to single at least some one passage or more out of it to be laid up in your Memory and to be made use of in the practice of an holy life III. That in this time of retirement you lay all things aside that may divert you from Holy and Heavenly thoughts considering that you set your self in the presence of God that you are to give him an account of what you are doing w ch that you may the better do you may begin with this Prayer A Prayer upon the Entrance into your Closet O My great and gracious God whose infinite mercy it is that I have this minute of my life left me I here appear in thy presence lamenting sadly that so much of my time is already lost either in doing ill or doing nothing or in doing that which hath been unprofitable and vain O grant that I may redeem the hours that are past dispose of those that are to come in serving thee hereafter with a devout heart earnest and passionate affections draw me off more and more from the pleasures and vanities of this life that I may the better settle my wavering and divided Soul upon thee alone and since at this time I have here retired my self that I might the more freely commune with my own heart and meditate on thine only Word let thy Blessed Spirit assist me that I may not only barely remember what I read but digest it into the practice of an holy Life to the comforts of my soul and the Glory of thy Name through Jesus Christ Amen Prayers towards Bed time I. LET my Prayer O Lord be set forth in thy sight as the Incense and let the lifâ—ing up of my hands be as an Evening Sacrifice For thou O Lord hast granted me thy loving kindness in the day-time and therefore in the night-season I will think on thee and make my prayer to the God of my life O thou that saidest Let therebe light and there was light open mine eyes that I sleep not in death Make me to commune with my own heart upon my bed and to search out all my ways That I may lament my sins as thy servant David did and cry unto thee for mercy Consider and hear me O God and hide me under the shadow of thy wings and let my soul rest in thee Amen II. Blessed art thou O God who makest the out-goings of the Morning and Evening to praise thee Who hast not cut off my life this day nor shut me up in the grave where all things are forgotten I will not suffer therefore my eyes to sleep nor my eye-lids to slumber till I have prepared my heart for my God to rest in For thou art my God from my youth thou hast numbred out my days and nights that I might serve thee thou givest thy beloved sleep and makest them that fear thee to rest in safety Thou deliverest me from the terrors of the night and from the evil that walketh in darkness Return then unto thy rest O my soul for God taketh care for thee Amen III. Lord let me make my Prayer unto thee in an acceptable time Teach me to remember thee in my bed and to think of thee when I am waking O thou Watchman of Isreal that neither slumberest nor sleepest watch over me this night Give thy Angels charge over me that the spirits of darkness may not come near me That no evil thoughts may betray me nor any sad or sinful dreams disturb my quiet For into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me O keep then what thou hast redeemed and let not thy servant for whom thou hast died perish for ever Amen A short Prayer O GOD my everlasting keeper blessed be thy Name for evermore for thou madest me when I was nothing thou redeemedst me when I was worse than nothing thou hast so multiplied thy mercies on me through all the minutes of my life that the Sun hath never yet rose or set upon me without new Blessings from thee And as thou hast done so much for me already for which I pour out my very Soul in thankfulness so in the same degree of lowest humility I humbly beseech thee to continue thy care of me this night and so to shadow me under the Wings of thy Protection that neither visible nor invisible Enemies neither sin nor danger may approach to hurt me That so when the joyful Light of the day shall return again I may rise in safety with an unspotted Soul and a Body fitted to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost even so Lord Jesu Amen Amen Is any afflicted let him pray The Complaint of an afflicted Soul I. BEhold O Lord I am as a bruised reed before thee O break it not I am as smoaking flax O Lord quench it not Send down from on high and visit me Save me out of many waters that are come into my Soul For I have been left unto thee ever since I was born Thou hast been my God even from my Mothers womb O go not then far from me for trouble is near at hand and there is none to help me The sorrows of my heart are enlarged O bring thou me out of all my troubles Thou hast formerly been my succour leave me not now neither forsake me O God of my salvation For from the ends of the Earth will I call unto thee when my heart is in heaviness O forgive all the offences of thy servant which have justly brought these bitter things upon me Take away at last all thy displeasure and turn away from thy wrathful Indignation Arise and help me and deliver me for thy Mercies sake O God make speed to save me O Lord make hast to help me II. IN the time of my trouble I will call upon thee O God in my heaviness I will cry unto thee and unto thee alone For whom have I in Heaven but thee or whom shall I desire on earth in comparison of thee My flesh and my heart fails me but thou art the strength of my heart and my portion for ever But how long wilt thou forget me Lord for ever How long wilt thou hide away thy face from me How long shall I seek counsel in my soul and my spirit be thus troubled within me In my Prosperity I said I shall never be moved But as soon as thou didst hide away thy face from me I was troubled But will the Lord absent himself for ever Will he be no more intreated Hath God forgotten to be gracious or will he shut up his loving kindness in displeasure Alas innumerable troubles are come upon me They have laid such hold upon me that I am not able to look up There is no strength left in me O my God neither know I what to do but mine eyes are towards thee I am troubled above measure help me O God or else I shall sink under the burthen O consider what thou hast laid upon me forsake
divine Love able to enflame the Will with fervent Affections and keep us from damps of coldness and indevotion And when we have thus put our selves into the presence of God with an awful Reverence and Adoration of him as present we have then mounted the first step and degree of this Ladder O Heavenly Father who hearest the Prayers of all that seek Thee purifie the Intention of my Soul in all the Prayers I make to Thee that I may neither seek nor desire any thing but in relation to Thee through IESUS CHRIST Amen THe second step or act of the Soul is To look to the directing of the Intention to fix it entirely upon God and take it off from all earthly things For as the least Grain and Atom of dust offends the eye so this Intention admits of no mixture no vanity of being seen or heard at your Prayers no curiosity of thinking to climb up by this Ladder into the secrets of God no spiritual Pride in reflecting upon your self as more devout than others for as it must be sincere so it must be humble directed to the Glory of God alone which in this ascent of your Soul must be always in your eye as the Centre in which all the lines of Prayer must meet But then this Intention of the Supplicant must be accompanied with some Offering too For it was Gods Command to his People that none should come into his presence with empty hands Being therefore come into his presence deal generously and freely with him offer him the thing which he most desires even thy heart with all the thoughts and affections of it to be disposed by him not only during the time of Prayer but for all thy life For this Offering of thy Heart to God if it makes way for thy Prayer and breaks through those Clouds which thy sins have interposed between God and thee O Eternal God who for all those Infinite Blessings which thou hast bestowed on me requirest nothing back of me but my Heart Behold I offer up to thee the Heart which Thou demandest And since it is now Thine fill it with Thy Gifts and adorn it with thy Graces that every beating every pulse of it may be a Prayer and every Prayer being kindled by Thy holy Spirit may be a Sacrifice fitted for Thine Altar through Iesus Christ. Amen AFter this Offering the next step is by raising the Understanding and the awakening of our Faith to a due consideration of that which you are about Being therefore retired into thine Oratory make these few Questions to thine own Soul and engage thy self to an answer O my Soul Wherefore art thou retired into this place What is thy Design What thy Pretension Where is thy God whom thou comest to Treat with Is he present Doth he hear thee Or is he merciful Will he help thee What is thy business thou art to negotiate Is it the saving of thy Soul or the satisfying of thine earthly Desires What words wilt thou use to move thy God to hear thee What humble gestures What profound reverence Answer thy self briefly to every one of these Interrogatories as thy own Conscience dictates to thee For by this discourse made with thy self thou shalt be the better prepared to discourse with God But to make this preparation the more compleat the quality of the Persons engaged in this Treaty is necessarily to be weighed Consider therefore first with my self who thou art that makest thy approaches to speak with God That thou art but dust and ashes Abraham himself was no more Consider again the motives that may drive thee to this duty Thy sins many thy strength little thy self nothing thy dangers great thy case the same with the Disciples in the Storm when they cried out Master save us or else we perish For he that really lays these three things to heart 1. The extreme necessity that he is in 2. The small possibility of help either from himself or any other Creature 3. The high importance of that which he is about that it is as much as his Soul is worth will never dare to come coldly and carelesly to a work of that concernment Having thus far reflected on your own condition you are in the next place to raise the Prospect from your self to the Person you pray to to consider that he is no less than God who clothed himself with light as with a Garment A God infinitely wise from whom nothing can be hid infinitely powerful to whom nothing is impossible infinitely good ready to shed and diffuse and impart his goodness to his Creatures that therefore though his Majesty may terrifie thee yet his Mercy may invite thee especially if you consider God as he is in Christ reconciling you unto himself For as the one may strike a reverence into you so the other will infuse a confidence without which our weak Prayers will never have strength enough to reach the Throne of Grace O My Glorious God Thou art the Holy of Holies but I the Impurest of sinners Thou art Mercy it self I Misery even Misery it self What should I seek farther to know either of thee or my self Let my love of Thee make up the knowledge that is wanting For what should Misery be in love withal but Mercy Or where should Mercy exercise it self but where there is so much Misery THe Understanding being awakened with these Considerations the fourth act of the Soul in relation to Prayer is to rouze the Affection which is seated in the Will This being so necessary an Ingredient in your Prayer that is it but a cold Offering without it The understanding may provide for you this Spiritual food but it is the Will that must taste and swallow and digest it into nourishment the one may make you wise but the other must make you holy The Prophet tells you that the Seraphins in God's presence with two of their wings cover their face and with two other their feet leaving only their breast open which is the seat of Love When therefore you present your selves in the sight of God be sure you so far imitate these Seraphins that though your eyes be vaile you cannot look into his Glory you cannot know him as you would your Breast the seat of your Affections be open to receive and emit those beams of divine love which only can kindle devotion to the height and unite your Soul to God by a most intimate Union But alas you will say those blessed Spirits that are in such a nearness to God may well be all fire and love but you at such a distance cannot find the effects of it the wood lies upon the Altar but you want fire to kindle it all that you can do is to search in the ashes for some small spark to blow at But know you not saith Siracides how great a fire a small spark may kindle The same Spirit of God that moved upon the Waters till it had produced the World moves upon
FIrst you are to remember when you settle to Prayer you then place your self in the presence of God whose eyes are upon all men but especially upon such as call upon him II. Secondly the consideration of his presence is to put you in mind with what humble Reverence both of Soul and Body you ought to appear before so great a Majesty III. Thirdly before you begin to Pray you are to resolve within your self seriously to intend the Duty you are about that your heart may not wander but go along with your Prayers or if through weakness it happen to stray to call it back again and to ask pardon for it in some such short Prayer as this Lord strengthen me and restrain me and lay not this weakness to my charge A Prayer preparative O My dear and blessed Saviour who with so much zeal didst drive out those who turned thy House of Prayer into a Den of Thieves clear at this time the Temple of my Soul from vain and sinful thoughts cast out all wandring Imaginations leave nothing behind that may either disturb or distract me in the performance of this my duty that my Prayers may ascend as Incense and thy Grace and Mercy may descend as Dew to the saving of my Soul and to the glory of thy Name Amen Morning Prayers collected out of the Psalms I. DEfend me O God under thy Wings and keep me safe this day under thy Feathers Give thine Angels charge over me to keep me in all my ways Preserve me as the Apple of thine eye hide me under the shadow of thy Wings That no evil may happen unto me nor no plague come nigh my dwelling Create in me a clean heart and renew a right Spirit within me O hold thou up my goings in thy Path that my footsteps slip not Who can tell how oft he offendeth O cleanse thou me from my secret sins but above all keep me from presumptuous sins lest they get the Dominion over me so shall thy Servant be undefiled and innocent from the great offence Amen II. Unto thee O GOD lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the Heavens Yea unto the Hills will I lift up mine eyes from whence cometh my Salvation For whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee Into thy hands therefore I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of truth Blessed art thou who hast lightned mine eyes that I sleep not in death Who hast delivered me from the terrors of the night and from the evil that walketh in darkness Who hast driven sleep from mine eyes and slumber from my eye-lids Thou art my God and I will thank thee thou art my God and I will praise thee Amen III. O Lord thou hast searched me out and known me thou seest my down-lying and uprising Thou understandest my thoughts long before For thou art about my path and about my bed and spiest out all my ways Through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born thou art he that took me out of my Mothers womb my praise shall be always of thee Lead me then O Lord in thy Righteousness and make thy way plain before my face Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee for thou art my God let thy loving Spirit lead me forth into the ways of Righteousness Shew thy servant the light of thy countenance and save me this day for thy mercies sake Amen IV. My voice shalt thou hear betimes O Lord early in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee For thou art the thing that I long for thou art my hope from my youth O be thou a place to hide me in and compass me about with Songs of Deliverance For all the earth is full of darkness and cruel Habitations Set me up therefore upon the Rock that is higher than I and I will not fear what man can do unto me For thou alone canst deliver my Soul from death mine eyes from tears and my feet from falling Osatisfie me therefore with thy mercy and that soon that I may rejoice in thee all the days of my life Lead me forth in thy truth and learn me for thou art the God of my Salvation in thee shall be my hope all the day long Amen V. Set a Watch this day O Lord before my mouth and keep the door of my lips Turn away mine eyes that they behold no vanity and let not mine heart be inclined to any evil thing Teach me thy way O Lord and I will walk in thy truth O knit my heart unto thee that I may fear thy Name Order my steps in thy Word that no wickedness may have dominion over me Hide me privily by thine own presence from the provoking of all men Keep me secretly in thy Tabernacle from the strife of Tongues For I will set thee always before me thou shalt be on my right hand therefore I shall not greatly fall Thou hast been my succour Leave me not neither forsake me O God of my Salvation But let thy merciful kindness be this day upon me like as I do put my trust in thee Glory be to the Father c. As it was in the beginning c. Amen A Thanksgiving to God for his Protection in the night O Most gracious GOD whose eyes have been open over me when mine were shut and under the shadow of whose wings I have past this night in safety I do with all possible thankfulness humbly acknowledge it as thy great mercy that thou hast not taken away my soul this night as in justice thou mightest have done but hast given me respite and afforded me one day more to call upon thy Name O Lord make me ashamed of my former unthankfulness and wound my heart with the consideration of mine own dulness whom so many favours have not wrought unto more obedience Give me grace to consecrate the rest of my life unto thy service and to redeem the time at least which I cannot recall And O thou who turnest the shadow of Death into the light of the Morning enable me powerfully to cast off all the Works of Darkness and to keep my body and soul spotless and unblameable And as thou hast brought me to the Comforts of this day So go along with me I beseech thee through all the parts and minutes of it that in all my ways being guided by thy counsel here I may hereafter be received into thy glory even for the merits of my dearest Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen A Morning Prayer O My dear Lord and Maker from whom alone I look for blessing continue I beseech thee to be the guide of my life counsel me govern me lead me in the way that I should go or else I shall wander from thee into infinite Errors O possess then all my bodily senses that my sinful affections may find no place Leave me no more to my own weakness
me not when my strength fails me But in the multitude of my sorrows that are in my heart let thy comforts be the refreshing of my soul. O my God the more weak I am the more let thy strength be made known in my weakness And suffer no temptation to seize upon me but such as thou shalt give me grace to overcome O Lord hear my Prayer And let my cry come unto thee Amen sweet Jesu Amen Amen The Prayer O My dear God and most merciful Father who hast not only directed but encouraged me in all my troubles to call upon thee Hear I beseech thee the complaints that I now make and the Prayers which I pour forth in the anguish and bitterness of my spirit for thou hast shewn me heavy things O God And in the midst of all my prosperity hast been pleased to mingle a bitter Cup for me What the troubles of my heart are how heavy they lie upon me how deeply they wound me I need not labour to express to thee for all my comfort is that nothing is hid from thee For not only the Blessings which thou hast poured upon me through all the minutes and moments of my Life but the Afflictions which I now groan under come from the same hand to rouse me and awake me to a more devout and earnest way of serving thee And since it is thy own work look down with the more pity on this wounded Soul of mine See O my God how I pant and labour under the heavy scourge of thy displeasure a scourge which my own sins have twisted and mine own iniquities have drawn down upon me But O my dear Father to whom it is more easie to do all things than for me to ask any thing that is good Thou that hast promised to all them that love thee that they shall not be tempted farther than they are able Give I beseech thee that measure of grace and patience to thy sad and afflicted Servant that I may not only endure what thou layest upon me but entirely willingly and chearfully submit my will to thine And O thou God of Comfort and Spirit of all Consolation be not only with me but with all of my Relations that mourn in secret either for their own sins or sufferings or whatsoever Bitterness thou shalt think fit to lay upon us O teach us all to look up to the hand from whence these Judgments come to kiss and to adore it And when thou hast done so let thy mercy go one step further with me and compose my troubled mind into such a calm that none of my Sufferings whatsoever they are or may be may either make me repine at thy Judgments or despair of thy mercies but rather let all that is afflictive to me serve only to wean me from the World and to draw me the nearer to thee but because this cannot be done without thee O thou Preserver of the Children of Men behold I throw my self and all that is dear to me clearly and intirely into thine arms to do with me whatsoever shall be good in thine eyes And therefore amidst all the unquiet thoughts which now trouble and disorder me say unto me as thou didst to thy Disciples in the Storm Fear not for it is I. Or else if thou shalt find it better for me that I should find no calm abroad in the midst of the various changes and chances of this World let me find it at least in my own breast and bosom and possess my soul in patience whatever other storms thou shalt please to raise against me that so placed under the shadow of thy wings and refreshed here with the comforts of thy Spirit I may long earnestly for that blessed day when all tears shall be wiped from mine eyes and all sorrows shall be forgotten Grant this O my God for thy Son's sake who sits at thy right hand to meditate for me Grant it for thy Holy Spirit 's sake who pleads for me and all that love thee with Groans that cannot be expressed Grant it for thy own sake O my God who art never more thy self than when in the midst of Judgment thou remembrest Mercy Amen Amen Amen FINIS Joh. 17. 5. Psal. 2. 8. Luke in 21 22. Luke 9. 28. Mat. 17. â— Mark ix 3. Mark ix 5. Psal. lxvl. 13. Mat. xvil Dan. 6. Gen. xxxii 24. Hos. xii 4. Luke xi 5. Ephes. vi 12. 18. Matth. xvii 16. 21. Tob. viii 3. Lam. iii. 44. Isa. i. 13. 14. 15. 16. 18. Exod. xxxiii 20. Dan. vi Luke x. 41. Gen. XV. 11. Matth. viii 9. Eccles. xvlli 22. Lam. iii. 44. 1 Kings xviii Esther ii 12. 1 Kings XIX 13. Matth. vi 6. Mark XIV 15. Psalm lxxxvili l. Cxli. 2 xxviii 2. xiii 1 2. xxviii 1. Mal. i. 6. Ecclus. xxxv 17. Heb. v. 7. Luke xxii 41. Matth. xxvi 39. Heb. i. 6. Rev. v. 8. 14. John iv 24. Isa xxix 13. Matth. xv 8. Gen. xviii 29. 30. 1 Cor. VI. 19 20. Gen. xvii 3. Deut. ix 18. 1 Kings xviii 42. 1 Kings viii 22. Acts vii 60. 20. 36. Matth. xxvi 30. Isa. xiv 23. Mark vi 5 Luke xviii 13. 2 Chron. vi 13. Exod. xvii 11.