justifying and rewarding the righteous Q. Who is the Holy ghost A. The third person of the sacred Trinity proceding from the Father and the Son being one God with the Father and the Son Q. Why is the Divine Spirit called Holy A. Not only as he is holy in himself but also as it is his peculiar office to make men holy Q. What hath he done or still continues to do toward the making men holy A. He hath revealed the will of God in the holy Scriptures and carries on the interest and design of Christ in the world by turning mens hearts from the world to God from sin to holiness Q. For what reasons do you believe that the holy Scripture was wrote by men inspired by the Holy ghost A. Because the Doctrines of it are so worthy of God and have the confirmation of such miracles Q. Is the will of God perfectly revealed in Scripture A. God hath so perfectly revealed his will and our duty therein that nothing ought to be required of us either to be believed or practised as necessary to salvation which is not plainly contained in this his holy word Q. Are there not some Traditions as needful as the Scripture and of equal value with it A. We need no Traditions beside the Scripture but the Tradition or delivery of Christian Religion and the Holy Scriptures from one generation to another ever since the time of Christ and his Apostles gives us great assurance of their truth and helps us to judge what books belong to the Canon of Scripture and what do not Q. How does the Holy Ghost carry on the work of Christ upon the souls of men A. By enlightning their minds to discern the vanity of the world and the evil of sin and thereby enclining them to come to Christ that through him they may be reconciled to God and made happy in his love Q. How does the Spirit work these â—ffects upon the Soul A. By opening our hearts to attend to the word wherein our duty with the motives to it is revealed and by keeping the truths thereof upon our minds till they become effectual to our conversion though the way of its working cannot be distinctly told Q. Can a man be saved without the help of the Spirit A. No for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his Q. To what end is the spirit so necessary A. Both to implant grace in our hearts and to confirm and encrease the same to comfort and guide us to strengthen us against temptations and to help us in the performance of all duties Q. To whom do we owe the praise of any good thing wrought in us or performed by us A. To the Spirit of God who works in us both to will and to do Q. But where lies the fault if men live all their days in sin and are never converted and brought home to God A. Wholly on themselves and not on God in the least Q. But how can that be since his Spirit alone can sanctify them can they help it if they are not sanctified A. Yes for by their sloth and wilfulness they grieve the good Spirit of God and hinder his workings and by their not improving that grace they have already received are themselves the cause why they receive no more Q. Is there then any thing to be done by us in order to our own conversion and salvation A. Yes for God commands us to work out our own salvation Q. What is it that we are to do A. We must hear and read the word of God and consider of it examine our hearts and keep continual watch over our ways and earnestly beg of God his holy Spirit to enable us to do what he requires of us Q. What do you mean when you say you believe the Holy Catholick Church A. I do hereby profess to believe that Jesus Christ hath a Church upon earth made up of all his true and living members which may be called that Body whereof he is the Head Q. Is there not some one Person here in earth appointed to be visible head over this Universal Church who is to be held Christs Vicar on Earth A. We read of no such thing in Scripture and therefore have no reason to believe it but under Christ Princes and Pastours are the Heads and Governours in their respective dominions and Churches Q. Why is this Church called holy A. Because the members thereof are separated from the rest of the world dedicated to God and engaged to holiness in heart and life Q. Who are they that belong to this Church A. As to outward appearance all such who are baptized into the name of Chriâ—t and do credibly profess their belief of the Gospel and their resolution to obey it Q. Who are the true and living members of this Church A. Such whose belief and life is agreeable to their profession Q. Why is it called the Catholique or Universal Church A. To shew that it is not confin'd to any particular place or nation as the Church of the Jews was but is spread abroad over the face of the earth Q. Is it proper then to give the name of Catholick onely to those who are of this or that particular Church or Sect A. No not at all but very unreasonable Q. How is it then that some say that the Church of Rome is the Catholique Church A. There is neither sense nor charity in it since it is as much as to say that one part and a bad one too is the whole and that no man can be a true Christian except he be of the Church of Rome Q. Are not all Christians in the world bound to be subject to the Church of Rome A. No not though it should be Reformed any more than they are bound to be subject to the Church of England or Scotland which are but parts of the Universal Church And many good Christians there were in the world before there was a Church at Rome and many have been since who perhaps never heard of any such place Q. Is it not all one then to be Papists and Catholicks A. Upon no account since Papists how many so ever they be are but a particular Sect of Christians as Anabaptists or Quakers are and a Sect that hath done a world of mischief to the Church of God by their dangerous innovations both in opinion and practice Q. Who then is properly and truly a Catholick Christian A. He that heartily believes all that Jesus Christ hath revealed and sincerely endeavours to do all that he hath commanded is the true Catholick of what Church or nation soever he be Q. What is one of the best signs of such a true Catholick A. To have a great deal of charity for all his fellow Christians though they are not in all things of the same opinion with himself Q.
eat and drink and sleep nor should you any more leave it to them only to pray to God and to read and hear his word since these works of religion are for your own interest even for the health and happiness of your souls as those common actions are for the preserving of your bodily life Moreover I am fully perswaded that if you cast up your accounts right you shall never find your selves one penny the poorer at the years end for having spent every day one quarter or half an hour in prayer to God in reading and meditating on his holy word or in any other such good employment And yet more for your encouragement I dare assure you that at your lives end you shall never repent of the time thus spent no not though it had been twice as much if in all other parts of religion you shall have been equally careful Much more might be said but I shall only add to you that cry out how little time you have and therefore grudge to allow any of it for holy duties I very much suspect that you can every day spend much more than these would take up in idleness and vanity nay perhaps in the Alehouse to the great hurt of body soul and estate Bethink you then soberly when all your time comes to be reckoned for which way of spending it will be most to your comfort and now do accordingly Or if you say you have no time to throw away thus idly yet what a great matter would it be to rise one quarter of an hour sooner than usual and to spend that time in prayer you could do more than this for your own pleasure or for a small profit and shall not the love of God and your duty to him prevail as much with you Nor yet think it will be enough for your excuse to pretend that your employment is of that nature that your Family cannot come together for prayer especially not in the morning which is like to be the plea of the Husbandman rather than the Tradesman This I say will not excuse your neglect since I question not but that by appointing your time of prayer a little earlier or by a prudent contrivance of your affairs you may ordinarily avoid this difficulty This I speak upon good grounds since there are many whose business in the world is as great as yours and their callings the very same who can yet well enough keep up Family prayer without any such inconvenience as you would pretend And what pray should hinder but you may do the same if you have but the same love to God and zeal for his worship that they have But however when some of the Family are necessarily absent let as many come together as can and lay a charge upon your children or servants when at any time they cannot joyn with you in the Family that they be sure to take some time to pray to God by themselves in private for which purpose I have added two shorter Forms for those of the younger sort And indeed I would advise all beside their performance of Family-duties to set apart some little time once in a day at least for their more secret prayer to God which seems plainly enjoyned by our Saviour himself Mat. 6. 6. When thou prayest enter into thy Closet and when thou hast shut thy door pray to thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly Nor can I well see how that man is ever like to hold on in a religious course of life who is not wont thus privately to betake himself to God there to make his particular confessions petitions and returns of praise and to ease himself of whatever burden lies on his mind which before others he cannot so freely do And in these private prayers there is not commonly so much need of a Form all our work now being to express the desires of our own souls to God only even to such a God as looks at the sincerity of the heart and not at the nimbleness or eloquence of our tongues Nor indeed is it likely any Form should fully reach to every mans particular case But your best help will be to get well acquainted with the state of your own souls to know well your sins your temptations your necessities and dangers and to get deeply affected with the sense of your spiritual and eternal concernments and then do but with uprightness and humility represent the very inward sense of your souls to God in the name of his Son Iesus and you shall never fail of acceptance through any weakness of expression Yea remember it is this inward sincerity of heart that must at all times accompany your prayers if ever you hope for acceptance And therefore before I conclude let me make it my earnest request to you that you take special heed to the frame of your hearts whenever you come before God in prayer as in all other holy duties you ought Think it not enough to speak a few good words upon your knees evening and morning with a seeming reverence whilst in the mean time your hearts are never moved or affected with what you are doing This is such a lip-service as neither will be acceptable to God nor will do any good to your selves Leave it to poor ignorant and deluded Papists to number their prayers by their beads and to think they have served God very well when they have patter'd over so many Creeds Pater-nosters and Ave-maries a devotion which a Parrot might go near to learn and sufficiently shews that Ignorance is the Mother of it but you who through the mercy of God do live in a Church where you have been better taught do you shew forth the fruit of your teaching and knowledge and that by offering up to God those services which beseem reasonable creatures and which are suited to the nature of him whom you serve who is a spirit and will be worshiped in spirit and truth who is a living God and will not be put off with a dead carkase with the bare moving of lips the noise of words or posture of the body but will have all the powers and faculties of our souls employed in the duties we perform to him This is part of that reasonable service which he now especially requires from us instead of the sacrifice of beasts and the burden of lifeless ceremonies which were used in the Iewish Church before Christs coming Rom. 12. 1. See then I beseech you that your very hearts and souls go along with your tongues in prayer and let your affections be suited to the several parts thereof This is the true praying in the Spirit whether with or without a Form Let your confession of sin be attended with a deep sorrow and humiliation for it with a bitter hatred of and strong resolutions against it Think what a frame you should be in and what earnestness you should use if begging for your life
of our precious souls And this whilst we have taken on us the name of Christians and have profest to believe all that is revealed in the Gospel Whilst we our selves have spoken much against sin and of the mischief and danger of it yet have we securely allowed our selves in it and have neglected those very duties which we have confest to be just and reasonable and for our own greatest good Whilst we have seemed to contemn this world as vanity our chief business hath been to seek after it and whilst we have spoke much of the joys of heaven and with our tongues have extoll'd them yet we have taken little pains to make sure of them by walking in those ways of holiness which can only bring us to the enjoyment of them Yea these and such like confessions as these have we often made before thee and yet still have continued in the very same temper of mind and course of life which we acknowledge to be so exceeding sinful and dangerous as if we thought it enough for us to condemn our ways without reforming them to confess our sins without forsaking them The very sins of our prayers themselves the hypocrisie we have therein been guilty of is enough for our condemnation Often have we prayed that thou wouldst vouchsafe to keep us without sin and yet presently we our selves have carelesly and wilfully run into it and when we have been begging that the rest of our lives might be pure and holy we have strait-way gone and polluted our selves with impure and ungodly actions And after we have gone from the hearing and reading of thy holy word we have quickly forgotten and disobeyed it What then shall we say unto the most righteous God or wherewith shall we excuse our selves For alas our transgressions are multiplied before thee and our sins they do testify against us And if thou shouldst now be extream to mark what we have done amiss and to deal with us accordingly how then shall we appear in thy presence or whether shall we flee from thy wrath But oh thou that art the Preserver of men ever ready to shew mercy to the humble and penitent look on us poor sinners with an eye of pity and tender compassion And do thou now work in our souls that unfeigned sorrow for the sins we stand guilty of that we may be fitted for mercy and pardon that so iniquity may not be our ruine We come to thee oh God in the most blessed and prevailing name of thy Son Jesus through him our Prince and our Saviour begging both repentance and remission of sins For his sake turn from us thy wrath and receive us into thy favour Let his precious blood which he shed for sinners cleanse us from all unrighteousness And oh that this love which he hath shewn in dying for us may prevail with us to trust our souls with him to love him and obey him that so he may become to us the Author of eternal salvation Oh Lord grant we may never be so wickedly disingenuous and perverse as to encourage our selves in sin because Christ died for sinners as if we might therefore hate him because he hath loved us but make us ever so duly sensible of the ends of his death that we may entirely give up our selves to him who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie us to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Do thou graciously enable us by our holy and unblameable walking to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things and let this grace of thine which hath appeared to the world bringing salvation teach us to deny ungodliness and all worldly lusts and to lead righteous sober and godly lives whilst we are in this present evil world To this end we beseech thee oh God through thy Son Jesus to shed abroad thy holy Spirit into our hearts and thereby to cleanse us from all filthiness of flesh and spirit that we may perfect holiness in thy fear Sanctifie us throughout both in body and soul that we may be holy in heart and life even in all manner of conversation Take off our affections from all things here below and six them on thy blessed self and the glory that is above that we may never be so foolish as to expect happiness from riches pleasures friends or any worldly comforts which are daily decaying and dying away but let us ever trust in and depend upon thee the living God who givest us all the good things we enjoy and who alone canst make us perfectly happy in the enjoyment of thy self for ever Whilst we are here in our travail through the world we only beg of thee such a measure of outward comforts as thou seest most convenient for us and ours Let us have thy blessing with whatever we enjoy and give us patient and contented minds under all thy dealings with us Make us faithful in obeying thy Command first to seek the Kingdom of Heaven and the righteousness thereof and then we know thy promise shall be fulfilled that all other things shall be added to us so as thou seest will be best for us To thy will oh God we desire humbly to resign up our selves and all our affairs only do thou keep us continually in thy fear and favour and then deal with us as seems good in thy sight Encrease in us a sincere love to all men that we may carefully perform our duty to them doing good to all to the utmost of our power but never doing any kind of hurt or wrong to any either in thought word or deed Lord preserve us from envying the richest or despising the poorest and keep us ever free from hatred malice uncharitableness and from all desire of revenge Let thy grace so curb our passion and change our corrupt natures that we may not render evil for evil but may always study to overcome evil with good Whenever we receive injury from others do thou enable us from the heart so to forgive them as we for Christs sake hope to be forgiven by thee Let us all in this Family live in peace and love and in the fear of thy great name faithfully performing our duties one to another in our several Relations Help us oh heavenly Father to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear as Pilgrims and strangers abstaining from those fleshly lusts which war against our souls that laying aside every weight and hindrance we may with patience run the holy Race that is set before us Keep us always mindful of that everlasting state toward which we are daily tending that we may spend this short life as beseems those who know that Death is hasting upon us and that after death comes judgment when thou the righteous God wilt call us to an account for all our deeds done in the body and wilt accordingly dispose of us either to happiness or misery for ever Oh Lord make us in good
from all immodest looks unchast thoughts and discourses from wanton songs books and pictures from lascivious dalliance light carriage and attire from idleness and intemperance the usual occasions of farther wickedness Q. What is the eighth Commandment A. Thou shalt not steal Q. What is forbidden in the eighth Commandment A. The eighth Commandment forbiddeth our doing any thing unjustly to the lessening of our neighbours estate whether by stealing from him or by cozenage and cheating in our bargains by wilful neglect to pay our debts or by oppression and extortion Q. Is this all that is required of us not to rob others of their wealth A. No But we must moreover be ready to lend or give to those that need according to our ability Q. What especially is to be done by us that we may avoid the breach of this Commandment A. We ought diligently to follow our several honest callings and employments and to live in such a sober and thrifty manner suitable to our estates and conditions that we may be able to pay our debts and relieve the poor and so shall not be put upon stealing gaming cheating or any wicked course for our livelihood Q. What is the ninth Commandment A. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour Q. What are we especially enjoyned in this ninth Commandment A. That when in any case we are called to be witnesses we speak nothing but the truth Q. What farther ought we to abstain from A. We ought to abstain from raising receiving or spreading false reports of our neighbour and from doing any thing to lessen his just esteem from rash and uncharitable censures from tale-bearing and tatling of other mens matters and from all lying in our communication one with another Q. What is the tenth Commandment A. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife nor his man servant nor his maid-servant nor his ox nor his asse nor any thing that is thy neighbours Q. What are we enjoyned in this Commandment A. The tenth Commandment enjoyneth us to be so thoroughly well content with our own condition that we should not envy or repine at any thing our neighbour enjoys nor covetously desire it from him Q. What are those general rules in the Gospel which include the whole of our duty to one another A. That we should love our neighbour as our selves and deal with all others as we our selves desire to be dealt with were we in their case Q. Give me some particular instances of this last Rule A. Masters ought to deal with their Servants as they themselves were they servants would in reason desire to be dealt with we must not give that ill language to others nor raise or entertain such stories of them as we our selves cannot bear when we are so us'd The Seller must deal as honestly and justly as he desires to be dealt with when he comes to buy c. Q. Can you by your own power perform these duties required of you A. No but we need the assistance of Gods grace which we are to seek for by prayer Q. To whom ought our prayers to be made A. To God only in the name of Iesus Christ. Q. May we not then pray to Angels and Saints A. No for we have no warrant for it from Scripture which in so weighty a matter of religion is necessary but very much against it Q. Name to me some one Text of Scripture where we are commanded to worship God only A. Mat. 4. 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Q. Where are we expresly forbidden the worship of Angels A. In Rev. 22. 9. when St. Iohn being about to worship the Angel he said to him see thou do it not for I am thy sellow-servant worship God Q. But may we not pray to Saints and Angels as our Mediatours that they would pray to God for us as when we put up a petition to the King we make use of some Courtier to present it for us A No for there is no likeness in the case God himself being most gracious and always near to us and moreover it tends to the great dishonour of the Lord Jesus who is our only Mediatour by whom we are to offer up our prayers to God Q. Name me some one Text to prove that Christ is our onely Mediatour A. 1 Tim. 2. 5. There is one God and one Mediatour betwixt God and Men the Man Christ Iesus Q. What farther reason can you alledge against praying to Saints and Angels A. It is in vain to pray to them because we have no reason to believe that they can hear the prayers that are made to them from several parts of the world it being proper to God only to be in all places at once Q. Is it lawful before hand to know the words we intend to use in prayer that is to use a form of our own or others making A. Yes it is lawful since it is no where forbidden in Scripture and the directions there given concerning prayer may be practised either with or without a form Q. But we are taught in Scripture to pray with or in the Script and does not that forbid the use of a Form A. No not at all since we may pray with the Spirit even then when we use a Form Q. When therefore may a man be said to pray with the Spirit A. When in his prayers he is hearty and serious his soul being filled with those holy desire and affections which are wrought in him by the Spirit of God Q. Is there in the Gospel any Form given us for our direction in prayer A. Yes that which Christ taught his Disciples and therefore called the Lords prayer Q. Let me hear you repeat it A. 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 those that trespass against us and Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever Amen Q. Into what parts may this prayer fitly be divided A. The Preface six petitions and the Conclusion Q. What learn you from the Preface Our Father which art in heaven A. That in all our addresses to God we ought to come before him with humility and reverence and yet with a firm confidence in his fatherly mercy and goodness Q. What do you pray for in the first Petition Hallowed be thy name A. That God may be known honoured and worshiped aright both by us and the whole world Q. What do you pray for in the second Petition Thy kingdom come A. That God may rule in the hearts and lives of men by his Spirit and laws that the Church may be enlarged by the conversion of
Heathens and Infidels and that the coming of Christ in glory may be hastned Q. What do you pray for in the third Petition which is Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven A. We herein pray that God would so conform all our hearts to his will that we may in our measure serve and honour him as faithfully chearfully and unweariedly as the blessed Spirits in heaven do Q. What pray you for in the sourth Give us this day our daily bread A. We herein pray that God would of his mercy afford to our Bodies such a measure of things needful and convenient as our daily necessities call for Q What pray you for in the fifth petition Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us A. We herein pray that God would be merciful unto us and not inflict on us those punishments which we for our sins have deserved Q. What means that expression as we forgive them that trespass against us A. We hereby profess both that it is our duty and our practice to forgive such as trespass against us and are thence encouraged to hope for mercy from God this forgiveness of others being one condition of his forgiving us Q. When may we be said to forgive him that trespassed against us A. When we bear no more grudg nor ill will to him than to any other nor would revenge our selves by doing him any injury if it lay in our power nor do rejoyce in any hurt that does befall him but are ready to do him good if he stand in need of our help Q. What then is their case who though they know this rule in the Gospel and daily say this prayer yet will not forgive men their trespasses A. They are guilty of lying to God in their prayers and do moreover in effect desire God not to forgive their sins but to punish them with everlasting damnation Q. What is the best motive to the performance of this so needful and difficult duty of forgiving Offendours A. Gods readiness to pardon us who have yet done infinitely more against him than any of our fellow-creatures can possibly do against us the serious consideration whereof will be apt to make us such towards others as we desire God should be toward us Q. What do we pray for in the sixth petition Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil A. We herein pray that God would not leave us to our selves to run into temptation and sin but that he would make us ever so watchful and diligent that we may either avoid the occasions of sin or through the help of his grace may overcome the temptations we meet with Q. To what use serve those words in the conclusion For thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever A. These words serve as our encouragement to ask all these things from God to whom alone belongs all power and dominion and they direct us to render all praise and glory to his eternal and ever-blessed Majesty Q. Wherefore do we say Amen at the end of this and other prayers A. This word Amen which signifies as much as verily or so be it is used to express the earnest desire and great hopes we have that our prayers will be heard and answered To those especially for whose use the following Forms of Prayer were intended Beloved Friends YOu might with some reason be displeased with me should I question your belief of the being of a God and of your relation to him as he is your Creator Ruler and Benefactor but you can have no reason to be displeased with me for exhorting you to the performance of that duty which this belief doth strongly engage you to that is to testifie your acknowledgment of God and dependance upon him by your daily offering up a sacrifice of prayer and praise to his Divine Majesty For if you dare live at such a distance from God as not to come before him and worship him it s much to be feared you do not heartily believe that he is or that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him And this while alas how little do you differ from Heathens though you may carry the name of Christians And if wrath shall be poured out on the Heathen kingdoms and families that know not God nor call upon his name Ier. 10. 25. do you think it shall sare any better with the Families of those who are called Christians if whilst they profess to know God they do not worship and glorifie him as God Nay rather shall they not have a greater condemnation But I need not I hope stand arguing with you to shew either the necessity the reasonableness or benefit of this duty of prayer in general or of praying with your families If there should be any so perverse and quarrelsome as to call for arguments instead thereof to such let me only say If indeed you think that neither you nor yours are any way related to God nor owe him any service you may at your pleasure and also at your peril forbear to render him any If you think you stand in no need of daily protection or of any mercy either for soul or body or think that God cannot supply you therewith then chuse whether you will pray to him or no. And if you are not every day beholden to God for some good thing or other then you may neglect to give him thanks for his goodness And if on a Sick-bed or at a dying hour you think there will be no need of prayer you may then omit it in the time of life and health But for all those who wouldnot be thought guilty of such Atheism and profaneness I would beseech them to make conscience of this duty To this end let me advise you every day morning and evening to take the most convenient time when your whole family can come together and then to joyn all in humble solemn prayer and praise to that great and glorious God who is the maker and preserver of us all And for your more orderly performance of this duty if you have no better helps at hand you may if you see good make use of the Forms ensuing compos'd for that purpose Here fall not I beseech you to devising of excuses to shift off this work any more than you would do if you and your Family were invited to a feast or to share in some great Dole For shame pretend not you are so poor or so hard wrought that you cannot spare time for this service of God as if this was only for rich men who have nothing else to do I know indeed there is more required of them than of you that are poorer but yet you have souls to save as well as they and therefore if you have any love for your selves you will be as willing to take what pains you can to save them You would not leave it to rich men only to
of men we desire to render humble and hearty praise to thy divine Majesty Yea blessed and for ever praised be thy name oh God that thou hast not only shewn much mercy to our bodies but hast also made abundant provision for the everlasting welfare and happiness of our precious souls Most fully hast thou declared to the world both in thy word and by thy works that thou hast no delight in the death of sinners but hadst rather that they would turn and live For even then when we were fallen from thee and from that blessed estate wherein our first Parents were created and so stood liable to thy wrath and to everlasting damnation then wast thou pleased to take pity on us when none else in heaven or earth did pity or could relieve us Even then didst thou give thine own Son Iesus Christ from heaven to be our Saviour and Redeemer to teach us thy will to give us thy Spirit and to die for our sins that as many as believe on him and obey him should not perish but have everlasting life Oh what manner of love is this which thou the Father hast shewn and which thy Son Iesus hath shewn to us worthless creatures to us vile sinners The sense of our own unworthiness may justly encrease our admiration of thy kindness and when we consider all this thy goodness great cause we have to humble our souls before thee in the remembrance of our own sinful and most unsuitable carriage toward thee the God of love We did indeed bring along into the world with us sinful natures and inclinations for in sin we were conceived and brought forth in iniquity And alas how many sins have we committed since we came to the use of our Reason Though thou hast always been doing us good yet like foolish and unthankful wretches we have returned evil for good We have been far from loving thee and trusting in thee as beseems thy creatures but rather have we wasted our love upon the vain and fading enjoyments of this present world in them have we delighted and in them have we placed our confidence Though we have called thee our Maker and Owner yet have we not quietly and patiently submitted to thy will as we are therefore bound because we are thy own But very ready we have been both to murmur and repine at thy providences when they have gone cross to our carnal desires and to find fault with thy laws as if they were too strict and severe because they are contrary to our foolish sensual inclinations Oftentimes have we neglected the duties of thy worship mis-spent and profaned thy Holy day and have look'd on prayers Sermons and Sacraments as burthensome and needless things And very trifling and careless have we been in those duties we have performed not duly considering what an holy and glorious God thou art with whom we have to do Thou indeed hast commanded us to love our neighbours as our selves but we through the sinful and excessive love of our selves and our own concernments have been very much wanting in the duties of justice and charity to others Much of our precious time we have wasted in idleness and vanity in unprofitable and sinful company and too frequently we have abused thy good creatures for the satisfaction of our own base lusts Often have we given way to our own unruly passions and sinful inclinations breaking thy laws and grieving thy Spirit merely for the tasting those pleasures of sin that are but for a season And these deeds of darkness these sins of ours we have committed in the open light of thy Gospel contrary to the plain commands of thy word which we have often read and heard yea contrary to the motions of thy Spirit and the checks of our own consciences which we have felt within us Most justly therefore mightest thou pour out the hottest of thy fury upon us as having been of those disobedient servants who have known thy will and yet have not done the same Nor can we expect any other than to be made infinitely and eternally miserable if thou should'st deal with us after our deservings But there is yet through thy grace a door of hope open for us thou thy self hast provided a refuge to which poor sinners in this life-time may fly for safety and comfort For thou oh most merciful Father hast promised that thou wilt for thy Son Iesus sake have mercy on all those who are truly grieved for their sins humbly confessing and speedily for saking the same Now we must needs acknowledge those thy conditions of mercy are exceeding equal and gracious and most just it is we should perish for ever if we refuse the same For we cannot oh God in reason expect that our sins should be pardoned if we wilfully continue in them Nor can we ever hope that Christ should be our Saviour if we do not own and obey him as our Lord Nor can we look for the joys of heaven whilst we walk in those ways of wickedness which lead to Hell and damnation Oh wilt thou then make us sincerely willing to do what we our selves own to be so just and reasonable that we may not dare in an hardned and impenitent manner to go on in those ungodly courses which we are convinced are so dangerous and mischievous Let not our own vile lusts nor the temptations of Satan our malicious enemy prevail with us to reject our blessed Saviour and that eternal life which he purchast by his death and now offers to us in the Gospel How shall we then escape if we neglect so great salvation Or what shall we plead for our selves at the last great day if we that are called Christians should be found depisers of Christ How justly may he then destroy us not only as enemies but as Mockers and may give us our portion in the hottest place of the burning Lake with Hypocrites and unbelievers Wherefore we do now most humbly and earnestly beseech thee oh thou Father of mercies and God of all grace give us not up to such a reprobate mind and feared conscience but together with enlightned minds give us such soft and tender hearts that we may look back on the sins we have committed with shame and sorrow and may cast away from us even our most pleasant sins with bitter loathing and hatred never more to be reconciled to them And for thy Son Iesus sake be thou merciful to us own us as thy Redeemed ones and make us partakers of those great mercies and blessings which he hath purchast for all his faithful servants For his sake alone we beg from thee the forgiveness of our sins a freedome from thy wrath and from everlasting damnation And we do also beseech thee by him to deliver us from the evil of this present world even from the snares of the Devil and from the power of our own corruptions that no sin may reign in our mortal bodies so that we should yield obedience thereunto
Oh cleanse thou us from all secret sins and let not presumptuous sins have dominion over us But let thy holy Spirit ever rule in our hearts and so guide us in all our thoughts words and actions that we may ever render a sincere and chearful obedience to all thy commands Fill us with such a sense of thine infinite goodness that we may love thee our God with all our heart and soul. And help us to shew this our love to thee by our unfeigned love to thy people and to all men And make us still careful to deal with others so justly and charitably as we our selves desire to be dealt with Keep us ever depending upon thy grace for strength and assistance without which we can do nothing Oh do not thou leave us to our selves for then we perish Forsake us not oh God at any time through our whole lives nor suffer us to depart from thee but keep us ever stedfast and unwearied in well doing Wean our hearts from this world and all the comforts thereof make us always sensible that we are hasting away hence into eternity and prepare us for that time when we must e're long be called away thither Help us now to live in such frequent serious thoughts of death that it may not be terrible nor hurtful when it comes Now make us wise to set our affections on things above and to lay up for our selves a treasure in the heavens that when all things here below shall fail we may then be received into those everlasting habitations which thou hast provided for them that love thee With us shew mercy to the whole world Let the Gospel of thy Son run and be glorified throughout all the earth make it known to heathens and Infidels and let it be obeyed by all that are called Christians Let all Popish darkness ignorance and Idolatry with all other errours and heresies be driven away by the light and truth of thy pure Gospel and let the coming of Christ in glory be hastned Be merciful to these nations wherein we live and grant we may be so humbled and reformed that we may be pardoned and spared Be gracious to our dread Soveraign and all his Royal Relations enrich them with the graces of thy holy Spirit and make all our Magistrates faithful and zealous in punishing and suppressing wickedness and in promoting vertue and godliness Let thy blessing be upon the faithful Preachers of thy Gospel encrease daily their number and let their labours be blest and succeeded Let all our differences be so compos'd that we may live in peace and love and with one heart and one mouth may glorifie thee our God Bless our Friends and Relations and make them thy faithful servants Visit in mercy all the children of affliction whatever their particular necessities and burthens are whether of soul or body do thou seasonably and suitably comfort and relieve them And now oh God since through thy good providence thou hast brought us to the beginning of another day afford us we beseech thee thy gracious presence throughout the same Let thy blessing be upon us in our lawful Callings and endeavours Preserve us and all ours if it be thy will from all bodily dangers especially we beg that we may be kept from sin the worst of evils Where-ever we are or whatever we are doing keep us sensible of thy eye that is ever upon us that in all companies and employments we may approve our selves to thee in well doing and make us ever watchful against all sin and the temptations that lead to it As we now have prayed to thee in the Morning so let us remain in thy fear and service all the day long And do thou so guide us this day and all our days here on earth by thy counsel that we may at last be received to thy Glory And all we humbly beg for the Lord Jesus our dear Saviours sake with whose words we conclude these our imperfect prayers saying as he himself hath taught us Our Father which art c. EVENING PRAYER for a Family OH Eternal and ever-blessed God thou art the maker and Lord of all things who dost uphold the world by thy power and govern it with infinite wisdome and justice and we are the workmanship of thy hands who depend upon thy providence and in thee live move and have our beings From thy bounty we are daly supplied with mercies for our bodies and through thy patience it is we have yet leave to wait on thee and to seek from thee grace and glory for our immortal souls Oh what are we vile sinners that thou shouldst have such regard to us and so earnestly invite us to thy service who deserve not so much as to live on thy earth or once to appear in thy presence And 't is onely through thy forbearance of us that we have not long since met with the just wages of our sins in those eternal torments from which there is no recovery For we confess our selves to be by nature children of wrath even as others being stained with that foul Leprosy and pollution of sin which was derived from our first Parents But so little sense have we had of the evil and danger of this our estate that we have even taken the direct course to make our selves more miserable by adding daily our own actual sins to this corruption of our natures Oh how justly may we blush and be confounded in our selves when we look back upon our carriage in the world from our childhood and youth up even until now How much of this our time have we spent in sin and vanity but how little in thy service In every place and condition of life that we have been we may easily remember the many sins we have been guilty of but how little have we made it our business to obey thy laws and honour thy name either by doing good to others or getting good to our own souls We had soon learnt in words to acknowledge that we were made to serve thee our God but in works we have denyed and disobeyed thee We have been very forgetful of thee and of thy authority over us and have lived as if we owed thee no service as if we thought thou hadst no regard to our actions now nor wouldst ever call us to a reckoning for them hereafter Though in our infancy we were baptized into thy name and thereby bound to serve thee all our days in newness of life yet we have often broke this Covenant which we then entred into Instead of performing our vows to renounce this world and its pomps and vanities with the flesh and the lusts thereof we have been most eager lovers and followers of the world and have made provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof Oh how often hath the temptation of some worldly profit or carnal sensual pleasure drawn us to cross thy will and wound our own consciences and to endanger the damning