mine eyes and slumber from my eye-lids Thou art my God and I will thank thee thou art my God and I will praise thee Amen III. O Lord thou hast searched me out and known me thou seest my down-lying and uprising Thou understandest my thoughts long before For thou art about my path and about my bed and spiest out all my ways Through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born thou art he that took me out of my Mothers womb my praise shall be always of thee Lead me then O Lord in thy Righteousness and make thy way plain before my face Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee for thou art my God let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the ways of Righteousness Shew thy servant the light of thy countenance and save me this day for thy mercies sake Amen IV. My voice shalt thou hear betimes O Lord early in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee For thou art the thing that I long for thou art my hope from my youth O be thou a place to hide me in and compass me about with Songs of Deliverance For all the earth is full of darkness and cruel Habitations Set me up therefore upon the Rock that is higher than I and I will not fear what man can do unto me For thou alone canst deliver my Soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling Osatisfie me therefore with thy mercy and that soon that I may rejoice in thee all the days of my life Lead me forth in thy truth and learn me for thou art the God of my Salvation in thee shall be my hope all the day long Amen V. Set a Watch this day O Lord before my mouth and keep the door of my lips Turn away mine eyes that they behold no vanity and let not mine heart be inclined to any evil thing Teach me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy truth O knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy Name Order my steps in thy Word that no wickedness may have dominion over me Hide me privily by thine own presence from the provoking of all men Keep me secretly in thy Tabernacle from the strife of Tongues For I will set thee always before me thou shalt be on my right hand therefore I shall not greatly fall Thou hast been my succour Leave me not neither forsake me O God of my Salvation But let thy merciful kindness be this day upon me like as I do put my trust in thee Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Amen A Thanksgiving to God for his Protection in the night O Most gracious GOD whose eyes have been open over me when mine were shut and under the shadow of whose wings I have past this night in safety I do with all possible thankfulness humbly acknowledge it as thy great mercy that thou hast not taken away my soul this night as in justice thou mightest have done but hast given me respite and afforded me one day more to call upon thy Name O Lord make me ashamed of my former unthankfulness and wound my heart with the consideration of mine own dulness whom so many favours have not wrought unto more obedience Give me grace to consecrate the rest of my life unto thy service and to redeem the time at least which I cannot recall And O thou who turnest the shadow of Death into the light of the Morning enable me powerfully to cast off all the Works of Darkness and to keep my body and soul spotless and unblameable And as thou hast brought me to the Comforts of this day So go along with me I beseech thee through all the parts and minutes of it that in all my ways being guided by thy counsel here I may hereafter be received into thy glory even for the merits of my dearest Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen A Morning Prayer O My dear Lord and Maker from whom alone I look for blessing continue I beseech thee to be the guide of my life counsel me govern me lead me in the way that I should go or else I shall wander from thee into infinite Errors O possess then all my bodily senses that my sinful affections may find no place Leave me no more to my own weakness
to single at least some one passage or more out of it to be laid up in your Memory and to be made use of in the practice of an holy life III. That in this time of retirement you lay all things aside that may divert you from Holy and Heavenly thoughts considering that you set your self in the presence of God that you are to give him an account of what you are doing w ch that you may the better do you may begin with this Prayer A Prayer upon the Entrance into your Closet O My great and gracious God whose infinite mercy it is that I have this minute of my life left me I here appear in thy presence lamenting sadly that so much of my time is already lost either in doing ill or doing nothing or in doing that which hath been unprofitable and vain O grant that I may redeem the hours that are past dispose of those that are to come in serving thee hereafter with a devout heart earnest and passionate affections draw me off more and more from the pleasures and vanities of this life that I may the better settle my wavering and divided Soul upon thee alone and since at this time I have here retired my self that I might the more freely commune with my own heart and meditate on thine only Word let thy Blessed Spirit assist me that I may not only barely remember what I read but digest it into the practice of an holy Life to the comforts of my soul and the Glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ Amen Prayers towards Bed time I. LET my Prayer O Lord be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifâ—ing up of my hands be as an Evening Sacrifice For thou O Lord hast granted me thy loving kindness in the day-time and therefore in the night-season I will think on thee and make my prayer to the God of my life O thou that saidest Let therebe light and there was light open mine eyes that I sleep not in death Make me to commune with my own heart upon my bed and to search out all my ways That I may lament my sins as thy servant David did and cry unto thee for mercy Consider and hear me O God and hide me under the shadow of thy wings and let my soul rest in thee Amen II. Blessed art thou O God who makest the out-goings of the Morning and Evening to praise thee Who hast not cut off my life this day nor shut me up in the grave where all things are forgotten I will not suffer therefore my eyes to sleep nor my eye-lids to slumber till I have prepared my heart for my God to rest in For thou art my God from my youth thou hast numbred out my days and nights that I might serve thee thou givest thy beloved sleep and makest them that fear thee to rest in safety Thou deliverest me from the terrors of the night and from the evil that walketh in darkness Return then unto thy rest O my soul for God taketh care for thee Amen III. Lord let me make my Prayer unto thee in an acceptable time Teach me to remember thee in my bed and to think of thee when I am waking O thou Watchman of Isreal that neither slumberest nor sleepest watch over me this night Give thy Angels charge over me that the spirits of darkness may not come near me That no evil thoughts may betray me nor any sad or sinful dreams disturb my quiet For into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me O keep then what thou hast redeemed and let not thy servant for whom thou hast died perish for ever Amen A short Prayer O GOD my everlasting keeper blessed be thy Name for evermore for thou madest me when I was nothing thou redeemedst me when I was worse than nothing thou hast so multiplied thy mercies on me through all the minutes of my life that the Sun hath never yet rose or set upon me without new Blessings from thee And as thou hast done so much for me already for which I pour out my very Soul in thankfulness so in the same degree of lowest humility I humbly beseech thee to continue thy care of me this night and so to shadow me under the Wings of thy Protection that neither visible nor invisible Enemies neither sin nor danger may approach to hurt me That so when the joyful Light of the day shall return again I may rise in safety with an unspotted Soul and a Body fitted to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost even so Lord Jesu Amen Amen Is any afflicted let him pray The Complaint of an afflicted Soul I. BEhold O Lord I am as a bruised reed before thee O break it not I am as smoaking flax O Lord quench it not Send down from on high and visit me Save me out of many waters that are come into my Soul For I have been left unto thee ever since I was born Thou hast been my God even from my Mothers womb O go not then far from me for trouble is near at hand and there is none to help me The sorrows of my heart are enlarged O bring thou me out of all my troubles Thou hast formerly been my succour leave me not now neither forsake me O God of my salvation For from the ends of the Earth will I call unto thee when my heart is in heaviness O forgive all the offences of thy servant which have justly brought these bitter things upon me Take away at last all thy displeasure and turn away from thy wrathful Indignation Arise and help me and deliver me for thy Mercies sake O God make speed to save me O Lord make hast to help me II. IN the time of my trouble I will call upon thee O God in my heaviness I will cry unto thee and unto thee alone For whom have I in Heaven but thee or whom shall I desire on earth in comparison of thee My flesh and my heart fails me but thou art the strength of my heart and my portion for ever But how long wilt thou forget me Lord for ever How long wilt thou hide away thy face from me How long shall I seek counsel in my soul and my spirit be thus troubled within me In my Prosperity I said I shall never be moved But as soon as thou didst hide away thy face from me I was troubled But will the Lord absent himself for ever Will he be no more intreated Hath God forgotten to be gracious or will he shut up his loving kindness in displeasure Alas innumerable troubles are come upon me They have laid such hold upon me that I am not able to look up There is no strength left in me O my God neither know I what to do but mine eyes are towards thee I am troubled above measure help me O God or else I shall sink under the burthen O consider what thou hast laid upon me forsake