death of sin my good name to be traduced with some scandalous reproaches and make my self liable to all manner of crosses and casualties And I confess Lord that thy mercy is the cause I have not been long ago consumed and confounded But O my God as thy mercy only stayed thy judgments from falling upon me hitherto so I humbly beseech thee in the bowels of thy mercy in Jesus Christ in whom only thou art well pleased that thou wilt not deal with me according to my deserts but that thou wouldest freely and fully remit unto me all my sins and my transgressions and that thou wouldest wash them clean from me with the vertue of that precious blood which thy Son Jesus Christ hath shed for me for he alone is my Physician and his blood only is the medicine that can heal my sickness and is the true brazen Serpent that can cure that poison wherewith the fiery serpents of my sins have stung and poisoned my sick and wounded soul and give me I beseech thee thine holy Spirit which may assure me of mine Adoption and that may confirm my Faith increase my Repentance inlighten my Understanding purifie my Heart and rectifie my Will and Affection and so sanctifie me throughout that my whole Body and Soul and Spirit may be kept unblamable until the glorious coming of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And now O Lord I give unto thee most humble and hearty thanks and praise for that thou hast this day preserved me from all harm and dangers notwithstanding all my sins and evil deserts and I beseech thee likewise to defend me this night from the roaring Lion which night and day seeketh to devour me Watch thou O Lord over me this night to keep me from his temptations and tyranny and let thy mercy shield me from his unspeakable rage and malice and to this end I commit my self into thy hands and almighty protection beseeching thee O my Lord and my God not to suffer Satan or any of his evil members to have power to do me any hurt or harm this night and grant good Lord that whether I sleep or wake live or die I may sleep wake live or die unto thee and to the glory of thy Name and the salvation of my soul. Lord bless and defend all thy chosen people every where Grant our gracious Soveraign long life and a happy Raign over us Bless our gracious Queen Katherine James Duke of York and all the Royal Family together with all our Magistrates and Ministers comfort them who are in misery need or sickness or under any kind of Cross or Calamity give me grace to be one of those wise Virgins which may have my heart prepared like a Lamp furnished with the Oil of Faith and Light of good works to meet the Lord Jesus the sweet Bridegroom of my soul at his second and sudden coming in glory grant this good Father for Jesus Christ his sake my only Saviour Redeedeemer and Mediator in whose blessed Name and in whose own words I call upon thee as he hath taught me Our Father which art in Heaven c. A Morning Prayer for a Family O Lord our God and heavenly Father who art the only Creator of Heaven and of Earth and all therein contained we confess that we are unworthy to appear in thy sight and presence considering our manifold sins and offences which we have committed against Heaven and before thee and how that we have been born in sin and do daily break thy holy Laws and Commandments contrary to our knowledge and consciences albeit we know thou art our Creator who hast made us our Redeemer who hast bought us with the blood of thy only begotten Son and our Comforter who bestowest upon us all the good and holy graces which we enjoy in our souls and in our bodies and if thou shouldest but deal with us as our wickedness and unthankfulness have deserved what other thing might we O Lord expect from thee but shame and confusion in this life and in the world to come wrath and everlasting condemnation yet O Lord in the obedience of thy Commandments and in the confidence which we have in thy unspeakable and endless mercy in thy Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ the Righteous we thy poor servants appealing from thy Throne of Justice to thy Throne of Crace whose mercy reigneth to pardon abounding sin do from the bottom of our hearts most humbly beseech thee to remit and forgive unto us all our sins and our offences and misdeeds that by the vertue of the precious blood of Jesus Christ thy innocent Lamb which he so abundantly shed upon the Cross to take away the sins of the world all our sins both original and actual may be so cleansed and washed from us that they may never be laid to our charge nor ever have power to rise up in judgment against us and we beseech thee good Father for Christ his death and passion sake that thou wilt not suffer to fall upon us that fearful curse and vengeance which thy Law hath threatned and our sins have justly deserved And for as much O Lord as we are taught by thy Word that no Idolaters Adulterers covetous men contentious persons drunkards gluttons and such inordinate livers shall inherit the Kingdom of God pour the grace of thy Holy Spirit into our hearts whereby we may see the filthiness of our sins and abhor them and may be more and more stirred up to live in newness of life and love of thy Majesty so we may daily increase in the obedience of thy words and in conscionable care of keeping thy Commandments And now O Lord I render unto thee most hearty thanks for that thou hast elected redeemed called justified us in good measure in this life and given us an assured hope that thou wilt glorifie us in thy heavenly Kingdom when this mortal life is ended Likewise we thank thee for our life health wealth liberty prosperity and peace especially O Lord for the continuance of thy holy Gospel amongst us and for sparing us so long and granting us so gracious a time of repentance Also we praise thee for all other thy mercies bestowed upon us more especially for preserving us this night past and from all dangers that might have befallen our souls or bodies and seeing thou hast now brought us safe to the beginning of this day we beseech thee protect and direct us in the same Bless and defend us in our going out and in our coming in this day and ever more shield us O Lord from the temptations of the Devil and grant us the custody of thy holy Angels to defend and direct us in all our waies and to this end we recommend our selves and all those that belong unto us and are abroad from us unto thy hands and almighty tuition Lord defend them from all evil prosper them with all graces and fill them with thy goodness Preserve us likewise this day from falling
justly deserved all shame and misery in this life and everlasting condemnation in Hell fire if that thou shouldest but deal with me according to thy Justice and my deserts Wherefore O heavenly Father I humbly beseech thee for thy Son Jesus Christ his sake and for the merits of that bloody death and passion which I believe he hath suffered for me that thou wouldest pardon and forgive me all my sins and deliver me from the Hell and vengeance which is due unto me for them and send thy holy Spirit into my heart which may assure me that thou art my Father and that I am thy child and that thou lovest me with an unchangeable love and let thy good Spirit lead me into all truth and crucifie in me more and more carnal lusts that my sin may more and more die in me and that I may serve thee in Righteousness and true Holiness all the daies of my life and when this mortal life is ended I may through thy mercy in Christ be made partaker of thine everlasting glory in thy heavenly Kingdom And here O Lord from the bottom of my heart I humbly thank thee for all thy blessings bestowed upon my soul and body for electing me in thy Love for redeeming me by thy Son sanctifying me by thy Spirit and preserving me from my youth up until this present day and hour by thy gracious providence I thank thee more especially for that thou hast defended me this night past from all danger and hast brought me safe to the beginning of this day and now good Lord I beseech thee keep me this day from all peril and danger and from all evil that may hurt me and from falling into all sin that should offend thee set thy fear before mine eyes and let thy holy Spirit so rule my heart that all that I shall think do or speak this day may tend to thy glory the good of others and the peace of my own conscience and to this end I commend my self and all my waies and actions together with all that do belong unto me unto thy gracious protection this day praying thee to keep both thine and me from all evil and to give a blessing to all our honest labours and endeavours defend thy whole Church from the tyranny of this world and of Antichrist preserve our gracious King from all conspiracy and treason grant him a long reign in health and happiness over us Bless our gracious Queen Katherine James Duke of York and all the rest of the Royal Family endue them with thy grace and defend them from all evil Bless all our Ministers and Magistrates with all those graces and gifts which thou knowest necessary for their places Be favourable to all those that fear thee and call upon thy Name and tremble at thy judgments Comfort all those that are sick or any way comfortless O Lord keep me in a continual readiness by faith and repentance for my last end that whether I live or die I may be found thine own to thine eternal glory and my everlasting salvation through Jesus Christ my only Saviour in whose blessed Name I beg these mercies at thy hands and give unto thee thy praise and glory in that prayer which he hath sanctified with his own lips saying Our Father c. A Prayer for the Evening O most gracious and loving Father who art about my bed and knowest my lying down and my rising up and art near unto all that call upon thee in Truth and sincerity I a wretched sinner do humbly beseech thee to look upon me with the eyes of mercy and not to behold me as I am in my self for then thou shalt see but an unclean and defiled creature conceived in sin and living in iniquity so that I am ashamed to lift up my eyes unto thee knowing how grievously I have sinned against Heaven and before thee for O Lord I have transgressed all thy Commandments and Righteous Laws not through negligence and infirmity but oftentimes through wilful presumption contrary to my knowledge and the motions of thy holy Spirit reclaiming me from them so that I have wounded my conscience and grieved thy holy Spirit by whom thou hast sealed me to the day of Redemption Thou hast consecrated my soul and body to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost I wretched sinner have defiled both with all manner of pollution and uncleanness mine eyes in taking pleasure to behold vanities that I am ashamed to lift up my eyes unto thee mine ears in hearing impure and unclean speeches my tongue in evil speaking my hands are so full of impurity that I am ashamed to lift them up unto thee and my feet have carried me after mine own waies my understanding and reasonings which are so quick in all earthly matters are only blind and stupid when I come to meditate or discourse of spiritual and heavenly things my memory which should be a treasury of all goodness is not so apt to remember any thing as those things that are vile and vain yea Lord by woful experience I find that naturally all the imaginations of the thoughts of my heart are only evil altogether and continually for these my sins are more in number than the hairs of my head and they have grown over me like a loathsom leprosie from the crown of my head to the soal of my feet there remains no part which they have not infected they make me seem vile in mine own eyes how much more abominable must I appear in thy sight the custom of sinning hath almost taken away the conscience of sin and pull'd upon me such dulness of sense and hardness of heart that thy judgments denounced against my sins by the faithful Preachers of thy Word do not terrifie me to return unto thee with unfeigned repentance and if thou Lord shouldest but deal with me according to thy Justice and my deserts I should utterly be confounded and condemned but seeing that of thine own mercy thou hast spared me so long and still waitest for my repentance I humbly beseech thee for the blood death and passions sake which Jesus Christ hath suffered for me that thou wouldest pardon and forgive me all my sins and mine offences and open unto me that ever-streaming fountain of the blood of Christ which thou hast promised to open under the New Testament to the penitent of the house of David that all my sins and uncleanness may be so bathed in his blood buried in his death and hid in his wounds that they never more be seen to shame me in this life nor to condemn me in the world to come before the judgment seat of God And for as much O Lord as thou knowest that it is not in man to turn his own heart unless thou first give him grace to convert And seeing it is as easie with thee to make me righteous and holy as to suffer me to be such O my God give me grace to do what thou hast commanded then
until he seeth his desire upon his enemies therefore not unto us O Lord not unto us but give the praise unto thy Name for thy loving mercy for thy Truth sake as for our God he is in Heaven he hath done whatsoever pleased him Gracious is the Lord and righteous yea our God is merciful O blessed Jesu who didst descend from Heaven into the womb of the blessed Virgin like Rain into a fleece of wooll thou that punishest the wrong doer and defendest the Children of the poor and them that have no helper have mercy upon thy Church be pleased by her Ministry to extend thy blessing upon thy dominion from the one Sea to the other even to the worlds end that all the Kings of the earth may fall down before thee and all Nations may do thee service Make thy righteous people to flourish and subdue their enemies under them deliver them from falshood and wrong that they may be blessed with abundance of grace and be satisfied with thy righteousness and salvation through thy mercies O blessed Saviour and Redemer Jesu Amen The Collect. THE Lord of all power and might who art the Author and giver of all good things graft in my heart the love of thy Name increase in me true Religion inrich me with all goodness and of thy great mercy keep me in the same through Jesus my Lord. Amen A Prayer that we may have our portion in God and not in the good things of the men of this world O Lord God who art loving unto all thy people even unto such as are of a clean heart give me a heart humble and merciful that I may never be holden with pride nor overwhelmed with cruelty and sanctifie my words and lips that I may never blaspheme thy holy Name nor my talking be ever against thee or thy honour O God most highest give unto me such religious and mortified affections that I may never thirst after temporal advantages and prosperity of the world Set not my feet in slippery places lest I be suddenly cast down and have my portion in the lot of the wicked who perish and come to a fearful end Guide me with thy counsel that I holding me fast by thee and putting my trust in thee O God thou mightest be the strength of my heart the hope of my soul and the ground of all the confidence and content in this life and after this life is ended thou mayest receive me with glory and be my portion for ever through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen A Prayer that we may fear God's Judgments and be freed from the terrours of men and a Motive to move thereunto THE Lord preserveth the simple I was in misery and he helped me for his merciful kindness is ever more and more towards me and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever Praise the Lord O give thanks unto the Lord for he is gracious because his mercy endureth for ever I called upon the Lord in trouble and he heard me The Lord is on my side I will not fear what man can do unto me The Lord taketh my part with them that help me therefore I shall see my desire upon mine enemies It is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in Princes The Lord is my strength and my song he is become my salvation The Lord hath chastened and corrected me but he hath not given me over unto death Help me now O Lord send me now prosperity Thou art my God I will praise thee Thou chargest that I should diligently keep thy Commandments O that my waies were made so direct that I might keep thy Statutes so shall I not be confounded while I have respect unto thy Commandments I will keep thy Testimonies O forsake me not utterly Blessed art thou O Lord teach me thy Statutes I have had as great delight in the waies of thy Testimonies as in all manner of riches My delight shall be in thy Statutes and I will not forget thy Word therefore O Lord do well unto thy servant that I may live and keep thy Word Open thou mine eyes that I may see the wonders of thy Law Turn not from me neither rebuke me for I have kept thy Statutes My soul melteth away for very heaviness O comfort thou me according to thy Word Take from me the way of lying and cause thou me to make much of thy Law I have chosen the way of Truth and thy Judgments have laid before me I have stuck unto thy Testimonies O Lord confound me not O Lord God whose dwelling is in the Heaven and thy Name is great in all the world plant the dread and reverence of thee and thy power in my heart Let threatnings and thy Judgments which are heard from Heaven and executed upon disobedient and gainsaying people make me to tremble at the remembrance of my sins and in consideration of my weaknesses and demerits and let thy mercies and the remembrance of thy infinite loving kindnesses make my heart still full of eavenness and tranquility that I may not fear the fierceness of man or the wrath of those spirits thou can refrain lest I be disturbed in my duty towards thee that I never offend against thee but may pass from fear to love from apprehensions of thy wrath to the sense and comforts of thy mercies through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen The Collect. O God whose never failing providence ordereth all things both in Heaven and Earth I humbly beseech thee to put away from me all hurtful things to give me those things that be profitable for me through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen A Prayer that God may remove from me all fearfulness and doubt of his favour and mercy TEach me O Lord the way of thy Statutes and I shall keep it unto the end Give me understanding and I shall keep thy Law yea I shall keep it with my whole heart Make me to go in the path of thy Commandments for therein is my delight Incline my heart to thy Testimonies and not to covetousness O turn away mine eyes lest they behold vanities and quicken thou me in thy way O stablish thy Word in thy servant that I may fear thee Take away the rebuke that I am afraid of for thy Judgments are good Behold my delight is in thy Commandments O quicken me in thy Righteousness O take not the word of thy Truth utterly out of my mouth for my hope is in thy Judgments so shall I alway keep thy Law yea for ever and ever O think upon thy servant as concerning thy Word wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust the same is my comfort in my trouble for thy Word hath quickened me O turn me into true understanding and knowledge for I have believed thy Commandments Before I was troubled I went wrong but now I have kept thy Word Thou art good and gracious O teach me thy Statutes It is good for me that I have been in trouble that
of my natural corruption and as thou dost add daies to my life so good Lord I beseech thee to add repentance to my daies that when I have past this mortal life I may be partaker of thy heavenly Kingdom through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen A Prayer and Confession in and for the time of Affliction ALmighty and most merciful Father it is only thy goodness that admits of my imperfect prayers and the knowledge that thy mercies are infinite which can give me any hope of thy acceptance or granting them for it is my bounden and necessary duty to confess my sins freely unto thee and of all men living I have need of and most reason so to do no man living hath been so much obliged by thee for that degree of knowledge which thou hast given me adding likewise the guilt of my transgression for it is through failing and imperfection that I have so many waies provoked thy gracious Majesty to wrath and indignation against me but with shame and grief I confess that I have done amiss and dealt wickedly that therein I followed the perswasion of worldly wisdom forsaking the dictates of a right informed conscience wherefore O Lord I have no excuse to make no hope left but in the multitude of thy mercies for I know my repentance is weak and my prayers are faulty grant therefore O most merciful Father so to strengthen my repentance and amend my prayers that thou mayest clear the way for thine own mercies to which O let thy Justice at last give place putting a speedy end to my deserved afflictions In the mean time give me patience to endure constancy against temptations and a discerning spirit to chuse what is best for thy glory and my comfort and the good of others grant this O most merciful Father for thy Son Jesus Christ his sake our only Saviour Amen A Prayer in time of Captivity O Powerful and Eternal God to whom nothing is so great that it may resist or so small that it is contemned look upon my miseries with the eye of mercy and let thy infinite power vouchsafe to limit out some proportion of deliverance unto me as to thee shall seem most convenient let not injury O Lord triumph over me and let my falls by thy hand be corrected and make not my unjust enemies the Ministers of thy Justice but yet my God if in thy wisdom this be the aptest castisement for my inexcusable transgressions if this ungrateful bondage be fittest for my over high desires if the pride of my not enough humble heart be to be thus broken O Lord I yield to thy Will chearfully embracing what sorrow thou wilt have me suffer only thus much let me crave of thee Let my craving O Lord be acceptable unto thee since it even proceeds from thee that by goodness which is thy self thou will suffer some beam of thy Majesty so to shine in my heart that I who acknowledge it my noblest title to be thy creature may still in my greatest affliction depend confidently on thee let calamity be the exercise but not the overthrow of my vertue O let not their prevailing power be to my destruction and if it be thy will that they more and more vex me with punishment yet O Lord never let their wickedness have such a hand but that I may still carry a pure mind and a stedfast resolution ever to serve thee without fear or presumption yet with that humble confidence which may best please thee so that at the last I may come to thy eternal Kingdom through the merits of thy Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen A Prayer to be said for the Sick by them that visit him O Merciful Father who art the Lord and giver of life to whom belongeth the issues of death we thy children here assembled do acknowledge that in respect of our manifold sins we are not worthy to ask any blessing for our selves at thy hands much less to become suiters to thy Divine Majesty in the behalf of others yet because thou hast promised that the prayers of the righteous shall avail much with thee in the obedience therefore of thy commandment and in confidence of thy gracious promise we are bold to become humble suiters to thy Divine Majesty in the behalf of this our dear Brother or Sister whom thou hast visited with the chastisement of thy own fatherly hand we could gladly wish the restauration of his health and a longer continuance of his life and Christian-fellowship amongst us but for as much as it appeareth as far as we can discern that thou hast appointed by this visitation to call for him out of this mortal life we submit our wills to thy blessed will and humbly entreat thee for Jesus Christ his sake and the merits of his bitter death and passion which he hath suffered for him that thou wouldest pardon and forgive unto him all his sins as well that wherein he was conceived and born as also the offences and transgressions which ever since to this day and hour he hath committed in thought word and deed against thy Divine Majesty cast them behind thy back remove them as far from thy presence as the East is from the West blot them out of the book of thy remembrance lay them not to his charge wash them away with the blood of Christ that they may never be more seen and deliver him from all the Judgments which are due unto him for all his sins that they may never trouble his conscience nor rise in judgment against his soul and impute unto him the Righteousness of Jesus Christ whereby he may appear righteous in thy sight and in his extremity at this time we beseech thee look down from Heaven upon him with those eyes of grace and compassion wherewith thou art wont to look upon thy children in their affliction and misery pity thy wounded servant like the good Samaritan for here is a sick soul that needeth the help of such a heavenly Physician O Lord increase his faith that he may believe that Christ died for him and that his blood cleanseth all his sins and either asswage his pain or else increase his patience to endure thy blessed will and pleasure in all things And good Lord lay no more upon him than thou wilt enable him to bear heave him up unto thy self with those sighs and groans that cannot be expressed make him now to see what is the hope of his calling and what is the exceeding greatness of thy mercy and power towards them that believe in thee and in his weakness O Lord shew thou thy strength defend him against the suggestions and temptations of the Devil who as in all his life-time will now in his weakness seek to assail him and to devour him oh save his soul and reprove Satan and command thy holy Angels to be about him and aid him and chase away all evil and malignant spirits far from him make him