Section 27
(20.) For our enemies, and those who hate us.
Lord, give us to love our enemies, to bless them that curse us, and to pray for them that despitefuUy use us and persecute us.p
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do; ^ and lay not their malice against us to their charge,'' and work in us a disposition to forbear and forgive in love,* as thou requirest we should when we pray.*
And grant that our ways may so please the Lord, that even our enemies may be at peace with us." Let the wolf and the lamb lie down together, and let there be none to hurt or destroy in all the holy mountain; let not Ephraim envy Judah, nor Judah vex Ephraim.^
(21.) For our friends and those who love us.
And we wish for all those whom we love in the truth, that they may prosper, and be in health, especially that their souls may prosper.*
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with their spirits."
Ixxi. 9.17,18. f Prov. xvi. 31. t 3 Tim. i. 13. hi Tim. vi. 17,19. i Matt xix.36. k Bfatt xi 5. 1 James ii. 5. m Zech. xi. 11. u Ps. xxxiv. 19. o Heb. xii. 11. p Matt. v. 44.
q Litke xxiii. 34. r Acts vii. 00. • Col. iii. 13 t Mark xt 25. «> Prov. 16.7. V Isa.'xi. 6,9,13. w 3 John 2. * Plulem. 35.
OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES.
CHAPTER VI.
OF ADDRESSES TO GOD UPON PARTICULAR OCCASIONS, WHBTHBB
DOMESTIC OR PUBUC.
It is made our duty, and prescribed as a re-0icdy against disquieting care, that in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, we should make our requests known to God." And it is part of the wa/>prj<na — the boldness,^ the liberty of speech, (so the word signifies,) which is allowed us in our access to God, that we may be particular in opening our case, and seeking to him for relief; that according as the sore and the grief is, accordingly the prayer and the supplication may be by any man, or by the people of Israel.^ Not that God needs to be particularly informed of our condition, he knows it better than we ourselves do, and our souls too in our adversity, but it is his will that we should thus acknowledge him in all our ways,** and wait upon him for the direction of every step,* not prescribing, but subscribing, to infinite wisdom, humbly showing him our wants, burthens, and desires, and then referring ourselves to him, to do for us as he thinks fit.
We shall mention some of the occasions of particular address to God, more or less usual, which may either be the principal matter of a whole prayer, or inserted in our other prayers, and in some cases that are more peculiar to ministers, or others, in common to them with masters of families and private Christians. As there may be something particular, 1. In our morning prayers. Our voice shalt thou now hear in the morning, in the morning will we direct our prayer unto thee, and will look up; ^ for our souls wait for thee, O Lord, more than tlicy that watch for the morning, yea, more than they that watch for the morning; > and we will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning; for thou hast been our defence.^
It is thou, O God, who hast commanded the morning, and caused the day-spring to know its place, that it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and it is turned as clay to the seal.^
The day is thine, the night also is thine, thou hast prepared the light and the sun.^
With the light of the morning let the day-spring from on high visit us, to give us the knowledge of salvation, through the tender mercy of our God; i and let the Sun of righteousness arise upon our souls with healing under his wings; "* and our path
Phil. iv. 6. b Heb. x. 19. c 2Chron. vi. 29. d Prov. iii. 6. e Ps. xxxvii 23 f Ps. V. 3. f Ps -cxxx. 6. h Ps. lix. le. I Job xxxviii. 12-14. k Ps. Ixxiv. 16. i Luke i. 77, 78. m Mai. iv. 2. n Prov iv. I8. o Lam. iii. 2-2, 2a p Ps. xxx. &. q Ps. iii. 5. r Mult, viii 20. ■ Htb. xi. 38. t Job vii. 3, 4, IX be as the shining light, which shines more and more to the perfect day.»
It is of thy mercy, O Lord, that we are not consumed, even because thy compassions fail not; they are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness:" and if weeping sometimes endures for a night, joy comes in the morning.'
We thank thee that we have laid us down,^ biTe had where to lay our bead/ and have not been wandering in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth ;* and that we have slept, and have not been full of tossings to and fro till the dawning of the day, that wearisome nights are not appointed to us, and we are not saying at our lying down. When shall we arise, and the night be gone ? But oar bed comforts us, and our conch eases our complaint*— Thou givest us sleep as thou givest it to thy beloved;* and having laid us down and slept, we have waked again; thou hast enlightened oor eyes, so that we have not slept the sleep of death.""
Thou hast preserved us from the pestilence that walketh in darkness,^ and from the malice of the rulers of the darkness of this world,' the roaring lioo that goes about seeking to devour.]^—He that keeps Israel, and neither slumbers nor sleeps,* has kept us, and so we have been safe.
But we cannot say, with thy servant David, that when we awake we are still with thee,* or that our eyes have prevented the night watches, that we might meditate on thy word ;^ but vain thoughts still lodge within us.* O pardon oar sins, and cause us to hear thy loving-kindness this momiiig, for in thee do we trust; cause us to know the way wherein we should walk, for we lift up oar soals unto thee: and teach us to do thy will, for thoo ait our God. Thy Spirit is good, lead as into the way and land of uprightness.*^
And now let the Lord preserve and keep as from all evil this day, yea, let the Lord preserve oor souls. Lord, preserve our going out and coming in ;* give thine angels charge concerning as, to bear as ap in their hands, and keep as in all oar ways.' And give us grace to do the work of the day in its day, as the duty of the day requires.' 2. In our evening prayers.
Thou, O God, makest the out-goings of the evening, as well as of the morning, to rejoice;^ for thereby thou callest us from our work and our la- | hour,* and biddest us rest awhile.^ And now let j our souls return to thee, and repose in that as o«r rest, becaase thoa hast dealt boontifuUj with us,*' so shall our sleep be sweet to us."*
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads as with his u Ps. cxxvii. 2. ▼ Ps. xiii. 3. v Pi xci. & s Eph. vL U J I Pfct v. & s Ps. cxxi. 4. . • Ps. cxxxix. ra b Psi cxix. M e Jer. iv. 14. d Ps. cxliii. 8.10. « Ps. cxxl. 7.8. f Pi xci i II. 12. ir Ezra iii. 4. h Ps. Ixv. 8. i Ps. cir. 11 k Mnk | vi 31. 1 Ps. cxvi. 7. m Jcr. xxxi. 26.
OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES.
676 benefits," who has this day presenred our going out and coming in; ** and now we have received from thee our daily bread, we pray. Father, forgive us our trespasses.P
And we will lie us down and sleep; for thou, Lord, makest us to dwell in safety.1 Make a hedge of protection (we pray thee) about us, and about our house, and about all that we have round about/ Let the angels of God encamp round about us to deliver us ;* that we may lie down, and none make us afraid/
Into thy hands we commit our spirits;° that in slumberings upon the bed,* our ears may be opened, and instruction sealed; and let the Lord give us counsel, and let our reins instruct us in the night-season.^ Visit us in the night, and try us,' and enable us to commune with our own hearts upon our bed.^
Give us to remember thee upon our bed, and to meditate upon thee in the night-watches,* with the saints who are joyful in glory, and who sing aloud upon their beds.*
3. In craving a blessing before meat
Thou, O Lord, givest food to all flesh, for thy mercy endures for ever.** The eyes of all wait on thee f but especially thou givest meat to them that fear thee, being ever mindful of thy covenant.^
Thou art our life, and the length of our days,« the God that hath fed us all our life long unto this day:' Thou givest us all things richly to enjoy,s though we serve thee but poorly. Thou hast not only given us every green herb, and the fruits of the trees to be to us for meat,** but every moving thing that liveth, even as the green herb.'
And blessed be God, that now under the gospel we are taught to call nothing common or unclean,^ and that it is not that which goes into the man, that defiles the man,^ but that every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused; for God hath created it to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."*
We acknowledge we are not worthy of the least crumb that falls from the table " of thy providence: Thou mightst justly take away from us the stay of bread and the stay of water,' and make us to eat our bread by weight, and to drink our water by measure, and with astonishment ;p because when we have been fed to the full, we have forgotten God our Maker.*! But let our sins be pardoned, we pray thee, that our table may not become a snare before us, nor that be made a trap which should have been for our welfare.'
n Ps. Uviii. 19. o Ps. cxxi. a p Matt. vl. II, 12. « Ps. IT. 8. r Job i. 10. • Ps. xxxW. 7. t Job xi. 19. n Pb. xxxi. *. ▼ Job xxxiii. 16. w Ps. xvi. 7. x Ps. xirii. 3.
J Ps. iv. 4. I Ps. Ixiii. 6. • Ps. cxlix. 5. b Ps czxxvi. 25. e Ps. cxW. 15. d Ps. cxi. 5. • Deut xxx. 20. rGen. xlviii 15. ir 1 Tim. vl. 17. h Gen. I. 29. I Gen. Ix. 3. k Acts x 15. » Matt. XV. 11. m 1 Tiro. Iv. 3, 4. n Matt. xv.«7. o Isa. iii. 1. p Ezek. iv. 16. q Deut. xxxll. 15. r Ps. Ixix 22.
2x2
We know that every thing is sanctified by the word of God and prayer ;* and that man lives not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God ;^ and therefore according to our Master's example, we look up to heaven, and pray for a blessing " upon our food. Abundantly bless our provision.'
Lord, grant that we may not feed ourselves without fcar,^ that we may not make a God of our belly,* that our hearts may never be overcharged with surfeiting or drunkenness,^ but that whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we may do all to the glory of God.«
4. In returning thanks after our meat.
Now we have eaten and are full, we bless thee for the good land thou hast given us.* Thou pre-parest a table for us in the presence of our enemies, thou anointest our head, and our cup runs over.''
Thou, Lord, art the portion of our inheritance and of our cup, thou maintaine-st our lot, so that we have reason to say, The lines are fallen to us in pleasant places, and we have a goodly heritage.^
Especially we bless thee for the bread of life, which came down from heaven, which was given for the life of the world: Lord, evermore give us that bread, and wisdom to labour less far the meat which perisheth, and more for that which endures to everlasting life.*^
The Lord give food to the hungry,* and send portions to them for whom nothing is prepared.
Let us be of those blessed ones that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God,^ that shall eat of the hidden manna.r
5. When we are going a journey.
Lord, keep us in the way that we go,** and let no evil thing befall us ;* let us have a prosperous journey by the will of God,'' and with thy favour let us be compassed wherever we go as with a shield.^
Let us walk in our way safely, and let not our foot stumble,™ or dash against a stone."
Direct our way in every thing,® and enable us to order all our afifairs with discrction,P and the Lord send us good speed, and show kindness to us.1
And the Lord watch between us, when we are absent one from the other.**
6. When we return from a journey.
Blessed be the Lord God of Abraham, who hath not left us destitute of his mercy and his tnith.'
All our bones shall say. Lord, who is like unto thee,* for thou keepest all our bones."
1 Tiro. iv. 5. t Matt iv. 4. « Matt. xiv. 19. ▼ Ps. cxxxli. 15. V Jude 12. X Phil. iii. 19. r Luke xxi. 34. si Cor. x. 31.
Deut. viii. 10. b Ps. xxiii. 5. e Ps. xvi. 5.6. d John vi. 27, 33,34. e Ps. cxlvi. 7. f Luke xiv. 15. r Rev. ii. 17. b Gen. xxviii. 20. i Ps. xci. 10. k Rom. i. lo. i Ps. v. 12. m Prov. iii. 23. n Ps. xci. 13. o i Thess. iii. 11. p Ps. cxii. 5. q Gen. xxiv. 12. r Gen. xxxi. 49. • Gen. xxlv. 27. t Ps. XXXV. 10. tt Ps. xxxiv. 20.
OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES.
It is God that girdeth us with strength, and mak-eth our way perfect/
7. On the evening before the Lord's day. Now give us to remember that to-morrow is the sabbath of the Lord,' and that it is a high day," holy of the Lord and honourable,' and give us grace so to sanctify ourselves, that to-morrow the Lord may do wonders among us:* and to mind the work of our preparation now the sabbath draws on. ■
When thou sawedst every thing that thou hadst made in six days, behold all was very good,'* but in many things we have all offended.* O that by repentance, and faith in Christ's blood, we may wash not our feet only, but also our hands and our head,<> and our heart, and so may compass thine altar, O Lord."
Now give us to rest from all our own works,' and to leave all our worldly cares at the bottom of the hill, while we go up into the mount to worship God, and return again to them.'
8. On the morning of the Lord's day.
We bless thee. Lord, who hath showed us light,** and that the light we see is the Lord's; that we see one more of the days of the Son of man,* a day to be spent in thy courts, which is better than a thousand elsewhere.^
We thank thee. Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that the things which were hid from the wise and prudent are revealed unto us babes, even so, Father, because it seemed good in thine eye?; that our eyes see, and our ears hear, that which many prophets and kings desired to see, desired to hear, and might not ;^ that life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel.™
And now, O that we may be in the Spirit on the Lord's day !° That we may call the sabbath a delight,** and may honour the Son of man, who is Lord aLso of the sabbath-day, p not doing our own ways, or finding our own plea.sure, or speaking our own words.
9. At the entrance upon the public worship on the Lord's day, by the masters of the assemblies.
Thou, O God, art greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that arc about thee.*! O give us grace to worship thee with reverence and godly fear, because thou our God art a consuming fire.^
This is that which thou hast said. That thou wilt be sanctified in them which come nigh unto thee, and before all the people thou wilt be glorified." Thou art the Lord that sanctified us;* sanctify us by
P8. xviil. 32. w Exod. xvi. 2.T I Josh. iii. 5. • Luke xxiii. 54. d Julin xiii. 19. e Pb. xxti. 6. h Ps, cxviii 27. iLakexvii.22
X. -21,23,21. m 2 Tim. i. 10. P Mark ti. 28 q I*s. Uxxix. 7.
X John xix. .11. y Isa. Iviii. 13.
b Gen. 1. 31. c James iii. 2.
f Heb. Iv. 10. r Gen. xxii. 5.
k Ps Ixxxiv. 10. I Luke
B Rev. 1. 10. o Isa. Iviii. l.l
thy truth," that we may sanctify thee in our hearts, and make thee our fear and our dread/
We come together to give glory to the great Jehovah, who in six days made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the sevcoth day, and therefore blessed a sabbath-day, and hallowed it.* Our help stands in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.''
O let us be new creatures, ^ thy workmanship, created in Jesus Christ unto good works :* and let that God, who on the first day of the world commanded the light to shine out of darkness, on this first day of the week shine in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.*
We come together to give glory to the Lord Jesns Christ, and to sanctify this sabbath to his honour, who was the stone that the builders refused, bat is now become the head-stone of the comer. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it** He is the first and the last, who was dead, and is alive.^
O that we may this day experience the power of Christ's resurrection,^ and may be planted together in the likeness of it, that as Christ was raised op from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life,* and may sit with him in heavenly places / and by seeking the tbiop that are above,* may make it to appear that we are risen with him.
We come together to give glory to the blessed Spirit of grace, and to celebrate the memorial of the giving of that promise of the Father,^ in whom the apostles received power on the first day of the week,» as on that day Christ arose.
O that we may this day be filled with the Holy Ghost, and that the fruit of the Spirit in os may he in all goodness, and righteousness, and tmth.^
We come together to testify our communion with the universal church; that though we are many, jet we are one;^ that we worship one and the same God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, in the name of one Lord Jesus Christ, hv whom are all things, and we by him;" ander the conduct of the same Spirit, one and the self-same Spirit, who divideth to every man severally as be will;" walking by the same rule,* looking for the same blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour.i*
10. In our preparation for the Lord's supper.
Now we are invited to come eat of Wisdom's t Ezek. XX. IS. V John xvii. 17. « Isa. viii. IX w Exod. xx. II. z Ps. cxxiv, a 7 a Cor. ▼• 17. s Eph. «. 10. a « Cor. i». i b Ps. cxviii. 33-34. c Rev. ii. a d Phil. iii. 10. • Rom. vi. i 4^ f Eph.ii.6. V Col. iii. I. h Actsi. 4. i Acts it 1. ^EptL V. 18. 11 Cor. x. 17. m 1 Cor. viil.«. ml Cor. xii II.
o Gal. vi. 16. p TiL ii. 13.
OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES.
677 bread, and drink of the i»ine that she has mingled,^ give as to hunger and thirst after righteousness ;' and being called to the marriage sapper of the Lamb,* lve us the wedding garment.*
Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south, and blow upon our garden, that the spices thereof may flow forth ; and then let our beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits."
Draw us, and we will run after thee; bring us into thy chambers, that there we may be glad and rejoice in thee, and may remember thy love more than wine. And when the King sits at his table, let our spikenard send forth the smell thereof.^
And the good Lord pardon every one that preparcth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.* Hear our prayers, and heal the people.
11. In the celebrating of the Lord's supper. O let this cup of blessing, which we bless, be the communion of the blood of Christ; let this bread, which we break, be the communion of the body of Christ,"" and enable us herein to show the Lord's death till he come.^
Now let us be joined to the Lord in an everlasting covenant ;* so joined to the Lord, as to become one spirit with him.* Now let us be made partakers of Christ, by holding fast the beginning of our confidence stedfast to the end.^
Let Christ's flesh be meat indeed to us, and his blood drink indeed ; and give us so by faith to eat his flesh and drink his blood, that he may dwell in us, and we in him, and we may live by him.^
Let the cross of Christ, which is to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness, be to us the wisdom of God, and the power of God.**
Seal to us the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost,® and the promise of eternal life,' and enable us to take this cup of salvation, and to call on the name of the Lord.s
12. After the celebrating of the Lord's supper. And now. Lord, give us to hold fast that which we ha>'e received, that no man take our crown :** and keep it always in the imagination of the thoughts of our hearts, and prepare our hearts unto thee.*
Give us grace, as we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so to walk in him,^ that our conversation may be in every thing as becomes his gospel.^
O that we may now bear about with us continually the dying of the Lord Jesus, so as that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal body,°> that to us to live may be Chrisf q Prov. ix. 6. r Matt. v. 6. ■ Rev. xix. 9. t Matt xxii. 11. a Cant iv. 16. ▼ Cant i. 4,12. w 2 Chron. %xx. 18,19.
X I Cor. X. 16. y 1 Cor. xi. 20. • Jer. 1. 4. a 1 Cor. vi. 17. b Heb. iii. 14. e John vi. 55-57. d l Cor. i. 23, 24. t Acts ii. 38. 1 1 John ii. 25. f Ps. cxvi. M. h Rev. iii. ll. i l Chmn. xxix. 18. k Col. ii. 6. i Phil. i. 97. »2 Cor. iv. 10. » Phil. 1 21. o Pa. ivi. i3L p Ps Ixi. 8. s Ezek. xviii. 4. r Rom.
Thy vows are upon us, O God,** O that we may be daily performing our vows.p
13. Upon occasion of the baptism of a child. To thee, O God, whose all souls are, the souls of the parents, and the souls of the children,*] we present this child a living sacriiice, which we desire may be holy and acceptable/ and that it may be given up and dedicated to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."
It is conceived in sin,* but there is a fountain opened ;<* O wash the soul of this child in that fountain, now it is by thine appointment washed with pure water.^
It is one of the children of the covenant/ one of the children that is born unto thee," it is thy servant,^ born in thy house: O make good thy ancient covenant, that thou wilt be a God to believers, and to their seed;' for this blessing of Abraham comes upon the Gentiles,* and the promise is still to us, and to our children.^
Thou hast encouraged us to bring little children to thee ; for thou hast said, that of such is the kingdom of God. Blessed Jesus, take up this child in the arms of thy power and grace, put thy hands upon it, and bless it;<^ let it be a vessel of honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use,*^ and owned as one of thine in that day when thou makest up thy jewels.*
O pour thy Spirit upon our seed, thy blessing upon our offspring, that they may spring up as willows by the water-courses, and may come to subscribe with their own hands unto the Lord, and to surname themselves by the name of Israel.'
14. Upon occasion of a funeral.
Lord, give us to find it good for us to go to the house of mourning,' that we may be reminded thereby of the end of all men, and may lay it to our heart, and may be so wise as to consider our latter end ;** for we also must be gathered to our people, as our neighbours and brethren are gathered ;' and though whither those who are dead in Christ are gone we cannot follow them now,^ yet grant that we may follow them afterwards, every one in his own order.'
We know that thou wilt bring us to death, and to the house appointed for all living;'" but let us not see death, till by faith we have seen the Lord Christ, and then let us depart in peace according to the word." And when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, let us have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.®
And give us to know that our Redeemer liveth, xii. I. > Matt, xxviii. 19. t Ps. Ii. 5. u Zech. xiii. 1. ▼ Heb. X. 22. w Acts iii. 25. x Ezek. xvi. 20. j Ps. ex. 16. > Gen. xvii. 7. a Gal. iii. 14. b Acts ii. 39. e Mark x. 14,16.
d 2 Tim. ii. 21. e Mai. iii. 17. f Isa. xliv. 3—5. r Eccl. vii. 2. h Deut xxxii. 29. iNumb. xxvii. 13. k John xiii. 36. 1 1 Cor, XV. 23. m Job XXX. 23. a Luke ii. 26,29. o 2 Cor. V. 1.
OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES.
and that though after our skin, worms destroy these bodies, yet in our flesh we shall see God, whom we shall see for ourselves, and our eyes shall behold, and not another.?
16. Upon occasion of marriage.
Give to those who marry to marry in the Lord,' and let the Lord Jesus by his grace come to the marriage, and turn the water into wine.'
Make them helps meet for each other,* and instrumental to promote one another's salvation;* and give them to live in holy love, that they may dwell in God, and God in them."
Let the wife be as a fruitful vine by the side of the house,' and the husband dwell with the wife as a man of knowledge; and let them dwell together as joint-heirs of the grace of life, that their prayers be not hindered.'* And make us all meet for that world where they neither marry nor are given in marriage.'
16. Upon occasion of the ordaining of ministers.
Let the things of God be committed to faithful men, who may be able also to teach others,' and make others such burning and shining lights," that it may appear it was Christ Jesus who put them into the ministry ; * and let not hands be suddenly laid on any.''
Give to those who are ordained to take heed to the ministry which they have received of the Lord, that they fulfil it,*" and to make full proof of it by watching in all things.*^
Let those who in Christ's name are to preach repentance and remission of sins, be endued with power from on high;* give them another Spirit,^ and make them good ministers of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine.'
17. Upon occasion of the want of rain. Thou hast kept back the rain from us, and caused it to rain upon one city, and not upon another, yet have we not returned unto thee *>
But thou hast said. When heaven is shut up that there is no rain, because we have sinned against thee, if we confess thy name, and turn from our sins, thou wilt hear from heaven, and forgive our sin, and give rain upon our land.^
We ask of thee the former and latter rain,^ and depend upon thee for it; for there are not any of the vanities of the heathen that can give rain, nor can the heavens give showers, but we wait on thee, for thou hast made all these things.'
18. Upon occasion of excessive rain.
P Job xix. 25—27. q 1 Cor. vii. .19. r John ii. 1. ■ Gen. ii. la 11 Cor. vii. Id. u i Jolin iy. 16. r Pa. cxxviii. 3. v I Pet iii. 7. X Luke xx. 35. 7 2 Tim. ii. 2. » John v. 35. * 2 Tim. i. 13. b I Tim. V. 22. c Col. iv. 17. d 2 Tim iv.5. • Luke xxiv. 47, 49. f 1 Sam. X. 9. V 1 Tim. iv. 6. h Amos iv. 7.
I I Kings, viii. 35, 36. k Zech. x. I. 1 Jer. xiv. 22, m Job xxxvii. 13. D Prov. xxviii. 3. o Isa. liv. 9. p Job xxxviii. 22.
Let the rain thou seadest be in mercy to oar laod," and not for correction ; not a sweeping rain, which leaveth no food."
Thou hast sworn that the waters of Noah shall u more return to cover the earth ;'* let fair weather therefore come out of the north, for with thee is terrible majesty .p
19. Upon occasion of infections diseases. Take sickness away from the midst of ns,^ and deliver us from the noisome pestilence.'
Appoint the destroying angel to pat up his sword into the sheath, and to stay his hand.*
20. Upon occasion of fire.
Thou callest to contend by fire,* we bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled:" O Lord God, cease, we beseech thee,^ and let the fire be quenched, as that kindled in Israel was at the prayer of Moms.*
21. Upon occasion of great storms.
Lord, thou hast the winds in thy hands,* aad bringest them out of thy treasures,' even stormy winds fulfil thy word :* O preserve us and our habitations, that we be not buried in the rains of thea, as Job's children were.*
22. Upon occasion of the cares, and bortfacas, and afflictions of particular persons ; as,
(1.) When we pray with or for those that are troubled in mind, and melancholy, and imder doubts and fears about their spiritual state.
Lord, enable those that fear thee, and obey the voice of thy servant, but walk in darkness, and hau no light, to trust in the name of the Lord, and to stay themselves upon their God ;^ and at eveoia^-time let it be light.*^
O strengthen the weak hands, confirm the feeble knees, say to them that are of a fearful heart. Be strong, fear not<^ Answer them with good words, and comfortable words,* saying unto them. Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you:' Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid," I am your salvation :k and make them to hear this voice of joy and gladness, that broken bones may rejoice.'
Let those who now remember God, and are troo-bled, whose spirits are overwhelmed,^ and .whose souls refuse to be comforted, be enabled to trust in thy mercy, so that at length they may rejoice in thj salvation; though thou slay them, yet to trust in thee.*
Though deep calls anto deep, and all thy waves and thy billows go over them, yet do thou command thy lovg-kindness for them in the day-time, aad in the night let thy song be with them, and their q Exod. xxiii. 3ft. r Ps. zd. 3. • S Sam. xxir. 16. t Amos vii 4 u Lev. X. 6. ▼ AmoB vii. 5. w Numbi xi. 2. x Pror. xxx.4 7 Ps cxxxv. 7. s Ps. cxlviii. 8. a Job i. 19. b ba. I. It e Zech. xiv. 7. d Isa. xxxv. 3, 4. • Zech. i. 13. ( Matt ix. 2. tc Mark vi. 50. b Ps. xxxv. 3. i Pa. Ii. & k Pi IxxviL 3,3. 1 Job xiii. 1&.
OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES.
679 prayer to the God of their life; though their souls are cast down and disquieted within them, give them to hope in God, that they shall yet praise him, and let them find him the health of their countenance, and their God."*
O renew a right spirit within them, cast them not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from them, but restore unto them the joy of thy salvation, and uphold them with thy free Spirit, that their tongues may sing aloud of thy righteousness," and show forth thy salvation.**
O bring them out of this horrible pit, and this miry clay, and set their feet upon a rock, establishing their goings, and put a new song in their mouth, even praises to our God:^ O comfort them again now after the time that thou hast afflicted them.'<
Though for a small moment thou hast forsaken them, and hid thy face from them, yet gather them, and have mercy on them with everlasting kindness.^
O let thy Spirit witness with their spirits, that they are the children of God ;* and by the blood of Christ let them be purged from an evil conscience. ^
Lord, rebuke the tempter, even the accuser of the brethren; the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke him, and let the poor, tempted, troubled souls, be as brands plucked out of the burning.
(2.) Those who are under convictions of sin, and begin to be concerned about their souls, and their salvation, and to inquire after Christ.
Those who are asking the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward,** that are lamenting after the Lord,* and are pricked to the heart for sin,* O show them the good and the right way,* and lead them in it
To those who are asking what they shall do to inherit eternal life,^ discover Christ as the way, the truth, and the life,' the only true and living way.
O do not quench the smoking flax, nor break the bruised reed, but bring forth judgment unto victory." Liet the great Shepherd of the sheep gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead them,** and help them against their unbelief.'^
Let not the red dragon devour the man child as soon as it is born, but let it be caught up to God, and to his throne.**
(3.) When we pray with, or for, those who are sick and weak, and distempered in body; that those who are sick, and in sin, may be convinced; those who are sick, and in Christ, comforted.
Lord, thou hast appointed those that are sick to be prayed for, and prayed with, and hast promised, that the prayer of faith shall save the sick f Lord, help us to pray in faith for the sick, and as being ourselves also in the body.
m P». xlii.7,8. II. a Ps.li. 10-12,14. o Ps.Uxi. 15. p Pa. xl. 2, .3. q Ps. xc. 15. r IssL Hv. 7,8. • Rom. viii. 16. t Heb. X. 22. u Jer 1. a. ▼ 1 Sam. Til. 2. vr Acta ii. 37. « I Sam. xii 23. y Matt. xix. 16. « John xiv, 6. • Matt xii. 2«.
b Isa. xl. 11. e Mark ix. 24. d Rev. xii. 4.5. c Jamea v. 14, 15. f Mattly.23,24. f Matt. viii. 8,9. iHeb.iv. 15. i Luke
When our Lord Jesus was here upon earth, we find that they brought to him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and he healed all manner of sickness, and all manner of diseases among the people;' and he has still the same power over bodily diseases that ever he had; he says to them. Go, and they go; Come, and they come; Do this, and they do it; and can speak the word, and they shall be healed.' He is still touched with the feeling of our infirmities :^ and in the belief of this we do by prayer bring our friends that are sick, and lay them before him.^
Lord, grant those who are sick may neither despise the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when they are rebuked of him ;'' but that they may both hear the rod, and him that has appointed it,' and may kiss the rod, and accept of the punishment of tlicir iniquity.™
Give them to see, that affliction cometh not forth out of the dust, nor springs out of the ground ;^ that they may therefore seek unto God, to the Lord more than to the physicians,** because unto God the Lord belong the issues of life and deRth.P
Lord, show them wherefore thou contendest with them,i and give them in their afflictions to humble themselves greatly before the God of their fathers,*' and to repent and turn from every evil way, and make their ways and their doings good,* that being judged and chastened of the Lord, they may not be condemned with the world.' By the sickness of the body, and the sadness of the countenance, let the heart be made better."
O Lord, rebuke them not in thine anger, neither chasten them in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon them, O Lord, for they are weak. Lord, heal them, for their bones are vexed, their souls also are sore vexed. Return, O Lord, and deliver their souls, save them for thy mercy's sake -/ and lay no more upon them than tliou wilt enable them to bear, and enable them to bear what thou dost lay upon them.*
When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth. Surely every man is vanity. But remove thy stroke, we pray thee, from those that are even consumed by the blow of thine hand : O spare a little, that they may recover strength before Uiey go hence, and be no more seen.'
Those who are chastened with pain upon their bed, and the multitude of their bones with strong* pain, so that their life abhorreth bread, and their soul dainty meat, show them thine uprightness, be gracious to them. Deliver them from going down to the pit, for thou hast found a ransom.7
V. 18. k Heb. xii. 5. i Mic. vi. 9., m Lev. xxvi. 41. n Job ▼. n. o 2 Chron xvi. 12. p Pa. Ixviil. 2i». s Job x. 2.
r 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12. • Jer. xviii. II. t I Cor. xi. 32. u Eccl. vii. 3. V Pa. vi. 1—4. w i Cor. x. 13. *■ Pa. xxxix. 10, II, 13l y Job xxxiii. 19,20, 23,24.
OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES.
Let the eternal God be their refuge, and underneath them be the everlasting arms.* Consider their frame, remember that they are but dust.'
O deliver those that are thine in the time of trouble, preserve them, and keep them alive: O strengthen them upon their bed of languishing, and make their bed in their sickness: be merciful to them, and heal their souls, for they have sinned.^
O turn to them, and have mercy upon them, bring them out of their distresses, look upon their affliction and their pain, but especially forgive all their sin.«
Make thy face to shine upon them; save them for thy mercy's sake.* The God that comforteth them that are cast down,* comfort them; and let the soul dwell at ease in thee,' when the body lies in pain.
If it be the beginning of a distemper,—Lord, set bounds to this sickness, and say. Hitherto shall it come, and no further;« let it not prevail to extremity, but in measure, when it shooteth forth, do thou debate, and stay thy rough wind in the day of thine east wind; and by this let iniquity be purged, and let this be all the fruit, even thetakingaway of sin.i"
If it have continued long,—Lord, let patience have its perfect work,* even unto long-suffering, that those who have been long in the furnace may continue hoping, and quietly waiting for the salvation of the Lord :*" let tribulation work patience, and patience experience, and experience a hope that makcth not ashamed,' and enable them to call even this affliction light, and but for a moment, seeing it to work for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
If there be hopes of recovery,—Lord, when thou hast tried them, let them come forth like gold ;■> let their souls live, and they shall praise thee, let thy judgments help them:<* O deal bountifully with them, that they may live and keep thy word. In love to their souls deliver them from the pit of corruption, and cast all their sins behind thy bapk.p Recover them and make them to live. Speak the word, and they shall be healed ;<> say unto them, Live, yea, say unto them, Live, and the time shall be a time of love/ Father, if it be possible, let the cup pass away; however, not as we will, but as thou wilt. The will of the Lord be done.* Perfect that which concerns them. Thy mercy, O Lord, endures for ever; forsake not the work of thine own hands,' but whether they live or die let them be the Lord's."
If they be in appearance at the point of death,— Now the flesh and the heart are failing, Lord, be t Deut. xxxiii. 77.
• Pa. ciii. 14.
b Ps. xli. Ie P8.
xxT. 16-18. d Ps. xxxt-16. • 2 Cor. vii. 6. f Ps. xxt. 13 f Job xxxviii. II. h Isa. xxvii. 8, 9. i James i. 4. k Lam. iii 36. 1 Rom. v. 3-5. m 3 Cor. iv. 17. n Job xxiii 10. o Ps cxix. 175. p Isa. xxxviii. 16,17. q Matt. viil. 8. r Ezek. xvi. 6. R. • Matt. xxvi. 39. t Ps. cxxxviii. a « Rom. xiv. 8. « Ps. Uxiii. sa w Ps. xxiii. 4. x Heb. xiii. 6. 7 Ps- zlvi- 1 t Ps. xxxi. 5. m I Pet. iv. 19. b Luke xvi. 32. e Eph. v. 37.
thou the strength of the heart,^ and an everlastiif portion : in the valley of the shadow of death,* Lord, be thou present, as the good Shepherd, with a gvid-ing rod, and a supporting staff. O do not fail tkea nor forsake them now:' be a very present helpj Into thy hands we commit the departing spirit,* ai into the hands of a faithful Creator,* by the hands of him who has redeemed it. Let it be carried byfte angels into Abraham's bosom.^ Let it be presented to thee without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thin;.* Lord Jesus, receive this precious soul t* let it cone to the spirits of just men made perfect ;* when it ii absent from the body, let it be present with the Lord!' This day let it be with thee in paradise.^ Now let it be for ever comforted,^ and perfectly freed froa sin.* And prepare us to draw after, as there are is-numerable before,^ that we may be together for cfer with the Lord, there, where there shall be no noie death, and where all tears shall be wiped away.* (4.) When we pray with, or for, those that are deprived of the use of their reason.
O look with pity upon those who are pat out of the possession of their own souls,"* whose judgncst is taken away," so that their soul choosetb strangliif and death rather than life.** O restore them to tbea-selves,p and their right mind.*i Deliver them from doing themselves any harm.' And whatever aflic-tions thou layest upon any of us in this worid, preserve to us the use of our reason, and the petoe of our consciences.
(6.) When we pray with, or for, sick ehildiea.
Lord, we see death reigning even over them that have not sinned after the similitude of Adin'i transgression;" but Jesus Christ hath abolished death,* and admitted even little children into the kingdom of God.' O let sick children be pitied by thee,' as they are by their earthly parents. They are come forth like flowers, O let them not be cut don again.* Turn from them, that they may rest tiD they shall have accomplished as a hireling their day. Be gracious to us, and let the children live.* However, Father, thy will be done.^ O let their spinti be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.*
(6.) When we pray with, or for, families where death is, especially such as have lost their head.
Visit the houses of mourning, as our Saviour did, and comfort them, by assuring them that Christ is the resurrection and the life,* that their relations which are removed from them, are not dead, bat sleep; ^ and that they shall rise again, that they may not sorrow as those that have no hope:« and enable d Acts vii. 50. 0 Heb. xii. 23. f 3 Cor. v. ft f Loke xxiiL 43. h Luke xvi.3A. 1 Rom. vi. 7. k Job xxi.33. 1 Re«. xxi. 4. m Luke xxi. 19. a Job xxvii. 2. • Job vii U.
P Luke XT. 17. q Bfatt t. 15. r Acta xti. 9R. • Ron. r 14 t 2 Tiin. i. 10. a Bfatt. xvui. 3. ▼ ?». ctU 13. w Job xiv 2.6. > 2 Sam. xii. 22. j Acts xxi. 14. • 1 Cor. r. a a John xi. 95. b Blatt ix. 24. e 1 Tbca. iv. 13.
OCCASIONAL ADDRESSES.
681 them to trust in the living God,<> the Rock of Ages,' and enjoy the fountains of living waters, when creatures prove broken reeds and broken cisterns.'
Be a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widows, O God, in thy holy habitation.' With thee let the fatherless find mercy ;^ keep them alive, and let the widows trust in thee,* that they may be widows indeed, who, being desolate, trust in God, and continue instant in prayer night and day.i And where father and mother have forsaken,^ let the Lord take up the children, and not leave them orphans,"* but come to them.
(7.) When we pray with, or for, those women that are near the time of travail, or in travail. Lord, thou hast passed this sentence upon the woman that was first in the transgression," that in sorrow she shall bring forth children.** But let this handmaid of thine be saved in child-bearing, and continue in faith, and charity, and holiness, with sobriety .p Enable her to cast her burthen upon the Lord, and let (he Lord sustain her; ^ and what time she is afraid, grant that she may trust in thee,*^ and may encourage herself in the Lord her God.* O let not the root be dried up from beneath, nor let the branch be withered or cut off;' but let both live before thee. Be thou her strong habitation, her rock, and her fortress, give commandment to save her." And when travail comes upon her, which she cannot escape,* be pleased, O Lord,to deliver her; O Lord, make haste to help her; be thou thyself her help and deliverer, make no tarrying, O our God.* Let her be safely delivered, and remember the anguish no more, for joy that a child is born into the world,* is bom unto thee.
(8.) When we pray with, or for, those that are recovered from sickness, or are delivered in child-bearing, and desire to give thanks unto
God for his mercy. We will extol thee, O Lord, upon the account of those whom thou hast lifted up, whose souls thou hast brought up from the grave, and kept them alive, that they should not go down to the fit J Those who were brought low thou hast helped, hast delivered their souls from death, their eyes from tears, and their feet from falling. Now give them grace to walk before thee in the land of the living, to ofier to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, to call upon thy name, and to pay their vows unto the Lord.'
The grave cannot thus praise thee ; death cannot celebrate thee ; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth ; but the living, the living, they shall praise thee, as we do this day.' Lord, grant d I Tim.vi. 17. • Ps. xxvl. 4 f Jer. ii. 13. k Ps. Ixviii. 5. b Hos. xiv. 3. i Jer. xlix. 11. v I Tim. v. 5. i ?». xxvii. 10. m John xiv. 18. n I Tim. ii. 14. e Gen. iii. 16. p I Tim. li. 13. q Ps. Iv. 23. r pft. Ivl. 3. • 1 Sam. xxx. 6. t Job xviii. Id. u Ps. Ixxi. 3. » 1 Tliess. v. 3. w Ps xl. 13, 17. « John xvl. 21. y Ps. xxx. 1,3. i Ps. cxvi. 6-9, 17, 18.
Isa. xxxviii. I8,19. b Luke xvii. 18. « 2 Chron. xxxii 25.
that those who are delivered from death may not be as the nine lepers, who did not return to give thanks ;^ or as Hezekiab, who rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him ;^ but that they may so offer praise, as to glorify thee, and so order their conversation, as to see the salvation of God.^
Those whom the Lord hath chastened sore, yet he has not delivered over unto death : O that they may therefore praise him, who is become their salvation.*
(9.) When we pray with, or for, those parents whose children are a grief to them, or such as they are in fear about.
Lord, give to parents the desire of their souls concerning their children, which is to see them walking in the truth; ^ form Christ in their souls.* O give them betimes to know the God of their fathers, and to serve him vnth a a perfect heart and a willing mind.^ Let children of the youth, that are as arrows in the hand, be directed aright, that those parents may have reason to think themselves happy that have their quiver full of them, and they may never be arrows in the heart.*
Let those foolish children, who are the grief of the father, and the heaviness of her that bare them,'' who mock at their parents, and despise to obey' them, be brought to repentance; and let those who have been unprofitable, now at length be made profitable.'" O turn the hearts of the children to their fathers," even the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, that they may be made ready a people prepared for the Lord.*^ O show them their work and their transgression, that they have exceeded,^* and open their ear to discipline.^
(10.) When we pray with, or for, those that are in prison.
Those that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in afiliction and iron, because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High, give them grace to cry unto thee in their trouble/ and in a day of adversity to consider. •
In their captivity give them to bethink themselves, to humble themselves, and pray, and seek thy face, to repent, saying. We have sinned, and have done perversely,^ and to return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul; and bring their souls out of prison, that they may praise thy name." Bring them into the glorious liberty of the children of God, out of the bondage of corruption.^ Let the Son make them free, and then they shall be free indeed.'
Those who are wrongfully imprisoned, be thou d Ps. 1. 23. « Ps. cxviii. 18, 21. f 2 John 4. w Gal. iv. 19. h I Chron. xxviii. 9. i Ps. cxxvii. 4, &. k Prov. xvii. 2&.
1 Prov. xxx. 17. m Philero. 11. n Mai. iv. 6. e Luke i. 17. P Job xxxvi. 9. q Isa. xlviii. 8, 9. r Ps. cvii. 10.11,13. > Eccl. vii. 14. t 1 Kings viii. 47. a Ps. cxlii. 7. ▼ Rom viii. 21. w Joiin viii. 3(3.
THE CONCLUSION OF PRAYER.
with them, as thou wast with Joseph in the prison, and show them mercy.* Hear the poor, and despise not thy prisoners,' but let their sorrowful sighing come before thee, and according to the greatness of thy power preserve those that are unjustly appointed to die.
(11.) When we pray with, or for, condemned malefactors, that have but a little while to live.
O look with pity upon those, the number of whose months is to be cut off in the midst > for their sin: O give them repentance unto salvation,' as thou didst to the thief upon the cross, that they may own the justice of God in all that is brought upon them, that he has done right, but they have done wickedly .*» O turn them, and they shall be turned,' that being instructed they may smite upon the thigh, and may be ashamed, yea, even confounded, because they do bear the reproach of their own iniquity. O pluck them as brands out of the fire ;*^ let them be delivered from the wrath to come.*
Enable them to give glory to God by making confession,' that they may find mercy, and that others may hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously.'
Lord Jesus, remember them now thou art in thy kingdom.** O let them not be hurt of the second death.* Deliver them from going down to that pit.^ Though the flesh be destroyed, O let the spirit be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.' The God of infinite mercy be merciful to these sinners,*"—sinners against their own souls."
(12.) When we pray with, or for, those who are at sea.
Let those who go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, observe the works of the Lord there, and his wonders in the deep :** and acknowledge what a great God he is whom the winds and the seas obey ;p who hath placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it; and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over.*»
O preserve them through the paths of the seas,' and in perils by waters, and perils by robbers.* If the stormy wind be raised, which lifteth up the waves, so that they are at their wits' end, deliver them out of their distresses, make the storm a calm, and bring them to their desired haven: and, O that those who are delivered may praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.'
z Gen. zxxix. 21. 7 Ps. Ixix. 33. > Job xxi. 21. a 2 Cor. vii. 10. b Neh ix. 33. c Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. d Jude 23.
1 Thess. i. 10. f Josh. vii. 19. ir Dcut. xvii. 13. h Luke xxiii. -12. i Rev. ii. 11 k Job xxxiii. 24. 11 Cor. v. 5.
m Luke zviU. 13. n Numb. xvi. 38. o Ph. evil. 23,24.
CHAPTER VII.
OF THB CONCLUSION OP OUK PBATEIS.
Wb are commanded to pray always, to pny 1 without ceasing, to continue in prayer, because . we must always have in us a disposition to tkb I duty, must be constant to it, and never gnm weary of it, or throw it up; and yet we cioiMi be always praying, we must come down fron this mount j nor may we be over long, so as (• make the duty a task, or a toil to ourselves, or those who join with us. We bae other work that calls for our attendance. Jacob wrestles witli the angel; but he must go, for the daj breaks. We must therefore think of conclndin The prayers of David the son of Jesse mast be ended. But how shall we conclude, so as to have the impressions of the duty keep always in the imagination of the thought of oar heart
1. We may then sum up our requests in some comprehensive petitions, as the conclusion of the whole matter.
Now the God of peace, that brought again frooi the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleasiof in his sight, through Christ Jesus.*
Now the Lord direct our hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ
And the God of all grace, who hath called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that we have suffered a while, make us perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle us.^
And now, Lord, what wait we for? Truly our hope is even in thee,<* and on thee do we depend to be to us a God all-sufiicient.*
Do for us exceeding abundantly above what we are able to ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us :' «nd supply all our need according to thy riches in glory by Christ Jesua.r
2. We may then beg for the audience and acceptance of our poor weak prayers, for Christ's sake.
Now the God of Israel grant us the things we have requested of him.^
Let the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.^
Let thine eyes be open unto the supplication of thy servants, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call p Matt. viii. 27. 4 Jer. ?. S2. r ps. viiL 8. • a Cor. xl SI t Ps. cvii. 35,27-31.
Heb. xiii. 20,21. b 2 Thesa. iii. 5^ « I Pet v. 10. * P>> xxxix 7. • Gen. xvii. I. f £ph. iiL 90. f PbiL if- Ui b I Sam. i. 17. i Ps. xix. U.
THE CONCLUSION OF PRAYER.
683 unto tbec for; for they be thy people and thine in-beritance>
O our God, let thine ears be attent unto the prayers that we have made: O turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant ;> even Jesus, who is at thy right hand making intercession for us.
Lord, thou hast assured us, that whatever we ask the Father in Christ's name, he will give it us:" we ask all these things in that name, that powerful name, which is above every name ;** that precious name, which is as ointment poured forth.** O make thy face to shine upon us for the Lord's sake,P who is the Son of thy love, and whom thou hearest al-ways.<i Good Lord, give us to hear him, and be well pleased with us in him.'
3. We may then beg for the forgiveness of what has been amiss in our prayers.
Lord, we have not prayed as we ought ;• who is there that does good, and sins not?* Even when we would do good, evil is present with us; and if to will be present, yet how to perform that which is good we know not;" for the good that we would, we do not; so that thou mightest justly refuse to bear even when we make many prayers.* But we have a great High Priest, who bears the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts;' for his sake take away all that iniquity from us, even all the iniquity of our holy things, and receive us graciously, and love us freely;" and deal not with us after our folly .t
4. We may then recommend ourselves to the conduct, protection, and government of the divine grace, in the further services that lie before us, and in the whole course of our conversation.
And now let us be enabled to go from strength to strength, until we appear before God in Zion, and while we pass through this valley of Baca, let it be made a well, and let the rain of the divine gce and blessing 611 the pools.'
Now speak. Lord, for tliy servants hear.* What saith our Lord unto his servants?^ Grant that we may not turn away our ear from hearing the law; for then our prayers will be an abomination ;' but may hearken unto God, that he may hearken unto us.**
And now the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers ; let him not leave us, nor forsake us ; that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments ;* and let our hearts be perfect with the Lord our God all our days, and continue so till the end be, that then k 1 Kings viii. £2. i 2 Chron. vi. 40, 42. m John xvL 23. n Phil. ii. 9. e Cant. i. 3. p Dan tx. 17. q John xi. 42. r Matt xrii. 5. • Rom. viii. 26. t Eccl. vii. 20. u Rom. Tli. 18, 19. ▼ IhslI. 15. w Exod. xxviii. 38. > Hoft. xiv. 2. 7 Job xlii. 8. ■ Ps. Ixxxiv. 6, 7. • 1 Sam. iii. 9. b Josh. v.
we may rest, and may stand in our lot, and let it be a blessed lot in the end of the days/
5. We may conclude all with doxologies or solemn praises of God, ascribing honour and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and sealing up all our praises and prayers with an affectionate Amen.
Now, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting,' Amen and Amen.
For ever blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things, and blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.^ Yea, let all the people say. Amen, Hallelujah.*
To God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ for ever, Amen.^
Now to God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father, be glory for ever and ever, Amen.^
To God be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.*"
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever, Amen.*^ To him be honour and power ever« lasting,** to him be glory and dominion, Amen.p
Now unto him that is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before tlie presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Sa\iour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, now and ever, Amen.i
Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God, Amen, Hallelujah.'
And now, we prostrate our souls before the throne, and worship God, saying. Amen, blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.*
Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever ;* and let the whole creation say. Amen, Amen.
6. It is very proper to sum up our prayers in that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples.
Onr Father which art in heaven; hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven ; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen."
14. e ProT. xxviii. 9. d Judg. ix. 7. e i Kings viii. 57, 58. f Dan. xii. 13. r Ps. xli. 13. h Ps. Ixxii. 18,19. i Ps. cvi. 48. k Rom. xvi. 27. 1 Gal. i. 3—5. m Eph iii. 21. n i Tim. i 17. e 1 Tim. vi. 16. p 1 Pet. v. II. q Jude 24,25. r Rev.
e84
A PARAPHRASE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER
CHAP. VIII.
A PARAPHRASE ON THB LORD'S PRATER, IN SCRIPTURE
EXPRESSIONS.
The Lord's Prayer being intended not only for a form of prayer itself, but a rule of direction, a plan or model in miniature, by whicb we may frame our prayers ; and the expressions being remarkably concise, and yet vastly comprehensive, it will be of good use sometimes to lay it before us, and observing the method and order of it, to dilate upon the several passages and petitions of it, that when we use it only as a form, we may use it the more intelligently ; of which we shall only here give a specimen in the assistance we may have from some other scriptures.
Our Father which art in heaven.
O Lord our God, doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not; O Lord, thou art our Father, our Redeemer, thy name is from everlasting ;* and wc will from this time cry unto thee, our Father, thou art the guide of our youth.**
Have we not all one Father, has not one God created us?^ Thou art the Father of our spirits, to whom we ought to be in subjection and live.**
Thou art the Father of lights,* and the Father of mercies,' and the God of all consolation : the eternal Father,^ of whom, and through whom, and to whom, are all things>
Thou art the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,* whose glory was that of the only-begotten of the Father, who is in his bosom> by him as one brought up with him, daily his delight, and rejoicing always before him.'
Thou art in Christ our Father, and the Father of all believers, whom thou hast predestinated to the adoption of children,"* and into whose hearts thou hast sent the Spirit of the Son, teaching them to cry, Abba, Father." Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God.» That the Lord God Almighty should be to us a Father, and we should l>e to him for sons and daughters ;p and that as many as receive Christ, to them thou shouldst give power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which are born, not of the will of man, but of God,<i and his grace.
O that we may receive the adoption of sons«r and a Isa. Ixiii. IG. b Jer. iii. 4. c Mai. ii. lo. d Heb. xii. 9.
• James i. 17. f 2 Cor. i. 3. ir laa. ix. 6. h Rom. xi. 36.
i Eph. i. 3. k John i. 14, 18. i Prov. viii. 3(». m Eph. i. 5.
« Gal. iv. 6. o 1 John iii. I. p 2 Cor. vi. la q John i. 12,13.
r fJal. iv. 5. ■ 1 Pet. i. 14, 15. t Eph. v. I. u Rodl viii. 20.
r Eph. iii. 12. w Mai. iii. 17. « 1 John ii. 1. y John xvi. 27.
f
1 that, as obedient and fienuine children, we bbj fashion ourselves according to the example of kia who hath called us, who is holy ;* and may be followers of God as dear children,^ and confoniKd n the image of his Son, who is the first-boni lami many brethren."
Enable us to come to thee with homble boldMS and confidence,^ as to a Father, a tender FadM who spares us as a man spares his son that mha him ;* and as having an Advocate with the Fatkr,' who yet has told us, that the Father himself iofesv; Thou art a Father, but where is thine honov Lord, give us grace to serve thee as becomes cUI* dren, with reverence and godly fear.*
Thou art a Father; and if earthly parents, hua evil, yet know how to give good gifts onto thdr di-dren, how much more shall our heavenly Fate give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?^ Lai give us the Spirit of grace and supplication.*
We come to thee as prodigal children, who km gone from our Fathers house into a far countiy; Iii we will arise and go to our Father, for in his hois there is bread enough, and to spare, and if we cm* tinue at a distance from him, we perish with haogCL Father, we have sinned against heaven, and bete thee, and are no more worthy to be called thy cbB-dren, make us even as thy hired servants.^
Thou art our Father in heaven, and therefore nto thee, O Lord, do we lift op oor souls. Unto tki we lift op our eyes, O thoo that dwellest in Ik heavens. As the eyes of a servant are to the hiii of his master, and the eyes of a maiden to the hudi her mistress, so do oor eyes wait opon thee, 0 M our God ;* a God whom the heaven of heavens en-not contain,^ and yet to whom we may have accci having a High Priest that is passed into the heaven as our fore-runner.s
Thou, O God, dwellest in the high and holy plaee,^ and holy and reverend is thy name.' God is in bcft-ven, and we upon earth,^ therefore should wecbow out words to reason with him ; * and yet throogh a mediator we have boldness to enter into the holiest" Look down, we pray thee, from heaven, and te-hold from the habitation of thy holiness, and of tbjr glory," and have compassion opon os, and help vl* Heaven is the firmament of thy power: O hearis from thy holy heaven, with the saving strength af thy right hand; send os help from the sanctuarjt and strengthen os out of Zion.p ^
And, O that since heaven is oor Father's hoose,^ we may have our conversation there,' and may seA the things that are above.*
I Mai. i. 6. • Heb. xii. 28. b Luke xi. 13. r Zecb. xii. N. d Luke XV. 13,17—19. • Pa. Ixxxvl. 4. Ps. cxxiii. I, S. f I Kii«i viii. 27. r Heb. iv. H. h Isa. Irii. 15. i Pa. cxi. 9. k Ecd V. 2. 1 Job ix. 14. » Heb. x. 19. ■ Im. Ixiii. 15. • Mark ix.22. pPs. XX. 2, 0. 4 John xiv. s. r PhiL iii.IB. • CoLiill k PARAPHRASE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER.
686
Hat lowed be thy name.
And now, what is our petition, and what is onr request?* What would we that thou shouldst do for us?" This is our hearts' desire and prayer in the first place. Father in heaven, let thy name be sanctified.* We pray that thou mayst be glorified as a Holy God.
We desire to exalt the Lord our God, to worship at his footstool, at his holy hill, and to praise his great and terrible name, for it is holy, for the Lord oar God is holy.' Thou art holy, O thou that in-habitcst the praises of Israel.i
We glory in thy holy name, and therefore shall our hearts rejoice," because we have trusted in that boly name of thine,* to which we will always give thanks, and triumph in thy praise.^
Lord, enable us to glorify thy holy name for evermore, by praising thee with all onr hearts,' and by bringing forth much fruit, for herein is our heavenly Father glorified.'^ O that we may be to our God for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory,* that being called out of darkness into his marvellous light, to be to him a peculiar people, we may show forth the praises of him that hath called us.'
O that we may be thy children, the work of thy hands, that we may sanctify thy name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and fear the God of Israel,' and may be to the praise of his glory.*^
Enable us, as we have received the gift, so to minister the same, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ: and if wo suffer, enable us to suffer as Christians, and to glorify God therein,* for , this is our earnest expectation and hope, that always Jesas Christ may be magnified in our bodies, in life and deaths
Lord, enable others to glorify thee, let even the atrong people glorify thee, and the city of the terrible nations fear thee; > but especially let the Lord be magnified from the border of Israel."* Let them glorify the Lord in the fires, even the Lord God of Israel in the isles of the sea." O let all nations "Whom thou hast made, come and worship before thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name; for thou art great, «Lnd dost wondrous things, thou art God alone."
O let the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy, let his name be knowh and confessed among the Gentiles, mnd let them rejoice with his people.^ O let thy name be great among the Gentiles,*! and let all the ends of the world remember and turn to the t Etth. ▼. 6. u Matt. XX. 32. ▼ Rom. x. 1. w Lev. x. 3. as Pa. xcix. 3, 5.9. j Ps xxii. 3. • Pt. cv. 3. • Ps. xxxiii. SI b Ps. cvi. 47. e Ps. Ixxxvi. 12. d John xv. ft • Jer. aciii. II. f 1 Pet ii. 9. g Isa. xxix. 23. h Eph. i. 12.
i 1 Pet iv. 10. II, 16. k Phil. i. 23. 1 laa. xxv 3. m Blal. i.
«. n ISB. XXlv. IV o Ps. Ixxxvi. 9.10. p Rom. XV. 9,10.
II. r Ps. xxii 27, 31. • Jcr. x. 7. tRcv. xv. 3.
Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations worship before thee; and let them declare thy righteousness to a people that shall be born.'
Lord, do thou thyself dispose of all things to thy own glory, both as King of nations,* and as King of saints :* do all according to the counsel of thy own will," that thou mayst magnify thyself, and sanctify thyself, and mayst be known in the eyes of many nations, that thou art the Lord.^ O sanctify thy great name, which has been profaned among the heathen, and let them know that thou art the Lord, when thou shalt be sanctified in them.*
Father, glorify thine own name: thou hast glorified it, glorify it again.' Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.' O give him a name above every name,* and in all places and in all things let him have the pre-eminence.*
Lord, what wilt thou do for thy great name?<> Do this for thy great name ; Pour out of thy Spirit upon all flesh f and let the word of Christ dwell richly in the hearts of all.** Be thou exalted, O Lord, among the heathen, be thou exalted in the earth f be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, let thy glory be above all the earth ;' be thou exalted, O Lord, in thine own strength, so will we sing and praise thy power.i Do great things with thy glorious and everlasting arm, to make unto thyself a glorious and an everlasting name.''
O let thy name ht magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel.'
lliy kingdom come.
In order to the sanctifying and glorifying of thy holy name, Father in heaven, let thy kingdom come; for thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all: both riches and honour come of thee; thou reignest over all, and in thine hand is power and might; in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.*^ And we desire to speak of the glorious majesty of thy kingdom, for it is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endures throughout all generations.' Thou rulest by thy power for ever; thine eyes behold the nations. O let not the rebellious exalt themselves," but through the greatness of thy power let thine enemies submit themselves unto thee."
O make it to appear that the kingdom is thine, and that thou art the Governor among the nations, so evident, that they may say among the heathen. The Lord reigneth;» that all men may fear, and may declare the works of God,p and may say. Verily he ti Eph. i. 11. ▼ Ezek. xxxviii. 23. «r Gzek. xxxvi. 23. « John xii. 27.28. J John xvii. l. ■ Phil. it. 9. • Col. i. la b Josh, vii. 9- « Joel il. 28. d Col. iii. 16. • Ps. xlvi. 10. f Pa. Ivli. 11. r Ps. xxi. 13. h Isa. Ixiii. 12.14. i I Chron. xvii. 24. k 1 Chron xxix. 11, li i Ps cxlv. 12, 13. m Ps. Uvi. 7. a Fs. Ixvi. 3. o Ps. xcvi. 10. p Ps. lxiv.9.
A PARAPHRASE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER.
is a God that jadgetb in the earth.^ Make all the king.s of the earth to know that the heavens do rule, even that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will; and to praise and extol, and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able to abase/
O let the kingdom of thy grace come more and more in the world, that kingdom of God which com-eth not with observation, that kingdom of God which is within men.* Let it be like leaven in the world, diffusing its relish till the whole be leavened, and like a grain of mustard seed, which, though it be the least of all seeds, yet when it is grown, is the greatest among herbs/
Let the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ Take unto thyself thy great power, and reign, though the nations be angry." Set up thy throne there where Satan's seat is,* let every thought be brought into obedience to thee,* and let the law of thy kingdom be magnified and made honourable.'
Let that kingdom of God, which is not in word, but in power,' be set up in all the churches of Christ Send forth the rod of thy strength out of thy Zion, and rule by the beauty of holiness.*
Where the strong man armed hath long kept his palace, and his goods are in peace, let Christ, who is stronger than he, come upon him, and overcome him, and take from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divide the spoil.*
O give to the Son of man dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages may serve him, and the judgment may be given to the saints of the Most High.''
Let the kingdom of thy grace come more and more in our land, and the places where we live. There let the word of the Lord have free course, and be glorified,' and let not the kingdom of God be taken from us, as we have deserved it should, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.^
Let the kingdom of thy grace come into our hearts, that they may be the temples of the Holy Ghost* Let no iniquity have dominion over us.^ Overturn, overturn, overturn the power of corruption there, and let him come whose right our hearts are, and give them him ;f make us willing, more and more willing, in the day of thy power.*" Rule in us by the power of truth, that being of the truth, we may always hear Christ's voice,* and may not only call him Lord, Lord, but do the things that he saith." And let the love of Christ command us, and con-
Ps. Iviil. II. r Dan. iv. 25.26, 37. ■ Luke xvii. 20,21.
t Matt. xiil. 31—3.1. u Rev. xi. 15,17. ▼ Rer. ii. 13. w 2 Cor. X. 5. z Isa. xUi. 21. 7 1 Cor. iv. 20. > Ps. ex. 2,3. • Luke xi.21, 2^2. b Dan. vH. 14. 22. o 2 Thcss. Hi. 1. d Matt. xxi. 43. e I Cor. iii. 16 f Fa. cxix. 133. ir Ezek, xxi. 27. h Ps. ex. 3. I John xviii. 37. k Luke vl. 46. i 2 Cor. v. 14.
m Exod. XX. 20. n Malt. xxiv. 30. o Isa. Ixvi. 5. p 2 Tim. | strain us,* and his fear be before oar eyes, that we sin not"*
O let the kingdom of thy glory be hastened; we believe it will come, we look for the Savioiir, tiie Lord Jesus, to come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory ; ^ we hope that he shall appear to our joy ;® we love his appearing;' we are looking for, and hasting to, the comiDg of the day <i God ;<i make us ready for it,*" that we may then lift up our heads with joy, knowing that oar redemption draws nigh.* And, O that we may have soch first-fruits of the Spirit, that we oarselves may groai within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, even the redemption of our body; * and may have a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is best of all."
Blessed Jesus, be with thy ministers and people (as thou hast said) always even onto the end of tk world,* and then, as thou hast said, Sarely, I ooae quickly; Even so, come. Lord Jesas, come quickly;* when the mystery of God shall be finished,' make haste our beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.7
T%f will be done om earik as ii is in kemvem
And as an evidence that thy kingdom comes, and in order to the sanctifying of thy name. Father ii heaven, let thy holy will be done. We know, 0 Lord, that whatsoever thoo pleasest, that thoa doest in heaven, and in earth, in the sea, and in all deep places ;■ thy counsel shall stand, aod thoa wilt do all thy pleasure :* Even so be it. Holy Father, wt our will, but thine be done.** As thou hast tlionght, so let it come to pass; and as thou hast poiposed, let it stand.c Do all according to the coonael of thine own will.^ Make even those to serve thy par-poses who have not known thee,' and who mean not so, neither doth their heart think so.'
Father, let thy will be done concerning as and ours: Behold here we are; It is the Lord, let bin do to us as seemeth good unto him ;> the will of the Lord be done> O give us to submit to thy will io conformity to the example of the Lord Jesus, who said. Not as I will, but as thoa wilt;* and to say, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.^ Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil also?i
Father, let the Scriptures be fulfilled;"' the Scriptures of the prophets, which cannot be brokfD.' Though heaven and earth pass away, let not one iota or tittle of thy word pass away.** Do what is iv. 8. q 2 Pet. iii. IS. r Matt. xxiv. 44. • Luke xxi. * t Rom. viii. 23. n Phil.i. 2a r Matt. xx Tiii. 90. » R«* xxii. 20. X Rev. t. 7. j Cant. viii. 14. « Ps czxxr. & • bBxWi 10. b Luke xxii. 42. e laa. xiv. 24. a Epb. i. 12. * te xlv. 4. t 1m. X. 7. r 2 Sam. xv. 26. h Acts xxi. 14. i Iba
XXvi. 39. k Job i. 21. I Job ii. 10. m Ifatt. xxvt.Ml ■ i X. 35. o Matt. xxiv. 35.
A PARAPHRASE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER.
e87 written in the Scriptores of trath, and let it appear hat for ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.P
Lord, give grace to each of as to know and do the rill of our Father which is in heaven.** This is the iHil of God, even oar sanctification.' Now the God >f peace sanctify us wholly.' O let ns be filled with the knowledge of thy will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,* and make us perfect in every good irork to do thy will." O let the time past of our life laffice us to have wrought the will of the flesh/ and lo have walked according to the coarse of this world;'' and henceforth grant that it may always be our meat and drink to do the will of our Father,* and to finish his work J not to do our own will, but bis that sent us, that we may be of those that shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,' and not those that shall be beaten with many stripes.
Lord, give gce to others also, to know and do thy will; to prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God ;» not to be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is ;** and then give them to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.<: And let us all serve our generations according to that will.' And when we have done the will of God, let us inherit the promises f and let that part of the will of God be done; Lord, let the word which thou hast spoken concerning thy servants be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.^
We rejoice that thy vnll is done in heaven; that the holy angels do thy commandments, and always hearken to the voice of thy word,' that they always behold the face of our Father:)* and we lament that thy will is so little done on earth, so many of the children of men being led captive by Satan at his will.^ O that this earth may be made more like to heaven! and saints more like to the holy angels! And that we who hope to be shortly as the angels of God in heaven,*^ may now, like them, not rest from praising him ;* may now, like them, resbt and withstand Satan; may be as a flame of fire,"* and fly swiftly," and may go straight forward whithersoever the Spirit goes f may minister for the good of others, and thus may come into communion with the innumerable company of angels.i*
Give us this day our daily bread.
Thon, O God, who hast appointed as to seek first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, hast promised, that if we do so other things shall bo added unto us:<< and therefore, having prayed for
P Ps. cxix. 89. q Matt. xii. 50. t i Thess. iv. 3. • 1 Thess. V. 23. t Col. i.9. 11 Heb. xiii. 21. t 1 Pet. iv. 3. w Eph. ii. 2. X John iv. 34. j John vi. 38. ■ Matt vii. 21. • Rom. xiii. 2. b Eph. v. 17. e Col. iv. 12. d Acts xiii. 36. • Heb. X. 36. f I Chron. xvii. 23. «r P& ciii. 20. h Matt, xviii. 10. I 2 Tim. ii. 26. k Matt. xxii. 30. 1 Rev. iv. 8. m Ps. civ. 4. b Dan. ix. 21. o Ezek. i.9,12. p Heb. xii. 22. q Ifatt vi. 33.
the sanctifying of thy name, the coming of thy kingdom, and the doing of thy will, we next pray. Father in heaven, give us this day, give us day by day, our daily bread/
Remove far from us vanity and lies: give us neither poverty nor riches; feed us with food convenient for us;' lest we be full and deny thee, and say. Who is the Lord ? or, lest we be poor and steal> and take the name of our God in vain.
Lord, we ask not for dainties, for they are deceitful meat;' nor do we pray that we may fare sumptuously every day, for we would not in our life-time receive our good things;° but we pray for that bread which is necessary to strengthen man's heart.^ We desire not to eat the bread of deceit,* nor to drink any stolen waters,' nor would eat the bread of idle-ness,7 but that if it be thy will we may eat the labour of our hands,* that with quietness we may work, and cat our own bread;' and having food and raiment, give us to be therewith content,** and to say, We have all, and abound.*^
Bless, Lord, our substance, and accept the work of our hands ;* and give us wherewithal to provide for our own, even for those of our own house,* and to leave an inheritance, as far as is just, to our children's children.' Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, yea, the work of our hands establish thoa iti Bless, Lord, our land with the precious things of the earth, and the fulness thereof; but above all let us have the good will of him that dwelt in the bush, even the blessing that was upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.''
But if the fig-tree should not blossom, and there should be no fruit in the vine; if the labour of the olive should fail, and the field should yield no meat, if the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there should be no herd in the stall, yet let us have grace to rejoice in the Lord, and to joy in the God of our salvation.*
Father, we ask not for bread for a great while to come, but that we may have this day our daily bread; for we would learn, and the Lord teach us, not to take thought for the morrow, what we shall eat. or what we shall drink, or wherewithal we shall be clothed, but we cast the care upon thee, our heavenly Father, who knowest that we have need of all these things; who feedest the fowls of the air, though they sow not, neither do they reap, and wilt much more feed us who are of more value than many sparrows.^ r Luke xi. 3. • Prov. xxx. 8, 9. t Prov. xxiii. 3. « Luke xvi. 19,25. T P8. civ. 14. w Prov. XX. 17. x prov. ix. 17. 7 Prov. xxxi. 27. ■ Ps. cxxviii. 2. • 2 Thess. iii. 12. b 1 Tim. vi. a c Phil. iv. 18. d Deut xxxiii. 11. « 1 Tim. v. a f Prov. xiii. 22. ff Ps. xc. 17. h Deut. xxxiii. 13, 16. i Hab. iii. 17,18. k Mdtt vi. 31,38.
A PARAPHRASE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Nor do we pray for daily bread for ourselves only, but for others also. O satisfy thy poor with bread.' Let all that walk righteously and speak uprightly dwell on high: let the place of their defence be the munition of rocks; let bread be given to them, and let their waters be sure.™
And forgive us our debit as we forgive our debtors.
And, Lord, as duly as we pray every day for our daily bread, we pray for the forgiveness of our sins; for we are all guilty before God, have all sinned, and have come short of the glory of God." In many things we all oflfend every day.<* Who can tell how often he offends? If thou shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand ? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayst be feared.p God be merciful to us sinners.
We have wasted our Lord's goods,^ we have buried the talents we were intrusted with,*^ nor have we rendered again according to the benefit done unto us,* and thus we come to be in debt The Scripture Las concluded us all under sin ;* we have done such things as are worthy of death," things for which the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience.* Our debt is more than ten thousand talents, it is a great debt, and we have nothing to pay, so far are we from being able to say. Have patience with us, and we will pay thee all.* Justly therefore might our adversary deliver us to the judge, and the judge to the officer, to be cast into prison, the prison of hell, till we pay the last farthing.'
But blessed be God, there is a way found out of agreeing with our adversary; for if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins.]^ For his sake, we pray thee, blot out all our transgressions," and enter not into judgment with us.* He is our Surety,** who restored that which he took not away f that blessed Days-man, which hath laid his hand upon us both.<^ Through him let us be reconciled unto God;< and let the hand-writing which was against us, which was contrary to us, be blotted out, and taken out of the way, being nailed to the cross of Christ,^ that we may be quickened together with Christ, having all our trespasses forgiven us. Be thou merciful to our unrighteousnesses, and our sins and our iniquities do thou remember no more.*
And give us, we pray thee, to receive the atonement,** to know that our sins are forgiven us.' Speak peace to us,'^ and make us to hear joy and gladness.^
1 Ps. cxxxii. 15 m ba. xxxiii. 1&, 16. n Rom. iii. 19, S3,
0 Jam iii. 2. p Ps. cxxx. 3, 4. q Luke xvi. 1. r Matt xxv. 18. • 2 Chron. xxxii. 25. t Gal. iii. 22. « Rom. i. 32. ▼ Eph v. 6. w Matt, xviii. 24-26, 32. x Matt. v. 25, 26. / 1 John ii. 1.2.
1 Ps. Ii. I. a Ps. cxiiii. 2. b Heb. vii.22. e Ps. lxix.4. d Job ix. 33. e 2 Cor. v. 20. f Col. ii. 13, 14. t Heb. viii. 12. h Rom. V. II. II John ii. 12. k Pt. Ixxxv. 8. i Ps. Ii. 8.
Let the blood of Christ thy Son cleanse us from all sin," and purge our consciences from dead wods to serve the living 6od.°
And as an evidence that thou hast forgiven ov sins, we pray thee give us gce to forgive our eo mies, to love them that hate us, and bless themtbt curse us; for we acknowledge, that if we iwpn not men their trespasses, neither will our Fker forgive our trespasses; <> and, therefore, we forgive. Lord, we desire heartily to forgive, if we kite a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave uu Far be it from os to say, that we will recompeiue evil,*! or that we should avenge ourselves,' hot we pray that all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil-speaking, may be pot away froa us, with all malice; and that we may be kind one to another, and tender-bearted, forgiving one anotkr, even as God for Christ's sake we hope hath forgiva us.* O make us merciful as our Father which »in heaven is merciful, who hath promised that with tk merciful he will show himself merciful.'
And lead us not into temptation, hut deliver us frm evil.
And, Lord, forasmuch as there is in us a bent to backslide from thee,** so that when our sins are forgiven, we are ready to return again to folly,^ we pray that thou wilt not only forgive us our debts, but tab care of us, that we may not offend any more.* Lord, lead us not into temptation. We know that Bomti can say when he is tempted, that he is templed of God, for God tempteth not any man ;* hot «e know that God is able to make all grace to abovnd towards us,t and to keep us from falling, and pie-sent us faultless.' We, therefore, pray thattkoi wilt never give us up to our own hearts' lusts, to walk in our own counsels,* but restrain Satan, tkat roaring lion, that goes about seeking whom be maj devour,^ and grant that we may not be ignorant of his devices.^ O let not Satan have us, to sift as as wheat; or, however, let not our faith fail.' Let not the messengers of Satan be permitted to bofet us; but if they be, let thy grace be sufiicicat for ns. that where we are weak, there we may be strong,' and may be more than conquerors through him that loved us.' And the God of peace tread Satan oDder our feet, and do it shortly.' And since we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, let us be strong in the Lord, and in tbe power of his might m 1 John i. 7. B Heb. ix. 14. o Matt. ▼. 44. Itatt vt Ii p Col. iii. 13. q Prov. xx. 2B. r Rom. xii. la • Eph. iv.». a ' t Ps. xviii. 25. « Hos. xi. 7. ▼ Pi. \xxxr. g. w Job xniv. I zJam. i. 13. 7 3 Cor. ix. 8. iJude94. aPs-Ixxiia b 1 Pet. v. 8. r 2 Cor. ii. 11. d Luke xxii. 31,32. « f Cot xii. 7,9,10. f Rom. viii. 37. t Jloin. xvi. 90. ii Eph. vi. W, t%
A PARAPHRASE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER.
C89
Lord, (^nt that we may never enter into temptation,^ but having prayed, may set a watch ;^ let thy wise and good providence so order all affairs and all events that are concerning us, that no temptation may take us hut such as is common to men, and that we may never be tempted above what we are able ^ to discern, resist, and overcome through the grace of God. Lord, do not lay any stumbling-blocks before us,"* that we should fall upon them and perish. Let nothing be an occasion of falling to us,** but give us that gpreat peace which they have that love thy law, whom nothing shall offend."
And lead us, we pray thee, into all truth; lead OS into thy truth,P and teach us, for thou art the God of our salvation. Show us thy ways, O God, and teach OS thy paths, the paths of righteousness; O lead us in those paths for thy name's sake, that so we may be led beside the still waters.<i
And deliver us, we pray thee, from the evil one; keep OS, that the wicked one touch us not,' that he sow not his tares* in the field of our hearts, that we be not insnared by his wiles, or wounded by his fiery darts; * let the word of God abide in us, that we may be strong, and may overcome the wicked one."
Deliver us from every evil thing, we pray, that we may do no evil: * O deliver us from every evil work ;• save OS from our sins,* redeem us from all iniquity,' especially the sin that doth most easily beset us.* Hide pride from us ;* remove from us the way of lying; let us not eat of sinners' dainties; incline our hearts to thy testimonies, and not to covetousness; and keep OS that we never speak unadvisedly with our lips: but especially keep back thy servants from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over
Preserve us, we pray thee, that no evil thing may befall us; let thy hand be with us, and keep us from evil, that it may not hurt us.' O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee, from those that rise up against them, show US thy marvellous loving-kindness, and keep us as the apple of thine eye; hide us under the shadow of thy wings.<* Keep that which we commit unto thee.< Thou hast delivered, dost deliver, and we trust and pray that thou wilt yet deliver,^ wilt deliver us from all our fears.> O make us to dwell safely, and grant that we may be quiet from the fear of evil.** And bring us safe at last to that holy mountain, where there is no pricking brier, or geving thorn,* nothing to hurt or destroy."
1 Matt zxvi. 41. k Neb. iv. 9. 11 Cor. x. 31. m Jer. vi. 21. B IUmo- xiv. 13. e Ps cxix. 165. p John xvi 13. q Ps. xxv. 4.5. Ps. xxiii 2,3. r I Jotin v. 18. • Matt. ziii. 25. t Eph. «i. II, lA. a 1 John ii. 14. « 2 Cor. xili. 7. w 2 Tim. iv. 18. M Matt i. 21 J Tit ii. 14. ■ Heb. xiL 1. » Job xxxiii. 17. b Pb cxix. 39. Ps cxli. 4. Ps. cxix. 36. Ps. cvi. 33. Ps. xix. la Pt. xcL 10. e 2 Chroo. iv. lo. d ps. xvii. 7, a « 2 Tim. i. 12.
For thine is (he hinffdom, the power, ami the glorify for ever. Amen,
Father in heaven, let thy kingdom come, for thine is the kingdom, thou art God in heaven, and rulest overall the kingdoms of the heathen;' let thy will be done, for thine is the power, and there is nothing too hard for thee; ■" let thy name be sanctified, for thine is the glory, and thou hast set thy glory above the heavens."
Father in heaven, supply our wants, pardon our sins,and preserve us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, and thou art Lord over all, who art rich to all that call upon thee.® None can forgive sins but thou only ;p let thy power be great*> in pardoning our sins: and since it is the glory of God to pardon sin,' and to help the helpless, help us, O God of our salvation ; for the glory of thy name deliver us, and purge away our sins for thy name sake.*
We desire in all our prayers to praise thee, for thou art great, and greatly to be praised.* We praise thy kingdom, for it is an everlasting kingdom, and endures throughout all generations," and the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness.^ To thee belongeth mercy, and thou renderest to every man according to his works." We praise thy power, for thou hast a mighty arm; strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand, and yet judgment and justice are the habitation of thy throne, mercy and truth shall go before thy face.' We praise thy glory, for the glory of the Lord shall endure for ever.^ Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, O let God be praised in his sanctuary, and praised in the firmament of his power; let him be praised for his mighty acts, and praised according to his excellent greatness. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Hallelujah.'
And forasmuch as we know that he heareth us, and whatsoever we ask, according to his will, in faith, we have the petitions that we desired of him,* we will triumph in his praise.** Now know we that the Lord heareth his Anointed, and for his sake will hear us from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand i and therefore, in token not only of our desire, but of our assurance to be heard in Christ's name, we say. Amen, Amen.
Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, &c.
r 2 Cor. i. 10. g Ps. xxxiv. 4. h Prov. i. 33. i Ezelc. xxviii. 24. k Isa. xi. 9. 12 Chroa xx. 6. m Jer. xxxii. 17. a Ps. viii. 1. o Rom. x. 12. p BSark it. 7. q Numb. xiv. 17.
r PrOT. xxv. 2. • P& IZXix. 9. t Ps. Cxiv. a a Ps. Cxlv.
la tPs.x1t. 6,7. wp8.1xii. 12. X Ps. Ixxxix. 13,14.
f Pd, civ. 31. « Ps. cl. 1,2,6. • 1 John v. 15. b Ps. cvi. 47.
FORMS OF PRAYER.
CHAP. IX.
80MR SHORT FORMS OP PRAYER, FOR THE USB OF THOSE WHO MAT NOT BB ABLB TO COLLBCT FOR THEH8ELVBS OUT OF THE FORBGOING MATERIALS.
A Prayer to be used by Children,
O God, tbou art my God, early will I seek thee.
Thou art my God, and I will praise thee; my Father's God, and I will extol thee.
Who is a God like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders ?
Whom have I in heaven but thee 1 and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. When my flesh and my heart fail, thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Thou madest me for thyself, to show forth thy praise.
But I am a sinner; 1 was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
God be merciful to me a sinner.
O deliver me from the wrath to come, through Christ Jesus, who died for me, and rose again.
Lord, give me a new nature. Let Jesus Christ be formed in my soul, that to me to live may be Christ, and to die may be gain.
Lord, I was in my baptism gven up to thee; rc-cscive me graciously, and love me freely.
Lord Jesus, thou hast encouraged little children to come to thee, and hast said, that of such is the kingdom of God. I come to thee: O make me a faithful subject of thy kingdom; take me up in thy arms, put thy hands upon me and bless me.
O give me grace to redeem me from all iniquity, and particularly from the vanity which childhood and youth are subject to.
Lord, give me a wise and an understanding heart, that I may know and do thy will in every thing, and may in nothing sin against thee.
Lord, grant that from my childhood I may know the Holy Scriptures, and may continue in the good things that I have learnt.
Remove from me the way of lying, and gnt me thy law graciously.
Lord, be thou a Father to me, teach me, and guide me; provide for me, and protect me; and bless me, even me, O my Father.
Bless all my relations, father, mother, brothers, sisters, and give me grace to do my duty to them in every thing.
Lord, prepare me for death, and give me wisely to consider my latter end.
O Lord, I thank thee for all thy mercies to me : for life and health, food and raiment, and for my education; for my creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, aod for the hope of glory.
Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift; blessed be God for Jesus Christ None but Christ, none but Christ for me.
Now to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, that great name into which I was baptised, be honour and glory, dominion and praise, for ever and ever. Amen.
Our Father which art in heaven, &c.
Another Paraphrase on the hordes Prmyer in the words of the Assemhly*s Shorter Cmteehietn.
Our Father in heaven, we come to thee as children to a Father able and ready to help as.
We beseech thee. Let thy name be sanctified; enable us and others to glorify thee in all* that whereby thou hast made thyself known, and dispose of all things to thine own glory.
Let thy kingdom come; let Satan's kingdom be destroyed, and let the kingdom of thy grace be advanced ; let us and others be broagt into it, and kept in it, and let the kingdom of thy glory be hastened.
Let thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven; make us by thy grace able and willing to know, obey, and submit to thy will in all things, 85 the angels do in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread ; of thy free gift let us receive a competent portion of the good thiogi of this life, and let us enjoy thy blessing with them.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us. We pray that for Christ's sake thou wouldst freely pardon all our sins, and that by thy grace thou wouldst enable as from the heart to forgive others.
And lead us not into temptation, bat deliver us from evil. Either keep us, O Lord, from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver ns when we are tempted.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever. Lord, we take our encouragement in prayer from thyself only, and desire in oar prayers to praise thee, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to thee: and in testimony of our desires and assorance to be heard through Jesus Christ, we say, Amen.
Another Prayer drawn out of my plain Caieehism for Children; {which was first publiehed m the Year 1702;) which wiU he easy to those Children who here learned that Catechism,
O Lord, thou art an Infinite and Eternal S|nrit, most wise and powerful, holy, just, and good.
Thou art the great God who madest the worid, and art my Creator; and thou who madest me dott preserve and maintain me, and in thee I live, and move, and have my being. O that I may remember
FORMS OF PHAYER.
001 thee as my Creator in the days of my youth, and never forget thee.
Lord, give me grace to serve and honour thee, to worship and ohey thee, and in all my ways to trust in thee, and to please thee.
Lord, I thank thee for thy holy word, which then hast given me to be the rule of my faith and obedience, and which is able to make me wise unto salvation.
I confess, O Lord, that the condition I was bom in is sinful and miserable. I am naturally prone to that which is evil, and backward to that which is good, and foolishne-ss is bound up in my heart; and I am by nature a child of wrath, so that if thou hadst not raised up a Saviour for me, I had been certainly lost and undone for ever. I have been disobedient to the command of God, and have eaten forbidden fruit
But, blessed, and for ever blessed, be God, for the Saviour Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, and the only Mediator between God and man, who took our nature upon him, and became man, that he might redeem and save us.
Lord, I bless thee for his holy life; give me to follow his steps. I bless thee for the true excellent doctrine which he preached; give me to mix faith with it. I bless thee for the miracles which he wrought to confirm his doctrine: and, especially, that he died the cursed death of the cross to satisfy for sin, and to reconcile us to God; and that he rose again from the dead on the third day, and ascended up to heaven, where he ever lives making intercession for us, and has all power, both In heaven and in earth ; and that we are assured he will €M>me again in glory to judge the world at the last day.
Lord, I thank thee, that I am one of his disciples; for I am a baptized Christian; and I give glory lo Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in whose name I am baptized.
Lord, be thou in Christ to me a God, and make me one of thy people.
Be thou my chief good and highest end; let Jesus Christ be my Prince and Saviour; and let the Holy Ghost be my sanctifier, teacher, guide, and comforter.
Lord, enable me to deny all ungodliness and worldly, fleshly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, always looking for the blessed hope.
Work in me repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ; and give me to live a life of faith and repentance.
Lord, make me truly sorry that I have offended thee in what I have thought, and spoken, and done amiss, and give me grace to sin no more.
And enable me to receive Jesus Christ, and to rely upon him as my Prophet, Priest, and King, and
2 t2 to give up myself to be ruled, and taught, and saved by him.
Lord, grant unto me the pardon of my sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and eternal life.
And give me grace to manifest the sincerity of my faith and repentance, by a diligent and conscientious obedience to all thy commandments.
Enable me to love thee with all my heart, and to love my neighbour as myself.
Give me grace always to make mention of thy name with reverence and seriousness, to read and hear thy word with diligence and attention, to meditate upon it, to believe it, and to frame my life according to it.
Lord, grant that I may receive all thy mercies with thankfulness, and bear all afflictions with patience and submission to thy holy will.
Lord, grant that my heart may never be lifted up with pride, disturbed with anger, or any sinful passion ; and that my body may never be defiled with intemperance, uncleanness, or any fleshly lusts; and keep me from ever speaking any sinful words.
Lord, give me grace to reverence and obey my parents and governors. I thank thee for their instructions and reproofs : I pray thee bless them to me, and make me in every thing a comfort to them.
Lord, pity, help, and succour the poor, and those in affliction and dLstress.
Lord, bless my friends, forgive my enemies, and enable me to do my duty to all men.
Wherein I have in any thing offended thee, I humbly pray for pardon in the blood of Christ, and grace to do my duty better for the time to come, and so to live in the fear of God, as that I may be happy in this world, and tliat to come.
Lord, prepare me to die, and leave this world: O save me from that state of everlasting misery and torment which will certainly be the portion of all the wicked and ungodly, and bring me safe to the world of everlasting rest and joy with thee, and Jesus Christ
And give me wisdom and grace to live a holy, godly life, and to make it my great care and business to serve thee, and to save my own soul.
All this I humbly beg in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, my blessed Saviour and Redeemer, to whom with thee, O Father, and the Eternal Spirit, be honour, glory, and praise, henceforth and for evermore. Amen.
A Morning Prayer for a Family.
O Lord our God, we desire with all humility and reverence to adore thee, as a Being infinitely bright, and blessed, and glorious; thou hast all perfection in thyself, and art the Fountain of all being, power, life, motion, and perfection.
Thou art good to all, and thy tender mercies are
FORMS OF PRAYER.
over all thy works; and thou art continually doing us good, tliough we are evil and unthankful.
We reckon it an unspeakable privilege, that we have liberty of access to thee through Jesus Christ, and leave to call thee our Father in him. O look upon us now, and be merciful unto us, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
O give us all to account our daily worship of thee in our family, the most needful part of our daily business, and the most pleasant of our daily comforts.
Thou art the God of all the families of Israel, be thou the God of our family, and grant, that whatever others do, we and ours may always serve the Lord ; that thou mayst cause the blessing to rest on our house from the beginning of the year to the end of it. Lord, bless us, and we are blessed indeed.
We humbly thank thee for all the mercies of this night past, and this morning, that we have laid us down and slept, and waked again, because thou hast sustained us; that no plague has come nigh our dwelling; but that we are brought in safety to the light and comforts of another day.
It is of thy mercies, O Lord, that we are not consumed, even because thy compassions fail not, they arc new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
We have rested and are refreshed, when many have been full of tossings to and fro till the dawning of the day. We have a safe and quiet habitation, when many are forced to wander and lie exposed.
We own thy goodness to us, and ourselves we acknowledge less than the least of all thy mercy, and of all the truth thou hast showed unto us.
We confess we have sinned against thee, we are guilty before thee, we have sinned, and have come short of the glory of God: we have corrupt and sinful natures, and are bent to backslide from thee; backward to good, and prone to evil continually.
Vain thoughts come into us, and lodge within us, lying down and rising up, and they defile or disquiet our minds, and keep out good thoughts. We are too apt to burthen ourselves with that care which thou hast encouraged us to cast upon thee.
We are very much wanting in the duties of our particular relations, and provoke one another more to folly and passion than to love and to good works. We are very cold and defective in our love to God, weak in our desires toward him, and unsteady and uneven in our walking with him; and are at this time much out of frame for his service.
We pray thee forgive all our sins for Christ's sake, and be at peace with us in him who died to make peace, and ever lives making intercession.
There be many who say. Who will show us any good ? But, Lord, let not us be put off with the good of this world for a portion; for this is our hearts' desire and prayer, Lord, lift up the light of .thy countenance upon us, and that shall put gladness in our hearts, more than they have whose corn, aid wine, and oil, increase.
Lord, let thy peace rule in our hearts, and gire law to us, and let thy peace keep oar hearts and minds, and give comfort to os ; find let the coniob tions of God, which are neither few nor small, be our strength and our song in the house of our pil-gprimage.
Lord, we commit ourselves to thy care and keeping this day: watch over ns for good; compass u about with thy favour aa with a shield; preserve os from all evil, yea, the Lord presenre and keep ou souls; preserve our going out and coming in.
Our bodies, and all our worldly affairs, we coauut to the conduct of thy wise and gracious pro Tidence, and submit to its disposals. Let no hurt or bans happen to us; keep os in health and safety; blett our employments, prosper us in all our lawful jor dcrtakings, and give us comfort and success in them. Let us eat the labour of our hands, and let it be well with us.
Our precious souls, and all their concerns, we commit to the government of thy Spirit and grace. O let thy grace be mighty in us, and suflident fer us, and let it work in us, both to will and to do that which is good, of thine own good pleasure.
O give us gce to do the work of this day in iti day, according as the duty of the day requires, and to do even common actions after a godly sort; acknowledging thee in all our ways, and having oar eye ever up to thee, and be thou pleased to direct our steps.
Lord, keep us from sin; give us rule over oorowa spirits, and grant that we may not this day break out into passion upon any provocationy or speak unadvisedly with our lips. Give us grace to b*Te together in peace and holy love, that the Lord may command the blessing upon os, even life for efcr-more.
Make us conscientious in all our dealings, and always watchful against sin, as become those who see thine eye ever upon us. Arm us against eveiy temptation, uphold us in our integrity, keep us in the way\)f our duty; and grant that we may be is thy fear every day, and all the day long.
In every doubtful case let our way be made plain before us; and give us that wisdom of the prudent which is at all times profitable to direct; and let integrity and uprightness presenre us, for we wait on thee.
Sanctify to us all our losses, crosses, afflictions, and disappointments, and give us grace to sabmit to thy holy will in them, and let us find it good for us to be afflicted, that we may be partaken of tby holiness.
Prepare us for all the events of thia day, for ve know not what a day may bring forth. Give v> to stand complete in tliy whole will; to deny ov-
I
FORMS OF PRAYER;
693 selves, to take ap our cross daily, and to follow Jesus Christ.
Lord, fit us for death, and judgment, and eternity, and give us grace to live every day as those who do not know but it may be our last day.
Lord, plead thy cause in the world: build up thy church into perfect beauty ; set up the throne of the exalted Redeemer in all places upon the ruins of the devil's kingdom. Let the reformed churches be more and more reformed, and let every thing that is amiss be amended; and let those who suffer for righteousness' sake be supported and delivered.
Do us good in these nations; bless the king and all in authority; guide public counsels and affairs; overrule all to thine own glory; let peace and truth be in our days, and be preserved to those who shall come after us.
Be gracious to all our relations, friends, neighbours, and acquaintance, and do them good according as their necessities are. Supply the wants of all thy people. Dwell in the families that fear thee, and call upon thy name. Forgive our enemies, and those that hate us; give us a right and charitable frame of spirit toward all men, and all that is theirs.
Visit those who are in affliction, and comfort them, and be unto them a very present help. Recover the sick, ease the pained, succour the tempted, relieve the oppressed, and give joy to those who mourn in Zion.
Deal with us and our family according to the tenor of the everlasting covenant, which is well ordered in all things and sure, and which is all our salvation, and all our desire; however it pleases God to deal with us and with our house.
Now blessed be God for all his gifts, both of nature and grace, for those that concern this life, and that to come; especially for Jesus Christ, the fountain and foundation of all. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift
We humbly beseech thee for Christ Jesus' sake to pardon our sins, accept our services, and grant an answer of peace to our prayers, even for his sake who died for us, and rose again, who hath taught us to pray, Our Father which art in heaven, 8fv,
An Evening Prayer for a Family,
Most holy, and blessed, and glorious Lord God, whose we are, and whom we are bound to serve; for because thou madest us, and not we ourselves, therefore, we are not our own, but thine, and unto thee, O Lord, do we lift up our souls. Thy face, Lord, do we seek; whither shall we go for happiness but to thee, from whom we derive our being?
Thou art the great Benefactor of the whole creation : thou givest to all life, and breath, and all things: thou art our Benefactor; the God who has fed us, and kept us all our life long unto this day. Having obtained help of God, we continue hitherto monuments of sparing mercy, and witnesses for thee, that thou art gracious, that thou art God and not man; for therefore it is that we are not cut off.
One day tells another, and one night certifies to another, that thou art good, and doest good, and never failest those that seek thee, and trust in thee. Thou makest the out-goings of the morning and of the evening to praise thee.
It is through the good hand of our God upon us, that we are brought in safety to the close of another day, and that after the various employments of the day, we come together at night to mention the loving-kindness of the Lord, and the praises of our God, who is good, and whose mercy endureth for ever.
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with his benefits, even the God of our salvation ; for he who is our God is the God of salvation. We have from thee the mercies of the day in its day, according as the necessity of the day requires, though we come far short of doing the work of the day in its day, according as the duty of the day requires.
We bless thee for the ministration of the good angels about us, the serviceableness of the inferior creatures to us, for our bodily health and ease, comfort in our relations, and a comfortable place of abode, and that thou hast not made the wilderness our habitation, and the barren land our dwelling; and, especially, that thou continuest to us the use of our reason, and the quiet and peace of our consciences.
We bless thee for our share in the public tranquillity, that thou hast given us a good land, in which we dwell safely under our own vines and fig-trees.
Above all, we bless thee for Jesus Christ, and his mediation between God and man, for the covenant of grace made with us in him, and all the exceeding great and precious promises and privileges of that covenant, for the throne of grace erected for us, to which we may, in his name, come with humble boldness, and for the hope of eternal life through him.
We confess we have sinned against thee; this day we have sinned and done foolishly: O God, thou knowest our foolishness, and our sins are not hid from thee. We mispend our time, we neglect our duty, we follow after lying vanities, and forsake our own mercies. We offend with our tongues. Are we not carnal, and walk as men, below Christians ? Who can understand his errors ? Cleanse us from our secret faults.
We pray thee, give us repentance for our sins of daily infirmity, and make us duly sensible of the evil of them, and of our danger by them, and let the blood of Christ thy Son, which cleanses from all sin, cleanse us from it, that we may lie down to*
FORMS OF PRAYER.
night at peace with God, and our souls may comfortably return to him, and repose in him as our rest
And ^ve us grace so to repent every day for the sins of every day, that when we come to die we may have the sins but of one day to repent of, and so we may be continually easy.
Do us good by all the providences we are under, merciful or afflictive ; give us grace to accommodate ourselves to them, and by all bring us nearer to thee, and make us fitter for thee.
We commit ourselves to thee this night, and desire to dwell in the secret place of the Most High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Let the Lord be our habitation, and let our souls be at home in him.
Make a hedge of protection, we pray thee, about us, and about our house, and about all that we have round about, that no evil may befall us, nor any plague come nigh our dwelling. The Lord be our keeper, who neither slumbers nor sleeps. Lord, be thou a sun and a shield to us.
Refresh our bodies, we pray thee, with quiet and comfortable rest, not to be disturbed with any distrustful, disquieting cares or fears ; but especially, let our souls be refreshed with thy love, and the light of thy countenance, and thy benignity, which is better than life.
When we awake, grant that we may be still with thee, and may remember thee upon our beds, and meditate upon thee in the night-watches, and may improve the silence and solitude of our retirements for communing with God and our own hearts; that when we are alone we may not be alone, but God may be with us, and we with him.
Restore us to another day in safety, and prepare us for the duties and events of it: and by all the supports and comforts of this life, let our bodies be fitted to serve our souls in thy service, and enable us to glorify thee with both, remembering that we are not our own, we are bought with a price.
And, forasmuch as we are now brought one day nearer our end. Lord, enable us so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Let us be reminded by our putting off* our clothes, and going to sleep in our beds, of putting oflf the body, sleeping the sleep of death, and of making our bed in the darkness shortly, that we may be dying daily in expectation of, and preparation for, our change, that when we come to die indeed, it maybe no surprise or terror to us, but we may with comfort put oflT the body, and resign the spirit, knowing whom we have trusted.
Lord, let our family be blessed in him, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed, blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things by Christ Jesus, and with temporal blessings as far as thou seest good for us. Give us health and prospe-rityi but especially let our souls prosper, and be in health, and let all that belong to as belong to Christ, that we who live in a house together on eaitii, may be together for ever with the Lord.
Look with pity upon a lost world, we beseech tbce, and set up Christ's throne there where Satan's teat is; send the gospel where it is not, make it snceess-ful where it is; let it be mighty through God to tke pulling down of the strong holds of sin.
Let the church of Christ greatly flourish in til places, and make it to appear that it is built apon a rock, and that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it; and suffer not the rod of the wicked any where to rest upon the lot of the righteous.
Let the land of our nativity be still the particnlar caro of thy good providence, that in the peace tbireof wo may have peace. Let glory dwell in our land, and upon all the glory let there be a defence.
Rule in the hearts of our rulers. We pray thee, continue the king's life and government long a public blessing; make all who are in places of pablic trust faithful to the public interest, and all wko bear the sword a terror to evil doers, and a protection and praise to them who do well. Own tby ministers in their work, and give them skill and will to help souls to heaven.
Be gracious to all who are dear to us: let the rising generation be such as thou wilt own, and do thee more and better service in their day than this has done.
Comfort and relieve all that are in sorrow and affliction, lay no more upon them than thou wilt enable them to bear, and enable them to bear whatthoa dost lay upon them.
Do for us, we pray thee, abundantly above what we are able to ask or think, for the sake of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, who is the Lord our Righteousness. To him with the Father, and the Eternal Spirit, be glory and praise, now and for ever. Amen.
A Family Prayer for the Lord's Day Mominy,
Most gracious God, and our Father in our Lord Jesus Christ, it is good for us to draw near to thee, the nearer the better, and it will be best of all when we come to be nearest of all in the kingdom of gloiy.
Thou hast thy being of thyself, and thy happiness in thyself; we therefore adore thee as the Great Jehovah: we have our being from thee, and our happiness in thee, and therefore it is both our du and our interest to seek thee, to implore thy favour, and to give unto thee the glory due to thy name.
We bless thee for the return of the morning light, and that thou causest the day-spring to know its place and time. O let the Day-spring from on high visit our dark souls, and the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing under his wings.
We bless thee, that the light we see is the Lord's: that this is. the day which the Lord has made, has
FORMS OF PRAYER.
606 made for man, has made for himself, we will rejoice and he glad in it. That thoa hast revealed unto us thy holy sahhaths, and that we were hetimes taught to put a difference between this day and other days, and that we live in a land, in all parts of which God is publicly and solemnly worshipped on this day.
We bless thee, that sabbath liberties and opportunities are continued to us ; and that we are not wishing in vain for these days of the Son of man; that our candlestick is not removed out of its place, as justly it might have been, because we have left our first love.
Now we bid this sabbath welcome. Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest O that we may be in the Spirit on this Lord's day ; that this may be the sabbath of the Lord in our dwelling; in our hearts, a sabbath of rest from sin, and a sabbath of rest in God. Enable us, we pray thee, so to sanctify this sabbath, as that it may be sanctified to us, and be a means of our sanctification; that by resting to-day from our worldly employments, our hearts may be more and more taken off from present things, and prepared to leave them; and that, by employing our time to-day in the worship of God, -we may be led into a more experimental acquaintance with the work of heaven, and be made more meet for that blessed world.
We confess we are utterly unworthy of the honour, and unable for the work, of communion with thee, but we come to thee in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is worthy, and depend upon the assistances of thy blessed Spirit to work all our works in us, and so ordain peace for us.
We keep this day holy, to the honour of God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, in remembrance of the work of creation, that work of wonder, in which thou madest all things out of nothing by the word of thy power, and all very good; and they continue to this day according to thine ordinance, for all are thy servants. Thou art worthy to receive blessing, and honour, and glory, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. O thou, who at first didst command the light to shine out of darkness, who saidst on the first day of the first week, Let there be light, and there was light; we pray thee shine this day into our hearts, and give us more and more of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ: and let us be thy workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, a kind of first-fruits of thy creatures.
We likewise sanctify this day to the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God, and our exalted Redeemer, in remembrance of bis resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week, by which he was declared to be the Son of God with power. We bless thee, that having laid down his life to make atonement for sin, he rose again for our justification, that he might bring in an everlasting righteousness: that the stone which the builders refused, the same is become the head-stone of the corner: Thit is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes. We bless thee, that he is risen from the dead, as the first-fruits of them that slept, that he might be the resurrection and the life to us. Now we pray, that while we are celebrating the memorial of his resurrection with joy and triumph, we may experience in our souls the power and virtue of his resurrection, that we may rise with him, may rise from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, from the dust of this world, to a holy, heavenly, spiritual, and divine life. O that we may be planted together in the likeness of Chrisf s resurrection, that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life.
We sanctify this day also to the honour of the eternal Spirit, that blessed Spirit of grace the Comforter, rejoicing at the remembrance of the descent of the Spirit on the apostles on the day of Pentecost, the first day of the week likewise. We bless thee, that when Jesus was glorified, the Holy Ghost was given to make up the want of his bodily presence, to carry on his undertaking, and to ripen things for his second coming; and that we have a promise that he shall abide with us for ever. And now we pray, that the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead, may dwell and rule in every one of us, to make us partakers of a new and divine nature. Come, O blessed Spirit of grace, and breathe upon these dry bones, these dead hearts of ours, that they may live, and be in us a spirit of faith, and love, and holiness, a spirit of power, and of a sound mind.
O Lord, we bless thee for thy holy word, which is a light to our feet, and a lamp to our paths, and which was written for our learning; that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope; that the Scriptures are preserved pure and entire to us, and tliat we have them in a language that we understand. We beg that we may not receive the grace of God herein in vain. We bless thee, that our eyes see the joyful light, and our ears hear the joyful sound, of a Redeemer and Saviour, and of redemption and salvation by him ; that life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel. Glory be to God in the highest, for in and through Jesus Christ there is on earth peace, and good-will toward men.
We bless thee for the great gospel record, that God hatk given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son, Lord, we receive it as a faithful saying, and well worthy of all acceptation ; we will venture our immortal souls upon it; and we are encouraged by it to come to thee, to beg for an interest in the mediation of thy Son. O let him be made of God to us
FORMS OF PRAYER.
wisdom, rigbteonsness, sanctification, and redemption ; let OS be effectually called into fellowsbip witb bim, and by faitb be united to bim, so tbat Christ may live in us, and we may gw up into bim in all tbings, wbo is tbe bead; tbat we may bring fortb fruit in bim, and whatever we do in word or deed, we may do all in bis name: O let us bave tbe Spirit of Christ, tbat thereby it may appear we are his. And through him we pray tbat we may have eternal life, that we may none of us come short of it, but may all of us have tbe first-fruits and earnests of it abiding in us.
We bless thee for tbe new covenant made witb us in Jesus Christ; that when tbe covenant of innocence was irreparably broken, so that it was become impossible for us to get to heaven by that covenant, thou wast then pleased to deal with us upon new terms ; tbat we are under grace, and not under the law; that this covenant is established upon better promises in tbe band of a Mediator. Lord, we fly for refuge to it, we take bold of it as the hope set before us. O receive us graciously into the bond of this covenant, and make us accepted in tbe Beloved, according to the tenor of the covenant. Thou bast declared concerning the Lord Jesus, that be is thy beloved Son, in whom thou art well pleased, and we humbly profess tbat he is our beloved Saviour, in whom we are well pleased: Lord, be well pleased with us in him.
O that our hearts may be filled this day with pleasing thoughts of Christ, and his love to us, that great love wherewith he loved us. O the admirable dimensions of that love, the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge! Let this love constrain us to love him, and live to him, who died for us, and rose agin. O that it may be a pleasure and great satisfaction to us to think, that while we are here praying at the footstool of the throne of grace, our blessed Saviour is sitting at the right hand of the throne of glory, interceding for us. We earnestly beg that through bim we may find favour with thee our God, and may be taken into covenant and communion with thee.
We humbly pray thee for his sake, forgive all our sins, known and unknown, in thought, word, and deed: through bim let us be acquitted of the guilt, and accepted as righteous in thy sight: let us not come into condemnation, as we have deserved; let our iniquity be taken away, and our sin covered; and let us be clothed with the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness, that the shame of our nakedness may not appear. O let there be no cloud of guilt to interpose between us and our God this day, and to intercept our comfortable communion with him; and let our lusts be mortified and subdued, that our own corruptions may not be as a clog to us, to binder tbe ascent of our souls heavenwards.
We pray thee, assist as in all the religions aerrieei of this thine own holy day. Go along witb u t» the solemn assembly, for if tby presence go not ip witb us, wherefore should we ^ up ? Give us tD draw nigh to thee witb a true heart, witb a free heart, with a fixed heart, and in fail assurance of faith. Meet us with a blessing: grace thine om ordinances with thy presence, that special ptesence of thine which thou hast promised where two or three are gathered together in thy name. Help u against our manifold infirmities, and the sins that do most easily beset us in oar attendance opoa thee; let tby word come with life and power to ov souls, and be as good seed sown in good soil, taking root, and bringing forth fruit to thy praise; and Id our prayers and praises be spiritual sacrifices, acceptable in tby sight through Christ Jesos; and let those wbo tarry at home divide the spoil.
Let thy presence be in all the assemblies of good Christians this day. Grace be with all them that love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity; let great grace be upon them all. In the chariot of the everlasting gospel let the great Redeemer ride foilk triumphantly, conquering, and to conquer; and Id Qvery thought be brought into obedience to bin. Let many be brought to believe the report of ^ gospel, and to many let tbe arm of tbe Lord be revealed. Let sinners be converted unto thee, and thy saints edified, and built up in faith, bolioeii, and comfort, unto salvation. Complete the number of thine elect, and hasten thy kingdom.
Now the Lord of peace himself give us peace always by all means. Tbe God of hope fill us with joy and peace in believing for Christ Jesus' sake, our blessed Saviour and Redeemer, who hath tangbt us to pray. Our Father which art in heaven, jrc.
A Family Prayer for the Lcrd'$ Day Mhenimy,
O eternal and for ever blessed and glorious Lord God! Thou art God over all, and rich in mercy to all that call upon thee, most wise and powerful, holy, just, and good; the King of kings, and Lord of lords; our Lord and our God.
Thou art happy without us, and bast no need of our services, neither can our goodness extend unto thee, but we are miserable without thee; we hsTO need of thy favours, and are undone, for ever on-done, if thy goodness extend not unto us; and therefore. Lord, we entreat tby favour with oor whole hearts; O let thy favour be towards us in Jesus Christ, for our happiness is bound up in it, and it is to us better than life. We confess we hae forfeited thy favour, we have rendered oursehet utterly unworthy of it; yet we are humbly bold io pray for it in the name of Jesus Christ, who loved us, and gave himself for us.
We bewail before tbee, that by the comiption of
FORMS OF PRAYER.
007 our natures we are become odious to thine holiness, and utterly unfit to inherit the kingdom of God, and that by our many actual transgressions we are become obnoxious to thy justice, and liable to thy wrath and curse. Being by nature children of disobedience, we are children of wrath, and have reason both to blush and tremble in all our approaches to the holy and righteous God Even the iniquity of our holy things would be our ruin, if God should deal with us according to the desert of them.
But with thee, O God, there is mercy and plenteous redemption: thou hast graciously provided for all those that repent and believe the gospel, that the guilt of their sin shall be removed through the merit of Christ's death, and the power of their sins broken by his Spirit and grace; and he is both ways able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives making intercession for us.
Lord, we come to thee as a Father, by Jesus Christ the Mediator, and earnestly desire by repentance and faith to turn from the world and the flesh to God in Jesus Christ, as our ruler and portion. We are sorry that we have offended thee; we are ashamed to think of oar treacherous and ungrateful carriage toward thee. We desire that we may have no more to do with sin, and pray as earnestly that the power of sin may be broken in us , as that the guilt of sin may be removed from us: and we rely only upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and upon the merit of his death, for the pro-caring of thy favour. O look upon us in him, and for his sake receive us graciously; heal our back-si id ings, and love us freely, and let not our iniquity be our ruin.
We beg, that being justified by faith, we may have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation for sin, that he may be just, and the justifier of them which believe in Jesus. Through him who was made sin for us, though he knew no sin, let us who know no righteousness of our own, be accepted as righteous.
And the God of peace sanctify us wholly. Begin and carry on that good work in our souls, renew us in the spirit of our minds, and make us in every thing such as thou wouldst have us to be. Set up thy throne in our hearts, write thy law there, plant thy fear there, and fill us with all the graces of thy Spirit, that we may be fruitful in the fruits of righteousness, to the glory and praise of God.
Mortify our pride, and clothe us with humility; mortify our passion, and put upon us the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Save us from the power of a vain mind, and let thy grace be mighty in us to make us serious and sober-minded. Let the flesh be crucified in us, With all its affections and lusts; and give us grace to keep under our body, and to bring it into subjection to the laws of religion and right reason, and always to possess our vessel in sanctification and honour.
Let the love of the world be rooted out of us, and that covetousness which is idolatry; and let the love of God in Christ be rooted in us. Shed abroad that love in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, and give us to love thee the Lord our God with all our heart, and soul, and mind, and might; and to do all we do in religion from a principle of love to thee.
Mortify in us all envy, hatred, malice, and un-charitableness; pluck up these roots of bitterness out of our minds, and give us grace to love one another with a pure heart, fervently, as become the followers of the Lord Jesus, who has given us this as his new commandment. O that brotherly love may continue among us, love without dissimulation!
We pray thee rectify all our mistakes; if in any thing we be in an error, discover it to us, and let the Spirit of truth lead us into all truth, the truth as it is in Jesus, the truth which is according to godliness ; and give us tliat good understanding which they have who do thy commandments; and let our love and all good affections abound in us yet more and more, in knowledge, and in all judgment.
Convince us, we pray thee, of the vanity of this world, and its utter insufiiciency to make us happy, that we may never set our hearts upon it, nor raise our expectations from it; and convince us of the vileness of sin, and its certain tendency to make us miserable, that we may hate it and dread it, and every thing that looks like it, or leads to it.
Convince us, we pray thee, of the worth of our own souls, and the weight of eternity, and the aw-fulness of that everlasting state which we are standing upon the brink of; and make us diligent and serious in our preparation for it, labouring less for the meat that perishes, and more for that which endures to eternal life, as those who have set their affections on things above, and not on things that are on the earth, which are trifling and transitory.
O that time, and the things of time, may be as nothing to us in comparison with eternity, and the things of eternity; that eternity may be much upon our heart, and ever in our eye; that we may be governed by that faith which is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen ; looking continually at the things that are not seen, which are eternal.
Give us grace, we pray thee, to look up to the other world with such a holy concern, that we may look down upon this world with a holy contempt and indifference, as those that must be here but a very little while, and must be somewhere for ever; that we may rejoice as though we rejoiced not, and weep as though we wept not, and buy as though we possessed not, and may use this world as not abusing eDS
FORMS OF PRAYER.
it; because the fashion of this world passeth away, and we are passing away with it.
O let thy grace be mighty in as, and sufficient for us, to prepare us for that great change which will come certainly and shortly, and may come very suddenly ; which will remove us from a world of sense to a world of spirits, from our state of trial and probation, to that of recompence and retribution ; and to make us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light; that when we fail, we may be received into everlasting habitations.
Prepare us, we beseech thee, for whatever we may meet with betwixt us and the grave : we know not what is before us, and therefore know not what particular provision to make ; but thou dost, and therefore we beg of thee to fit us by thy grace for all the services and sufferings which thou shalt at any time call us out to; and arm us against every temptation which we may at any time be assaulted with, that we may at all times and in all conditions glorify God, keep a good conscience, and be found in the way of our duty, and may keep up our hope and joy in Christ, and a believing prospect of eternal life; and then welcome the holy will of God.
Give us grace, we pray thee, to live a life of communion with thee both in ordinances and providences, to set thee always before us, and to have our eyes ever up unto thee; and to live a life of dependence upon thee, upon thy power, providence, and promise, trusting in thee at all times, and pouring out our hearts before thee; and to live a life of devotedness to thee, and to thine honour and glory, as our highest end.—And that we may make our religion not only our business, but our pleasure, we beseech thee, enable us to live a life of complacency in thee, to rejoice in thee always ; that making God our heart's delight, so we may have our heart's desire ; and this is our heart's desire, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him, and to be pleased in him.
We beseech thee, preserve us in our integrity to our dying day, and grant that we may never forsake thee, or turn from following after thee; but that with purpose of heart we may cleave unto the Lord, and may not count life itself dear to us, so we may but finish our course with joy and true honour.
Let thy good providence order all the ciroum-staiices of our dying, so as may best befriend our comfortable removal to a better world ; and let thy grace be sufficient for us then to enable us to finish well; and let us then have an abundant entrance ministered to us into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
And while we are here, make us wiser and better every day than other; more weaned from the world, and more willing to leave it: more holy, heavenly, and spiritual; that the longer we live in this world, the fitter we may be for another, and our last days may be our best days, our last works our best woits, and our last comforts oar sweetest comforts.
We humbly pray thee, accomplish all that wUch thou hast promised concerning thy church in die latter days; let the earth be filled witli thy glory: let the fulness of the Gentiles'be brought in, aiidkt all Israel be saved. Let the mountain of the Lord's house be established upon the top of the mountiiiki, and exalted above the hills, and let all natioos fkm unto it
Propagate the gospel in the plantations, and let the enlargement of trade and commerce oontribirte to the enlargement of thy church. Let the kingdoa of Christ be set up in all places, upon the mioi of the devil's kingdom.
Hasten the downfall of the man of sin, aad kt primitive Christianity, even pure religion, and sn-defiled before God and the Father, be revived, tod made to flourish in all places ; and let the power of godliness prevail and get ground among all tkat have the foriQ of it«
Let the wars of the nations end in the peace of the church, the shakings of the nations in the en-blishment of the church, and the convulsions ad revolutions of states and kingdoms in the settleowit and advancement of the kingdom of God auMn; men,—that kingdom which cannot be moved.
Let Great Britain and Ireland flourish in all tbdr public interests. Let thine everlasting gospel be always tjie glory in the midst of us, and let thy pro-vidence be a wall of fire round about us.—Destroy us not, but let a blessing be among us, even a neat-offering and a drink-offering to the Lord our God.
Be very gracious to our sovereign lord the king; protect his person, preserve his health, prolong his days, guide his councils, let his reign be prosperois, and crown all his undertakings for the pablic good.
Bless the privy-counsellors, the nobility, tltt judges, and magistrates in our several counties and corporations, and make them all in their places faithful and serviceable to the interests of tke nation, and every way public blessings.
Bless all the ministers of thy holy word and sacrament ; make them burning and shining lights, and faithful to Christ, and to the souls of men. Unite all thy ministers and people together in the troth, and in true love one to another; pour out a healinj spirit upon them, a spirit of love and chanty, rautaal forbearance and condescension, that with one shoulder and with one consent all may study to promote the common interests of our great Master, and the common salvation of preeious souls.
We pray thee, prosper the trade of the oatioB, guard our coasts, disappoint the devices of our enemies against us, preserve the public peace, and keep all the people of these lands in quietness amoof themselves, and doe subjection to the aothorttv God
FORMS OF PRAYER.
609 has set over us; and let the Lord delight to dwell among us, and to do ns good.
Bless the fruits of the earth, continue our plenty, abundantly bless our provision, and satisfy even our poor with bread.
We bless thee for all the mercies of this thine own holy day; we hare reason to say, that a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! Bless the word we have heard this day to us, and to all that heard it; hear our prayers, accept our praises, and forgive what thy pure eye has seen amiss in us and oar performances.
Take us under thy protection this night, and enable us to close the day with thee, that we may lie down, and our sleep may be sweet. Be with us the week following in all our ways; forgive us that we brought so much of the week with us into the sabbath, and enable us to bring a great deal of the sabbath with us into the week, that so we may be the fitter for the next sabbath, if we shall live to it.
Make us meet for the everlasting sabbath which we hope to keep within the veil, when time and days shall be no more; and let this day bring us a sabbath day's journey nearer heaven, and make us a sabbath day's work fitter for it.
As we began this Lord's day with the joyful memorials of Christ's resurrection, so we desire to conclude it with the joyful expectations of Christ's second coming, and of our own resurrection then to a blessed immortality, triumphing in hopes of the glory of God.
Bless the Lord, love the Lord, O our souls, and let all that is within us love and bless his holy name, for he is good, and his mercy endures for ever. In praising God we desire to spend as much of our time as may be, that we may begin our heaven now> for in this good work we hope to be spending a happy eternity.
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, and our God, in three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, dominion and praise, henceforth and for ever. Amen.
A Prayer proper to he put up by Parents for their
Children,
O Lord our God, the God of the spirits of all flesh ! all souls arc thine, the souls of the parents and the souls of the children are thine, and thou hast grace sufficient for both.
Thou wast our fathers' God, and as such we will exalt thee; thou art our children's God, and that also we will plead with thee, for the promise is to us and our children; and thou art a God in covenant with believers and their seed.
Lord, it is thy good providence that has built us up into a family: we thank thee for the children thou hast graciously given thy servants; the Lord, who has blessed us with them, make them blessings indeed to us, that we may never be tempted to wish we had been childless.
We lament the iniquity which our children are conceived and bom in, and the corrupt nature which they derive through our loins.
But we bless thee that there is a fountain opened for their cleansing from that original pollution, and that they were betimes by baptism dedicated to thee, and admitted into the bonds, and under the blessings, of thy covenant; that they are bom in thy house, and taken in as members of thy family upon earth.
It is a comfort to us to think that they are baptized, and we humbly desire to plead it with thee. They are thine; save them; enable them, as they become capable to make it their own act and deed, to join themselves unto the Lord, that they may be owned as thine in the day when thou makest up thy jewels.
Give them a good capacity of mind, and a good disposition, make them towardly and tractable, and willing to receive instruction ; incline them betimes to religion and virtue.—Lord, give them wisdom and understanding, and drive out the foolishness which is bound up in their hearts.
Save them from the vanity which childhood and youth are subject to, and fit them every way to live comfortably and usefully in this world. We ask not for great things in the world for them ; give them, if it please thee, a strong and healthy constitution of body, preserve them from all ill accidents, and feed them with food convenient for them, according to their rank.
But the chief thing we ask of God for them is, that thou wilt pour thy Spirit upon our seed, even thy blessing, that blessing, that blessing of blessings, upon our offspring, that they may be a seed to serve thee, which shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation: Give them that good part which shall never be taken away from them.
Give us wisdom and grace to bring them up in thy fear, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, with meekness and tenderness, and having them in subjection with all gravity. Teach us how to teach them the things of God as they are able to bear them, and how to reprove and admonish, and when there is need, to correct them in a right manner, and how to set them good examples of every thing that is vir tuous and praise-worthy, that we may recommend religion to them, and so train them up in the way wherein they should go, that if they live to be old, they may not depart from it.
Keep them from the snare of evil company, and all the temptations to which they are exposed, and make them betimes sensible how much it is their interest as well as their duty to be religious; and. Lord, grant that none who come of us may come
FORMS OF PRAYER.
short of eternal life, or be found on the left hand of Christ in the great day.
We earnestly pray that Christ may be formed in their souls betimes, and that the seeds of grace may be sown in their hearts while they are young, and we may have the satisfaction of seeing them walking in the truth, and setting their faces heavenwards. Give tbem now to hear counsel and receive instruction, that they may be wise in their latter end; and if they be wise, our hearts shall rejoice, even ours.
Prosper the means of their education; let our children be taught of the Lord, that great may be their peace ; and give them so to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent, as may be life eternal to them.
O that they may betimes get wisdom, and get understanding, and never forget it As far as they are taught the truth as it is in Jesus, give them to continue in the things which they have learned.
It is our heart's desire and prayer that our children may be praising God on earth when we are gone to praise him in heaven, and that we and they may be together for ever, serving him day and night in his temple.
If it should please God to remove any of them from us while they are young, let us have grace submissively to resign them to thee, and let us have hope in their death.
If thou remove us from them while they are young, be thou thyself a Father to them, to teach them, and provide for them, for with thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
Thou knowest our care concerning them, we cast it upon thee ; ourselves and ours we commit to thee. Let not the light of our family religion be put out with us, nor that treasure be buried in our graves, but let those who shall come after us do thee more and better service in their day than we have done in ours, and be unto thee for a name and a praise.
In these prayers we aim at thy glory. Father, let thy name be sanctified in our family, there let thy kingdom come, and thy will be done by us and ours, as it is done by the angels in heaven; for Christ Jesus' sake, our blessed Saviour and Redeemer, whose seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. Now to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that great and sacred name, into which we and our children were baptized, be honour and glory, dominion and praise, henceforth and for ever. Amen.
A Prayer for the use of a Person before receiving the Sacrament of the Lord*s Supper,
Most holy, and blessed, and gracious Lord God, with all humility and reverence I here present myself before thee, to seek thy face and entreat thy favour, and as an evidence of thy good will toward me, to beg that I may experience thy good work in me.
I acknowledge myself unworthy, utterly unworthy of the honour; unfit, utterly unflt for the service to which I am now called. It is an inestimable privilege that I am admitted so often to hear from thee io thy word, and to speak to thee in prayer; and yet, as if this had been a small matter, I am now invited into communion with thee at thy holy table, there to celebrate the memorial of my Savioor's death, and to partake, by faith, of the precious benefits which flow from it. I, who deserve not the crumbs, am ' called to eat of the children's bread.
O Lord, I thank thee for the institotion of this blessed ordinance, this precious legacy and token of love which the Lord Jesus left to his church; that it is preserved to this age, that it is administered in this land, that I am admitted to it, and have now before me an opportunity to partake of it; Lord, grant that I may not receive thy grace herein in vain.
O thou who hast called me to the marriage-supper of the Lamb, give me the wedding-garment; work in me a disposition of soul, and all those pious and devout affections, which are suitable to the solemnities of this ordinance, and requisite to qualify me for an acceptable and advantageous participation of it. Behold the fire and the wood, all things are now ready, but where is the lamb for the burnt-offering ? Lord, provide thyself a lamb, by working in me all that which thou requirest of me upon this present occasion. The preparation of the heart and the answer of the tongue are both from thee; Lord, prepare my unprepared heart for communion with thee.
Lord, I confess I have sinned against thee, I have done foolishly, very foolishly, for foolishness u bound up in my heart; I have sinned and have come short of the glory of God; I have come short of glorifying thee, and deserve to come short of being glorified with thee. The imagination of my heart is evil continually, and the bias of my corrupt nature is very strong toward the world, the flesh, and the gratifications of sense: but toward God, and Christ, and heaven, I move slowly, and with a great many stops and pauses. Nay, there is in my carnal mind a wretched aversion to divine and spiritual things. I have mispent my time, trifled away my opportunities, have followed after lying vanities, and forsaken my own mercies. God be merciful to me a sinner! for how little have I done, since I came into the world, of the great work that I was sent into the world about