especially that of an eternal and glorious 〈◊〉 in the 〈◊〉 life 〈…〉 Childhood know 〈…〉 Scriptures shall however neglect the worship of God it will be an impiety void of all excuse and for such it will be more intollerable at the last day than for rude Scythians and Americans It might in reason indeed be thought unnecessary that Persons bred up in the Church of Christ especially in such a part of it as ours where the Bible is vulgarly known and practical Religion so clearly taught should be call'd upon to pay their tribute of service to the Almighty But however we may unhappily observe how innate depravity and the immorality of mens lives do alienate them from God and his Worship there are too many every where who live by Sense more than by Faith or Reason And because God is not present to their outward sight as were the Idols of the Heathen he is also absent from their thoughts and they are not apprehensive 't is of any great concern to them that they attend upon him in the Duties of his Service But the more easie and common impiety in this kind is the neglect of those Devotions which should be in private Families and in the retirements of particular persons apart For securing the publick Worship of God the National Government hath been very Zealous there being penal Laws for bringing men to it and they find themselves oblig'd to frequent the Ordinances of our Religion not only by the fear of God but also by that of the Magistrate who beareth not the sword in vain And for the solemn service of God in Parochial Assemblies 't is abundantly provided in our Liturgy wherein are pious forms for all publick occasions compos'd at first by the renown'd Reformers of this Church and Kingdom Men who hazarded their lives and some of them lost them too for the Name of the Lord Jesus and in defence of his Truth and Gospel To these great Worthies the Souls of this Nation are more endebted under God than words can express and their Memories as well as their Reformation should be for ever precious to us But though the publick exercise of Religion be so well cared for yet there are not the like furtherances of private Devotion by the commands of God indeed and by all the reasons of Divine Worship Domestick Piety is no less requir'd than that of the Temple But yet it is not inforc'd by any humane Laws nor hath the Church thought fit to recommend any Forms of Devotion either for Closet or Family that the Prayers in our Liturgy are not prescribed with respect to private Houses so as to be obliging there is declar'd by Dr. Hammond and he doth not only approve of other Forms to be us'd in Families but also that it may be in Visitation of the sick though there be an Office in the book of Common Prayer for that occasion And it hath been thought by some having as high an esteem for the Liturgy as others that considering the general temper of men it would much abate their veneration of the publick service and make them more slack and regardless in their attendance at the Church if the Devotions there were no other than what they have every day in their own Houses But whether so 〈…〉 no doubt that 〈…〉 which injoyn religious Duties together with the Sanction of Penalties annex'd to them do only respect the publick places of Worship So that elsewhere men are left to the alone obligations of Religion and their own Conscience And 't is the less to be wonder'd that this so considerable a part of Christian Piety is no more practic'd The neglects of holy Duties in Families may be too well known and those others more private may be also presum'd without any breach of charity But 't is much to be lamented that any instructed in the Discipline of the Gospel should think it enough to Worship the glorious God their Creator one day in the Week and content themselves with so much only of Religion as the Laws of their Country do force from them Now if we enquire how this may come to pass beside the sinful corruption of men and their aversation thereupon from the exercises of Piety it may be thought generally to proceed either from this that they do not sufficiently know or at least are so stupid as not to consider their Obligation in Conscience to the Duties they thus omit and how much their own interest is concern'd in the due performance of them or else in some it may doubtless be from a want of assistance to their Devotion while destitute of suitable compos'd Prayers in which they should address themselves to God Both which probable causes of so great irreligion the Author was willing to remove The former of them by his following Perswasives and the atter by some composures for Domestick Devotion thereunto subjoin'd In the Perswasives he hath not undertaken any exact discourse concerning Devotion as to the nature of it it 's several parts and the manner of due performance much less to entertain the Reader with an elaborate flourish of words but his design is only to inforce the Practise of this great Duty by a Summary of Arguments which seem'd most material and to do it with such plainess as might render them more apt to convince and affect those of meanest capacity And the Prayers here offer'd by him to the use of well dispos'd Christians are but a few being only for ordinary occasions excepting those in case of Sickness In all of them he he hath chosen still to take in what he thought pertinent and necessary rather than boast his own invention in an affected variety Hoping his good intention herein will attone for any lesser failings that may occur to the Critical he doth send them abroad with this one short Prayer more that by the Divine blessing they may prove really useful to the furtherance and help of Christian Devotion and for promoting the service and honour of the Great God of whom and to whom are all things Amen ERRATA PAge 7. l. 16. read Subsisteret P. 11. Marg. r. Just Mart. P. 34. l. 27. put VI. for 6. P. 40. l. 9. r. by God P. 43. l. 25. r. effected P. 47. l. 3. r. doth P. 73. l. 26. r. there the. P. 85. l. 16. r. much the. P. 88. marg r Ascet P. 93. l. 7. r. do thou P. 94. l. 24. r. and hasty P. 104. l. 17. dele thy P. 107. l. 15. r. thee my P. 108. l. 6. r. imploying P. 133 l. 14. r. attone P. 139. l. 12. dele happy P. 136. l. 6. r. pity P. 198. l. 3. r. or any l. 23. r. adapt P. 169. l. 9. dele all l. 25 r. intention P. 205. l. 28 29. r. supposed P. 206. l. 26. dele not P. 208. l. 7. r. corners P. 229. l. 28. r hath P. 251. l. 10. r. in my A PERSUASIVE TO PRAYER A PERSUASIVE TO PRAYER PRayer is a Duty of
Religious Worship wherein we own God for the Supreme Being and Lord of the World and yield him Honour and Adoration as such wherein we acknowledge our dependance on him we submit our selves to him imploring his gracious favour and the communications of his goodness This doth belong to Natural Religion being taught us by our inbred Reason and is a necessary consequent from the belief of a God Whence the practice of it hath been universal and the most degenerate of Mankind have us'd to invoke some Deity or other We read how the Priests of Baal did call upon him from morning to evening a 1 Kings 18. 29. and the Mariners in Jonah's Tempest cried every one unto his God b Jon. 1. 5. We may also observe from our Saviour that the Heathen had their Prayers in which they used vain Repetitions and did think to be heard for their much speaking c Mat. 6. 7. It doth appear from their own Writers how zealous they were in their Idolatrous Devotions that they had every where their Temples Priests and stated times of Worship And 't was a received custom among them in every business of moment they were to undertake Initium à precationibus capere d Plin. Paneg Traj to begin with Prayer In the Church of God Prayer hath been always esteem'd the principal part of Religion We read in the Old Testament how it was in constant use with those who profess'd the true God In his Temple at Jerusalem were offer'd up daily Sacrifices e Exod. 29. 38 39. which were still accompany'd with Prayer f Ecclus. 50. 15 16 20 21. by which they were recommended to the Divine Acceptance and the Worship render'd compleat And they had there a Liturgick Service consisting of Prayers and Praises Of such the devout Psalms of David are made up and 't is with reason believ'd that some of these were a considerable part of that Service which is probable from the Titles of them as of Psal 88. and 92. and those others which are inscribed to the Praecentor or Chief Musician It is mention'd when one Psalm of this sweet singer of Israel was first deliver'd by him for public use g 1 Chror 16. 7. and we read that in the time of Hezekiah the Priests and Levites did praise the Lord in the words of David h 2 Chron. 29. 30. Beside the more solemn Service of the Temple the Jews did likewise every day celebrate their Devotions in the Synagogues which were throughout the Country And for daily use they were furnish'd with certain set Prayers eighteen in number compendiously made that they might be the more easily remember'd i D. Lightf Hor. Heb. in Mat. cap. 6. And 't is affirm'd by Grotius Lightfoot and other Learned Men that the Petitions of the Lord's Prayer are for substance the same with these of the Jews and abstracted from them So careful were their Rabbi's or Doctors to promote Devotion in their Scholars that beside the ordinary Prayers they were wont to recommend to them some others of their own composingi. And thus did John the Baptist of whom we find in the Gospel that he taught his Disciples to pray k Luke 11. 1. The usual times of Prayer observ'd by the Jews were no less than three every day the third the sixth and the ninth hour And it hath been a Tradition among them that the third was instituted by Abraham the sixth by Isaac and the ninth by Jacob l Drus in cap. 3. Act. Apost To these hours we must refer the Devotions of David and Daniel when we read they were performed by them three times a day m Psal 53. 10. Dan. 6. 10. It was from a regard to Prayer especially that their Phylacteries were so much valued by them and therefore named Tephillim or Precatoria being scrolls of Parchment whereon were written some parts of the Pentateuch fasten'd on their foreheads and the wrists of their hands and by these they intended to be put in mind of their duty to God Also by having them on at the time of praying they thought they did serve him in a manner the more holy and acceptable From their high opinion of Prayer and its great importance proceeded that proverbial saying among them Sine stationibus non subsistere Mundus without standing Prayers the World would not stand For by Statio or rather the Hebrew word answering to it they used to fignifie Prayer it being one of the seven names by which they call it from the posture in which it was by them performed for the Jews unless at the times of mourning or extraordinary humiliation did commonly pray standing as several places of Scripture do plainly shew n Neh. 9. 5. Mat. 6. 5. Mark 11. 25. Luke 18. 11. and therefore that Text Gen. 18. 22. which by us like as in other versions is render'd Abraham stood before the Lord is in the Chaldee Paraphrase Abraham prayed before the Lord and from the Jews the same might descend to the Christians For that they did anciently pray standing doth appear out of Justine Martyr St. Cyprian and others The former-nam'd relating the manner of their pious Exercise on the Lord's day saith After these things we stand up all together and pour out our Prayers And in the latter it is Quando stamus ad orationem c. When we stand at Prayer most dear Brethren we ought to be watchful and to attend our Prayers with our whole heart o Just Mar. Apol. 2. Cypr. de Orat. dom Though it must be said there is this other account too why Christians used that posture namely that they intended it as symbolical of our Saviour's Resurrection and a visible token of their stedstast belief of it which they knew to be the supporting Article of their Religion It is therefore called by St. Austin Signum resurrectionis p Aug. Ep. 119. c. 15. and that it was so may be collected from the special times in which this Ceremony was observed which were every Lord's day being the day of the week on which Christ rose from the Dead and from Easter the solemn Festival of the Resurrection on every day 'till Whitsontide q Tertul. lib. de cor mil. cap. 3. August Ep. 119. c. 17. We do account it wickedness saith Tertullian to fast on the Lord's day or to pray kneeling And we enjoy the same freedom from Easter-day 'till Pentecost That standing at Prayer should be generally observed at the times now mention'd the Fathers of the great Nicene Council thought fit to enjoyn in their 20th Canon This minds us to add farther how the Duty we are upon hath been more eminently exemplified since the times of the Gospel in the practice of Christ himself of his Apostles and of those who profess'd the Religion by them taught in the first Ages of Christianity That our Saviour pray'd often and sometimes very long we are inform'd by the Evangelists and
St. John hath transmitted to us one compleat Prayer of his which he used together with his Disciples a little before he was betray'd r John 17. Of the Apostles we read that being met soon after their Lord's ascension they all continued with one accord in Prayer and Supplication Act. 1. 14. Likewise when they were to fill up their number by chusing one into the room of Judas Å¿ Act. 1. 24. and when being assembled at another time the Holy-Ghost fell on them t Act. 2. 1. Again when they were together for the Election of the seven u Act. 6. 6. Thus auspiciously did these wise Master-builders of the Christian Church lay the foundation of their great Work in the humble duty of Prayer The Christians living in the succeeding times of Heathen Persecution were not asham'd nor afraid to worship their God and Saviour when it was most despis'd and frown'd upon by the then ruling Powers and they had Zeal enough to keep up their Religious Meetings though they did thereby run the greatest hazard of their Estates Liberty and Life it self They came together to one place to pray having one common Prayer and with one mind w Ignat. Epist ad Magnes When any new Converts were to be admitted into the Church the great Lesson was They were taught to fast and pray to call upon God for remission of Sins the whole Congregation also fasting and praying Then were they brought to a certain place where Water was c. and after they had been baptiz'd They were brought to the place of the Congregation whither the Brethren were assembled to make their common Prayers to God both for themselves and the baptized x Jus â—â—r Apol. 2. Looking up to Heaven saith Tertullian we pray with hands wide open because they are innocent bare-headed because we are not asham'd without a Monitor because our Prayers are from the heart y Tertul. Apol c. 30. And again We meet in an Assembly or Congregation that we may besiege God with our Prayers as with an Army such violence is pleasing to him z Ib. c. 2. 9 When the Persecutions were so hot and furious that they were not permitted to assemble openly they did then betake themselves to subterraneous Vaults to Fields and desert places and would rather want their sleep than the opportunities of their Devotion for they had their Coetus antelucani a Tertul. de Coron Mil. Assemblies before day their Nocturnae Convocationes b Idem ad Vxor lib. 2. Congregations in the night time And as 't was reported by one of their Persecutors who had made strict enquiry into their way of living They did use to meet together at appointed times before day and sing Hymns to the honour of Christ as God c Plin. l. 10. Epist 97. Moreover their frequency in this holy Exercise is very memorable for beside the morning and evening they had every day three other times of Devotion which being the same as before to the Jews were at the third the sixth and ninth hour or according to our division of the day at nine in the morning at noon and at three in the afternoon Their regard to these hours is supposed to be in imitation of the holy Apostles which is the account given of it by some of the Fathers d Tertul. lib. de Jejun c. 10. Cypr. de orat dom Hieron in Dan. c. 6. Basil in Ascetic for it was the third hour when they were all with one accord in one place Act. 2. 1. 15. at the sixth Peter went up upon the House-top to pray Act. 10. 9. and it was the ninth hour by St. Luke called the hour of Prayer when Peter and John went into the Temple Act. 3. 1. There is no doubt but the Apostles did herein comply with the custom of the Jews as they did in other cases to avoid offence and the better to gain them over to the Faith and from their example it got the rather into the practice of other Christians though without any real obligation on the Conscience for no hour of the day is in it self more acceptable to God than another nor is any preferr'd in the Apostolical Writings but 't is commanded indifferently that we pray at all times e Eph. 2. 18. And this much Tertullian hath declared when speaking of these hours he doth interpose that the observance of them should be Salva indifferentia f Tertul. de Jejun c. 10. with this caution or reserve that it be not thought any necessary duty And he subjoyns a good reason when he reckons it in the number of those things Quae carent Scripturae authoritate That have nothing from Scripture obliging us to them Wherefore we may not vindicate that extravagant honour given to certain Canonical hours as they are call'd both of day and night or the peremptory imposition of them as if they had some peculiar holiness in them or were prescrib'd by a divine Command which afterward obtain'd when Superstition had prevail'd in the Church Nor would we lead the pious Christian near the Confines of the Messalians otherwise called Euchitae an Enthusiastic sort of Heretics who misunderstanding some Texts of Scripture had the vanity to think that their whole time was to be spent in Prayer Whence they cast off all worldly Employments persuading others to do the like and did moreover reject the holy Sacraments and other duties of Religion as accounting Prayer alone sufficient to Salvation g Theod. Hist lib. 4. cap. 11. Aug. Haeres 57. But however the devout practice of the ancient Christians as before mention'd should teach us to be assiduous and frequent in this holy Exercise And though we cannot charge the Conscience with a religious regard to any particular hours because God himself hath not done it yet from the reasons of the Duty it self and from the Scripture Precepts that enjoyn its frequency we must in the general declare it a sinful omission in any Christian if he do not ordinarily twice every day at least worship God in Prayer beside other times of doing the same when usual opportunities or any special occasion shall call him to it In the Jewish Church the morning and evening Sacrifice were appointed by God himself h Exod. 29. 38 39. and hereby saith Calvin they were taught to begin and end the day with the invocation and worship of God i Calv. in cap. 3. Act. Apost Likewise the burning of Incense on the golden Altar was order'd to be at the same times k Exod. 30. 7 8. And surely these are also the fittest seasons for the Spiritual Oblations of our Christian Worship For since our whole time is made up of night and day it seems very meet and expedient whether we respect God or our selves that at the beginning and end of these we should present our Religious Service and Prayers to him in whom we still live and move
Family and therefore as often as his Sons had been Feasting he suspecting that they might have transgress'd by excess did quickly after call them together to Sanctifie them and to offer burnt Offerings for them according to their number and thus did Job continually x Job 1. 5. and King David was so concern'd to have a sober and religious Court that he solemnly resolves to thrust out thence all wicked and immoral persons and to have such only to serve him as were Faithful in the Land such as walked in a perfect way y Psa 101. 6 7. 'T is also mention'd in Commendation of Cornelius while a Jewish Proselyte that being a pious man himself he had gotten a Family about him that were such too throughout a devout man saith the Text and one that feared God with all his house z Act. 10. 2. And we may observe how zealous the Masters of Families were in the first times of Christianity to bring those of their houses into the way of Salvation for no sooner were any of them brought over to the true Religion but they made it their business to draw their Families after them thus the same Cornelius when called by a Vision from Heaven to the Faith of Christ was careful to bring his Relations with him to the Preaching of Peter a Act. 10. 24. When God had opened the heart of Lydia it soon follows that her Houshold as well as she are baptized b Act. 16. 15. in like manner the Keeper of the Prison being himself converted all his were baptized together with him c Act. 16. 38. and after Crispus the Chief Ruler of the Synagogue had embrac'd the Faith his whole Houshold believed d Act. 18. 8. It was Gods command to the Jews that they should at home instruct their Families in the Law deliver'd by Moses particularly they were to do it every Morning and Evening and also to write it on the very door-Posts of their Houses and on their Gates e Deut. 6. 7 9. Now we cannot but think 't is of equal concern that those of our Religion should in like manner have the Precepts of it daily rehearsed to them nor can we suppose that Christian Governours of Families are less oblig'd then were the Jewish either to the Service of God and Religion or to set forward the Spiritual good of such as belong to them there is a general obligation on those professing the Gospel to endeavour the good and happiness of all men as they have opportunity f Gal. 6. 10. but it is more particular and binding in respect of them to whom they are more especially related for to such they owe greater love and as for Governours of Families they are not only bound in a special manner to consult the spiritual welfare of them who are of their Family some whereof are as their very selves but also on the account of their domestick Authority have a capacity and power lodged in them to inforce the pious means by which they may be set forward in the way of holiness not to regard the Salvation of the meanest Servant in their house is very uncharitable but while they omit the exercise of Religion they are extreamly unkind to the Souls of their Wives who are their own flesh g Eph. 5. 28 29. and of their Children who are pieces of themselves and in behalf of whom St. Paul hath given particular charge that they be piously educated h Eph. 6. 4. as his Disciple Timothy had the happiness to be of whom the same Apostle doth take notice that from a Child he had known the holy Scriptures i 1 Tim. 3. 15. and imbib'd the same Faith which had first been in his Grand-Mother Lais and his Mother Eunice k 1 Tim. 1. 5. but how can those Parents be thought to have any true love to their Children who mind not to have them bred up in the practice of Piety whereby they may be season'd with an early sense of God and Religion and without which they must needs be in danger of leading a dissolute life and consequently of being unhappy here and eternally miserable in the other World In the ancient times of Christianity Parents did esteem it their greatest charge and business to get their Children well instructed in Religion and that the seeds of Vertue and Piety might be sown in them betimes Thus the Father of Origen was careful that his Son might be taught in the holy Scriptures and well Principl'd in the true Religion before he would set him on any Books of humane literature He caus'd him to apply himself to some part of the Bible every day and commit it to memory so as to be able to repeat it to him and the Lad made such proficience that within a short time he would search beyond the Words into the Sense of Scripture and not content with the ordinary Readings did propound to his Father many difficult questions l Euseb Hist Eccle. lib. 6. c. 2. such were the forward indications of his great understanding and we find in the life of Constantine how concern'd he was that his Sons might be train'd up in all good Vertues which he earnestly endeavour'd as well by his own instructions as by setting such Tutors over them as were eminently religious and after they had been admited to be Partners in the Empire he did not cease exhorting them being absent by his Royal Letters to practice the wholesome precepts they had formerly receiv'd and that they would account the knowledge of God and his holy Religion of much greater value than Worldly riches and the Empire it self m Idem de vit const ilb 4 c. 5. Gregory Nazianzen in his Funeral Oration on his Brother Caesarius speaketh of his Mother the pious Nonna that as she had been Consecrated to God her self by her religious Parents so the Piety which as a Patrimony she receiv'd from them was transmitted from her to her own Children and she was instrumental in the Conversion of her Husband to the true Religion who was afterward advanc'd to the Episcopal Dignity and zealously discharg'd that Office for above forty years n Orat. 10. And 't is declar'd by the same Father how his Sister Gorgonia had follow'd the excellent Pattern of her Mother in that she was the means of instilling Piety into her Children Grand-Children and others of her Family likewise her Husband was by her won over to the strict practice of holiness o Orat. 11. Some modern Examples might here be added but I shall only mention one which may seem eminent enough to suffice instead of all I mean Sir Matthew Hale the late Lord Chief Justice a man never to be nam'd without a reverence to his memory he was certainly the honour of his Country and gave the greatest credit to the time in which he liv'd I need not tell the World how many and great his Excellencies were 't is
Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cryeth for the living God One day in thy Courts is better than a thousand I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the Tents of wickedness For the Lord God is a Sun and a shield the Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly O come let us worship and bow down before the Lord our Maker For he is our God and we are the People of his Pasture and the sheep of his hand To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts ALmighty God who art great and glorious infinite in all perfections and of incomprehensible Majesty in comparison of whom the Princes of the earth are but vile Worms and all the Nations of the World less than nothing and vanity Thou deservest to be feared and magnified to be adored and praised and 't is our greatest honour to wait upon thee thy service is the most perfect freedom and we cannot but think it very meet and reasonable that a good part of our time should be devoted to thee and thine honour yea our whole life is too little to celebrate as we ought the excellence of thy divine Nature and of thy great Works O Lord this admirable Fabrick of the World is of thy making for in six days were all things Created by thee and the Seventh day in which thou didst cease from thy Work thou didst set apart for an holy Sabbath in which the Sons of men might remember thy Creation and honour thee for it Wherefore on this day of our religious rest we desire to meditate and admire that wonderful workmanship which doth appear in thy Creatures By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made with all that glorious Host of Sun Moon and Stars thou hast founded the earth beneath and given life and breath to all things living We acknowledge thy signal kindness to our selves above the rest of thy Creatures in that thou didst Create man after thine own Image making him little lower than the Angels that thou hast given him dominion over the works of thine hands and made him capable of eternal happiness in the service and enjoyment of thy self O Lord how manifold are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches and what is man that thou shouldest magnifie him That thou shouldest set thine heart upon him We do likewise extol thy love to mankind which hath been further shewn in the great work of our Redemption That after we had broken the Laws of our Creation by sinning against thee had faln short of the glory of God and were become liable to Death and Hell thou wert pleas'd to send thine only begotten Son out of thine own bosom to save us from destruction and restore us again to thy love and favour who took on him the form of a Servant liv'd a persecuted life dy'd a painful and ignominious death for us men and for our Salvation he did alone thy justice by the Sacrifice of himself overcame Death and the Grave and finished our Redemption by rising to life the third day when he was declar'd to be the Son of God with power by his wonderful Resurrection which we and all thy Church do this day commemorate O God thine acts of favour have been thus great and admirable to us-ward we do therefore offer up our hearty praise and thanksgiving for the discoveries of thy Wisdom Power and Goodness in the Creation of us and the whole World for thy compassion and rich grace in and through our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ And we do here with deep Repentance humble our selves for that our lives have not better answered such obligations of thine to duty and obedience for we have sinn'd against thee as thou art our Creatour by not loving and fearing thee as thou hast deserv'd by neglecting thy service and employing our souls and bodies which thou hast made in actions displeasing to thee and which thou hast forbidden We have offended thee as the Author of our Redemption by not receiving the Gospel with a due love and esteem thereof nor conforming our lives to its holy precepts nor walking suitably to that abundant grace which hath therein appeared teaching us to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts But O thou Father of Mercies who delightest not in the death of sinners be thou pleas'd to pardon and justifie to do away our iniquities and receive us graciously bless unto us all the means of grace and the opportunities of receiving instruction from thine holy Word When we appear before thee in the Congregation of thy people help us to be serious and devout as in thy presence to join in Prayer with an intent and fervent mind and to hear thy Word with reverence and submission that by an attendance on thine holy Ordinances we may encrease in Piety and all the Graces of Christian Holiness for the righteousness and merits of that holy One who died for our sins and rose again for our Justification And we do also humbly beg for his sake that thou wouldest grant unto us thine holy Spirit and Heavenly Grace whereby thine Image may be renewed in us that we may from henceforth honour and serve thee from whom we have received our being and help us more and more to conform our selves to the death of Christ by dying to sin and to his Resurrection by rising to holiness and newness of life To this good end we pray thee to grant that on this thine holy Day we may sanctifie thine holy Name that our thoughts may be heavenly and our affections set on things above that we may take delight in the exercises of religion and may be in thy fear all the day long Bless thy Church and be thou graciously present in all Christian Assemblies throughout the World to hear the Prayers they shall this day put up and to prosper thy Word which shall be Preached that it may become effectual for pulling down the Kingdom of Satan and for edifying the body of Christ in sound Faith and real Godliness Let the light of thy glorious Gospel be spread abroad and the borders of thy Sons kingdom daily enlarg'd Call home thine ancient people the Jews and bring in the fulness of the Gentiles that all the Nations of the earth may be one sheepfold under the one great shepherd of Souls We implore thy particular kindness for this Church and Kingdom and more especially for the Kings Majesty that he may have Wisdom Justice Piety and all princely vertues to govern according to thy Will for thy glory and the good of thy people And let thy true religion be continued to us for all generations We present unto thee our hearty thanks for thy many and great benefits vouchsafed to us for our excellent being our preservation hitherto and all temporal enjoyments for our birth and education in a
place where the truth and purity of thy Gospel is profess'd and taught where we have the freedom of worshipping thee according to thy Will and do enjoy the precious means of Grace and Salvation Good Lord help us to make a wise and Christian use of all thy blessings to improve all spiritual advantages for the good and happiness of our souls that having well employed the Talents committed to us we may at length be approved by thee as good and faithful servants and may enter into the joy of our Lord to which blessedness do thou in thy good time bring us all through thy mercy in Jesus Christ in whose name and mediation we beg thy gracious acceptance of our Persons and Prayers which we further recommend unto thee in his words Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen Thy grace O Lord Jesus Christ thy Love O heavenly Father thy Fellowship and Communion O holy and blessed Spirit be with us all evermore FAMILY DEVOTIONS FOR THE EVENING A short Prayer before Reading the Scripture ALmighty Creator and Evening most wise Governour of all the World thou art God and there is none beside thee and thou only art to be worshipp'd 't is of thy mercy and happy forbearance that we are yet alive and 't is the greatest happiness of our life that we can thus attend upon thee to hear thee speaking to us in thy written Word and to speak unto thee our selves by our Prayers and Supplications O Lord draw near to us with thy favourable mercies while we approach to thee in our humble duty have a gracious regard to this our evening Sacrifice and let thy good Spirit help our Infirmities since thou hast appointed the holy Scripture for a Rule of our Faith and a Law to all our actions grant that we may attend thereunto with godly reverence let thy word dwell richly in us and have a powerful influence on our hearts and lives that having obeyed thy Will here on earth we may receive the promise of eternal life in thine heavenly Kingdom through our Lord Jesus Christ to whom with thy self and the holy Ghost be all honour and glory world without end Amen A Psalm and Prayer for the Evening O Give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever To him that made great lights for his mercy endureth for ever The Sun to rule by day the Moon and Stars to rule by night for his mercy endureth for ever O Lord thou hast searched me and known me Thou compassest my path and my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways If I say surely the darkness shall cover me even the night shineth as the day the darkness and the light are both alike to thee I will say of the Lord he is my refuge my God in him will I trust He shall cover thee with his Feathers and under his Wings shalt thou trust his truth shall be thy shield and buckler Thou shalt not be afraid for the terrour by night and the arrow that flyeth by day Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness nor the destruction that walketh at noon day Return unto thy rest O my soul for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee O Almighty and most glorious God Creator of Heaven and Earth we acknowledge our dependance on thee for we are the work of thine hands and in thee we live move and have our being wherefore our souls and bodies which thou hast made and hitherto preserv'd we do humbly prostrate at thy Footstool ascribing unto thee honour and worship adoration and praise and with lowly subjection submitting our selves to thy most great and excellent Majesty 'T is thy wonderful condescension that thou doest permit vile dust and ashes to have freedome of access to thy Throne of grace that thou art pleased to invite and command us to present our supplications We are altogether unworthy to speak unto thee and by reason of our manifold sins do justly deserve thou shouldest reject both our persons and prayers for the thoughts and imaginations of our hearts the course and practice of our life have been exceeding evil and that continually We have obeyed the lusts of our depraved nature more than the precepts of thy sacred Word and have compli'd with the temptations of Satan rather then the motions of thy blessed Spirit thy Law which is holy just and good we have broken from day to day and also slighted and abus'd the riches of thy grace discover'd in the Gospel wherefore to us belongs nothing but shame and punishment but with thee there is mercy and with thy Son plenteous redemption we beseech thee therefore for thy mercies sake and for thy Sons sake whom thou hast made a Sacrifice for sin that thou wouldest blot out all our transgressions and remember our iniquities no more deal not with us after the strictness of thy Law but according to the gracious terms of the new Covenant in which thou doest promise pardon and reconciliation to all repenting Sinners We do here profess our deep sorrow and humiliation for all our sins past and our serious resolution to lead the future part of our life in holy obedience to thy Will and Commands But for as much as our sufficiency is of thee and of our selves alone we can do nothing that shall be good and acceptable in thy sight be thou pleas'd to supply our defects and strengthen our weakness let thine holy Spirit lead us into truth and assist us in every good Duty Write thy Law in our inward parts and put thy fear into our hearts that we may never depart from thee Prepare us O Lord for all events of thy providence that in every condition we may be therewith content and grant whatever things shall befal us in this World they may work together for good and be a furtherance to us in our service of thee and in our passage to eternal happiness And because thou hast commanded that Prayers and Intercessions be made for all men we beg thy mercy for the whole race of Mankind that the light of thy Gospel may shine upon all the Earth and every Nation thereof may partake of Christ and the benefits of his Redemption Bless thy Church Universal that it may flourish more and more in purity of truth and holiness and that the Gates of Hell may never prevail against it Vouchsafe thy special care and kindness to this Church and Kingdom to which we belong preserve the religion profess'd among us from errour and corruption let piety justice and sobriety encrease and abound that thou mayest delight in us to do us good for