Righteous that we may die the Death of the Righteous Deliver us from a vain and darkned Understanding and from working Uncleanness with greediness Enable us to put off as touching our Conversation the Old man and put on the New Man being renewed in the spirit of our Minds that we may be created after the Image of God in Righteousness and true Holiness Prepare us for another Life and let not one day pass over our heads without some serious meditations of Eternity how soon it may be we cannot tell ere we may launch into its Ocean that bankless Sea and then woe unto us if our Ship be unsound Let these thoughts make us careful about our Souls Help us to use the things of this transitory World but as journey necessaries to a permanent and lasting World but let us be truly desirous of the permanent Riches with an insatiable desire Make us wise Merchants for that durable riches that none can rob us of Now Lord pardon our sins and accept our services in Chrst to whom with thee and thy Eternal Spirit be praises Amen A Prayer for Wednesday Evening GLorious and most Righteous Lord for ever to be admired of all thy Saints thy ways are ways of love and mercy thy daily care to thy people do attest it we are wonderfully engaged to offer thee praise both with hearts and voices Accept of our thanks and praises as well as prayers for an Evening Sacrifice and take charge of us we beseech thee Let us not be disappointed of our hopes Let not Sin nor Sathan molest us in the comforts of this night Let not the sins of the day past provoke thee or prevent us in thy favours to us-ward Let us rest in the assurance of thy favour sealed by thy good Spirit upon our hearts that we be not left comfortless and grant that though our Bodily Eyes be closed with sleep yet let our Spiritual Eyes to wit the Eyes of Faith continually watch Let thy work of Grace begun in us be daily strengthened Let the power of sin decay but the power of Grace revive Enable us to rise with Christ and to seek those things that are above that we may glorifie thee here by finishing the race that is set before us Keep us from abusing or slighting thy Mercies and Judgemnts and watch over us for good Let not our self-flattery prove to us soul-mockery Make us faithful rather than formal in all our duties towards thee Deliver us from worldly mindedness the great enemy to real holiness Give us the grace of humiliation for sin and the spirit of reformation from sin O suffer us not to sin against Mercy lest we lose our best friend O let the service of God which is perfect freedom free us from the service of sin Now unto him that is able to keep us be Glory for ever Amen A Prayer for Thursday Morning HOly and Eternal Glorious Lord God infinite are thy Mercies to us ward thy patience and long suffering are exceeding great in regard of our continued provocations even in our thoughts which are only evil and that continually our words also have been stout against thee nothing but infinite mercy could forbear such wretches blessed be our God that hath laid help yea our help upon one that is mighty to save all those that come unto God by him O whither should such sinners go but to him that hath the Keys of Heli and Death that calls to the weary and heavy laden to come to him and accept of ease and rest O Lord draw us that we may run after thee that we may run the way everlasting the way of thy commands and be followers of that which is good hating the Garments spotted by the Flesh building up our selves in the most holy faith Enable us O our God with all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure adding to our Faith Vertue and to Vertue Knowledge and to Knowledge Temperance and to Temperance Patience and to Patience Godliness and to Godliness Brotherly Kindness and to Brotherly Kindness Charity O let these Graces shine and abound in us that we may neither be barren nor unfruitful Give us precious faith in our Lord Jesus who hath washed and quickned us Make us the compleat Workman-ship of Christ Jesus created unto good works Sanctifie us through thy Truth thy Word is Truth and give us that Spirit that may guid us into all Truth Lead us this day and all the rest of our lives by thy Grace and at last bring us to Glory through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen A Prayer for Thursday Evening MOst gracious Lord thou art the great preserver of those that trust in thy Promises and observe thy Precepts Blessed be thy holy Name for this day past that thou hast kept us from the dangers of this day incident to us Blessed be thou Lord for all thy Providence and Provision for Health and Strength Food and Rayment for the present Comforts of this Life and the hopes of a future Let all our sins be pardoned for the sake of our Lord who only is worthy O vouchsafe to continue thy goodness this night that we may receive that refreshment that is for tryed ones Watch over us for good and let a quiet and peaceable rest fit us for our Calling according to thy will Help us to live by Faith and to walk by Faith that we may have that Peace that none can take away Let us die daily to sin and be strengthened daily with all might in the inward man Help us to consider the effects of sin is shame and the wages of sin is death Give us the comforts of our being in Christ that we may beassured that we are freed from condemnation by our christian conversation who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit O let thy Spirit so lead us that it may be our testimony that we are thine Let all that we suffer here be an evidence of that Glory to be revealed in us Let all things work together for the best Let neither tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword be able to prevail against us so as to seperate us from the love of God which is in Christ for whom we bless thee and to whom be praises for ever Amen A Prayer for Fryday Morning MOst Holy and most gracious Lord thou art near unto all that call upon thee in truth and fulfillest the desires of those that fear thee Thou art good and dost good thy mercies are over all thy works Blessed be the Lord for his refreshing mercies of the last night Day unto day and night unto night shew forth thy tenderness over us by thy providences and provision O deliver us from all sins and evil for thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory Help us to live blameless with those with whom we have to deal O give us wisdom to remember our later end Let us remember the approaching of
of all my enjoyment for whom I bless thee and to whom with thy Holy Self and blessed Spirit be praises for evermore Amen A Prayer for Wednesday Morning HOly God grant me a pardon of all my sins and in particular the sins of this night past all my vain thoughts and cogitations Lord I cannot express them unto thee in particular yet thou knowest them all I pray thee Lord blot them out of the Book of thy remembrance cast them behind thy back let them never be seen any more either in this life or in the world to come to my condemnation Lord as thou art pleased every Morning to renew thy Mercies to me renew my heart within me that I may be occasioned to renew my thankfulness to thy self for thy bounty and benignity to me let the improvement of left-hand Mercies engage thee to a further supply of right-hand Mercies the improvement of temporal Mercies engage thee to a further supply of spiritual Mercies and let both be so improved by me that thou mayest have the Glory and I may have comfort in and through thy dear Son Jesus Christ Help me this day in all my transactions to remember thee and that I may set the Lord always before mine eyes that I may thereby resist every temptation as thy Servants Job Joseph and David did Let the soundness of my state be demonstrated by the regularity of my course Regulate and rectifie what thou seest irregular in my life that all my designs and purposes may be for thy Honour let Piety be my delight let sin be the object of my hatred accept what is good in me Be my counsel in my enterprizes and undertakings and direct my will that I may do nothing but what tends to thy Glory for Christ's sake Amen A Prayer for Wednesday Evening O Eternal God who art glorious in Holiness fearful in thy Praises doing Wonders Blessed by thy holy Name thou givest poor C eatures such as I occasion to rejoyce in thee and to seek unto thee through the mediation of thy dear and well-beloved Son Jesus Christ Lord let all Mercies be of great use to me for the drawing out of my heart after thy self Pardon me that I have been no more enamour'd with thy Son that he has been no more amiable to my Soul even the fountain of all my Mercies the well-spring of all Goodness the Author of all my Enjoyments and by whom all my sins must be pardoned if they be pardoned O Lord look upon his satisfaction and intercession for me O divest me of the rags of my sin and invest me with the Robes of Christ's Righteousness let the stream of his precious Blood obliterate those crimson and scarlet stains that sin hath made in my poor Soul O Lord what time might I have redeem d wherein I might have had more communion with thy self and thy Son Christ and done more for thy Honour if I had been wiser Lord help me this night to experience more of thy love to my Soul by coming in with fresh supplies of Grace received Grace is not sufficient for me my nature is very much declining and therefore grant me fresh streams of Love and Grace that thereby I may acquiesce in and upon thee knowing thou art a God sufficient for all these things I stand in need of I bless thee for my preservation and sustentation thou hast preserved and sustained me with O sustain my Soul with fresh influences of thy Countenance and as I am about to betake my self to my rest draw thou the Curtain of thy Fatherly Protection about me Help me to sanctifie thee in my heart laying my head to my pillow And that for Christ's sake Amen A Prayer for Thursday Morning MOst Holy God before whose presence the Angels themselves who are such spotless Creatures vail their faces even them thou chargest with folly and if them what mayest thou charge such a sinful wretch as I with Nay Lord the best of my actions they are full of impurity Help me Lord to lay my face in the dust and to confess my uncleanness one of an uncircumcised Heart and Ears that since I could do any thing could sin and since I could sin I could almost do nothing but sin O Lord pardon me for the greatness of my sins is intollerable they are more than I am able to bear Help me to lay them on him who is mighty â—o save No sin O Lord is so great but thy Mercy is greater No sin is too great for thee to pardon Pardon sins of omission and commission actual and original do all away in the Blood of Christ O Lord let not the sinning away of received Mercies prevent future Mercies Pardon my vain and sinful thoughts this night or whatsoever thou hast seen amiss in me and accept my requests O Lord as a Sacrifice in Jesus Christ renew that league my very Dreams have broke and accept my thankfulness for thy prottecting Providence thou might est have made my bed my grave my sleep my death and cut me off from the land of the living but blessed be thy Name thou hast yet made me praise thee in the land of the living praises to thy holy Name Let the Mercies of this night stir me to an holy and close walking with thee all this day let me be actuated by thy Spirit they being only in a right frame to whom thy Sprit is leader and guider Bless my undertakings and let them be for thy Glory through thy Son the Mediator of the New Covenant Jesus Christ the Righteous to him and to thy self for him be praises Amen A Prayer for Thursday Evening MOst Holy Lord and in thy Son our most merciful Father speak to my Soul that I may hear and live that I though but a wilde Olive-branch may be grafted into the true Vine let me no longer be a stranger to the Covenant of Grace O Lord I have been very sinful and rebellious against thy self in all my deportment I have many times sinned against my own knowledge I have sinned against light and against love Pardon all my miscarriages not only this day but all my days O do all away in the blood of Jesus Christ and let me appear in my Elder Brother's Carments invest me with his Righteousness but first of all divest me of my own let thy Grace increase in me but let sin decrease let me grow in Grace as I grow in years and that no day may pass over my head wherein I have not learned something that tends to my Souls health Help me every day to learn something that may tend to the mortifying of some lust for my establishment in the truth and for the direction of my feet in the paths everlasting Pardon me that I have done no more for thee this day that I have redeemed no more time O Lord I might have redeemed more time if I had been wise wherein I might have had more Communion with thy self and might have engaged
thy Servant and Hand-maid may find help in time of trouble and need Let the Midwives Skill and Care be blessed by thee when she shall be called to do her Office thou that art the God of all Grace and Consolation strengthen the faith of thine Hand-maid in the hope of thy mercy Shew thy Servant a token for good for his sake alone who is worthy Jesus Christ the Righteous to whom be Glory for ever Amen The Midwives Prayer before Delivery GRacious Lord look in mercy upon thine Hand-maid now in extream pain strengthen her faith against all her fears and bless me thine unworthy Servant and make me an instrument of help and comfort to thine Hand-maid in the hour of trial in thine hand are the issues of Life and Death preserve both Mother and Child let it be a time of joy that a Child is Born and a Woman Delivered through thy great mercy so shall we thy poor Creatures rejoyce in thy Salvation shewed to thy Hand-maid and the fruit of her Womb. Hear and help for the sake of our Lord Jesus to whom be praises for ever Amen The Midwives Prayer after Delivery MOst Holy and most Gracious Lord praises wait for thee for those exceeding abundant favours vouchsafed to thine Hand-maid in the hour of her Distress for ever blessed be thy glorious Name thou alone wast a present help O perfect thine own work in her weakness Blessed be the Lord for the fruit of the Womb that no Member was left out of thy Book that in all parts it is perfected without blemish or deformity Make thine Hand-maid a joyful Mother and continue her in her place and enable her to discharge her duty to the comfort of her Relations and the glory of thy great Name and the everlasting joy of her own Soul when she shall have finished her course and that alone upon the account of Jesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever Amen The Pained Womans Prayer in the time of her Travail O Righteous Lord thou art just in all thy ways thy righteous sentence is past the time of sin was the time of punishment the Woman to bring forth in sorrow and the Man to cat his Bread in the sweat of his Brow Have mercy Lord upon thy distressed Hand-maid in great Pain and Anguish Fears and Sorrows as thou hast blessed me with the fruit of the Womb to conceive and nourish until the time of birth O Lord now give strength to bring forth and let this fruit of my Womb be to thy praise Thou art a present help in time of trouble O blessed Lord let my life be precious in thy sight and the fruit of my Womb let it live before thee and let both be vessels of mercy through the sanctification of thy Spirit so shall thine Hand-maid devote her self to thy fear and the fruit of her Womb to thy service Let me find thy love in Jesus Christ to support me for whom O my Soul praise his Holy Name Amen The Womans Prayer after her Delivery O Most glorious Lord thou art good and doest good thou hast remembered mercy to thy Hand-maid in the time of her distress to thy Name be praise for strength given to bring forth my life was and is in thine hand yet thou hast spared it in the depth of my anguish thy help was at hand Thou also hast given life to the fruit of my Womb to thy Name be praises Give me wisdom to dispose of thy mercy to thy glory that I may be useful to thy service and as touching the fruit of my Womb sanctifie it and let it be for the bearing up of the Name of God in its Generation let it grow in grace as in years These and what things thou knowest convenient grant in the Name of Christ to whom be praise for ever Amen Graces Before and After Meat Grace before Meat MOst Holy Lord the staff of Bread is in thine hand it is of thy bounty that we are daily provided for let these thy Creatures ordained for our nourishment be received by us with thankful hearts expressing it in our lives that we receiving strength may return praises to thy self for all through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen Grace After Meat HOly and blessed Lord let thy continued mercies and refreshments from time to time ingage us to return to thy blessed Majesty the glory due to thy self for them and all other creature comforts wherewith we are supplied help us to express our thankfulness in discharging our Callings and Consciences through our Lord Jesus Christ Amen An other Grace Before Meat HOly and gracious Lord blessed be thy gracious good providence for all thy favours daily renewed O give thy blessing on these thy good Creatures at this time that we are about to receive that they may nourish and strengthen us that we may be bettered by them and that we may return praise to thy Name through Christ Jesus our Lord Amen An other Grace After Meat HOly Lord let thy refreshing mercies be an obligation to engage us to a more holy life to live to thee who art the fountain of all our enjoyments thou givest and refreshest us with the blessings of the upper and neather springs both spiritual and temporal help us to improve all so that thou mayst have glory and we may have comfort in and through Jesus Christ the purchaser of all Amen A Prayer in time of Affliction HOly and for ever blessed Lord God thou alone art acquainted with the condition of thy poor sinful weak Creature thou that art the Father of Spirits and their great Creator who alone art a present help in time of trouble and the God of all consolation thy poor sinful dust and ashes desires to look to thee even to thee alone seeing thou art alone able to deliver from trouble sanctifie my trouble and affliction and support me in and under affliction and make all work together for the best Thou canst bring comfort out of trouble joy out of sorrow mirth out of malady and can make thy Sion Saints to wait and to look for help even from the most improbable means O let thy grace be sufficient for me and help me to trust thy promises when I cannot have thy providences I have sinned greatly which is the cause of all my misery if it were not for sin I need fear nothing O let sin die in me that grace may abound and let this chastisement which at present is grievous be and work for good unto me that I may say with thy Servant David It is good that I have been afflicted Give me a patient and submissive frame of Spirit that I may say with my blessed Saviour Not as I will but thy will O Father of mercy be done Let pains temporal prevent pains eternal Let the inner man be strengthened by the weakness of the outward man Help me in patience to possess my Soul with the thoughts of that endless and unspeakable Glory and with a sense
thee more to have blessed me in all my Enterprizes Lord help me to redeem time because the days are evil I thank thee for thy care and preserving providence this day As touching those things that have been done amiss in any way or manner this day by me let them not prevent night mercies O deal in Mercy and not in Judgement with me let thy love conceal all my offences As touching this night Let my rest in it be sweet unto me Let every night be as it were a memento of the silent night in the Grave a remembrance of death to put me in mind of my later end Make my rest sweet unto me that being refreshed with moderate rest I may the next morning bless thy name and be ingaged to a more lively activity for God the next day and that for Christs sake Amen A Prayer for Fryday Morning GLorious Lord 't is thy great condescension that thou dost after such a manner afford the priviledge of the means of Grace unto me and that thou doest give me fresh occasions every morning to praise thee and to pray unto thee to thank thee for Mercies received and to beg further supplies of future Mercies O Lord let not my unthankfulness prevent what further blessings thou mayest design for me O I have been very ungrateful unthankful and unkind in that I have expressed my thankfulness no more by an holy humble and a regular walking before thee Pardon that black sin of ingratitude of which I have been too too much guilty by walking contrary to thy Prescriptions and contrary to the Canons and Constitutions of Heaven Pardon that I have done so little for God that I have loved so little whereas God has loved me so much evidenced by his gracious dealings to me-wards O help me to believe and that strongly hope for Heaven more confidently and love thee more servently and bear the Cross more patiently and submissively that thereby I might steer my course more evenly to the New Jerusalem Lord thou hast been very kind unto me thou hast dealt with me in love this night in my preservation and protection in Soul and Body from Spiritual and Corporal Enemies thou hast guarded me by thy special Providence Accept of my thankfulness and grant that my humility and thankfulness may ingage thee to extend more of thy benignity prosperity and ability in the affairs of this life Sanctifie my heart that this day I may act for God as in the presence of God Direct me in the courses not only of this day but all my days that all may be to thy Glory and the comfort of my Soul through Christ Amen A Prayer for Fryday Evening BLessed God it is the great comfort of thy People that at any time thou art pleased in such a condescending manner to let them spread their cases before thee O Lord sure I am Thou never saidst to the Seed of Jacob seek ye my face in vain for so thy word manifests unto us Whereas Lord I dust and clay have rebelled against thee from time to time yet thou art pleased to admit me to come into thy presence and to tell what my wants are and blessed be thy Name thou hast granted a supply and hast encouraged me to come again and hast not dealt with me after the manner of men but hast been pleased many times to grant me the same Mercies that I formerly abused How many days have I spent vainly and yet thou hast given me the enjoyment of more I pray thee pass by my many miscarriages in this very days course O how little have I done for thee how little honour have I brought to thy Name How selfish have I been How unmindful of God have I been How little have I done in order to the making of my Calling and Election sure Lord how shall I escape in the neglecting so many precious opportunities Instead of doing thy will I have followed the dictates of mine own carnal heart and corruption Instead of doing thy will I have done mine own Pardon what is amiss this day and sanctifie this nights Mercy unto me Let thy good Angels keep me let thy Spirit preserve me let my very thoughts be towards thee keep me from vanity from sin that foul destructive enemy and keep me from the Paw of that roaring Lyon Let me acquiesce and rest in thee through thy Son Jesus Christ Amen A Prayer for Saturday Morning LOrd God Merciful and Gracious and abundant in Goodness and Truth thou hast been pleased to preserve me with thy special Providence from time to time from day to day and night to night and to keep me under and in all straits in and amidst the vicissitudes of this World of Incumbrances O thou hast dealt bountifully with me Grant that I may not be barren under all that thy Providences may not be silent to me Thou hast said Day unto Day uttereth Wisdom and Night unto Night sheweth Knowledge O teach me by all Let every Mornings Mercy and every Evenings Mercy and every Days Mercy be of much use unto me yea let all Seasons be advantagious to me Let time be improved by me for God for which end all Time was given to Man Lord direct me in all my Affairs this day counsel me in all my Concerns prosper me in all my Designs strengthen me in all my undertakings and grant that as thou renewest my strength by rest and sleep thou also may'st renew me in the spirit of my mind let not my heart be set upon the world as to draw my assections from thee nor let the cares of the world prevent me in the care for my Soul Mortifie all my corruptions in me for me rectifie my Judgment mortifie my Will change my Nature illuminate my Understanding and transform me to the Image of God Grant these and what thou in thy wisdom know'st necessary for me through Christ Jesus Amen A Prayer for Saturday Evening HOly Lord what great cause have I to bless thee that thou hast pleased to preserve me all this week and keep me in the midst of all the vicissitudes of this sickle and unconstant world and admittest me yet again to come before thee by way of duty Grant that I may not look upon it as a Duty only but as a Priviledg and that a great one a Priviledge that many enjoy not And what am I more than they I have been guilty of sins both for quantity and quality it may be that they were never guilty of Opardon me that I can be no more thankful for nor profitable in the enjoyment of the same Work in me Lord a more active frame of spirit that I may bring more honour to thy Name let the fruits of Grace spring more apparently in my life Let thy Word teach me thy Spirit guide and sanctifie me thy Son redeem me thy Power preserve me and thy Providence sustain me Yea let all work together for the best for me Pardon the sins of this
Eternity on which felicity or eternal misery attends O Lord increase our Faith and settle us in that Faith that is precious and pure that by it we may be able to resist the Devil and overcome and conquer the World and the Flesh that it may be the substance of things not seen and that thereby we may be like Noah to prepare an Ark against a Deluge condemning the World O give us the trying Faith of Abraham the living Faith of dying Jacob and the living Faith of Moses to chuse affliction rather than sin that we may esteem the reproach of Christ the greatest riches that we may by that Faith obtain Promises work Righteousness Now the God of Peace that brought again our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd through the everlasting Covenant keep us Amen A Prayer for Fryday Evening GReat and glorious Lord in Jesus Christ a tender Father to humble and penitent sinners let conscience of duty and not custom attend our approaches unto thee the Lord of Life and Glory thy mercies of this day are more than we can conceive but the requitals we have made how inequivolent are they How seldom did we look up to thee that always seest us at what a low ebb are our thoughts of thee O lay our hearts as low and much lower in reference to our selves Let us not O our God find our return of mercies according to our miscarriages let us not thereby be disappointed of our rest and refreshment this approaching night Blessed be thy Name that thou hast laid help on one that is able to save O save us by him let his Blood plead and his Person satisfie and let him prevail for us and his offering up of himself clear us Lord we believe help our unbelief O that our hearts were more heavenly and more removed from this drossie earth that we might in nothing be careful O help us to be good and do good in our Generation Help us to chuse affliction rather than sin that we may follow the great high Priest of our Profession by the Cross to the Crown and by the Grave to Glory Mind us of our end and give us wisdom to consider in this day of ours the things that belong to our peace before they be hid from our eyes and seeing our time is but short let our zeal be the greater Let the blessing pronounced in the Mount be our portion Let us both be pure and poor in spirit Give us to mourn for sin that we may be comforted Let us be armed with meekness and hungering and thirsting after righteousness and satisfie us Let mercifulness peace and sufferings for righteousness sake comfort us here and hereafter in and through Jesus Christ in whose Name we farther call on thee in his own words Our Father c. A Prayer for Saturday Morning MOst holy most glorious Lord the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for whose sake alone we beg pardon for all our sins secret and known of ignorance or knowledge of youth or riper years against thy Law or Gospel Deliver thy poor Creatures from all those curses denounced against sin and sinners None ever confessed and forsook sin but found mercy O sanctifie us throughout with thy holy Spirit that we may live the life of faith and not of sin being assured that it shall go well with the righteous they shall eat the fruit of their doings Blessed Lord give us grace to walk worthy the mercies of the last nights refreshments Let thy good providence be over us this day preserve us in our concerns Deliver us both Souls and Bodies that desire to fear thy holy Name that we may be praising the riches of thy free grace Let us be blessed in our goings out and comings in Let thy glory be our greatest design in whatsoever we undertake Prepare us for our later end and our great account and let Eternity be always eyed by us Let our thoughts words and actions be considered and poised Let every day put us in mind of the great day that in every day we may be drawn a step nigher unto Christ our Redeemer in whom and for whom we bless thee for ever Amen A Prayer for Saturday Evening O Most blessed Lord thou art acquainted with our down-lying and uprising and art near to all them that call on thee in truth and sincerity Let not iniquity prevail over us Let thy grace be sufficient for us against sin and Sathans wiles and help us to be thankful both in heart and life for what thou art pleased to bestow upon us by way of providence Help us in time of health to prepare for sickness and death in time of plenty to prepare for want and to lay up a store of never sading treasure Sanctifie both days labour and nights rest and pardon the sins of the whole week past and help us in thy day following to be so sitted and qualified that we may be as diligent for thee as we have been for our selves that it may be a day of rejoycing Let it be such a Sabbath as that it may be an earnest of an eternal Sabbath where we shall rejoyce and praise thee for ever Grant that by practising holiness we may enjoy happiness seeing that it must and shall go well with the Godly their great evils shall be removed and sin pardoned the mercy of mercies he cannot be miserable who has a God so merciful as to pardon his sin O grant us this mercy what ever else thou deny thy will be done for outward comforts so that we by the riches of this thy free grace have such pardon of sin as we be not disturbed in inward comforts Grant that by living to thee here we may enjoy thee hereafter Let us be content with tossings so that we may enjoy the desired Haven nay though our Ship viz. this Body breaks let us that is our Souls be secured in the Lord Châ—â—â—â— Let our crosses end in comforts our miseries in matchless joyes our tears in true tunes for Heaven and let our conquest over all end in the praise of our great Captain All these and what thou knowest may better fit us for thy self grant for thy promise and for thy Sons sake to whom be Eternal Glory Amen A Prayer for a Woman with-child before her time of Delivery MOst Holy Lord Blessed be thy great Name for thy mercy shewed to thine Hand-maid thou hast given her good hopes through grace to become a joyful Mother thou art Righteous in all thy ways thy threat for sin is just that in sorrow the Woman should bring forth yet thou of thy great mercy hast taken off from me the reproach of Woman and hast given me strength to conceive and to nourish it hitherto O preserve both me and it at the time of Travel Let me bring forth and let the work be compleated by thee by whom Creatures are wonderfully made Prepare thy poor Creature by Faith and Prayer for that hour that
The unconverted Sinners Prayer for a full Conviction of the dangerous state he is in GReat Gracious and most Righteous Lord God blessed for ever be thine unspeakable mercy that desirest not the Death of the worst of Sinners that turn unto thee to live for ever Oh thou that of Persecutors madest glorious Martyrs of an Adultress madest an humble Penitent O shew forth thy Long-suffering Patience and Forbearance upon me Deliver me from all my Sins from thy Wrath to come and that Eternal Judgment that ends in Hell with Devils and damned Impenitents Leave me not in the state of Devils without hope of pardon O pardon that great sin of setting more by Meat and Drink and beastly Pleasures than by thee the God that made me a rational Creature that slighted endless Glory that took more care of an Earthly Tabernacle than an Immortal Soul that took more care to avoid Shame Poverty and Sickness than to avoid everlasting Shame Pain and Horror in Hell Blessed be the Lord that will not leave such sinners as my self to die in their sins but pluck such sire-brands out of the jaws of Hell and gives them to know the evil of sin O that I were once fit to taste and see how gracious the Lord is to believers to them alone he is precious the fairest of Ten thousands O guid my feet into those untrodden paths that lead to the Fountain of Living Waters set open for sinners to wash in and be purged from their filthiness O give me faith to see him whom my sins have pierced Give me the grace and spirit of supplication to mourn after him without which grace I have not nor can have no hope of pardon For what communion hath darkness with light O possess my Soul with this belief That without holiness there can be no happiness without fanctity no salvation nor without heavenly-mindedness no Heaven O be it so unto thy servant for his sake that suffered for great nay the greatest of sinners of whom I am the chief that I may live to praise thee and admire the riches of thy immense and boundless love to Eternity Amen A Prayer for power to believe O Glorious and Merciful Lord God whose abundant and unspeakable goodness has been extended to poor man before he had a being in the World Let the beams of thy loving kindness environ me and as thou hast been pleased to convince me of sin righteousness and iudgment O help me to believe in him whose mercy extends to the ends of the Earth and that I may take iâ—â—â—â— on him by the hand of faith that it may be the substance of things not seen to take holâ— on the rich promise laid down in thy word concerning thy Son who is mighty to save all them that come unto God by him and to accept him in all his Offices as King and Law-giver to rule and defend me as Pâ—ieâ—t to sacrifice for me as Prophet to reveal the will of God unto me Help me to trust in thy holy Spirit to mortifie and kill my sin in me and to illuminate and sanctifie and quicken me that thereby I may be rendered meet for serving thee here and enjoy thee hereafter O help me to demonstrare out of my Conversation what is the hope of my Calling and establish me in a constant belief of Salvation by the apprehension of a renewed mind from fleshly and transitory joys to an heavenly and permanent happiness where there are pleasures for evermore Help thy poor Creature to be Conquerer yea more than Conquerer through Jesus Christ over Devil World and Flesh that I may be renewed in the spirit of my mind Possess me with the New Birth strengthen all my inward Faculties my Faith my Love and Zeal and whereas my desire was to run from God it may now be to run unto him and cast my self upon him for all in Christ Jesus Amen The Converts Prayer MOst powerful Lord God thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory thy ways are perfect and pure Let God be true and every one a liar Blessed be thy Name for thy unspeakable kindness and love to me who am less than the least of all thy mercies Thou hast been pleased to bring me out of darkness and shadow of death and lead me into the way of peace and out of darkness into thy mervellous light and to bring me into the Kingdom of thy dear Son O the immensity the breadth and length depth and height of the loving kindness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ that wast pleased of a Bond-slave to make a Free-denizon of Heaven of a Prisoner of Hell and Death one at Liberty and delivered me from that Eternal Wrath to come Oh! the free mercy of God that hath withholden death from seizing upon me the which if it had where had I been Oh happy and blessed was it that thou shouldst put out thine hand and touch me with the rod of thine affliction so that I may say It is good for me that I was afflicted O blessed Redeemer give me thy Spirit without which I am undone to apply the precious Blood of the New Covenant to my Soul without which I can do nothing that thy good Spirit may direct me into the way everlasting to know God and Jesus Christ which is Life Eternal Inflame me with love to thy self thy Laws and Commandments Preserve me from the sin of Presumption let the love of Holiness in me express it self in the abandoning all and every similitude of sin from my heart that I may abhor that viz. Sin that once was so amiable to me Let thy strength appear in my weakness and let thy grace be sufficient for me Accommodate me with a resolvedness to follow thee Let Christ Heaven and Glory be my Object and my Mark to aim at Let Christ be my Center upon whose account I conclude my imperfect requests in his own words Our Father c. Considerations of Death 1. COnsider That all the Pleasures Treasures and Comforts of this Life as Wife Children Goods Gold Friends Lands Livings large Possessions Dignity Honours sumptuous Fare and pleasant Prospects spacious Walks delicate Gardens nay even the World it self in its lustre and all that is therein on which thou hast doted so much and squandered so much time in shall and must all at the stroke of Death be extinguished the which Heaven it self or any created Power cannot prevent but will quite be obliterated and for ever lost never more to be minded or meddled with or enjoyed either in this World or the World to come but in as much as we must give an account of our using and abusing of them When our breath goeth forth out of our Bodies our thoughts perish and therefore make it thy business and think it thy chiefest prudence to wean thy affections from this fading World by little and little with a resolute and holy violence least thou find it harder to part with all at once 2.
alass it is my cursed Corruption that makes me think thy Cross my Burthen Lord therefore uphold me by thy Grace that I may count thy Yoke easie and find Joy in those Sufferings with thee Christ I know the cause of thy Grief and Terror to be the Consideration of thy Sin but I pray thee why lookest thou so to thy Sins that thou lookest not also to my Mercies Why wouldst thou so extol thy evil deeds that thou shouldst so extenuate my rich Mercies or in any way compare the one with the other Was it for thy good deeds that I first entred into friendship with thee and thinkest thou now that for thine evil deeds I will forsake thee Seeing it is among my praises that the work that I begin I will perfect I like it well indeed to see thee grieved for the Sins thou hast committed against me but I would have thee also be comforted in the Mercies I have shewed thee Call to mind my works of Old and what I have done to thee and for thee since thou canst Remember How cared I for thee in thy tender years look back now and see did not the Angel of my presence lead thee when thou hadst no wisdom no strength to Govern thee Did I not then begin to acquaint thee with the Knowledg and Fear of my Name Canst thou deny now that my Mercy preserved thee from thy Sins whereunto thy Nature was prone and ready to have declined And when thou sinnedst with what long patience have I waited thy turning and how lovingly have I winked at thy transgressions And when I had given thee Grace to repent of thy Sins and to seek my Favour and Mercy for the Sins of thy youth with a melting Heart and a mourning Eye canst thou deny that I have filled thy Heart with my Joys and made thy tongue burst out in Glorifying Speeches and why then wilt not thou trust in my Mercies to the end Soul I were Lord most unthankful if I should not confess that many a time in the multitude of my thoughts thy mercies have comforted me but ah alas I have not answered thy loving kindness for after many mercies received I have sinned against thee contrary to my light and my Sins are now before me witnessing that I am unworthy to taste any more of thy Mercies Christ Is my mercies for a day or for a year or is it for ever and ever to them whom I have made mine by my Sufferings Wilt thou restra in my Mercies and limit them within so narrow Bounds as to think they cannot be Extended over all thy Transgressions Wilt thou measure my mercies with so narrow a Span as to think I have no more to Give than thou hast an Heart to Receive Is it not among my praises that I am able to give to my Children more than they are able to think or ask of me Knowest thou not that as the Heavens are above the Earth so my thoughts are above thine Hast thou not considered that my Mercies is above all my Works how much more than is it above thee who art nothing in Comparison of my Works And if above thee how much more above all that thou canst do Why then wilt thou match thy Sins with my Mercies If I require such Mercies in my Children as I will have one to forgive another not only Seven times but Seventy times seven times what pitty compassion and readiness to forgive is in my Self Therefore my beloved despair not for the multitude of thy sins but be comforted with the promises of my Mercy I have made them without any exception of time for at what time soever a sinner doth repent him of his sins I have promised to put away his wickedness out of my remembrance I have made them without exception of sins for albeit your sins were as Scarlet they shall be made as white as Snow I have made them without exception of Persons for whosoever shall depart from his wicked ways I shall receive him Let this threefold universality of my promise sustain thee that thy Infidelity contract not my Mercies into narrower bounds than I have extended them Soul Be merciful O Lord to my Infidelity I believe in Christ Lord help my unbelief Stablish and Confirm my unstable heart with thy good and holy Spirit My Conscience doth in such sort condemn me that I stand in fear of thy Justice for thou art greater than the Conscience and wilt much more condemn me if thou dost enter into Judgment with me Christ O my beloved consider that the cause of thy disquietness is because that with the one Eye thou lookest unto thy Sins and unto thy Fathers Justice with the other and that is the reason of thy disquietness but doth not look unto me in whom his Justice is satisfied and thy Sins already punished Tell me I pray thee dost thou think to get within thy self and in the holiness of thy Disposition that which will Exempt thee from the fear of his Justice or art thou content to seek it of me If in thy self thou seekest it remember what thou art a doing Wilt thou have the Lord bound and obliged to thee Wilt thou be thine own Saviour or shall it be said his mercy saved thee not If no Misery were in thee whereupon should his mercy be manifested and if thy Disposition in the Earth were every way such as it should be then what remaineth but that the praise of his Mercy should less appear turn thee therefore unto me and seek thy self in me If thou wilt know what is thine thou art a sinner let my praise be reserved to my self I am thy Saviour Esteemest thou that my wounds are ineffectual or that there is no force in my sufferings countest thou this as that my Vertue and Merit cannot cure them Will a Phisician pour out a rare Ointment where no need is or else where it cannot profit and thinkest thou that my Father would have my Blood to be shed in vain If his Justice terrifie thee remember it was satisfied in me and that he pronounceth this Sentence himself This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased I came into the World not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance Tarry not from me because thou art a sinner but for that cause come to me and I will refresh thee Soul O Lord I know that there is a cleansing and reconciling Vertue in thy Blood that Life is in thy Death but still I fear my sins deserve thou shouldest neither apply thy Vertue nor thy Merit to me for ah alas I find that yet the old Man is strong and lively in me and that yet the motions of sin have power in me to bring forth fruit unto death Christ Be not I pray thee injurious to the work of my Grace in thee complain not so of thy Corruption but that thou mayest give unto me mine own Praise Canst thou deny but that thou hast felt my
my Soul and remember it God that hath entred thee into his Warfare and is thy spectator and helper will never reckon up to thee Sathans deeds for thine and learn thou wisely how to distinguish them but comfort thy self as long as thou art able to stand to thy protestation that thou do'st suffer violence in them and canst say with the Apostle This is not I but sin that dwells in me O Lord deliver me from the rage of this Spiritual Tyranny many a time have I looked to have been swallowed up but thou hast sustained me Blessed be my God for ever and the Lord be my God to the end Of the Lords Supper THE necessity of this will appear if we consider what advantage doth accrew from hence to us-ward and this appears 1. From the admirable satisfaction it yieldeth unto a distressed Soul 2. In that it instigates and stirs us up to the study of Piety and Holiness 3. In that it enlightneth our understanding 4. In that it corroborates us or addeth strength to our weakness 5. In that it maketh glad the conscience and heart 6. In that it is as it were our Viaticum or Refreshment in our Journey to that Celestial Canaan Three things principally are necessary to a fruitful Reception of the Lords Supper 1. Purity and Holiness Lev. 19.2 Be ye Holy as I am Holy And this may be taken in two words First To be sorry and humble for past and present sins and resolve in the Strength of Christ against sins to come Secondly To abandon all hatred and malice because it is a Sacrament of Love 2. A right intention in communicating 1. Not Customarily 2. Not Men-pleasingly 3. Not Appearing outwardly 3. Actual Devotion viz. 1. To endeavour to pray without distraction 2. To be Spiritually ellevated Christ-ward in Affection in his Ordinance 3. To come with Humility and devout Reverence After Receiving the Holy Sacrament 1. Give thanks to Christ the Author for the vouchsafing it to thee 2. Be careful for the future more and more to keep up his Worship 3. Intreat him to abide with thee to the end of the World and so to Eternity A Soliloquy concerning the Blessed Sacrament Quest For what cause do I receive this Institution or Ordinance of God Answ 1. To the end I may regard and dutifully keep Christs most Holy Institution 2. To demonstrate my self a Member of the same Body whereof he is the Head 3. That I may receive this Sovereign Repast to the Corroborating of my Faith and the Health of my Soul Quest What do I Receive Answ The Body and Blood of Christ after a Divine and Celestial Manner Quest What profit have I by the receiving of the same Answ Increase of Grace Assurance of Gods Love as a Pledge of an Eternal Inheritance purchased for me in Heaven Quest Why do I often Communicate Answ Because I hope I am one of Gods Children and therefore desire to come often unto him as a God in Covenant and Father in Christ Quest After what manner ought I to come Answ By Faith and Repentance with a fixed Resolution to serve and obey him in Holiness and Righteousness according to that Ability he shall beslow on me as long as I live Quest What should I observe before I have access to the Lords Supper Answ Doubtless I ought to examine my own Heart what sins I stand guilty of in the sight of God and earnestly to beg of God both to discover them to me and mortifie them in me being the sole Work of God and humble me for them 2. Stedfastly to confide in Christ for a Pardon of these things judging him only able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him for so it is in his Word and to work in me what is promised in his Word 3. To Consider that I ought to come prepared to such an Holy Ordinance because it is Commanded in Gods Word Let a Man examine himself c. 4. To Consider that Prayer is the best means whereby I can be sitted for the receiving of such a Sacrament 5. To be much in the Meditation of the Passion of Jesus Christ his Resurrection and of my rising with him unto a newness of Life a Life of Holiness here and in seeking life hereafter If ye then be risen with him seek those things that are above 6. To consider that these Elements viz. Bread and Water that I am preparing to receive are so to be received as the Body and Blood of Christ by Faith whereby his Death is shewed forth and the worthy Receivers are not Corporally and Carnally but Spiritually partakers of the same Body and Blood with all his benefits to their Spiritual Nourishment and growth in Grace In a word I or any other that would worthily partake of this Lords Supper must examine our selves of our knowledge to discern the Lords Body of our Faith to feed upon him of our Repentance Love and New Obedience least coming unworthily we eat and drink Judgment to our selves A Prayer before the Communion O Glorious and Omnipotent God behold I an unworthy wretch am presuming to draw nigh thy Table a Banquet of thine appointment I am approaching I say but as the Patient to the Physician as the Unclean to the fountain of Mercy as the Blind to the light of Eternal Brightness as a poor Begger to the King of Mercy as the Naked to the Lord of Heaven and Earth I beseech thee out of the abundance of thy Pity to heal my Infirmity to wash my Foulness to enlighten my Darkness and Blindness to enrich my Poverty to cloth my Nakedness that I may receive the Bread of Angels O thou the King of Kings and Lord of Lords grant that I may receive thee with such respect and reverence with such contrition and fear with such faith and purity with such a purpose and humility as is expedient for my Soul Lord notwithstanding mine unworthiness give me not only the Sacrament but the vertue of the Sacrament and grant me so to receive the Body and Blood of thy only Son that I may be incorporated into the Mystical Body and be accounted as a Member of the same Grant that whom I now receive as it were covered with a vail I may one day behold in Glory who liveth and reigneth with thee and thy Holy Ghost world without end Amen A Thanks giving after the Communion BLessed Jesus Praises is due to thy self for that infallible love of thine that by thy death didst redeem mankind I beseech thee suffer not that precious Body of thine to be broken nor thy Blood to be shed for me in vain O let thy Blessed and Sacred Body feed my Soul and precious Blood quicken my spirit and by increasing from one degree to another I may become a fit member of thy Church which is thy Mystical Body and grant that I may never depart from it nor break that league that I have been renewing at thy Table but