never expect any gracious returns from a Just and Wise God who would not admit neither the Blind nor the Lame to draw near to his Holy Altar to offer Sacrifice tho' of the Priestly Race Levit. 21.18 If under the Law the want of these Members excluded Men from God's Service how much the rather under the Gospel when the noblest Member is wanting the Heart and its Affections A Gospel Worship must be an hearty Worship that only is sufficient to obtain acceptance It was God's Complaint of Israel that they honoured God with their Lips whilst their heart was far from him They are guilty of the same Formality who frequently attend at Prayers without causing their hearts to be concerned in the Devotion it should be therefore our care to stir up our affections with all the considerations of want necessity future advantage experience duty God's presence and whatever may have the greatest influence upon us Fifthly And that our Affections may be the more inflamed we must kindle them with an Holy Zeal which must burn not so much with the sense of want as with an earnest and unfeigned desire to Glorifie our Maker however both may very well contribute to inflame our Affections in the Divine Worship of our God in Prayer Now this Zeal needful in all our Addresses is that holy violence that strains our Affections in religious Duties and gives that perfection to the Action which otherwise they would want it is accompanied with a dissidence of our selves and a strong resolution to worship God with the utmost of our endeavours it is quickned by the fears and apprehensions of being guilty of that prophane sloathfulness which might displease our gracious God and stop the current of his Mercy it sills the Soul full of Jealousie which awakens all its faculties and powers to the performance of the present Duty And as our great Saviour when he expell'd the Merchants and Money-Changers out of his Temple at Jerusalem was animated by a Divine Zeal for God's Glory so a Christian that is govern'd by the same Spirit and Zealous Affection for his God drives out of his mind all worldly Business and considerations of Profit and Advantage that God may be worshipped in this Spiritual Temple the Soul without the interruption and clamours of our sensual and secular Interests where Sin and the Devil commonly insinuate themselves too much John 2.16 Sixthly As there is a care to be taken of our persons and manner of offering up our Prayers that they may be in some measure answerable to God's glorious Perfections and our own vile and mean Estate we must likewise mind the things that we petition for that they be not contrary to God's revealed or secret Will God's Will must regulate ours in all our actions for Christ our Saviour teacheth us by his Blessed Example to be instrumental in as well as desirous of the performance of God's will on Earth and Reason tells us that God being the supreme Agent the great Maker and Protector of the World the Lord and Redeemer of Mankin'd that all our Inclinations and Wills ought to yield homage to his Pleasure in which submission there is this advantage arising to our selves thereby we compass and attain unto the end of all our desires an infallible happiness for the best self-interest is a submission to that wise Agent who is engaged to promote our Felicity and his Glory together according to his promise Rom. 8.28 If in other actions of our life God's Will should be the Rule of our desires how much the rather in that weighty and religious action of Prayer where the Soul and the Body together are to summon all their Faculties and Members for the worshipping of their great Creator and Benefactor for the chief intent of this performance is the magnifying of God's glorious Attributes which we can never do if we suffer any of our desiers to oppose his Will or contradict his Wisdom or question his Alsufficiency and Goodness The want of his Mercy should cause thee O Man to yield to his Wisdom and Power if thou expectest a favourable return from his Bounty thou must learn to court it by a dutiful submission to his Wisdom and Governance both in the things that thou desirest and in the expectation of the time which he judges most seasonable to grant thee thy requests All impatiency in Prayer is guilty of indiscretion of prophane folly of disrespect and disesteem of God's Wisdom and Mercy In this and in all other acts of Devotion Men must learn to prefer his Glory whose goodness they want to the satiating of their own craving and importunate Appetites and to give a check to the furious desires of our corrupt Nature when we find them proceeding beyond the Bounds limited by God and his Will and our real happiness which commonly are unseparable But there is a difference to be observed according to the difference of the things that we desire from God For Spiritual Mercies for Faith Grace Regeneration Strength against Sin Truth Wisdom Knowledge and other Blessings relating to God's immediate Glory and our own Salvation a Petitioner can never be too earnest zealous and impatient Such advantages are to be wrested if I may so speak from our good God by our continual and fervent Prayers Violence condemned in other things is approved of by Christ himself in such as intend to be partakers of Heaven's Kingdom and an Holy importunity in Prayer never returns without a grant of the Request when we ask the divine Riches of God's Grace unless we have like Esau forfeited before all pretensions to it for God is as willing to bestow them as we to seek them and their excellency is such that Men can never have and desire them too much As David therefore whose Soul was insatiable on Earth for Grace and divine Mercies let us not give our selves any rest until we have obtained these Riches and Ornaments of the Soul and the assurances of God's favour But as Earthly prosperity and Blessings relating to our better conveniency on Earth are not of such a value and importance our Requests for these things must be qualified accordingly and because in some Rules they may be prejudicial to our everlasting Interest we are to beg them always with a condescention to the Will and Wisdom of our great God who knows what is best for us and most conducing to our real good To desire them too passionately or without any such condescention is to Idolize the Creature and to prefer it before the Creator it is to give to those Earthly and mean things that affection which is due to God alone and his divine Mercies Nature I confess will be always craving and the sense of our wants will cause us to cry aloud for a relief and remedy but a good Christian must give a check to those natural motions in imitation of Christ our Saviour whose Humanity was loth to taste of the bitter Cup that was prepared for him
profession of that pure Religion in which we have had the happiness to be instructed Give us all grace to value and prize this thy great Mercy that we are Christians and such Christians as have the benefits of thy sacred Oracles O let us not be so unworthy to forsake that Religion in which only we are to expect Salvation Give us Grace to follow the Blessed Rules of good living that we have learned keep us from sin and of all sins chiefly from the sins against our own Consciences and knowledge Give us peaceable Minds quiet dispositions with a willing resignation of our selves to thy Wise Providence in all things wean our Hearts and Affections from the World let not its Vanities possess any longer our affections Let the knowledge that all things shall work together for our good cause us to submit without murmuring to all the Crosses that we may meet with And as our time here below is but of a short continuance give us grace to mind our latter end to prepare for our dissolution betimes to live always in expectation of another and a more happy life where we shall never see neither Sorrow nor Pain Bless us we beseech thee in our Callings prosper us in all our lawful endeavours to serve our Generation And let us so demean our selves in our bodily and daily Employments as that we may not forget in them to serve and glorifie thee our God which is the great and chief Employment of our lives Suffer us not to mispend our precious Talents but according to our Abilities and thy Mercies let us so dispose of them of what kind soever they be that thy Truth and Holy Name may be glorified thereby and the ends for which thou hast given them answered Bless this Family now prostrate before thee with our years increase all our Graces sanctifie and prepare us for thy Enjoyment purifie and cleanse our Hearts and mercifully continue and augment all thy Blessings upon us Take into thy protection and favour the tender and weaker part of it the Infants and Children provide we beseech thee for the welfare of their Souls as well as for their Bodies imprint thy holy fear in their Hearts that they may glorifie thee in their Lives Bless all our Relations wheresoever they be dispersed let thy Mercy and Truth guide them all the days of their Lives Bless this Nation unto which we belong punish us not according to our just deservings and provocations lay not upon us the guilt of innocent Blood But pardon the extravagancy of our lives and cause a real Reformation to be practised as well as professed amongst us thou givest us Temporal Mercies in abundance continue thy Spiritual to us suffer not our Enemies to deprive us of thy Truth and Gospel watch over us and disappoint all their wicked purposes for our Ruine and give us all Hearts to be truly thankful for the many Favours Blessings Mercies and Deliverances which from time to time in all Ages thou hast heaped upon us and our Forefathers Bless more especially the person of our gracious Prince and thine anointed grant him a long and a prosperous reign guard him from the barbarous purposes of all Murderers save him from all their Plots and Conspiracies direct him in his Councils prosper him in his Designs and give him and us all Grace to lay seriously to heart thy merciful proceedings towards us Bless all his Relations enlighten them with thy Truth sanctifie them with thy Grace and direct them by thy Spirit that they may embrace as well as know thy Sacred Truth and govern themselves according to its Holy Precepts Bless thy Church dispersed throughout the whole World preserve every Member of it from the Malice of the Devil and his Agents increase daily the number of its true Professors Let thy Gospel and thy Salvation be published in all Nations bring back the Jews and accomplish the number of the Gentiles and open the Understandings of all Men that they may see the reasonableness and excellency of that Religion which Christ hath recommended to us and not only see it but embrace and practise it setting aside all prejudice and partiality Turn the Hearts of our greatest Enemies subdue our unruly Affections reconcile our Differences publick and private and give us all Grace that we may truly serve and glorifie thee in our Lives All this we beg for the Merits and by the Mediation of our most Blessed Lord and Saviour in whose Words we sum up all our imperfect Petitions in that most perfect Form which he hath taught us OUR Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread And forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from all Evil. For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen THe Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the Love of God the Father and the comfortable Fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all evermore Amen Another Morning Prayer for a Family when Business is urgent O Merciful God and Heavenly Father by whose goodness we are yet alive Thy Holy Name be praised for the safety and quiet repose of our Bodies the last Night and for our preservation until this moment which we acknowledge to be a Mercy proceeding from thy Power and Providence We are sensible O Lord of our own weakness and frailty unable of our selves to withstand the assaults of our Spiritual and Corporal Enemies from thy Mercy therefore we humbly Beg this and all other Blessings needful for our Souls and Bodies that thou wouldest be pleased to be gracious to us and forgive us our Sins and protect us from all dangers in the following course of our lives defend our Souls from all assaults of Sin and Satan keep us in the Profession and Practice of thy Holy Religion without wavering strengthen our Mindes with a Divine Knowledge and our Wills with thy Celestial Grace that neither Error nor Vice may be able to prevail upon us Defend also our Bodies from all the Snares that are laid for us Let our lives be precious in thy sight sanctifie all thy Mercies to us and the more we are loaden with thy Temporal Blessings let us be so much the more thankful and ready to obey thy Holy Laws send down thy Blessing upon all our actions and endeavours in the Callings in which thy Providence hath placed us As our chief aim is the Promotion of thy Glory be pleased to assist us in the advancing of it Preserve our Minds from all inward troubles murmurings and disturbances and arm us we beseech thee with that unchangeable Spirit as may contemn the Losses and Crosses of the World for that purpose captivate our affections to thee and thy Service take possession of our Hearts and suffer them not to dote too much
thee for ever and ever Come Lord Jesus come quickly receive me into thy Sacred Embraces I will wait thy leisure send thine Holy Angels to convey my Soul into thy gracious presence that I may rejoyce for ever with thine Elect and glorifie thy Mercy Ease me of my grievous pains relieve my sorrowful Soul comfort it with a Beam of thy Countenance Thou hast redeemed it O my sweet Jesus receive it as thine own purchase I yield it up unto thee Turn my sorrows into joys my sufferings and agony into pleasures laid up at thy right hand Assist me with thine intercession and plead for me O my Heavenly Advocate Amen A Meditation and Prayer for such as are going to the Publick Assemblies to hear the word of God O Eternal Wisdom what a mercy is this to Instruct and Teach us at our Doors to enable enlighten inspire and send Messengers so near our Dwellings to direct us in the right way of Eternal Happiness What a condescention is this to speak to us in our own Language according to our Capacities by Men whose presence express nothing but meekness and love was it not sufficient O blessed God that thou shouldest open to us the large Book of Nature to inform us of thy Will and Sacred Laws by so many Characters imprinted in every thing that is made was it not sufficient for our Learning to shew us thy pleasure in the several leaves of another Book of Providence opened to us wide every day of our Life but must thy tender compassion of our Natural ignorance unmindfulness and wilful corruption teach us by such plain easie and excellent methods so full of kindness and love Must the repetition be so frequent must thou so often visit and call upon us to study and meditate upon the Divine Matters Certainly our minds are too much wedded to the World and too much enclined to irregular actions seeing thou hast judged needful to repeat so often to us our Duties and we want every weeks instruction to withdraw our contemplation from Evil and Vanity Should not our diligence answer in some respect thy continual Care O Merciful Wisdom and as frequently meet thee as we are called upon by these Publick Summons Doubtless the business that we are to mind is of importance seeing my Creator thinks necessary to interpose his Divine Authority and to speak to us himself though by the tongue of a Mortal Man With what reverence and dread ought I to approach the gracious presence of my God who vouchsafes to speak and instruct me in such a loving manner His Word and Laws should not in reason have the less power and impression upon me because of his condescention to my weakness and Capacity Should I despise the mercies of my God that are so great and wonderful delivered to me in earthen vessels O Blessed and Heavenly Wisdom I am called away from my Temporal Affairs to wait upon thee and hearken to the Divine Matters that shall be proposed which relate to my Eternal Interest Their excellency requires my attention and diligent enquiry for this supernatural knowledge which is able to save my Soul Here thou dost reveal unto me what I am and what I should be and what I shall be Here are discovered the admirable Mysteries of the Holy Trinity and Unity of the Incarnation and Redemption Here thou dost unbosome thy self to mortal Creatures and shewest the tenderness of thine affection to us Here I may have a prospect of the unspeakable riches of Heaven and see the Glories that are laid up for me in thine Eternal Sanctuary These are Matters worthy of the Angels prying into these are Meditations fit for the Heavenly Spirits and shall I neglect or despise them shall I idle away this precious moment designed for the benefit of mine immortal Soul My gracious God cause me to increase in Grace and in the Divine knowledge of my Redemption enlighten mine Understanding with a clear apprehension of the Heavenly Truths Sanctifie the outward preaching of thy word that it may be effectual and able to work upon my will Give me an attentive ear and an obedient heart willing to submit to and practise whatsoever thou shalt command Deliver me from the ill consequences of Errors Partiality and Prejudice and make me truly thankful to thee for this great Blessing Remove not thy Gospel from us but save us from the pernicious Plots of the Antichristian Heresie Unite all of us in our Worship and Church that we may study to preserve the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace And being all together united now in the Church Militant we may be all the more ready and prepared to enter in due time into the Church Triumphant into that Glorious Kingdom of Love and Peace where our Sanctification shall be compleated our Knowledge perfected and our Employment for ever shall be to Celebrate and Sing forth thy Praises with the Chorus of Heavenly Spirits Amen A Prayer for Souldiers before a Fight O Lord of Hosts Creator and Preserver of the World look upon us in mercy at this time that we are going to hazard our Lives for the Honour an Interest of our King and Kingdom and for the Glory of thy Name and the Preservation of thy true Religion amongst us We are confident in the Justice and Equity of our Cause against these disturbers of the peace and happiness of Mankind Good God assist us with Victory and Success strengthen our Courages give us Undaunted Spirits stand by thine own Cause and such as Fight for the Preservation of thy Church and Kingdom We trust not upon our selves nor upon our numbers and resolutions but upon thy Providence and Celestial Vertue which we beseech thee to send unto us in the midst of danger suffering us not to betray the trust repose in us by any weakness or fear we know that thine Almighty hand and all-seeing eye disposes of all things and that no violence can hurt us without thy Commission O Merciful God let our Lives be precious in thy sight preserve our Persons from the violence of the shot and sharpness of the Enemies Weapons that we may yet live to praise thee and serve thee in our Generations in that station of Life unto which we are called We trust it is not unpleasing to thee who vouchsafest to be named the God of Armies and seeing the necessity of the Kingdom unto which we belong requires it Bless us therefore we pray thee O merciful Saviour in these our undertakings assist our General and Officers with Wisdom and Skill and all of us with an undaunted Spirit and entire dependance upon thy will and disposal Whatever happens to these Bodies of Clay which we are willing to Sacrifice for thy Glory look in mercy upon our precious Souls pardon and forgive the former weaknesses of our lives accept of the blood of our Surety and Redeemer for us and for his sake receive our immortal Beings into thy favour and Celestial