force his Body to observe all the motions of Respect commanded in the Rubrick Let him stand up when we give glory to God and sing forth his praises Let him kneel in Prayer and outwardly observe a due reverence and he shall find that his former aversion will insensibly wear away and by degrees he will bring his Soul to a hearty and religious compliance with those godly Forms of Prayer which before he could never use with any satisfaction to his mind he shall find his unhappy humour of discontent evaporate it self and his Body draw after the Soul and its faculties to a sincere worshipping of our good God in the manner that is practised amongst us Fifthly To use the Prayers of the Church with that devotion that is needful a frequent meditation upon them is very requisite A Meditation I mean upon the necessity of those things that are there desired upon the advantage of Uniformity and Unity in God's divine Worship upon their agreeableness with holy Scripture its Doctrines and Expressions upon the express Commands of the King and the wise Councils of our Nation under four or five Kings successively who unanimously enjoin the use of these Prayers in the publick Worship of God upon the decency and reasonableness of the Ceremonies Order and manner of our Service upon the frivolousness and Folly of all Objections against it upon the obstinacy and invincible hatred of all Objections A meditation also is requisite to this purpose upon several matters suitable to these godly Forms of Prayer Such Meditations I mean as may elevate the Soul to prepare and dispose it for a Holy Communion with God and inflame our affections in order to a more zealous offering up of the publick Prayers of the Church to the Divine Majesty Besides to perswade the judgment and remove all mistakes I recommend to thee the perusal of a Rationale upon the Common-Prayer that if by any means thou mayest be perswaded to a religious and devout conformity in publick to the Order of our Church But all this while methinks I hear a sort of Zealots amongst us Extol and Cry up the Praying by the Spirit 4. Particular and that in opposition to the reading of the Forms prescribed by the Church I must speak a word to rectifie their mistakes and to prevent the mischiefs which are thereby intended For this good purpose I shall First examine what Praying by the Spirit is in the sense of St. Paul Secondly I shall prove that for the most part in all Extemporary fluencies of Prayer though they be the gifts of the Spirit such persons as use them at that very instant can scarce be said to pray in the Spirit Thirdly I shall plainly demonstrate that the easiest and surest way to Pray in the Spirit is to take the assistance of well composed Forms of Prayer and to have them either in a Book before our Eyes or well imprinted in our Memories They are in a grievous Error that imagine that St. Paul's praying in or by the Spirit opposeth the Practice of our Church of England and strengthens the irregular Devotions of the gifted Brethren For if you please to Examine the meaning of St. Paul you shall find that he never intended any such matter In the 6th Chap. to the Ephesians and 18 ver he exhorts them to pray with all Prayer and Supplication in every Season 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Spirit which he cannot understand of the Prayers proceeding from the extraordinary inspirations or abilities bestowed upon us by God the giver of every good gift because such inspirations are not common to all and every one hath not such a quick Fancy or voluble Tongue to be able to pray in this manner so that every Person is not in a capacity to fulfil this Command which as all other Commands of God is proportioned and hath a special regard to Mens faculties and abilities Therefore seeing these words are directed to every Christian they relate not to the gift but to that which is commonly styled the Spirit or rather to the Duty of Prayer which every Christian may peform by using endeavours St Paul's meaning therefore is that we should in our Prayers to God not be content with the Lip Service but inwardly heartily and affectionately to pray to him and employ all the abilities of the Soul in offering them up to God for in this part of our Devotions we must observe the same method as in the others and act with the same abilities Now St. Paul in the 5th Chap. to the Ephesiens and the 19th ver adviseth them to make Melody in their Hearts to the Lord. Here is that spiritual Service required from us a serious real and hearty Worship wherein the Soul is concerned as well as the Body Likewise our Saviour Christ in answer to the Woman of Samaria tells her that God is a Spirit and that they that will worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth That is in opposition to the Corporal appearances of the Jews at Jerusalem an inward and soul Worship without which all our most assidual attendances upon holy Duties are frivolous and vain In the same sense we are to understand St. Paul's praying and singing with the Spirit in 1 Cor. 14.14 for he expresly saith if I pray in an unknown Tongue my Spirit prayeth He caleth it his Spirit that is his Soul which must be concerned in all our Prayers to God either by composing them and offering them or else by presenting the Prayers already composed in such a manner with the understanding and affections that they may proceed from us as our own I confess St. Jude's words ver 20. seems to favour the contrary interpretation when he adviseth to pray 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Holy Ghost Which words the admirers of new Modes and extemporary Prayers understand of the gift of Prayer that we should depend upon the Spirit of God and expect from his secret inspirations the matter and manner of our Prayers without limitting our selves and this unlimited Being to any certain Form That we should make use of those expressions as proceed immediately from his divine suggestions But this can never be the meaning of this wise Apostle for though it were true what this interpretation supposeth that all the faithful have the gift of Prayer and are inspired with the Holy Ghost That in that Duty he governs their Tongues and Fancy and furnishes them with proper expressions words and matter which I confess may happen in extraordinary occasions yet in our ordinary Devotions to expect such extraordinary movings of God's Holy Spirit in our Souls not to contribute any thing of our selves but our weaknesses and unpreparedness and wholly to depend upon the Holy Ghost is a presumption and indiscretion which agrees not with God's usual methods of acting with his Creatures neither in Nature nor in Grace for his Blessings and Power appear commonly in our Religious endeavours and if he gives
excellent Prayers will avail us nothing they will not be accepted if they proceed from a Soul bewitched with the deceitful Allurements of Sin The Devil's Slave can never be fit to appear before the God of liberty till the Bolts and Chains of Hell be shaken off He shall never meet with acceptance with a Jealous God who is already betroathed and inseparable from sin the great Enemy of his Glory How unseasonable and odious were the Devotions of Zimri when in the publick Congregations of the Children of Israel humbling themselves for their Sins in God's presence he had a Midianitish Woman at his side How unwelcome were the Addresses of a proud Pharisee whose Prayers were the expressions of his Pride and Vanity Cain's Sacrifices were not pleasing to God because there was a mixture of Wickedness amongst his Offerings therefore such Prayers as proceed from impenitency and vice are odious to God Likewise in such a Case the Petitioner is not in a disposition fit to receive God's Mercies for sin discomposeth us and while we retain it in our Assections both the Action and the Habit of sin conspire together to intercept and deprive us of all gracious returns of our Prayers from God It sills the Soul full of jealousies fears apprehensions suspicions and instead of Love it begets an hatred of and an aversion to God which will never suffer us to draw near in that manner as his infinite goodness and unlimited liberality require so that unless true repentance intervene between our Sins and our Prayers to our Maker they will rather provoke his Justice than prevail with his Mercy Thirdly If you will have your Prayers acceptable to God you must offer them with that attention and intention of the mind that so weighty an action and the greatness of God's Majesty require For to what purpose is it to attend and be present in a praying Congregation if we be no more concerned in the Devotion than the Timber and the Stones of the Fabrick if our Bodies â—e present without our Souls God demands from his People spiritual Sacrifices and Services which are not to be performed with the outward part alone the Mind and the Understanding must be active and the Soul and all its faculculties ought to be concerned in this Spiritual worshipping of our great God As God is an Unity without Division whatsoever is offered to him must express this Unity by a total Consecration of it self chiefly in that Christian Service where all the divine Attributes are acknowledged and wherein the Soul as well as the Body is to resign it self over to God Dead Sacrifices under the Law were abominable and bodily Devotions alone under the Gospel are disrespectful to God and injurious to our selves for they commonly proceed from the multiplicity of Worldly business that possess the Soul from an unmindfulness of God and a want of an Holy fear of his Divine Majesty from a carelesness of our Duty or from the disturbances and lusts of the Flesh that steal away our Thoughts as well as our Affections from God's Holy Worship and deprive us of the advantages that we might expect from a due performance of our Duty To prevent such ill consequences the Christian in Prayer ought to mind the weighty Business in hand and not only at the close of every Petition in imitation of the Primitive Church of Christ to subscribe and declare his ascent and consent to the Requests offered up to God by the universal Amen but also to express inwardly in the Soul what is outwardly pronounced and spoken and to be seriously attentive to every Petition for as the rational Soul is able to express it self as well as the animal part doth with the Tongue and that by an internal Word and Faculty proper to it that must speak or else God will not hear for that intent it is necessary to hearken with a Religious attention to the Prayers which proceed from our own or others Lips and endeavour to hear that part in the Devotion which is appointed for us It is necessary to set aside all other Worldy business to disengage our selves and our minds from all other incumbrances to six them to the Duty they are employed in and to tye and settle them with the dread of God's presence so that our thoughts may not take the liberty to wander up and down from this holy exercise And when we are in Prayers we must set a watch at the door of our Senses forbid entrance to all sudden Accidents and in a word summon all the thoughts of the Mind and faculties of the Soul to render their homage to God's Divine Majesty and not to suffer them to straggle from the weighty business in hand Remarkable is the Example of that Noble and Couragious Youth of Macedon whose Office it was to burn Frankincense before King Alexander when he sacrific'd to his Gods tho' a burning Coal was casually fal'n into his open sleeve Val Max. l. 3. c. 3. and did there consume both his Vestment and his Flesh lest he should ominously and unhappily interrupt the publick Sacrifice of his Prince he persisted in his business to the end through all the Torments and would not so much as complain How religious were such and other Heathens in the publick Worship of their false Gods Nothing was able to cause them to interrupt their Sacrifice And shall we Christians mingle in our Devotions to the true Lord of Heaven and Earth vain idle wanton and lascivious thoughts and actions Shall every accident and casualty be able to take us off from the Service we are about Yet this we see most commonly happens both in our publick and in our private Addresses to God for want of a due respect and dread of God's presence of which we should at such times be really and most sensible Fourthly The Affections of the Soul ought to be moved and concerned in the offering up our Requests and our Petitions ought to receive that qualification from them as is suitable to the reasons cause and intent of our Address Our praising of God must be performed with an holy and reverend freedom and a real sense of our Obligations Our requests must be sent up to God with humility and an acknowledgment of our undeservings Our Confessions of sin must be seasoned with sorrow and a resolution of amendment Our Promises Vows and Engagements must proceed from an hearty resolution and a sense of our miscarriages and weaknesses In short all our Prayers must be the outward expressions of the inward affections of the Soul which ought to qualifie and animate them for unless our Hearts be thus concerned the Prayer is but from the Tongue the Soul hath no part in it 't is but the Effect and production of our Imagination but no real Devotion of the mind 't is a Worship in jest and not in earnest visible to an Allseeing Eye Such heartless services are so full of Imperfections that in reason we can
excuse you from this outward humility of the Body God requires it at your hands in the 99th Psalm and the fifth Verse Exalt ye the Lord our God and worship at his footstool And the Royal Prophet calls upon all devout Souls in the 95th Psalm ver 6. O come let us worship and bow down let us kneel before the Lord our maker In the next words this Religious Prince labours to stir you up to this Humility to this part of Piety by reasons drawn from God's Soveraignty his Power and Right over us For he is the Lord our God and we are the People of his Pasture and the sheep of his hand Hath thy God any Interest in thee O Christian Hast thou any respect for his Holy Name Dost thou look upon him as thy Creator Protector and Benefactor Hath he received thee into his Church and to the hopes of eternal Rewards Is this Body of thine to be admitted into his heavenly Sanctuary in all the Company of his Holy Angels to worship and bow before him Then prepare thy self for this future and happy Employment Express thy thanks for all his innumerable benefits by thy Reverence and Devotion to him as thy God with the outward Humility of the Body in all thy Addresses to his glorious Majesty whether it be in publick or in private but chiefly in the publick Prayers of the Church There not only the Honour of our God the Credit of our Profession the interest of our Brethren whose Devotions are apt to grow cold by the sight and sense of our negligence but your own Interest also as well as your Duty calls you to this outward respect for an unmannerly behaviour deserves the Curses contrary to those Blessings which we are there to beg of God However you can never expect in reason to be benefited by the Churches Prayers if you will not vouchsafe so much as to be outwardly concerned O Christians let not any popular mistakes nor any Schismatical prejudices rob you of the advantages which you might hope to obtain from God by a devout humble and affectionate attendance at the offering up of the Excellent Prayers of our Church for your good and happiness But if all these Reasons cannot prevail upon some stiff necked and invincible Souls so far as to cause them to be dutiful and humble in God's presence at the hour of Prayer let them consider that in our civil Conversation the want or the omission of a due respect is a disgrace to the Person that should render it for it causeth Men to be branded with the odious Names of Clowns Ill-bread Brutish and uncivil People Now they are the worst of Clowns that are so in Religion that know not or will not render the Hommage that is due from their Bodies to their God If therefore the respect that we have for him is not able to oblige us to a Civil Behaviour and decent Postures and Gestures in Prayer let the shame of Men if we be not insensible to that likewise cause us to behave our selves with decency with respect in God's presence as becomes Men of Reason and Christians of good breeding and extraction and not as Brute Beasts that have neither manners nor understanding But of all Men none are more engaged than such as Officiate publickly and are the Mouths of their People to offer up their Prayers with all the decency humility and outward Devotion which might serve to excite the Auditors to a due respect for as their Persons are eyed by the whole Congregation their Example is not without followers It hath a great influence upon all that are present either to encourage or discourage them in their publick Worship Therefore in their disrespectful offering up of the Prayers of the Church they are not only scandalous in their own Persons and guilty of dishonouring God disgracing their Religion profaning the publick Worship but they are likewise guilty of all the contempt negligence and unmannerly behaviour of their Attendants if it happens through their shameful and irreverent Praying Let therefore my Brethren of the Clergy seriously consider the apparent danger they are in by an omission of this Duty I am perswaded that our Nation alone had never fall'n into that extravagant humour to loath the Godly Forms of Prayer which all good Men both at home and abroad highly esteem were it not for their disrespectful handling and reading of them whose Duty it is to recommend and grace them by their pâ—actices Good things when they are delivered by a slovenly hand are usually rejected and it is the weakness of the Common people to value things not according to their true intrinsick worth but according as they appear outwardly to their Senses A Prayer that shines with the gay cloaths of Wit and invention and a good delivery shall meet with acceptance and draw many sighs and groans from an ignorant Soul tho' otherwise never so full of imperfections when many will scarce afford an hearing to the solid and divine Prayers of the Church How many in our late Days have delighted to listen to the unadvised and blasphemous Prayers of the Sons of Tumult and Division How many have spent their Days under the Pulpits of those bloody Saints without any discovery of weariness whereas they now Complain of tediousness when in our ordinary Devotions we employ a few minutes to implore God's divine Mercies according to the most approved and religious manner How comes it to pass that the extemporary productions of many idle and wicked Fancies have been far more esteemed amongst many of us than those wise and excellent Prayers composed in the beginning of our Reformation by such as have sealed the Protestant and Christian Truths with their Blood Those Prayers I say which are fitted to all Capacities recommended to us by the Piety and Practice of the Antient Catholick and Othodox Church and which are not to be mended by any humane endeavours This question gives me an occasion to speak to thee my Christian Reader of some few particulars concerning Prayer which the present dissentions amongst us render very seasonable First I shall speak in vindication of publick Forms of Prayer against the new Modes of Praying ex tempore Secondly I shall enquire into the true Causes of our unreasonable distastes at the publick Forms injoyned by authority in our Church of England Thirdly I shall offer to thee my Christian Brother some directions how thou shalt use this Liturgy with Comfort to thy Soul Fourthly I shall examine what praying by the Spirit is in the sense of St. Paul and of the Holy Fathers Amongst the ancient Hereticks I find none so bold as to attempt the total subversion of God's Divinâ— Worship or to bring in any other mode but that which was generally embraced in the places where they lived They ventured to oppose some certain Articles of our Christian Belief or to introduâ—â— vitious and irregular practices in the Church They made it their business to
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
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
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
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
Humility the exactest care the most fervent Zeal and earnestness that thou art capable of God is not to be courted with ordinary Devotion His Blessings are not to be obtained by a slothful hand and a negligent Soul The distance betwixt God and us vile Men should be expressed by the humility of our Souls and Bodies and our Prayers offered to so excellent a Majesty must have an excellency to recommend them to the Throne of his Grace For that purpose we must take notice of and observe these following directions in all our Addresses to God First let a short Meditation upon God his Power Glory Sufficiency infinite Presence Goodness Knowledge and Riches precede your Prayers with some Reflections upon your selves your sinfulness vileness and the former experience of God's goodness that such Considerations as these may cause you to shake off all negligence and sloathfulness and help to banish from your Souls all undecency carelesness and misapprehensions usually found in the devoutest persons We are naturally too much unmindful of the respect that we owe to our God too careless in the performance of our Duties too fond of the World and its Vanities Therefore this Meditation must stir us up and pre-dispose us for this holy Conference with our Maker It must withdraw all our minds from all other intangling thoughts that we may with more liberty set our selves entirely apart for this important Duty We must rid our selves of those things that commonly entangle us when we present our selves before our God and draw near to him with such thoughts as these I poor wretched and weak Man Dust and Ashes am going to speak to and petition a God the Creator of the World a Holy and Divine Majesty an incomprehensible Spirit which sills Heaven and Earth with his infinite presence He is at my Elbows and takes notice of my behaviour in my Soul and observes all the wandrings of the Mind in every corner of this wide World and sees and hears our wants and necessities How careful must I be to appear with respect before him He is Holy and abhors all filthiness I must therefore banish all silthy polluted and idle imaginations at this moment He is as just as he is good ready to punish irreverence but much more inclinable to reward Humility and Devotion how devout therefore should my Soul be in his presence How circumspect and humble before him who is an all-seeing Majesty and a consuming Fire The indiscreet Devotions of the Sons of Aaron caused the Fire from the Lord to fall upon and consume them Vzzah's unseasonable officiousness and the impudence of the men of Bethshemesh in drawing near to God without respect were severely punished and shall I presume to draw near to my God with carelesness and indiscretion Shall I escape if I venture before him without due consideration Shall I expect any gracious returns of those prayers that are offered up with so little grace and dread of God's Power with so little sense of his glory and Majesty O let my Soul be silled with the fear and reverence of so fearful and holy a Being Let my mind be seasoned with such a dread of him that may not fright me from him but rather oblige me to draw nearer to him with more Devotion and Humility If we entertain such thoughts as these they will cleanse our Souls from all that sapersluity which will otherwise disgrace and spoil all our holy performances A little pause therefore before Prayer is needful for this purpose however it is an Act of Wisdom in so weighty a business to proceed on with caution and wariness and this little recollection of our selves which I recommend to every devout Soul before Prayer chiefly before the solemn and publick Prayers offered up to God in the publick Congregation cannot but be of a great use and very instrumental to prepare us for that Duty for thereby we may see what there is in us able to impede us in our addresses to God and what is likely to hinder a favourable return of our Petitions besides it savours much of that respect that God's greatness requires from us together with our Relation to him Keep thy foot saith the Wise man when thou goest to the House of God and be more ready to hear than to give the Sacrifice of Fools Ecclesiast 5.1 That is when thou goest to appear before God's Majesty keep thy self with watchfulness and circumspection and understand thy self thy disposition and what thou art and what thou dost that this sacred Frankincense of Prayer may be presented to God with the Ingredients necessary and from a. Soul rightly qualified Secondly For that purpose you must never come to God with any known sin unrepented of that is with any sin near and dear unto our Souls which we entertain with a Resolution never or not yet to part with For not only the sacred Word of God assures us that God heareth not Sinners John 9.31 but Reason also teacheth us that it consists not with his Wisdom to listen to the Prayers of such as will not hearken to his Commands to bestow his Blessings and Mercies upon such unworthy Souls as will not leave a sin for his sake or as prefer the filthy Pleasures of the Flesh to the sincere Joys of God's savour and the real advantage which slow from thence in abundance Therefore by the Mouth of the Prophet Isaiah he speaks thus to the Jews and to all impenitent Sinners When you spread forth your hands I will hide mine Eyes from you when you make many Prayers I will not hear The cause of this severity is discovered in the next words because your Hands are full of Blood All other sins as well as blood guiltiness are wont to divert God's Mercies from us and withdraw those good things which otherwise we might enjoy Our Prayers in such a case without this due Preparation savours of the greatest impudency and Atheistical boldness because we attempt the obtaining of God's Riches and Favours to our unworthy Beings and present before his all-seeing Eye Bodies distempered with Vice Hands full of Sin Eyes swelling with Pride or bearing the marks of Contempt of his Divine Majesty and a Soul that would never regard him were it not for our Wants and God's Riches The Prayers of such a Person will prevail no more upon God than the Sacrifice of Corah and his Confederates for he accepts not the Offerings presented by foul hands Purity and Innocency are required in such as come before God And tho' none of us can pretend to an absolute freedom from sin and from those wicked propensities to vice which render our Prayers ineffectual yet every one of us may cleanse our selves from all actual Transgressions by Repentance and make some amends by a repeated resolution against our beloved Sins and by an inward and hearty sorrow before we appear in God's presence for our past miscarriages for unless we appear in that temper our most just and
petition for things with Confidence and Faith which will be prejudicial to our selves and God's glory on Earth I cannot think that it is Christ's intent to encourage us to offer up such Prayers with an assurance of obtaining our irregular and inconsiderate desires therefore for the better directions and comfort of a devout Christian let him know that he may safely be confident and fully perswaded that all Prayers tending to the salvation of his Soul for the obtaining of grace forgiveness of his sins strength against temptation God will in his time grant him his Request if he be sincere and affectionate in his Prayer according to our Saviour's Words Math. 7.11 What Man is there of you whom if his Son ask Bread will he give him a Stone or if he ask a Fish will he give him a Serpent If ye then being Evil know how to give good gifts unto your Children how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask him And in the Gospel according to St. Luke how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him As God is as willing to bestow such divine Mercies as Men to ask they may be as certain to obtain them as God is free to grant But for other things relating to our present and worldly Interest we may ask with an assurance that God if he sees them fit for our good will doubtless give them but if otherwise he will make us sensible of his Liberality in another way for it is the manner of God's proceeding with his Children and Servants to send such returns to their Prayers as are most for their advantage not always answerable to their desires He keeps back the Blessings which he knows will be hurtful to them or prejudicial to the publick good and instead of them he heaps upon them others which will prove more really for their benefit Men foresee not the danger of God's inferior Mercies good things may become hurtful to us through the Devil's malice the prevalency of Temptations and our Corruption within As many Diseases are fed and increased by that Food which God hath appointed to strengthen the Bodies of the healthful so likewise many inclinations grow worse by those very Blessings which are granted to some as the rewards of their Piety In things therefore that are not always turned to a good use and that are neither for the benefit of Men nor the Glory of God I would not have a Petitioner gratifie his corrupt Humour so much as to be confident of the grant of his Requests nor to flatter himself in a vain expectation of that which agrees not with the Wisdom and Love of God for us As therefore a devout Christian must offer up such Prayers with this clause If it be God's good Pleasure let him not be too confident of obtaining his Petition in that very manner that he desires it and with that improper limitation of the over-ruling goodness of our God unless he is moved by some extraordinary impulse of his holy Spirit in his Soul to assure him of the grant and unless he can discover the events of the time to come by some unusual Revelation Some pious Souls often receive an answer to their Prayers before they rise up and God is pleased to comfort their drooping Spirits with a speedy and a gracious return As Hannah who petitioned God for a Son 1 Sam. 1.18 rose up with a joyful Countenance and a full assurance that God the Author of Life would give her a Child She had unburthened her self of her sorrows in Prayer and her heart and Countenance were no more so sad because she had received some assurance of a favourable acceptance of obtaining her Petition Eighthly But there is one thing more that a devout Christian must observe in Prayer to God that is the Duty of Perseverance slack not nor be discouraged for the first repulse or for a delay God grants not his Mercies always as soon as we begin to ask His goodness is to be courted by our zealous endeavours for he grants many times to our perseverance what he denys to our Prayers The Woman of Syrophenicia met with a refusal and had not her patience overcome this Obstacle she had never returned with the glad assurance of her Daughters recovery If Jacob had not contended with the Angel he had never been honoured with a Blessing An holy and devout importunity seldom or never departs empty from God's unwearied Bounty He suffers for several causes best known to himself his Servants to live a while in expectation of those Blessings which he intends at last to bestow upon them that his Mercies might obtain with them a right esteem and be more highly valued That their Faith patience confidence in him and all their Graces might be exercised and tryed the more and that their ability for Prayer might be increased by a constanter exercise and all impediments of a Communion with our God may be removed for that purpose it is to be observed that his Providence casts us into the want of many enjoyments that when we seek them from God by Prayer both the endeavour to obtain them and the receiving of them might turn to the everlasting advantage of our Souls and Bodies Let not therefore the devout Christian be discouraged if God answers not his Request as soon as he expects or desires for besides that it is a bold and indiscreet Act for us ignorant Creatures to limit the Wisdom of our Creator's liberality and to prescribe to him the time and place of opening his bountiful hand unto us it is an act of Cruelty to our selves and of impiety towards God to be so impatient for the enjoying of those things which may and doubtless will prove as prejudicial to us as injurious to his honour Take heed of murmuring for the want of Earthly conveniencies It was the great ruin of the Israelites newly escaped out of Pharaoh's Bondage and drew several Plagues upon their heads As perseverance assisted by the vertues of patience and Faith is a blessed means to obtain and sanctifie God's Mercies both Spiritual and Temporal so there is nothing that turns them sooner into Curses than impatiency despair and insolent Complaints against God's Love or Power Lift up always O Christian thine Eyes and thine hands in expectation of God's time as well as of God's Blessings Be not weary to wait for the expressions of his Bounty who is never weary to do thee good he is not so unmindful as thou thinkest him to be his delays or refusals are more for thine advantage than the enjoyments of those mercies would be which thou desirest with so much disrespect and impatience As the knowledge of his power and goodness requires our confidence and reliance upon him his infinite Wisdom demands from us a resignation of our selves and interests to his disposal without distaste or insolent complaints of our proud nature which
the Devil hath made use of this Engine to overthrow the Faith of many silly Souls by insinuating the most dangerous and damnable Errors with the gift of praying extempore In the late unnatural Rebellion Men took occasion in their extemporary Prayers to vent not only the most pernicious mistakes but also disobedience to the Civil Magistrate and from the Pulpit have poisoned many to our sorrow with most horrid and Anti-Christian Principles which to this day no Reason nor Remedy can cure But if no such danger were to be feared from extemporary praying if all Men so employed had the Integrity to intend it only to God's Glory and the publick quiet yet such Prayers cannot have that mature consideration nor those judicious expressions as a well Meditated Prayer judiciously composed and Examined And doth it become the respect we owe to so wise a God to be so bold as to present unto him any thing that comes first upon the Lips the hasty productions of our unadvised Fancies or the irregular expressions of our minds without considering before whether the things we petition for and the manner of asking be acceptable to him and agreeable with his revealed Will and Word And in regard we are so apt to mistake and are so full of infirmities does it not become our Christian discretion to weigh and seriously to examine what we are to say to so Wise and Divine a Majesty that our weaknesses might not hinder the effects of our Prayers especially in a publick Congregation where our mistakes may have many ill consequences where not only God and our selves are concerned but also many of divers tempers Capacities and Estates whose Indigencies we represent to a merciful God Now if Forms of Prayer are to be therefore used let any Man of Reason judge impartially which are the most proper our own or the Churches the fond productions of our private Imaginations or the judicious Prayers composed by the grave Rulers of our Christian Congregations I doubt not but several have had and yet have an extraordinary Gift in Praying to move and stir up the Affections of their Hearers This Gift therefore which proceeds from the Holy Ghost for the benefit of the Church requires that we should suffer it to perform that good which is thereby intended This may be done on certain occasions and times and immediately before the Sermon And I suppose that no moderate Christian will then prohibit such gifted persons to employ that ability which they have received from God for the advantage of the publick if they make use of it discreetly judiciously and soberly without affectation or vain glory or ostentation But there is no allowance therefore to be given to the pride and vanity of others to prefer the fond composures of their indiscreet Fancies to the pious and regular Prayers of the Church And it may be justly feared in such Cases that voluntary and new Prayers expressed with vehemency may cause ignorant and foolish Men who are quickly weary with the ordinary Devotions to disesteem slight and neglect them and to be continually craving those extemporary Ejaculations of gifted Men and that from persons insufficient who may be thereby tempted to gratifie the others humour to their own and the publick hurt However the gift of praying is not hindred by our publick Forms from performing the benefit which is thereby intended but foolish Men are thereby restrained from those mischiefs which they might bring upon themselves and others by so great a Liberty as they have had during our Anarchy Moreover as it should be the intent of all Humane Constitutions in every Society to aim directly at the general good of all and specially in the Church to aim at the Benefit and Comfort of the weakest and dullest capacities as well as of the quickest apprehensions such publick Prayers ought to be received which sute with the meanest abilities Now I dare affirm that these extemporary Prayers are not of that nature They may be so happy to please the Corrupt Humour of the Hearer with the novelty of the invention with the vehemency of the expression with the pleasantness of the affected Tone but they are not so fit to be publickly offered up to God as the known approved and ordinary Prayers of the Church and are not able to prevail so much upon our affections were we but inwardly moved with a right zeal for God's Glory Neither can we so readily say Amen to such sudden Prayers proceeding from these gifted Men as to those with which we are perfectly well acquainted and which we know to be agreeable with God's will for in such cases we have need at every expression to make a judicious reflection whether what is said is true or false right or wrong before we can heartily subscribe to such Prayers whereas there is no such need in the Publick Prayers of the Church which we understand before There we have nothing else to do but to stir up the affections of our Souls that we may join unanimously together and offer them up to God Therefore the gift of extemporary praying is not of such use and carries not with it that real Benefit which some lightly imagine I am certain that persons of a weak and slow apprehension are not so able and apt to receive benefit from them as from the known Prayers of the Church The unusual expressions of other new Prayers may be better able to move their Fancy but they are not so able to stir up the affections of such as bring an unprejudiced mind and that look more upon the things than the manner of expressing for other dainty Ears and of a quicker apprehension it may be that a new and eloquent Prayer may be more acceptable and more beneficial than to the duller sort but it requires from them a greater Labour and an extraordinary Motion and Activity of the Soul as well as an extraordinary ability to joyn in such Prayers And for the persons that utter them if they be extempore without any premeditation and of a long continuance I dare affirm that they are full of imperfections and confusion in the composure and that the persons that speak them are far from the disposition needful in Prayer Whilst their Hands and their Eyes are lifted up their Souls and its Faculties are employed in seeking for fit words to declare the conceptions of the mind and in the mean time it thinks not of and is not able as it should to call upon God and concern its inclinations in the Requests that are presented to him For sudden Ejaculations and Emissions of the Soul and Mind to God the same reason holds not because there is not the same order contrivance and agility of the Soul required For these and other causes Set Forms either before us in a Book or recorded in our Memories which may as suddenly supply us with the Words and matter are the best methods of praying to God chiefly in his Publick Worship But if we
their hearts and whilst they are or may be delighted with the Prayer whether their Souls are truly in a praying temper First Endeavour to be heartily reconciled with the Godly Forms of Prayer recommended in our Church employ Reason and Conscience to perswade thy self my Christian Brother to embrace what Duty commands that Duty which thou owest to Authority and thy interest obliges thee to practice Why should prejudice keep thee always blindfolded Why should Men of perverse judgments and corrupt designs impose upon thy judgment such gross mistakes Why wilt thou dote upon thine own Errors and entertain them with so much stiffness as if thy Salvation did thereupon depend those Errors I mean that cause thee to look upon our Prayers and Devotions as superstitious and make so great a breach in the Church where we live Make it thy business to understand the true ground of thine and others displeasures at our Forms of Prayer Take not things of that high concernment upon trust and captivate not thy discretion to the judgment of others never so learned but with the assistance of Reason and holy Scripture rightly interpreted labour to lift out the Truth To these and such like endeavours make use of Prayer to the God of peace that he may expel and drive away all the Mists of Error which keep thee at a distance from our manner of worshipping our great God Consider the necessity of those things that are therein desired the integrity of their first Composers the approbation of foreign Reformed Churches the Commands and Injunctions of the wise Governours of the Church and State who have no other intent in all their Laws relating to this purpose but thy Salvation and the publick Peace and Uniformity Is it possible that thou excellest them in discretion and judgment and that they are all mistaken in the good end which they purpose to themselves Without this reconcilement 't is not possible for thee to receive any benefit from our Prayers by joyning with us for thy Soul will never offer up heartily to God that for which it hath a strong aversion Secondly Overcome in thy Soul all inward displeasure which thou hast conceived against the Person of thy Minister officiating or distastes at his behaviour and actions What if he be openly scandalous or at variance with thee Let not his guiltiness cause thee to be guilty of irregularity or neglecting thy Duty to God and the interest of thy Soul Let not your mutual dissatisfaction cause you to be dissatisfied with God and his Worship Such Wicked Varlets as Hophni and Phineas are too apt to cause many to slight the Offerings of the Lord but they are not therefore excusable before God who requires an obedience to his Laws from every distinct person and allows not the vitiousness of the one to be pleaded for the disorderly behaviour of the other But certain it is that whilst thou art inwardly displeased with thy Minister thou canst never conjoyn thine heart with the Godly Prayers which proceed out of his mouth whilst thou art offended with his person his Prayers and his Words will never benefit thee much I shall not examine the many frivolous causes of distastes which the Men of our days entertain against the Clergy but this I dare affirm That it is both the Duty and Interest of a Parishioner to smother his anger and displeasure conceived against his Minister specially at the time of Divine Service when he is drawing near to God in Prayer if he will be in a possibility of praying right Look not on him at that time as thine Enemy but as thy Friend who prays for thy necessities as well as his own look not on him as one at a distance from thee but reconciled in the common Duties of Religion God forbid that the usual differences of Men about Worldly Interests should separate us in God's presence from one another and cause our variances to be eternal If therefore we are likely notwithstanding our present debates to meet unanimously to worship God's Majesty for all Eternity and sing to him angelical Halelujahs hereafter why may we not now suppress our displeasures stifle our passions and reconcile our selves in the Worship of our great Creator and common Benefactor For that intent it concerns thee not to mind so much the Person as the Petitions not so much the Minister as God for whose sake and at whose command thou art ready to forget the most sensible wrongs and check the strongest passions of hatred and displeasure Thirdly Think not that the vitious behaviour of any in the Congregation will be a prejudice to thy Prayers or hinder their accptance It is the common excuse of Men that are willing to excuse themselves from the Duties of Religion That in our publick Assemblies all sorts of persons are promiscuously admitted and that they cannot join in Prayers with the openly debauched or with persons that are known to be scandalous But this vain pretence proceeds many times from a proud conceit of our own Sanctity and favours of the Pharisees temper in the Gospel who had so much of impudence in his Prayer to God that the Publican's Humility was preferred before him God that sees all our actions and tempers knows how to put a disterence between thy relegious behaviour and the Vices of a wicked Christian 'T is not thy Neighbour's ungodliness that can prejudice thy Devotions Why shouldest thou be offended with that which God allows and the publick Unity and Peace of the Church requires We could wish that in our publick Assemblies all were Saints and Angels but seeing that is not to be expected to cull and pick out every vitious person or such as may be thought to be so by some ill-willers I am afraid scarce any would be left We must therefore bear with that which is not to be avoided and take heed that we disturb not the publick quiet more than the vitious and the profane by our indiscreet and Schismatical niceties Fourthly If thou wilt offer up the Prayers of the Church with benefit to thy Soul and with the affections of thy Heart carefully observe the motions of the Body enjoined in the Common-Prayer who knows but that this submission and this custom will have a speedy influence upon thy mind to cause thy Soul to join in the same respects to God Certain it is that the nearness of Relation between them will beget a mutual compliance between the actions of the one and the affections of the other so that the often practising of things must needs reconcile us to those performances and remove the strongest prejudices that are not grounded in reason nor strengthened by divine Revelation If therefore any weak Brother cannot at present comply with the Devotions of the Church of England if he finds an inward repugnancy for the publick Prayers which hinders him from receiving the comfort and benefit thereby intended let him follow and try my advice but a few Months Let him
holy Spirit of God it is not to be imagined that he will act in us without our assistance and cooperation and if he did the Devotion is his and none of ours For these and other Reasons it is a matter of great difficulty to keep the unruly and wandring thoughts of the mind and the several affections of the Heart with the other parts of the Soul in a praying temper in all extemporary and long Prayers Thirdly Therefore the easiest and surest way to pray in the Spirit is to take the assistance of well composed Forms and to have them either in a Book before us or well imprinted in our Memories This is a Consequence deducible from what we have already said concerning that praying in or by the Spirit intended by St. Paul and St. Jude But if there be any so strongly prejudiced against Set Forms and so much bewitched with the pretended praying in or by the Spirit as to refuse to acquiesce to what we have already alledged let him seriously consider That there can be no praying in the Spirit whatever interpretation we give to the passages of Holy Scripture concerning that purpose whether we understand them concerning the Gift or in relation to the Duty and Spirit of Prayer without a real and hearty compliance of the Soul with every expression without an inward sense of the things petitioned for and without a devout composure of all the parts of the Soul Now if you enquire how this is produced in us I must tell you that it is not without our assidual endeavours for the mind ought to have a continual eye upon the Soul and disposition it ought to recollect and call back our wandring thoughts and labour to express both a feeling of its wants and a dutiful reverence for the Majesty of God This being of an absolute necessity in order to a zealous offering up of our Prayers in the Spirit it is needful that the mind should be at liberty for that purpose Now let any Man of Reason seriously sider whether it hath not more freedom in the use of Set Forms imprinted either in our memories or our Books than in extemporary praying whether it is not easier for the Soul in such a case to act its part and contribute to the Devotions than in such Prayers where it hath so many Offices to perform Grant it possible that some of an extraordinary ability learning and natural parts which I cannot imagine to be should be able to discharge the inward Duty of the Soul in Prayer as well as the outward in extemporary Prayers Consider whether they cannot with more ease pray with the assistance of Set Forms And why shall they be denyed of those helps in a business of so much weight and difficulty wherein the holiest and most devout Soul comes far short of that perfection and exactness which God's greatness requites at our hands Secondly That must needs be the easiest and surest way of praying by the Spirit which is offered to the weaker sort of Christians as the readiest help to their Devotions for the duties of Religion are always proportioned to the slender abilities of such persons both God and the Church are wont to condescend to their mean gifts and furnish them with such assistances as they want for the discharge of the Offices required from them Now from the beginning Set Forms of Prayer have been allowed in the Churches of God to these persons because it is well known that they are not able to express themselves and their several wants to God as they should and in that manner as becomes us mortal Men. If therefore this manner of praying is as it is generally confessed an help to the weaker kind of Christians why may it not be also to the stronger No doubt but such a one may use these helps with more advantage A staff is good in the hand of a feeble body to make it walk with more assurance and is likewise as beneficial to a strong person that undertakes a long journey The difference is that the one cannot possibly walk without it and the other may march a few steps and it may be proceed on in his way without it but for more ease and better conveniency it is sit in a tedious march that he should have the assistance of a Staff which may succour his infirmities and may comfort his wearied Limbs Therefore it is not a sufficient cause to oblige us to reject useful things to say Men may be without them I think it wisdom not to cast away such beneficial helps to our Devotions as are Set Forms because we may be so fond of our abilities as to think our selves able to compose some of an higher strain and more passionate some that may gratifie our own and the Peoples corrupt humour which usually despiseth things that are common when they have not well considered their worth Thirdly Consider how apt our thoughts are to be wandring and our minds to be drawn aside from our Devotions Therefore that is the easiest and surest way of praying well which sixeth our minds and settles our thoughts upon the weighty business in hand Now I dare affirm That there is nothing so well able to do this good office to us as Forms of Prayers judiciously composed either imprinted in our memories or before us in a Book for in the former method of praying the Soul is kept from wandring to and fro and in the latter it is tyed and limited by the sense of seeing and though in such cases it may take the liberty to step aside and escape out of the other senses yet we must all acknowledge that a Judicious Christian can by the assistance of his Senses be better able to limit and stop the wanderings of his mind and the unruliness of his thoughts than when he hath little or no use of them To conclude Nothing but the pride and self-conceitedness of some the prejudices and foolish humours of others have taught men to reject and contemn our set Forms of Prayer established in our Church of England which both for matter and manner are the best Liturgy that ever was used either in the Primitive or Modern Churches of Christ And there is nothing that hinders Men from using them with comfort and advantage to their Souls but their strong displeasures their frowad tempers and their itching Ears a Disease which hath infected the heart and fountain as well as the Sense and Organ of hearing Let me therefore intreat thee my Christian Reader seriously to peruse these Reasons that I have mentioned and let not any popular Mistake nor the pretended Inspirations of the Spirit discourage thee in the devour use of the Prayers of our Church chiefly in the publick Worship of thy God where Reason and Religion require from thee Uniformity and Unity with the rest of thy Brethren And in thy private Family I would have thee to use the same Prayers such I mean as are proper for that place and
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
upon these lower Vanities O Lord as our Treasure is in Heaven let there be the end of all our desires and the centre of all our Actions Gracious God we pray thee not only for our selves but for the whole Catholick Church and for that part of it planted in these three Nations O! let not our Enemies triumph over us but watch over and preserve thy Son from all the Conspiracies of the Devil and his Agents Reunite our Divisions and make us all of one Heart and of one Mind Preserve the King and Queen's Majesty in Health Peace and Prosperity Give his Counsellors Wisdom his Army Victory and all his Subjects Happiness and Plenty Take into thy Protection all our Kindred and Friends defend their Bodies from dangers and their Souls from Schism and Error Be merciful to all Men as thou hast Created Mankind for Happiness discover to them the Means appointed by thy Wisdom to bring them thither and give them Grace to embrace the gracious offers of thy Providence All these Mercies and others which thou knowest most needful for our well-being here and our Glorious Being hereafter we humbly beg by the Merits and powerful intercession of thy Christ and our Saviour who hath taught us thus to Pray OUR Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdome 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 Loveof God the Father and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen A Morning Prayer for a single Person ALmighty God by whose Gracious Providence I am yet alive and escaped out of all the dangers and difficulties of this mortal life by whose merciful Protection I have been preserved the last Night from all Corporal and Spiritual Enemies I adore thy Divine Mercy and Goodness so visibly expressed in every moment of my life I praise thy Holy Name for this and all other favours received from thy Wisdom and Power I glorifie thine infinite Majesty and acknowledge thee O! my God to be the Author of my Preservation as well as of my Being of my self I am not able to resist the least danger or Enemy were it not for thy watchful Eye and Power I had been long ago in my Grave but thy goodness hath yet spared me notwithstanding my unworthiness and the many Provocations of my Life O Merciful Father thy Blessings have been heaped upon me in abundance though I have returned thee for them all nothing but ingratitude and Sin when I make a Reslexion upon my self and thy liberality upon my past behaviour and thy manifold Blessings bestowed upon me from day to day I cannot but wonder at the infiniteness of thy Mercy which could not yet be exhausted nor discouraged by my unthankfulness but let the Sense of thy Love to me change and alter the temper of my Soul the resolution of my Mind and the Actions of my Life suffer me not to presume upon these outward Expressions of thine Affection to me but let them inflame my Soul with a sincere Love for thee my God and with a fervent zeal for thy Glory Suffer me not to be overcome by the powerful temptations of the World nor to be drawn aside by the allurements of Sin I am so sensible Lord of the weakness of my own Nature as not to trust upon my strength which hath so often yielded to wicked enticements assist me therefore my God with thy Divine and Holy Spirit defeat the Devil's Power disappoint all his malicious purposes and lead me through this wicked World in thy Faith and Fear Continue also thy Protection to my weak Body preserve me from all dangers and Enemies defend me from all Bloody and Cruel Souls that I may live here below in the Service of my Generation and in glorifying thee my Creator Bless me in the Works of my Calling give me a contented Mind satisfied with the Events of thy Providence that I may not complain of any thing that shall happen contrary to my desire and expectation and a full resignation to thy Will and Pleasure Suffer not my Soul to be too much in love with my self nor with any thing here below that I may avoid the pernicious Vices of Pride self-conceitedness Covetousness Ambition Lust and Vanity which in these latter days possess Mens Minds and hurry them into the Labyrinths that lead to Hell and Damnation O Lord I resign my self into thy hands I desire to depend upon thee to be govern'd by thee and to live for thee Enlighten therefore my Understanding with thy sacred Truth sanctisie my Will and Affections with thy Blessed Spirit and the longer I live let me draw nearer to thy likeness Strengthen my Soul with an assurance upon thy Love and Protection and pacifie all the disorders of my Passions that whatsoever inconveniency I meet with in my conversation here below I may enjoy a quiet and peaceable Temper of Spirit which is so acceptable in thy sight in Prosperity and Adversity in Sickness and in Health grant me an equality of Mind not pust up with the one nor cast down with the other but give me Grace that bearing willingly my Cross after Christ my Saviour I may press forward towards that Immortal Reward which thou hast prepared for them that love and fear thee In whatsoever condition thy Providence shall be pleased to bring me give me I beseech thee a disposition suitable to it that in following the Holy Example of my Glorious Redeemer and imitating his Goodness Piety Charity Patience in suffering Holiness and other Vertues I may glorifie thy Name on Earth grace the Profession of thy true Religion and prepare my self for Eternity for that purpose grant that I may employ all my Talents in those good uses for which they are designed that when I shall render up my accounts to thee I may not be ashamed of my Actions O let my mind be fixed upon that terrible day that I may live in expectation of it and order my Soul and Body ready for my dissolution I humbly beseech thy Divine Majesty to be gracious not only to my self but also to all my Relations receive into thy Favour and Protection all those that are committed to my Care or that are near or dear unto me in Blood and Affinity preserve their Souls from the Vices and Infection of the times and their Lives from dangers and Enemies and give them all Grace to serve and Glorifie thee their God on Earth Send thy Blessings upon the Societies and Kingdom unto which I belong forgive our National sins suspend thy judgments that we have deserved and if in thy Wisdom thou thinkest fit to chastise us destroy us not utterly set
bounds to the rage of our Enemies and let all thy proceedings towards us make a sincere Reformation in the Land Deprive us not for every of the Comfort of thy Word and Ordinances but protect this thy Church from the incroachings of Schism and Idolatry Be merciful O Lord to our King defend his Person from all his Enemies and let not their wicked Designs prosper against him but give Wisdom to his Counsellors Success to his Undertakings Victory to his Armies Grace and Fidelity to his Officers Truth and Loyalty to all his Subjects and Health and long Life to his Majesty Be gracious to all his Relations make them Examples of Piety and Godliness discoverr to them the truth of thy Gospel and give them all Grace to employ their Credit and Authority in promoting thy Glory and incouraging thy true Religion against Error and Vice amongst us Give us a Learned and Religious Clergy a Wise and Pious Nobility a sound and Vertuous Gentry and let all such as are in any Offices of Trust remember their Duty to thee O God their Obligations to their Prince and his Subjects and act with that Faithfulness and Integrity that they may discharge a good Conscience and approve themselves before thee as well as before Man Be gracious to all Nations send them the light of thy Gospel banish from them all Mists of Error and Heresie pacifie the Tumults of the World and give them grace to acknowledge thee the true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent to be the Universal Saviour These and all other Mercies for them and thy whole Church I humbly beg for his sake and Merits who is dead risen again and sits at thy Right hand to make intercession for 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 Let thy Grace thy Power and thy Truth preserve and accompany me all the days of my Life A Morning Prayer for a young Person O Heavenly Father my great Creator and Protector thy Holy Name be praised for all thy Mercies chiefly for the quiet rest of the last Night At every moment I feel the expressions of thy goodness thou ceasest not to shew me some tokens of thy Liberality since thou hast given me this Being O merciful God how great and many are thy Mercies to me in these few Minutes that I have spent in the World I perceive that thou art the inexhaustible Fountain of all good and the boundless Ocean of all perfections To thy Divine Majesty therefore I make my Address to supply the daily necessities of this weak Body and sinful Soul which proceed from thee Forgive I beseech thee O my God the mistakes and frailties of my youth As I am sensible of my frequent miscarriages cause me also to be sensible of thy Mercy and Pardon I am entered into the World in a state of imperfection I carry about me strong Inclinations to Sin and the breach of thy Sacred Laws which I cannot shake off in a moment but gracious God blot out all mine Iniquities and assist with thy Divine Spirit the pious Resolutions and Religious temper of my Soul Thou hast promised not to quench the Smoaking Flax nor break the bruised Reed not to cast away a Creature for some imperfections but to encourage the hopeful beginnings of Piety in Man Perform this thy Promise O my God in my sinful Soul increase what is good rectifie what is amiss sanctifie and purifie this inner part of my self from all the fleshly Pollutions that I may be guilty of enlighten my Understanding with a right knowledge of thy Will and Word give me thy heavenly Wisdom and a clear apprehension of those things thou requirest from my Faith and Practice Suffer me not to be carried away by the inticements of Heresie and Error but as thou hast caused me to be born and initiated by Baptism into the profession of thy true Religion give me grace to resist all the Temptations that may endeavour to draw me from it and to continue in it to the last moment of my days Sanctifie my Will and Affections more and more keep me from the Infectious air of wicked Company and vitious Conversation suffer me not to be carried away with the Vices of the Age but strengthen my Resolutions in thy Faith and Fear grant me that discretion and prudence that I may perceive the Snares laid for me and know how to shun and avoid them that I may lead an innocent harmless and righteous Life keep me out of the Labyrinths of sin and wickedness in which many are insensibly intangled and as my great Task in the World is to serve thee inable and assist me in the Prosecution of that design make me to see the Vanity of the World and all Worldly advantages that my inexperienced Soul may not be bewitched with any deceitful enjoyments but that I may settle my affections upon thee my God and live continually in expectation of my approaching Change and of the immortal Possessions where true Joys are to be found I beseech thee also Merciful Father to send and continue to me all things needful for my weak Body grant me Life and Health that I may glorifie thee on this side the Grave as thou wilt glorifie me on the other side Enable me to serve my Generation and to do good in the World that I may not be said to live in vain Increase my Gifts and Talents and thy Temporal Blessings and give me a Heart to dispose of them according to thy Will Preserve me from all dangers and Enemies suffer them not to prevail upon me but limit their malice and rage I trust upon thy Power and Protection let me have the experience of it at every step that I shall make and accompany all my endeavours and actions with success and blessing Strengthen my Soul with a reliance upon thee and a submission to thy Will in all things prepare me to bear the Crosses that thou wilt lay upon me and assist me through the troubles of the World by thy divine Spirit imprint thy fear in my tender Soul give me a sense of thy all-seeing Eye and infinite Presence that I may dread thy justice and Power as well as I love thy Mercy and goodness and be kept from any extravagancies of Life that I may walk continually as in thy presence and in expectation either of Rewards or Punishments according to my actions Grant me I beseech thee O overflowing Goodness all the conveniencies of this Life sanctifie what thou hast already given and make me useful and a Comfort to all my Relations Be merciful to them also I pray thee protect preserve and
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
Neighbours are in want Hast thou sent this plenty for me alone Is it not that I should praise thee in the use of so much as is needful for my self and Attendants and that I should distribute the rest to such as are in need I will imitate this thy Liberality my good God and be a faithful Steward of these inferior Mercies But this Food of my Body minds me of that of my Soul I have another more Spiritual and Divine Being that I must feed and cloath Gracious God forget not that Immortal and better part of my self but nourish it with Wisdom and Truth that I may grow in Grace and in the knowledge of thee my God Remove not the Candlestick of thy Gospel from us suffer not Schism and Idolatry to prevail and smother thy true Religion in their horrid Abominations but let Truth and Innocency overcome at last maugre the furious attempts of Men and Devils feed this precious Soul with that Bread which comes down from Heaven increase in me all Virtue and Goodness and preserve both my Soul and Body to thine Eternal Kingdom Amen Another Prayer before meat for a Child GOOD God bless me and these Creatures that we are to receive that in a moderate use of them we may be enabled to serve and glorifie thee on Earth through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen Useful Meditations AND PRAYERS Upon GOD and his DIVINE ATTRIBUTES A Meditation and Prayer upon the Incomprehensible Being and Presence of God O Adorable Majesty Being of Beings Creator and Supporter of this Great World How wonderful must be the source of all these visible Wonders How glorious the chief Lord of so large an Empire and of so many differing sorts of Creatures that fill all the Elements and every Corner We are sensible of thine infinite Presence yet can conceive no shape nor being like thy Divine Majesty The Pictures of all thy Perfections are scattered and represented in every thing that is made and thou hast left an impression of thy Wisdom and Power in every part of this large World yet none can represent thee O great God as thou art We see fell and are perfectly sensible of thy Divine Footsteps left upon every Creature yet our weak apprehensions cannot entertain any Idea that may answer thy Greatness O Spirit of Spirits how is it possible that so weak a Creature as I am who can understand nothing but by the Ministry of these weak Senses should be able to comprehend the infinite and incomprehensible God whose glorious Presence dazles the Eyes and surpasses the Understandings of the perfectest and noblest Creatures that are above O my God fill my Soul with an holy dread of thy greatness and Power Suffer me not to receive any base impression or filly Imagination of thy Divine Being and as thou art Incomprehensible let me not presume to form in my mind any Image nor to have before mine Eyes any Picture with a design to represent thee Let thine Universal Presence be always present with me but in such a manner as I may not be guilty of Spiritual Idolatry or of harbouring any mean thought of thy Glory O merciful God thou requirest these Services from us poor Creatures and hast promised thine assistance to us in time of need put therefore my Soul into an Holy Temper fit for thine acceptance and let these Ejaculations and Emissions of my Heart and Mind proceed from an Humility and Fear of thy presence that they may not be unworthy of thy Grace and Favour And the nearer I approach unto thy Mercy-Seat vouchsafe to look upon the necessities of my Soul and Body and grant me those Requests that thou O my God in thine infinite Wisdom knowest most needful for me for the sake and by the mediation of my Great Saviour whose intercession for me I humbly implore Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon the Immutability of our Great God O Unchangeable Being the Author of all these changeable things that appear before our Eyes Thou art that immutable God upon whom we may safely depend Every thing that thou hast made directs our Eyes and Contemplations to thee as the surest foundation of all our hopes and expectations and the nearer the Creatures have the Honour to approach thy glorious Throne the more they are fixed and secured by their Rights of Creation from all Unconstancy and Mutability This wide World and all Sublunary things are unsetled and rowling from one State to another tumbled and tossed changed by many Accidents so that we cannot rest nor settle our expectations upon them But the Heavenly Globes continue since their first make unchangeable through so many Revolutions of Ages tho' they also for the sin of Man shall suffer an alteration by thine overruling Power But those Spiritual Beings that inhabit beyond and above our Prospect are yet less subject to mutation all their Perfections proceed from thine overflowing abundance Thou only O my God art the Creator and Benefactor of their Immortal Natures They are all subject to some weakness and are circumscribed and limited but thou alone art the unlimited and unchangeable God always enjoying an happiness never to be obscured or lessened by the most violent endeavours of all thine Enemies Thou art always continuing in that Glorious state that nothing can possibly Eclipse Thou art immutable in thy self immutable in thy Designs and Resolutions immutable in thy Promises and Truth and immutable in all thy Divine Perfections O my God give me grace that I may settle upon thee my Faith and hope and rest upon thee alone for all my present and future advantages I have no other Rock to build upon but thy Power and Mercy no other Truth to trust to but thy revealed Word O that I may embrace it with that immutable Resolution that may admit of nothing contrary to the same that my Soul may be fixed only upon thee my good God and look with contempt upon all other Objects Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon the Eternity of God O Eternal and Everlasting God before the Heavens and the Earth before the Sun and all the rest of the Luminaries that are above had a Being thou didst subsist of thy self in a full enjoyment of an unchangeable Felicity From all Eternity to all Eternity thou art the same glorious and Incomprehensible Being who never fails them that seek thee in Spirit and in Truth Let the World change and alter and the Generations of Creatures succeed one another in their appointed times Let all inferior things rowle and pass away Let them have their beginnings their growth perfections and decay thou art the same and Eternal God who never had any beginning nor never can have any end Thou alone art that independent Majesty upon whom all other things lean and from whom they expect the Supplies and Recruits to their decaying and failing Natures Thou art the first Source and Spring of all Motion and Power O my God thou hast granted to my Soul and Spirit
an immortal Nature to continue for ever as thy self and I am going apace to this boundless Eternity and as I am thine Image and Creature O that I may live with thee for ever cast me not away into endless Torments make me an Eternal Monument of thy Mercy and goodness receive me into thine everlasting Rest for Jesus Christ his sake Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon God's Almighty Power O Dreadful Majesty of Heaven where-ever I cast my Eyes thy Power shines before me clearer than the Sun at Noon-day In the make of this great Fabrick of the World and in the disposal and continuance of all the several Parts how visibly doth thine extraordinary Power appear the Heavens and all the Elements are Witnesses and Trumpeters of thy glorious Power which nothing can oppose or stop The Devils that are revolted from thee do yet own and are subject to thine Omnipotency they are held fast in Chains and are so restrained by thine Almighty Hand that they cannot possibly move without thy permission When I cast mine Eyes upon the Seas and consider the vastness and fury of the Waves When I look up to Heaven and see the many glorious and large Globes of Light some settleed and fixed others rowling in their several Spheres O my God how wonderfully doth thy Power appear to me in all these things And as thou art the only Original of all Virtue and Power I have reason to conclude that all Creatures together cannot stop thine hand and that there is nothing impossible with thee as thou hast been able to Create all things thou art able to govern and rule their unruliness and greatest Fury to the setting forth of thy Glory and whatsoever thou hast promised thou wilt surely perform and art fully able to accomplish O Almighty Creator give me a real sense of thy Power that I may stand in awe of it that I may trust upon it in time of need that I may believe in thy Word and Promises that my Soul may rest and rely upon thee alone and never doubt of thy Protection and of thy Power to save me Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon the Wisdom of God and his infinite Knowledge O Infinite Being thy Wisdom is answerable to thine Almighty Power and hath the same Creatures to manifest and set it forth Wherever I see the one I must needs take notice of the other that is obvious to every Eye in the disposition of all things that are made in their fashion and composition in their Inclinations and tendencies in the design and purpose of their Creation in their mutual Correspondencies and Government and in the Laws and Rules that they observe Is there any of so dull an apprehension that cannot observe a more than ordinary Wisdom in all these particulars Can we see the Sun Moon and Stars observe their appointed and annual Motions and Stations without variation and not think upon thy Wisdom O Almighty God who hast stretched forth the Heavens like a Curtain and rulest over all Well may I cry out with the Blessed David in admiration of all these Blessed Wonders In Wisdom hast thou made them all But what need have I to look at such a distance for the Foot-steps and Evidences of Divine Wisdom In my Body and Soul and in every Member wherein the Great World is Epitomized and the Incomprehensible Attributes of the Unity and Trinity shadowed out here are wonderful and surprising expressions of thy Wisdom that I carry about me Wherefore O my God hast thou opened mine Eyes and bestowed upon me an understanding Nature to observe all these things but that I should meditate and admire thy great Wisdom that shines before me brighter than the Sun O Eternal Wisdom of Heaven as I am thine Image grant me a share of this Wisdom imprint in my Soul such Habits of Wisdom and Knowledge that I may fear and admire thy Divine Majesty and the rather because thine all-seeing Eye is every where to take notice of my behaviour and actions There is no darkness nor shadow of Death where Iniquity may hide or retreat from thy Knowledge All things are naked and open before thee thou hast a perfect insight into all the Inclinations of my Heart and Soul and fore-seest what shall happen in this great World with the several Causes O wonderful Knowledge that comprehends the Sparrows in the Market and the Lillies of the Field and the meanest Beings that owe all to thee a subsistence O wonderful Wisdom and Knowledge that extends it self over all the parts of this great Fabrick and nothing is exempted from the benefits that are procured thereby Give me O my God such an understanding of this infinite Knowledge and of thine All seeing Eye that I may stand in awe of thy Divine Presence that I may fear to displease thee that my Soul may be always in such a disposition as becomes a Creature and a Servant of so Holy so Powerful and such an All-seeing Majesty Amen A Meditation and Prayer UPON THE Goodness of God Manifested in Nature and Providence O Universal Goodness that opens thy Hand to all things that have a Being and furnishest so many Sorts of Creatures out of thine overslowing abundance with so much sweetness and variety of Pleasures How full must be the Stores out of which so many Millions are continually supplyed From what overflowing Ocean of Delight and Joy proceed so many Streams that yield a sufficiency to all and yet there is an overplus left for more O wonderful Goodness that knowest how to supply every Creature with that which is most suitable to its Appetite and Nature and givest a contentment to the several species according to their Capacities and Tempers Through how many differing Channels does this inexhaustible Goodness convey to us the necessaries and conveniencies of Life Man of all sublunary subsistencies seems to be the chief Favourite of the Divine Goodness other things and Creatures have their short allowances in comparison of Man It is upon him that thou dost heap the Riches and Satisfactions of the Earth It is to him thou hast granted thy most signal Favours It is in his Bosom that thou dost empty all varieties of sweetness and Earthly Comforts without any regard to his deservings O Impartial and disinterested Goodness that expects no returns but such as may give thee the Glory and us the Benefit and may be a means to sanctifie and increase our Blessings How ready should we be to comply with this inexpressible Goodness and answer the Expressions of thy Favours with such easie cheap and profitable returns Should we be backward to acknowledge that which every moment we may be sensible of and when the bare acknowledgment will produce unto us fresh Recruits and greater tokens of Love from thine unwearied Bounty O let me never forget thy goodness my good God expressed and experienced in my Creation thy Providence in making me a rational Creature and giving me an immortal Soul with
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
O that I may be true and faithful and not alienate to the service of Sin to the gratifying of my Lusts or the pleasing of the Devil what appertains to thee my God As thou hast increased my stores increase in me thy grace and wisdom that I may mannage these Talents to thy honour and service Humble my Soul under such a load of earthly Blessings am I more deserving than so many thousand others who are not so well supplied and furnished what obligations have I laid upon thee my God to lift me up above so many that I see below me to favour me more than thousands who are in want to fill me with all these good things when others are empty how greatly am I indebted to thy Bounty how shall I discharge my self and make suitable returns with these earthly Comforts bestow upon me thy heavenly blessings sanctifie them to me that they may not be an increase to my guilt but rather a a means of Salvation Bestow upon me a contented mind a poverty of Spirit in the midst of all this plenty that I may enjoy it with moderation and dispose of it with discretion Wean mine affections from the World and all these Vanities that they may be a preparation for greater and more lasting Riches which thou hast laid up in thine Heavenly Sanctuary for them that love and fear thee If these things are so sweet and pleasing to us now conveyed to us at such a distance off and attended with much labour and sorrow how sweet and ravishing will that plenty and those riches be which thou wilt grant at a nearer approach when thou shalt wipe away all tears from our eyes and there shall be no more labour to get and preserve them no fear to lose them nor trouble in the enjoyment What a glorious prospect hast thou given us in thy holy Word of greater and more excellent Possessions of an Inheritance far more worthy of mine acquisition if I now render not my self unworthy of so wonderful a bounty by ill actions or too great a fondness of this present World I am certain my good God what thy Truth hath declared thy Power and Liberality will one day perform in us and for us for thou hast created me for happiness If I will accept of it thou hast designed provided and purchased happiness for me Whilst I live in this World there is but a shaddow in the midst of all these good things that I embrace of true felicity The Cares and Incumbrances the Miseries and Calamities the Pains and the Aches and the Fears and Apprehensions are continually disquieting our minds in the greatest plenty of outward enjoyments and the temptations of Sin and the World will not suffer me to be truly happy Neither can my Soul an Immortal and Heavenly Being Created for the Vision of God be content without thee O my Maker The joy that I now feel is in that relation and interest that I have to and in thee for all these possessions and these enjoyments I look upon my self but as a Stranger and a Pilgrim my Country is Heaven When thou shalt call me thither let not these Honours and Dignities these Riches and this outward Splendour these vain and deceitful Pleasures incumber my Soul or cause it to look back upon these deceitful appearances that I may be ready to shake them off and willing to depart to visit thine Eternal Presence where my blessed Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ will receive and welcome my Soul in the Companies of immortal Spirits and Angels and bestow upon me the Heavenly and everlasting Riches and true Honours Things that eye hath never seen ear hath never heard and can never enter into the heart of man Preserve I beseech thee my good God my Soul and Body to thine Eternal Kingdom where all these wonders of thy Power and Bounty are carefully laid up Amen A Meditation and Prayer upon the Consideration and Sense of Poverty and Want O My Creator and Redeemer my God who hast granted me a Being and placed me in this station of Life destitute of all Worldly Comforts I adore thy Divine Wisdom and am content to undergo all the troubles and inconveniencies that thou shalt think sitting to put upon me I doubt not but as I am thy Creature and Servant as my good Lord and Master thou wilt provide for my subsistence and if the allowance be but small it is more than I deserve at thy hands however it is enough if I can have but a satisfied mind Thou hast promised to supply my wants from day to day and give me meat drink and raiment without which I cannot continue in this Life why shall I doubt of the performance of this thy declaration thy stores are full and thou art rich in bounty able and sufficient by various means to recruit all my wants if the supplies come but sparingly and thou dost allow me but a small pittance if I receive from thee by Retail what others have from thee by Wholesale it is thy will and pleasure that my dependance might be more upon thy Goodness and Providence and that I may be always looking up to thee for the Conveniencies and Necessaries of Life Thy Wisdom O my God knowest what is best for me what is most proper to exercise my patience saith reliance upon thee and my submission to thy holy and heavenly will Who knows but if I were placed in the midst of plenty I should abuse thy temporal mercies and employ them in my own Damnation now I have no such debt to answer for Thou hast recommended unto me contentment in this estate by teaching me to pray only for my daily bread if it be but course it is such as proceed from thy liberal hand and fine enough to maintain this Earthly Tabernacle that must shortly become food to the Worms of the Earth O my God by these troubles of Life it is thy pleasure to wean mine affections from the World and that I may place my chief happiness beyond the Grave that I may live in expectation when thou wilt call me out of this painful and laborious Life to mine Eternal Rest where I shall be no more exercised but in the praising of thy Glorious Majesty in the Quires of Heavenly Spirits I am satisfied O my Heavenly Father in thy Love and Goodness which has never been wanting to me since I was in this World I look upon my mean estate and poverty to be an argument of the reality of thy love and kindness seeing a Lazarus upon a Dunghill was as dear unto thee as the richest and noblest of thy Children seeing so many of thy chosen Servants of the Worthies of former Ages have in this present Life wandered about in Sheep Skins and Goat Skins being Destitute Afflicted Tormented and have suffered greater wants and more pressing necessities than I am reduced to But shall I murmur at thy wise and good Providence when I am reduced to the Condition of
lead me through these Briars and Thorns Must I suffer all these Losses and Crosses and drink this bitter Cup of thy displeasure I am content to do it seeing it is thy Holy Will and am perswaded that all these things shall turn to mine advantage at last My Griefs indeed are encreased and my Sorrows are multiplied Nature cannot but complain at the sight and sense of so much Misery but I will give a check to my natural Affections and will bring them to yield submission to thy Heavenly Wisdom What Noble Examples have I before me of those Worthies of former Ages who have been as severely treated and tryed as I am or like to be and yet these were thy chosen and thy dearest Children and shall I misinterpret these Corrections from thy Hand and think them to be signs of thy Wrath Shall I murmur to be handled as my great Saviour was and drink in the same Cup of Affliction with him He swallow'd the very dregs of Bitterness and Grief but thy Mercy and Goodness has sweetned my Cup with an infusion of some contentments that are yet left me Thou hast not removed all my Delights thou hast not taken from me all the former Expressions of thy Bounty if thou afflictest me in one part of my self thou dost comfort me in another and thy Corrections are not so grievous as to deprive me of all help and satisfaction O my God I humbly acknowledge that I deserve a severer treatment from thy Justice than I have yet experienced and find that thy Mercy does spare my weakness and alleviate the burden that thou hast laid upon me I trust that thou wilt not send greater Afflictions than I am able well to bear and in due time thy Wisdom will give me ease and deliverance But I see by these proceedings the Sins and Provocations that I am guilty of by these Losses thou dost mind me of that Idolatrous Affection that I gave away to these vanities By these deprivations I perceive I abused these temporal Mercies by this Adversity thou dost render my abode in the World uneasie that I might long and seek for Heaven and prepare my self for thine Eternal Rest Blessed God grant that I may rightly understand these excellent Admonitions of thy Providence but never suffer me to be so weary as to hasten or be any ways instrumental in procuring my departure I will wait thy leisure and time and suffer thy Divine Hand to dispose of my Soul and Body I reverence O my God all thine Orders let them be never so grievous and let them take from me never so many worldly Comforts I received them first from thy Liberality and it is but just I should resign them to thee again when thou requirest Naked I came into the World and naked I must return back again Whatever O Heavenly Father thou dost condemn me to lose let me never lose thy Favour that will make a sufficient amends for all my other Crosses and procure me greater advantages than the World can afford Sanctifie I beseech thee all the Actings of thy Providence to me Cause me to make that improvement that is design'd Wean my Heart and Affections from the World Encrease and strengthen thy Grace in me that my Soul may be supported by Faith and Patience and in the midst of the greatest Calamities enjoy a Divine Contentment O my God I know thou canst remove this Affliction from me and bring a Remedy to my most sensible Griefs I am perswaded that in thy due time I shall see an alteration I shall see my Sorrows turn'd into Joys my Sufferings into Ease my Losses repaired and all these Clouds of Affliction vanish and give way to the Sun-shine of Prosperity However thou art pleased to dispose of me I beseech thee cast me not away from thine Eternal Presence Support me with thy Grace and Goodness in the midst of all my Troubles Lead me in the Paths of Truth and Righteousness Sanctifie my Soul and prepare it for a departure hence and when thou shalt loose it from my weak and infirm Body receive it into thine Heavenly Sanctuary Amen A Meditation and Prayer in time of Health O My Mercisul Creator who hast blessed me with a perfect Body and a healthy Constitution free from the pains and aches that I see other men groan under thy Holy Name be praised for this great Temporal Mercy by which I am enabled to tast and relish a greater sweetness in all my Enjoyments How unworthy should I be if I should misemploy this strength and this health in sinning against thy Divine Majesty if I should cast it away in the service of the Devil and the gratifying of my Lusts What a folly is it for me to run into such Debauchery and Extravagancies of Life as to undermine my Health and willingly to part with this rich Jewel and great Blessing How shall I answer for the loss of this Talent if I take no care to preserve it and what shall I say to my great Lord if I wilfully cast it away and if I abuse the Creatures that he hath given me to strengthen it in ruining my Body and advancing my Death how Criminal shall I appear Thou O my God art my best Physician and the Precepts of good living recommended to me in thy Holy Word the most effectual Cordials to corroborate and confirm my health Thy Goodness hath not only granted it to me but afforded in Nature means in thy Divine Oracles Rules to maintain it Shall I be so indiscreet not to follow thy wholsom Directions shall I slight thy Sacred Advices and Commands Without thy Blessing this strong Body will soon decay and will it not be just for thee to withdraw it from an unworthy Contemner of thy Holy Laws shall I rather listen to the whisperings and pernicious suggestions of my vile Lusts and to the Devil's Temptations than to thee my good and merciful Creator who desirest and hast endeavoured to encourage my real happiness here and hereafter What a madness for a moment of sinful and deceitful pleasure to ruine my health to spoil my souâ—d Body and cast into it the Seeds of Diseases Distempers Pains Aches and Death also Whilst I continue in thy fear and in the practice of thy Commands in the Rules of Sanctity Sobriety and Temperance I have the assurance of thy Blessing to accompany and continue this great advantage but if I run out extravagantly and follow the evil Customs of this wicked World I shall infallibly meet with Plagues Torments and Death My Body is surrounded by many Enemies and I carry about me that which naturally will undermine its strength and vigour besides Old Age will bring me at last to my Grave and cast my health and beauty into the dust How weak is this Earthly Tabernacle made up of Clay how soon is it destroyed by the meanest Things what reason have I to trust upon my natural strength when so many young and lusty Persons are
thee for ever and ever Come Lord Jesus come quickly receive me into thy Sacred Embraces I will wait thy leisure send thine Holy Angels to convey my Soul into thy gracious presence that I may rejoyce for ever with thine Elect and glorifie thy Mercy Ease me of my grievous pains relieve my sorrowful Soul comfort it with a Beam of thy Countenance Thou hast redeemed it O my sweet Jesus receive it as thine own purchase I yield it up unto thee Turn my sorrows into joys my sufferings and agony into pleasures laid up at thy right hand Assist me with thine intercession and plead for me O my Heavenly Advocate Amen A Meditation and Prayer for such as are going to the Publick Assemblies to hear the word of God O Eternal Wisdom what a mercy is this to Instruct and Teach us at our Doors to enable enlighten inspire and send Messengers so near our Dwellings to direct us in the right way of Eternal Happiness What a condescention is this to speak to us in our own Language according to our Capacities by Men whose presence express nothing but meekness and love was it not sufficient O blessed God that thou shouldest open to us the large Book of Nature to inform us of thy Will and Sacred Laws by so many Characters imprinted in every thing that is made was it not sufficient for our Learning to shew us thy pleasure in the several leaves of another Book of Providence opened to us wide every day of our Life but must thy tender compassion of our Natural ignorance unmindfulness and wilful corruption teach us by such plain easie and excellent methods so full of kindness and love Must the repetition be so frequent must thou so often visit and call upon us to study and meditate upon the Divine Matters Certainly our minds are too much wedded to the World and too much enclined to irregular actions seeing thou hast judged needful to repeat so often to us our Duties and we want every weeks instruction to withdraw our contemplation from Evil and Vanity Should not our diligence answer in some respect thy continual Care O Merciful Wisdom and as frequently meet thee as we are called upon by these Publick Summons Doubtless the business that we are to mind is of importance seeing my Creator thinks necessary to interpose his Divine Authority and to speak to us himself though by the tongue of a Mortal Man With what reverence and dread ought I to approach the gracious presence of my God who vouchsafes to speak and instruct me in such a loving manner His Word and Laws should not in reason have the less power and impression upon me because of his condescention to my weakness and Capacity Should I despise the mercies of my God that are so great and wonderful delivered to me in earthen vessels O Blessed and Heavenly Wisdom I am called away from my Temporal Affairs to wait upon thee and hearken to the Divine Matters that shall be proposed which relate to my Eternal Interest Their excellency requires my attention and diligent enquiry for this supernatural knowledge which is able to save my Soul Here thou dost reveal unto me what I am and what I should be and what I shall be Here are discovered the admirable Mysteries of the Holy Trinity and Unity of the Incarnation and Redemption Here thou dost unbosome thy self to mortal Creatures and shewest the tenderness of thine affection to us Here I may have a prospect of the unspeakable riches of Heaven and see the Glories that are laid up for me in thine Eternal Sanctuary These are Matters worthy of the Angels prying into these are Meditations fit for the Heavenly Spirits and shall I neglect or despise them shall I idle away this precious moment designed for the benefit of mine immortal Soul My gracious God cause me to increase in Grace and in the Divine knowledge of my Redemption enlighten mine Understanding with a clear apprehension of the Heavenly Truths Sanctifie the outward preaching of thy word that it may be effectual and able to work upon my will Give me an attentive ear and an obedient heart willing to submit to and practise whatsoever thou shalt command Deliver me from the ill consequences of Errors Partiality and Prejudice and make me truly thankful to thee for this great Blessing Remove not thy Gospel from us but save us from the pernicious Plots of the Antichristian Heresie Unite all of us in our Worship and Church that we may study to preserve the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace And being all together united now in the Church Militant we may be all the more ready and prepared to enter in due time into the Church Triumphant into that Glorious Kingdom of Love and Peace where our Sanctification shall be compleated our Knowledge perfected and our Employment for ever shall be to Celebrate and Sing forth thy Praises with the Chorus of Heavenly Spirits Amen A Prayer for Souldiers before a Fight O Lord of Hosts Creator and Preserver of the World look upon us in mercy at this time that we are going to hazard our Lives for the Honour an Interest of our King and Kingdom and for the Glory of thy Name and the Preservation of thy true Religion amongst us We are confident in the Justice and Equity of our Cause against these disturbers of the peace and happiness of Mankind Good God assist us with Victory and Success strengthen our Courages give us Undaunted Spirits stand by thine own Cause and such as Fight for the Preservation of thy Church and Kingdom We trust not upon our selves nor upon our numbers and resolutions but upon thy Providence and Celestial Vertue which we beseech thee to send unto us in the midst of danger suffering us not to betray the trust repose in us by any weakness or fear we know that thine Almighty hand and all-seeing eye disposes of all things and that no violence can hurt us without thy Commission O Merciful God let our Lives be precious in thy sight preserve our Persons from the violence of the shot and sharpness of the Enemies Weapons that we may yet live to praise thee and serve thee in our Generations in that station of Life unto which we are called We trust it is not unpleasing to thee who vouchsafest to be named the God of Armies and seeing the necessity of the Kingdom unto which we belong requires it Bless us therefore we pray thee O merciful Saviour in these our undertakings assist our General and Officers with Wisdom and Skill and all of us with an undaunted Spirit and entire dependance upon thy will and disposal Whatever happens to these Bodies of Clay which we are willing to Sacrifice for thy Glory look in mercy upon our precious Souls pardon and forgive the former weaknesses of our lives accept of the blood of our Surety and Redeemer for us and for his sake receive our immortal Beings into thy favour and Celestial
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
their prejudices therefore against our Rubrick are more dangerous But if a judicious and pious Soul would take the pains to sift them out and examine the Causes of their invincible prejudices they shall either find none or such slender ones as may cause us to wonder at their stiffneckedness and strange fancies Such I am sure as renders them most ridiculous to all foreign Churches of Christ Their most ordinary and popular Complaint is that it is Popish and taken out of the Mass-Book An Error which any Man will acknowledge if he will but compare our Prayers with the Popish Prayers of the Liturgy of Rome Can that be Popish which opposeth all the Errors and mistakes of the Papists which teacheth us to pray for God's assistance and direction against all the Heresies Plots and Conspiracies of the Pope which was in use in the Christian Church before ever there was any Anti-Christian Pope at Rome Can that be reckoned to be Popish which is agreeable with the Revelations of the Holy Spirit with the Doctrines and belief of the best Reformed Churches beyond the Seas and which their most Orthodox Divines Embrace as most consonant with their Faith and Piety The Creed the ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer may with as much likelihood be said to be Popish or to be taken out of the Mass-Book because the Papists have them in their Breviarium To all unprejudiced persons this accusation appears a meer Calumny unless any of those refined Souls could spy out and shew us any particular in the Common-Prayer which savours of the Romish Errors and tends to promote the Pope's Interest amongst us But it is the usual practice of abusive tongues when they cannot instance any certain Crime to bring their accusation in gross that their malice may be less discernable and their charge may be more weighty But let not the vain and groundless conceits of Popery and Superstition deter thee my Christian Brother from making use with Comfort to thy Soul of these Godly Prayers Let not these mistaken Brethren infect thy judgment with the same troublesom Error Examin and try search into every Corner of this Book and see whether thou canst find any colour of Popery that is to say any sign of those Errors which are in Controversie between us and the Papists Let not their impostures prevail so much upon thy discretion as to cause thee to take for Popery what is agreeable with Christ's true Religion and Doctrines It hath always been the glory of our Church of England to be most conformable of all other Churches to the belief Government and Practices of the Primitive and first Churches of Christ Therefore in this of the Liturgy our Church recommends that manner of praying which is most like that of the first Ages and which is most answerable to our Government and condition as our glorious Martyr and our late Soveraign of Blessed Memory declares in vindication of the Prayers of the Church in his incomparable Book All other accusations as well as this savour more of malice and displeasure than right Reason and tend to this ungracious end to abolish Order and Method in Prayer and to introduce a sad and unreasonable Confusion in our Worshipping of God Let therefore every good Christian take heed if he himself hath such an invincible prejudice against these Forms enjoyned in our Church that he cannot use them himself with any Comfort to his Soul that he disturb not others minds with the same Schismatical mistakes and spread not abroad what I could wish were consined to the bottomless Pit Let him not hinder others from the Benefit which they may reap from a hearty and zealous Offering up of these Prayers to God Abstain my Christian Brother from Blaspheming that which thou dost not perfectly understand or that which thou hatest without a just cause Draw not others into the same prejudice and be not uncharitable to think our Devotions not acceptable to our good God because thou hast an implacable displeasure against them Think not that Piety is confined to thy Breast alone and to those of thy Sect. Lay aside I beseech thee that bitterness that peevishness and froward temper which makes thee fret at our good Order and Christian Discipline If thou perceivest any faults coldness dulness or unhandsom Actions in private persons charge not their miscarriages upon our Church or Rubrick but be so reasonable not to proclaim thine unreasonable distastes to the prejudice of others and thy self Sixthly I cannot forget to mention another Cause of Mens contempt of our Forms and Rubrick which is That they are brought up in the ignorance of that manner of presenting them to God which might cause them to meet with true comfort and real benefit For I know some that have constantly attended at the Publick Prayers of the Church and have for many years scarce omitted any opportunity that did invite them yet because they knew not how to use them as they should they have not at any time found that inward content which they now think to receive from new Modes of Prayer and at last have totally forsaken them crying out most bitterly against their former Formality luke-warmness and indifferency in Prayer As if that unfit temper proceeded from the Prayers and not from the ignorance of their minds which when it is strengthened by prejudice Education or Interest is the greatest cause of their dissatisfaction at our Prayers used in the Church and that which deprives them of the advantages which they might receive from them This Ignorance is the greatest Enemy of our Liturgy and of our publick peace which if any person be willing to expel for his own and the Churches benefit let him seriously consider and make use of these directions which will shew him how to offer up our Prayers with comfort to his Soul I have already set down general directions to pray well which every good Christian ought to learn to practice in all Prayers presented to God Third particular but besides those which sute with all tempers and sorts of Men I suppose that some advices besides may be given more particularly and more proper for those persons amongst us that are dissatisfied with our Prayers and Liturgy and prejudiced against it Some advices I mean that may have a special regard to their causeless mistakes and the Prayers of the Church And truly I judge many stand in great need of these directions who are well skilled in other kinds of Devotion for prejudice here suffers them not to learn or at least not to practice what their affection teaches them in other Cases to perform without a Teacher if we may have the Charity to believe what they affirm That they are truly and zealously affected in the Prayers which are of their Ministers Composure and that they can joyn their hearts in Devotion with them for I very much question whether those persons that seem outwardly to be so disposed are really so in
the Times make me truly constant and faithful in the Professionof that Holy Religion unto which I am called Give me a right Understanding of its divine Precepts and grace to practise them in my Life Let thy Word be my Rule thy Truth my guide thy Spirit my Comforter and thy Glory my Reward Preserve me I beseech thee my good God from the Evils unto which I am subject and let my Soul and Body be precious in thy Sight especially this Night into which I am entring let the Merciful Eye of thy Providence preserve me during its mournful shadows from all Spiritual and Temporal Enemies Let thy Holy Angels guard and protect me and bring me safe to the next day to behold and admire the Wonders of thy Creation and Providence in the World Make me useful in my Generation bless all my undertakings and endeavours in my Calling that I may by it advance thy Glory and do good both to my self and others And because our natural Poverty is such that without thee and a continual supply from thy Bounty we cannot possibly subsist gracious God send me all things needful for my Soul and Body let me not depend too much upon the plentiful Provision of these earthly things already made for me but as thou art the Life and Soul of all thy Creatures and without thy Blessing our greatest plenty of good things is altogether unprofitable let the expectation of this Blessing incourage me to depend wholly upon thy favour and stir up my industry in the duties of my Calling and in the service of my Country Bless all my Relations and Parents more especially here name such as are in Affliction grant them long life health and happiness preserve the King's Majesty all my Governours and Teachers inable them all in their places to glorifie thee their God and do good to this Nation and People Defend us all from our Enemies at home and abroad and suffer them not to triumph over us but continue in our days Peace Truth Justice Plenty and Prosperity These and all other Mercies I humbly Beg for Christ Jesus his sake my only Saviour and Mediator who taught us thus to pray OUR Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdome 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 grace thy Truth and Goodness be with me preserve and keep me now and for evermore Amen Prayers before Meal SEnd down thy Blessing good God upon these thy Creatures that we are now to be partakers of inable them to feed our Bodies and recruit our weakness and strengthen us to serve and glorifie thee on Earth that we may receive from thee the Rewards of thy Servants in Heaven This we beg for Jesus Christ his sake Amen Another Prayer before meat GRacious God we see by these fresh Expressions of thy Bounty that thou art never weary to load us with thy good things Sanctifie them unto us at this present time and us to thy Service through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Profitable Meditation at the sight of a Table spread or covered with Food for our Bodies HOw often have I tasted and felt the goodness of my God! He is that full Ocean of Mercy and Sweetness from whence these Streams proceed by various dispensations and Methods He is that bottomless Fountain that never will be exhausted Here here are tokens of his Love to us and care of our preservation before our Eyes These Creatures are sent to mend the daily breaches of this outward Tabernacle to recruit our Mortal Weaknesses with a fresh supply to corroborate the decaying strength of Nature with new Spirits We see by experience that these Bodies that God hath made he is careful to maintain and by the Influence of the Heavens and the Fruitfulness of the Earth to furnish with all their Wants O wonderful Providence How full and plentiful are thy Stores that so great a share is appointed for me How rich is that Bounty that when all my Fellow Creatures so many Millions in Number are provided vouchsafes me so great a Lot and large Portion He can never want that entertains a good Correspondency with the great Purveyor of Mankind whilst the Avenues and Conveyances are open O shut not up thy mercy from us for let my Estate be never so great and the Provision for my Body be never so large alas these poor senseless Creatures cannot benefit me without thy Blessing accompanies them these morsels may as soon choak as feed me without that invisible Vertue which thou alone canst send along with them I humbly crave it at thy good hands my good God let not my Sins sower or poison these thy Mercies let me not trust too much upon these outward assistances of Life and Health but as by thy daily proceedings thou hast taught me to depend chiefly upon thy Liberality let me look up to and expect from thee daily food and nourishment grant me a thankful Heart never to forget so great a goodness But the sweetness that I am going to relish minds me of the sweetness of that Bounty from whence it proceeds and of the greatness of thy Divine Wisdom that hath baited all necessary actions of our Life with a natural delight and pleasure How ravishing must the Fountain of Goodness be seeing these drops conveyed unto us at such a distance are so pleasing to our Palats God that now entertains my Being so far from his immediate presence intends one day to draw me nearer to himself to live with him for ever then the Divine Goodness shall refresh and comfort me without the cold assistance of inferior things then the smiles of God's Countenance shall be conveyed to us not by Reflections and at second hands but more immediately we shall then see as we are seen and solace our selves during the numberless Ages of an Eternity in the presence of this good God where we shall want neither Food nor Raiment but these corrupt Bodies shall be freed from all the slavery of the Elements and dependency upon them for we shall depend upon our God alone and him only shall we serve For this Corruption must put on Incorruption and this Mortal must put on Immortality O that I might have always in mind that final end of Mankind and use these thy Comforts but not abuse them by excess and gluttony These Bodies which thou hast so wonderfully made and preserves with such care are of that Excellency and designed for those Noble and Divine purposes that they must not be disgrac'd nor polluted with Vice These Creatures thou hast appointed for our Refreshment not for the dishonour or ruine of our Bodies If our Tables overflow how many of our poor