Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
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A58125
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The Christian monitor containing an earnest exhortation to an holy life, with some directions in order thereto : written in a plain and easie style, for all sorts of people.
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Rawlet, John, 1642-1686.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing R347A; ESTC R32275
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44,028
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60
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pleasant But be sure to set some time apart every day for solemn Prayer Very fit it is to begin the day with Prayer to God as soon as we rise out of Bed blessing his Name for our preservation and quiet rest begging his gracious Presence with us all the day that we may be kept from all evil especially from sin the worst of all And at the Evening let this be our last work before we lie down to sleep humbly to commit our selves to God by Prayer Psal. 92. 1 2. Exceeding useful it is for those who have Families to joyn together Morning and Evening in Prayer to God and in reading some part of his holy Word for which purpose there are many good Books of Devotion and though they have none of them yet they may use such of the Prayers of the Church as are proper for their purpose which are to be found in the Morning and Evening Service and in other places Before you sit down to Meat beg Gods blessing upon it and afterward return thanks for it But beside our Devotions in the Family or Closet our great Duty is to worship God in the publick Assemblies of his People which by no means we ought to forsake Heb. 10. 25. Suffer not your selves therefore by any Pretences whatever to be drawn away either by Papists or Sectaries from the publick Worship of God as it is now by Law established in the Church of England But see that you duly resort to your Parish Churches and that not only on Holy-days but on the Week-days when you have opportunity and leisure More especially see that you constantly frequent the Church on the Lord's Day if not hindered by sickness or some other very great and urgent Cause Let not that Excuse keep you from Church which would not keep you from the Market Bring as many of your Family along with you as can possibly be spared Come to the very beginning of Service and stay quietly till the end of it not running away before the Blessing as many careless People rudely do as if they were glad to get away as from a Prison Behave your selves with all due reverence both of body and mind considering the Majesty of that God in whose presence you stand before whom the very Angels vail their faces Always kneel at your Prayers if there be convenience or stand at least Psal. 95. 6. Above all look well to the temper of your Soul and keep up an awful sence of the great God to whom you are praying and mind well what is said as you go along with the Prayers and offer up your desires to God otherwise though you may speak much you do not pray at all Avoid all vain and wandring thoughts as much as possible When you joyn in the Confession of Sins think of your own particular faults and be deeply humbled for them and be unfeignedly thankful for all God's mercies whilst you are praising his Name and earnestly long after that Grace you pray for Attend with care and reverence to God's Word when it 's read from the Desk and also to the preaching and explaining of it from the Pulpit that you may both be diligent hearers and faithful doers of the Word Neglect not the Church in the Afternoon though you should live where there is no Sermon Catechising may be as useful to you and this ought to be in all places And besides that you will hear the holy Scriptures read and have the benefit of the publick Prayers When you come from Church spend not the remainder of the day in sports and idleness much less in drinking and gaming as too many do but if you have a Family let some time be spent with them in praying in reading God's Word and some good Book and let Children and Servants be instructed in their Catechism Examine them about what they have heard that so it may make them more attentive and do you meditate on the same that it may sink into your Heart Works of mercy and necessity may be done on the Lord's Day but by no means allow your selves in any needless Labours nor in travelling upon the Road or wandring about to make idle Visits God allows us six days in the Week for our own Employments let us devote the Lord's Day to his service readily and cheerfully When the Sacrament of Baptism is administred do you attend to it Remember your own Engagement by having received it in your Infancy and resolve to live answerably thereto Joyn in Prayer for God's blessing on the Children then received into the Church And when you bring your own Children to be baptized see that you do most sincerely give them up to God and devote them to his Service with firm Resolutions to bring them up in his fear if God spare your Lives and theirs and earnestly pray for his Grace to be given in to their Souls And those to whom you stand as Sureties you ought to do your utmost toward their good Education in the knowledge of God and Religion according to the Charge given you especially if the Parents die or prove negligent And pray beware of a very wicked practice which is common in some places that after a Child is baptized the Neighbours that are invited spend the rest of the day in Riot and Drunkenness forgetting that even now they renounced the lusts of the Flesh those who stood at the Font and all the rest are under the same obligation Whenever you are invited by your Minister to the holy Communion do not willingly neglect the Invitation but come with a thankful Heart to keep up the remembrance of Christ's love in dying for sinners according to his express Command Luk. 22. 19. Take care to prepare your selves by true repentance for all your former sins and stedfast purposes by God's grace throughly to forsake the same See that you be in perfect Charity with all Men freely forgiving those who have offended you and offering satisfaction to those whom you have offended If after this they will not be reconciled that 's not your fault but theirs and therefore may not keep you from the Sacrament Stay not away out of a Pretence that you want time to prepare your self For a constant holy Life is the best Preparation If you are fit for Prayers you are fit for the Communion Do not think that the Communion is only for rich People The Souls of the poor are as precious as the rich and as much concerned in Christ's death and they have as much cause to remember it and seek after the benefits of it If you have not Money to offer at the Collection see that you offer up your selves to God and that will be of more value Complain not that you want Clothes and therefore you absent both from the Church and Communion but see that you come in the Wedding Garment required in the Gospel with humble penitent thankful Hearts and then you will be welcome Guests at Christ's Table For
most convenient for me Give me such a Spirit of Piety and Devotion that I may take great delight in thy Worship and Service both in publick and private Fill me with such love to my Blessed Saviour and with such thankfulness for his love in dying for Sinners that I may go with more delight to the Holy Communion for the good of my Soul than to the richest Feast that is made for my Body Help me O God to shew my love to thy blessed Self by true love and charity to my Neighbours Make me tractable and obedient to my Governours both in Church and State peaceable and gentle toward all Men dealing with them so justly and truly as I my self desire to be dealt with Make me tender and compassionate and ready to do all the good I can to others and let thy Grace enable me freely to forgive those that do evil to me as I my self hope for mercy and forgiveness from thee my God And help me always to live soberly and temperately purely and chastly in Heart and Life and with great meekness and humility in the sense of my own unworthiness and manifold imperfections O Lord grant that my Heart may be fill'd with earnest longings and desires after those Graces which now with my lips I pray for and help me to shew my sincerity by diligent endeavours daily to grow in all Grace and goodness and to perfect Holiness in thy Fear Make me watchful over my self and all my ways that I may carefully avoid all occasions of sin and may check the first motions thereto in my own Heart Keep me always deeply sensible of thy Presence that I may walk humbly with thee my God and approve my self to thee in well-doing Wean my Heart from all things here below and prepare me for my departure hence into a better World Help me always to live in such a religious and holy manner as will be most for my comfort at Death and Judgment Strengthen my Belief of the precious Promises and dreadful Threatnings of the Gospel and let this Belief rule and govern me in my whole Conversation O that I may never be guilty of so much folly and madness as to lose the eternal and unspeakable joys of Heaven and throw my self into the eternal torments of Hell for any of the profits or pleasures of sin that are but for a moment Do thou O Lord by thy holy Spirit ever keep upon my mind such a fresh and lively sense of the reasonableness of Religion and of the mischief and folly of all sin and wickedness that no temptations of Satan no allurements of the World or the Flesh may hinder me from my Duty nor draw me into any known sin but do thou ever strengthen and assist me by thy Grace and guide me by thy Counsel till thou shalt bring me to thy self in Glory Neither do I pray for my self alone but for all Mankind beseeching thee to send the Light of thy Gospel into all the dark Corners of the Earth and grant that they who do enjoy it may walk in all holy obedience thereto Be merciful to these Kingdoms pardon our sins and reform us from them Heal all our divisions continue our mercies and make us truly thankful for them Bless the King's Majesty with the Royal Family and all those that are in authority under him and grant to me and all his Subjects grace to lead quiet and peaceable Lives in all godliness and honesty Bless the Ministers of thy holy Word and Sacraments and make them very diligent and very successful in their Endeavours Help us to bring forth such Fruit from the Blessings we enjoy that thy Gospel and the Ordinances thereof may be continued to us and to the Generations after us Shew mercy to all that are afflicted whether in Soul or Body and preserve those that travel on their lawful Occasions by Land or by Sea Bless all my Friends and Relations particularly all that belong to this Family and help us all to live in the fear and love of thee our God and in peace and charity one with another Let thy blessing and good presence be with me thy unworthy Servant now and at all times at my down-lying and up-rising in my going out and coming in be thou my God and my guide even to the death and my eternal portion when time shall be no more And accept O God of my unfeigned desires to bless and raise thy glorious Name for all thy Mercies and Favours to my self and to all Men. I bless thee for my Reason and Senses my Health and Strength Food and Raiment and all the Comforts of this Life but above all I praise thee for thine inestimable love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ for all the means of Grace and for the hope of Glory And I beseech thee give me that due sense of all thy Mercies that my Heart may be unfeignedly thankful and that I may shew forth thy praise not only with my lips but in my life by giving up my self to thy service and by walking before thee in Holiness and Righteousness all the days of my Life through Jesus Christ our Lord in whose most holy Name and Words I continue to pray as he hath taught us in his Gospel saying Our Father which art in Heaven c. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with me now and evermore Amen FINIS