good likewise we must hate and abhorr our selves who cannot but love and delight in those who show us any kindness and bestow any benefits upon us though they are but thy Ministers and Servants that have nothing and can do nothing but what thou hast given them and inclinest them to do By thee we were formed and brought out of our Mothers Womb. And by a greater mercy were early born again and made thy children in Christ Jesus We have been thy care ever since and been instructed in that Covenant of Grace into which at our Baptism we were received by the knowledge thou hast given us of thy blessed Gospel Wherein we read the great love of our Saviour in dying for us and have the promise of his Spirit to sanctifie and govern us his holy Precepts for the rule of our actions his glorious Example to excite and quicken us and the hope of eternal bliss by his Resurrection from the dead to incourage and comfort us in well doing And in the mean time we injoy the society of thy Saints the ministry of thy Angels and the direction and assistance of thy faithful servants the Embassadors of peace and reconciliation with thee All which fruits of thy wonderful love we have long enjoyed and thou hast this day entertained us at thy Table where thou hast refreshed us with the Communion of the body and bloud of Christ Jesus the earnest of a blessed resurrection and the pledge of immortality Besides innumerable good things which thy most tender mercy hath been pleased to bestow upon our bodies to make our passage to that blessedness through all the troubles and dangers of this life the more easie and delightful to us And all this thou hast done for those who have been too idle and useless cold and dull inconstant and soon weary of their duty forgetful of benefits and unfaithful to their own promises But thy infinite goodness still continues to do it to make us more diligent more zealous more steadfast and immoveable more mindful of thee and of our own holy purposes that we may be abundant as there is reason in the work of our Lord knowing that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. And that is the most sincere and fervent desire of our souls likewise who here most humbly beseech thee by the power of thy holy Spirit to preserve in us a perpetual and affectionate remembrance of all thy undeserved kindness to us Stir up all that is within us every morning to bless and praise thy holy Name That by a renewed serious acknowledgement of thy benefits we may be more and more stirred up to love and to all good works O that the Lord Jesus may be always in our thoughts and in our hearts that we may make him our pattern as he is our hope O that nothing may be so dear unto us in this world as his holiness his humility his goodness and charity his meekness and patience his intire trust in thee and resignation to thee his delight to do thy will O God in hope of that Tit. 1.1 eternal life which thou who canst not lye hast promised to us Fix our minds and affections more steadfastly on that glory wherewith he is crowned by his obedient suffering of death that we may never be weary nor faint in our minds under any sufferings for well doing but continuing faithful to the death may also receive the Crown of Life Accept we pray thee of this our bounden duty and service pitty our great weaknesses pardon all our sins and negligences and deny us not the grace of thy holy Spirit which we have implored to inable us to amend our lives according to thy holy Word But after thou hast refreshed us with quiet sleep this night let us feel it moving our hearts to the same holy thoughts acknowledgements desires and resolutions which it now works in us through thy mercy declared to us in Christ Jesus In whose words we conclude our Prayers saying as 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 evil c. PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES MVNDAY MORNING WE humble our selves O Lord of heaven and earth before thy glorious Majesty we heartily acknowledge thy Sovereign Dominion over us all creatures we praise and magnifie thy eternal Power Wisdom Goodness and Truth and we render thee our most unfeigned thanks for the innumerable benefits which thou in thy bounty hast loaded us withal Above all for the gracious declaration thou hast made of thy good will to us in Christ Jesus by whom thou hast invited and incouraged sinners to return to thee and directed them in the way to everlasting bliss We blush to think of our shameful forgetfulness of thee and ingratitude to thee to whom we owe all that we have in this world and all our hopes in the next We most humbly implore thy tender mercies in the forgiveness of all our sins whereby we have offended either in thought word or deed against thy just and holy Laws For we are truly sorry for all our mis-doings we utterly renounce whatsoever is contrary to thy will and here devote our selves intirely to the obedience thereof Accept O most merciful Father of this renewed Dedication which we make of our whole man body soul and spirit to thee And as thou dost inspire us with holy resolutions so accompany them always with the assistance of thy grace that we may be able every day to offer up our selves more sincerely and more cheerfully to thee with more pure affection and hearty devotion and ready disposition to thy service We adore thy great grace which hath brought salvation to us and Tit. 2.11,12 teaches us that denying all ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world We will indeavour O Lord to preserve a grateful sense of thy mighty love in our mind and to follow the doctrine and example of thy Son Christ Jesus as becomes those who have such a blessed hope and look for so great Salvation at the day of his glorious appearing We desire above all things to be so pure and undefiled so meek and gentle so humble and lowly so just and merciful so peaceable and patient contented and thankful as our blessed Lord and Master was And we hope that thou wilt fulfil all the gracious promises he hath made to us which we esteem far greater treasure than thousands of gold and silver They are the support the comfort the satisfaction of our hearts We ask nothing but that it may be to thy servants according to his Word Thou hast mercifully kept us the last night blessed be thy continued goodness and raised us again to see
darkness and his Sovereign Dominion over all Angels Authorities and Powers whom thou hast made subject to him 1 Pet. 3. ult O God how great was thy love to the sinful sons of men which moved thee to pass by such innumerable offences whereby they had provoked thy severest displeasure How great was that love which hath honoured our mortal nature with so high a glory and committed the care of our immortal souls to one so mighty to save and so full of kindness and most tender charity toward us O the greatness of thy love which hath chosen us to be thy sons and heirs together with Christ Jesus and set such an high Priest over thy house and family to make intercession for us to dispense all divine blessings to us and send forth Angels themselves to be Heb. 1. ult ministring spirits for them who shall be heirs of salvation Who can understand the exceeding riches of thy grace in sending the holy Ghost to be a witness of our Saviours Resurrection and Exaltation and to make us abound in hope Rom. 15.13 that we shall be one day raised from the dead and carried to heaven and keep a perpetual rest after our short labours here with our blessed Lord and Master in his eternal glory O that we could begin it this day in devout Meditations of these things in unspeakable joy and satisfaction of heart in the assured hope and expectation of them and in blessing and praising thee who hast given us such good hope and everlasting consolation Lift up our minds we pray thee this morning above all these little things here below which are apt to distract our thoughts and turn away our eyes from that heavenly bliss And keep them above in the serious contemplation of it till we be in love with it and our hearts be fully bent and resolved to seek it every day in those ways wherein Jesus hath gone before us though it should be with the loss of all that we here possess It is but meet and fit that we should wholly quit our own will and devote our selves to follow thine especially since thou hast shown such unusual kindness towards us as if we had been innocent we durst not have presumed to expect from thee We are asham'd O Lord to think that ever we have disobeyed thee to whom we stand so deeply indebted both as we are thy creatures and as we are redeemed by the precious bloud of thy Son Jesus It grieves us that we have transgressed any of thy righteous and good Laws by which it is our happiness as well as our duty to be govern'd We abhorr the thoughts of ever breaking them any more beseeching not only thy gracious pardon but thy acceptance of our intire resolution to agree with thy Will in all things for the time to come We here again most solemnly dedicate all the powers of our souls and bodies to thy service desiring unfeignedly that all the thoughts and designs of our minds all the affections and passions of our hearts and all the actions of our life and conversation may be pure holy and unreproveable in thy sight For which end we most humbly implore the assistance of thy good spirit which our Lord hath incouraged us to hope thou wilt give to those that ask and seek it with their whole heart O let thy mercy be upon us according to thy word according as our hope is in thee and our hearts sincerely and stedfastly set to keep thy Commandments Psal 139.23,24 Search us O God and know our hearts try us and know our thoughts And see if there be any way of wickedness in us and lead us in the way everlasting Fill our minds with awful and reverend thoughts of thee as our Sovereign Lord and Judge Settle in us an immutable love to thee and the highest esteem of thy favour and grace as better than life it self That so we may study above all things to approve our very hearts and all our actions to thee and feel the sense of thy acceptance of us giving us greater pleasure than all the world can afford us Make it our delight to praise thee to call to mind thy loving kindness to offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and to meditate on thy pretious promises Help us to Luk. 21.34 take heed to ourselves lest our hearts be at any time overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the inordinate cares of this life Heb. 13.5 To have our conversation without covetousness and to be content with such things as we have 1 Thess 4.4 To possess our bodies in sanctification and honour Rom 13.9 To love our neighbours as our selves Matth. 7.12 And as we would that others should do to us to do even so to them Rom. 12.18 To live peaceably as much as in us lyeth with all men 1 Pet. 3.4 To put on the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit Jam. 5.12 To take those who have spoken in the name of our Lord for an example of suffering affliction and of patience 1 Pet. 4.16 And when we suffer as Christians not to be ashamed but to glorifie thee our God on this behalf And accept good Lord of all the praises and acknowledgements of all thy people met this day together according to thy Will and assist us to render thee still more hearty and affectionate praises in that holy Assembly to which we are going to joyn our selves O that all people on the face of the earth were united together likewise in one body to shew forth thy praise O that thy way were known upon earth thy saving health among all Nations And that all Christian Kings especially may be filled with thy holy Spirit and think it their Crown and their Glory to be the devout worshippers and faithful subjects of the Lord Jesus the King of kings and the Lord of lords Psal 132.9 O that thy priests may be cloathed with righteousness and thy Saints shout aloud for joy That all who are in distress and misery may rejoyce also in hope that all afflictions shall turn to their good and Heb. 12.11 afterwards yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness O Lord hear us and make thy face to shine upon thy servants that we may enter into thy gates with thanksgiving and into thy courts with praise that we may be thankful unto thee and bless thy Name 100.4,5 For the Lord is good his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations Our Father c. At Night O Lord most high the Holy One who inhabitest Eternity who only hast immortality and art most blessed in thy own incomprehensible perfections Thou art to be feared and loved and worshipped and praised by us and all reasonable creatures who have any knowledge how great how mighty how wise and merciful thou art All thy works praise thee O Lord and we more especially ought to bless thee whom thou hast
made to understand thy most adorable excellencies which are far beyond the highest of all our thoughts And we have yet a more particular obligation to thee for thy marvailous love in Christ Jesus whom thou hast sent in great humility to visit us who are but dust and ashes to make his abode among us to testifie thy great love to us and assure us of thy good will notwithstanding our many offences and to make us exceeding great and precious promises to invite us to approach thee and to incourage our obedience to thee We thank thee that he hath sealed them with his bloud and thou hast confirmed them by his Resurrection and Ascension and the coming of the holy Ghost that thou hast given us so many happy opportunities to acquaint our selves with the truth and purity of the Christian Religion which comforts us in this state of mortality and misery with the blessed hope of eternal life Blessed be thy goodness for that great consolation and that thou hast shown us the way to it by his doctrine and example and assured us of the assistance of thy holy Spirit to inable us to follow after him to that glory which he possesses Blessed be thy goodness that we have felt it so often in our minds and hearts inspiring us with holy thoughts exciting in us devout affections and godly resolutions filling us with Divine Joys and with comfortable expectations of the glory that shall be revealed We thank thee that thou hast permitted us this day to attend upon thee together with our Christian Brethren in the publick Duties of thy Worship and Service And that there we have received any good instructions any holy exhortations and Christian incouragements to proceed and go forward in the course of well doing and have begun in any measure that eternal rest which we wait for with all the faithful when we shall praise and thank and love thee our heavenly Father better than we can do now whilst we are in these frail bodies and absent from the Lord. We can do no less than offer up again our souls and bodies to thee to be order'd and govern'd by thy blessed Will and not our own that so we may be every day more prepared for that happy state and draw nearer and nearer in the disposition and temper of our spirits to that immortal blessedness It is our satisfaction our security the ease and joy of our hearts to be under the conduct of thy unerring wisdom to follow thy counsels and to be determined in all things by thy holy Will who art so good and hast given us such large demonstrations of thy abundant kindness and good will to us as will not let us distrust thy tender care of us whatsoever it is thou wouldest have us do or suffer in this world O God purifie our minds and thoughts more perfectly that we may never conceive amiss of thee but have right apprehensions in all things and all our passions and affections likewise that we may intirely love thee and rejoyce in being beloved of thee and humbly confide in thee and absolutely resign our selves to thee and be filled with constant devotion towards thee our Almighty Creator and most merciful Redeemer Possess our hearts with such a lively sense of our relation to thee in both respects and of the honour thou hast done us in preferring us so much above the rest of our fellow creatures that we may ever behave our selves suitably to the dignity of our Nature and of our Religion O that we may never degenerate into a base and unworthy love of any thing here below nor be oppressed with the burden of the cares of this life nor sink under the weight of any affliction nor be vainly puffed up with the greatest fulness of earthly goods if thou art pleased to bestow them on us But assist us with thy grace to Rom. 12.9 abhor that which is evil and cleave to that which is good Dispose us to a discreet and temperate use of all the pleasures of this world Indue us with true modesty and humility of spirit that we may Rom. 12.3,10,16 not think of our selves more highly than we ought to think but think soberly according to the measure which thou hast dealt unto us Keep us from being wise in our own conceits and inable us so to order our selves that Phil. 4.5 our moderation may be known to all men Make us kindly affectioned one to another in brotherly love To delight in doing good Tit. 3.2 to shew all meekness to all men Rom. 13.7,8 To render to all their dues Tribute to whom tribute is due custom to whom custom fear to whom fear honour to whom honour and to owe no man anything but to love one another Make us so happy that we may be able to Matth. 5.44 love our enemies to bless those that curse us to do good to them that hate us Rom. 12.15 to rejoyce with them that do rejoyce and weep with them that weep Compose our spirits to a quiet and steady dependence on thy good providence that we may not Matth. 6.25 take too much thought for our life nor be careful for any thing Phil. 4.6 but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving still make known our requests to thee our God And help us Luk. 18.1 to pray alway and not faint 1 Thess 5.18 In every thing to give thanks Heb. 13.15 and offer up the sacrifice of praise continually 1 Pet. 1.17 To pass the time of our sojourning here in fear Rom. 5.2 To believe those things which we do not see and to rejoyce in hope of thy glory Luk. 21.19 To possess our souls in patience Phil. 4.11,12 And to learn in whatsoever state we are therewith to be content Make us know both how to be abased and how to abound every where and in all things instruct us both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need being inabled to do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us That we feeling the joys of uprightness and integrity of heart our Religion may be the greatest comfort and pleasure to us and we our selves an ornament to our Religion O that we could alway by an innocent good and useful life commend the Doctrine of God our Saviour to those who converse with us And that the light of all Christians did so shine before men that others beholding their good works might be moved to glorifie thee and heartily to believe on the Lord Jesus Send forth thy Light and thy Truth into all the dark corners of the Earth That Psal 72.11,12,13,14 all kings may fall down before him and all nations serve him And indue them whom thou hast placed in such high Authority over others with that divine Spirit which was in him that they may deliver the needy when he cryeth the poor also and him that hath no helper That
redemption that the Lord Jesus obtained for us by his bloud and the power and dominion which thou hast given him at thy right hand after his Resurrection from the dead and his compassionate intercession on our behalf So for all those gifts which he gave unto men whereby he made some Apostles some Prophets some Evangelists some Pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry and the edifying of his body Blessing honour glory and praise be to thee O Father of mercies for all those great instruments of the holy Ghost the illustrious Ministers of thy grace the Embassadors for Christ and the blessed Champions of his holy Truth who have communicated the light of thy glorious Gospel to the world and overcome the kingdom of darkness by the bloud of the Lamb Rev. 12.11 and the word of their testimony not loving their lives unto the death Adored be the mightiness of that Grace Psal 8.2 which out of the mouths of babes and sucklings ordained strength Glory be to thee O Christ 2 Cor. 2.9 whose strength was made perfect in weakness Glory be unto thee who didst commit this heavenly treasure unto earthen vessels 2 Cor. 4.7 who approved themselves the ministers of God in much patience 6.4,5 in afflictions in necessities in distresses in stripes in imprisonments in tossings to and fro in labours in watchings in fastings that the excellency of the power might be of God and not of men I heartily submit to the power of that Divine Truth for which they suffered the loss of all things Phil. 3.8 and counted them but dung that they might win Christ and be found in him And I rejoyce that thou hast had so many faithful servants who have loved thee O Lord thou lover of souls more than their own lives most earnestly desiring to be inspired with the very same spirit which was in them that I may leave some example though never so small of hearty and universal obedience to those that shall come after Accept good Lord of my sincere resolution to be a follower of them even as they were of Christ in pureness in knowledge in long-suffering in kindness 1 Cor. 11.1 in love unfeigned That my rejoycing may be this 2 Cor. 6.6,7 the testimony of my conscience 2 Cor. 1.12 that in simplicity and godly sincerity 8.21 not with fleshly wisdom but by thy grace I have had my conversation in the world 1.5 providing for honest things not only in the sight of our Lord but also in the sight of all men Make me constant and couragious in the profession of thy holy Truth and to be willing to pass through honour or dishonour through good report or evil report for the Lords sake hoping that if the sufferings of Christ abound in me my consolation also shall abound by Christ Stir me up I beseech thee and quicken me that I may show the same diligence that thy Saints have done to the full assurance of hope unto the end that I may not be slothful Heb. 6.11,12 but a follower of them who through faith and patience inherited the promises 2.3,4,5 How shall I escape if I neglect so great salvation which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed by them that heard him God also bearing them witness with signs and wonders and with divers miracles of the holy Ghost according to his own will O continue the mighty assistance of that divine power with me that behaving my self so holily justly and unblameably as they did 1 Thess 2.10 I may rest at last together with them 2.1,7,9 when our Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty Angels to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that believe And now preserve me this day from dishonouring thaâ— worthy name Jam. 2.7 whereby wâ— are called knowing how we ought to follow them 2 Thess 3.7,13 who behaved not themselves disorderly among those that believed That by this rest from my ordinary labours I may not learn idleness nor grow weary of well doing but be better disposed in my mind by all the refreshments of my body to do my duty in the place and relations wherein thou hast set me with greater chearfulness fidelity and diligence to the end of my days O that it may be my highest pleasure to attend on thee and praise thee in the assemblies of thy Saints Give me such a sensible delight and joy in reading and meditating of thy holy Word and in the remembrance of all thy mercies that nothing in this world may make me forget the sweetness of it but every thing may excite me more to praise extol and magnifie thy loving-kindness to me and to express my thankfulness in a free and ready obedience to thy commands till I be made fit to be admitted into the company of the blessed there to praise thee world without end Amen A PRAYER Upon the day of ones BIRTH O Most mighty Lord the Former and Preserver of all things All thy works praise thee and do declare thy infinite greatness wisdom and bounty and do call upon us likewise to magnifie thy Name with our continual praises and thanksgivings I humbly bow my self before thy glorious Majesty who inhabitest eternity acknowledging that it is but a little time since I was not and that I am not gone down again into silence is to be ascribed only to thy Omnipotent goodness which brought me into being to praise theâ— among the rest of thy creatures I thank thee O Lord by whom I was fearfully and wonderfully made Psal 139.14,15 and curiously wrought in my mothers womb 22.9 Thou art he that took me thence thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mothers breast 71.6 By thee I have been holden up ever since and most carefully provided for when I could not think at all of thy tender mercies towards me And therefore now that I am grown to the use of my reason my praise ought to be continually of thee O bless the Lord my soul 103.1,2 and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits While I live will I praise the Lord Psal 146.2 I will sing praises to my God while I have any being Pardon I beseech thee my ingratitude in that I lâ—…e no earlier remembred thee my Creator in whom I live and move and who givest me all things richly to enjoy Accept of my unfeigned resolutions to preserve hereafter a more grateful sense of thy great goodness to me and to glorifie thee with my body and with my spirit which are thine Vouchsafe me the assistance of thy heavenly grace that I may return them back unto thee pure and undefiled full of wisdom and spiritual understanding full of love and devout affection to thee full of all good works and
pains I may endure Lay no more upon me O Father of mercies than I shall be able to bear and lay upon me what thou pleasest Free me for the present from all murmuring and repining thoughts and for the future make the sickness and anguish of my body a blessed instrument to purge my spirit more perfectly from all pride and vanity from all covetousness and worldly-mindedness and from all inordinate love of any of the pleasures of this life I believe O blessed Jesus that thou livest for ever who sufferedst and dyedst for us and that thou hast a great compassion towards those who would gladly follow thee though it be through sufferings Behold Lord I commend my self to thy mighty Love desiring above all things to be made conformable to thee in meekness in humility in patience in intire resignation to Gods holy will and pleasure and in perfect satisfaction in his Fatherly love and kindness whatsoever my condition be I am sensible O God that I have not employed my time to the utmost advantage of my soul and to thy honour glory but have wasted many precious hours and several ways neglected my duty towards thee * Here reckon up the sins you may have committed and been but an unprofitable part of this world so that I am not worthy to continue any longer in it But I hope thou wilt vouchsafe me thy gracious pardon and receive me to mercy if thou callest me hence for into thy hands O Father I commend my spirit who hast redeemed me by the precious bloud of Jesus Christ And that if thou prolongest my days on earth I shall serve thee with greater diligence and strictness and zeal and chearfulness to the end of my life I desire not to live but that I may perfect holiness in thy fear and secure to my self by doing more good an happy entertainment into the society of the blessed in the other world I see already the emptiness and insufficiency of all enjoyments upon earth All flesh is grass and all the goodliness of it as the flower of the field The grass withereth Isa 40.7 the flower fadeth Psal 119.50,81 But thy word standeth fast for ever In thy word therefore O Lord and gracious promises is my hope This is my comfort in my affliction And my perfect contentment I see lyes always in thy love and favour alone which is better than life it self O settle me in a certain and unmoveable possession of it by what means thou pleasest Do but love me and preserve me in a lively sense of thy good will towards me and dispose of me as thou thinkest good In the multitude of my thoughts within me Psal 94.19 thy comforts shall delight my soul Rom. 5.2 8.28 I will rejoyce even in the midst of tribulations Psal 23.3 30.10 and glory in thy holy name who makest all things work together for good to them that love thee Though I walk through the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me thy power and tender care they shall comfort me Accept Good Lord of these my desires and resolutions Hear me O God and have mercy upon me Lord be thou my helper for Christ Jesus his sake my ever blessed Redeemer Amen IT will be seasonable here to put the Devout Reader in mind that when he is in distress and desires Mercy of God it ought to excite his charity to others that are in misery and dispose him to shew mercy to them For though that be not Canonical Scripture which we read Tob. 12.9 Alms doth deliver from death yet this is With the merciful God will shew himself merciful Psal 18.25 Blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble 41.1,2,3 If he do not preserve him and keep him alive yet the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing he will make all his bed in his sickness Therefore as thou recommendest thy self to God and desirest others to pray with thee so remember that Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness Tob. 12.8 A Prayer to be said by the Family with the Sick person O Lord the Father of our spirits who givest to us and all creatures life and breath and all things We sinful dust and ashes blush to lift up our eyes unto heaven when we consider our vast distance from thee and reflect upon thy unspotted holiness and our impurity thy infinite wisdom and our wretched folly thy power and our weakness thy Eternity of life and our short continuance We are but of yesterday and know nothing Job 8.9 because our days upon earth are a shadow Psal 39.11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity Job 25.6 thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth Surely every man is vanity But so great is thy condescending grace that thou hast assured us thou wilt not despise such worms as we are Nay thou hast incouraged us blessed be thy goodness to approach unto thee with some confidence that thou wilt mercifully receive us though we have highly offended thy Divine Majesty Having sent thy dear Son into the world to save sinners to purifie our natures to indue us with a divine understanding to strengthen our weakness and to comfort us with the hope of an immortal life Behold O Lord the oblation which we make to thee of most thankful hearts devoted to thy service whose love and tender mercies have so exceedingly abounded towards us We will praise thee and glorifie thee as long as we have any being for this great salvation which Christ Jesus hath brought to light by his resurrection from the dead to an eternal Kingdom in the heavens We are humbly bold to hope in thee that thou who hast not spared thy own Son Rom. 8.32 but delivered him up for us all wilt with him also freely give us all things O thou Father of mercies and God of all comfort who hast not thought a Crown of everlasting life and glory too much to promise us we believe that thou wilt not deny us what is needful and fit for us both for our souls and our bodies in our passage through this world to that honour glory and immortality In this confidence we more particularly recommend this thy sick servant to thy infinite and most compassionate mercy Settle in his * Or her soul a stedfast faith that thou dost not willingly grieve the children of men but intendest good to him by this affliction And now that other pleasures and enjoyments fail him represent thy self effectually unto him as his true happiness and satisfaction Wherein soever he hath neglected thee or committed any offence against thee make him deeply sensible of and heartily sorrwful for his folly And as he earnestly desires pardon and forgiveness of thee so work in him a serious resolution to live more circumspectly and exactly in time to come Assist him graciously
of the poor Prov. 22.2 with whom there is no respect of persons Look graciously upon me I humbly beseech thee who here cast down my self before thee acknowledging thy Soveraign power over all and thy wise providence which hath disposed all things into several ranks and orders for their mutual help and benefit I humbly submit to the state and condition wherein thou hast been pleased to place me below many others I thank thee that I live and that I live in health and have strength of body great and invaluable blessings and that I have so much liberty as to make my requests unto thee and acknowledge thy mercies and that I have any hope thou wilt never cease to do me good till thou hast crowned all thy mercies in eternal life Good Lord pardon me if I have at any time murmur'd and repin'd at my condition or envied the higher estate of other persons Pardon all my other offences whatsoever they have been and vouchsafe but to deliver me from the bondage of sin and to make me a Servant of Righteousness and I shall not only be contented but perpetually rejoyce in thy Salvation Indue me with a right understanding of my duty in this relation wherein I stand That according to thy command I may account those whom I serve worthy of all honour being careful to please them in all things 1 Tim. 6.1 never contradicting Tit. 2.9,10 nor purloyning Ephes 6.5,7 but showing all good fidelity and with good will and singleness of heart doing service as to the Lord and not to men Help me to demean my self so humbly Collos 3.23,25 and whatsoever I do to do it so heartily that I may obtain favour in their eyes Or if they be froward and hard to please O God preserve me from all unseemly passions and disrespectful behaviour towards them And make me so much the more diligent in their business remembring that I serve the Lord Christ from whom I expect to receive the reward of the inheritance Coloss 3.23,25 If thou art pleased any other way to afflict me with sickness or pains â—n my body which may hinder my â—abour and cast me into poverty Lord still strengthen my faith and confidence in thee And help me to â—ear it with a patient mind looking â—nto Jesus who took upon him the form of a Servant and became poor and suffered much for our sake but how is therefore highly exalted to â—uccour and comfort all those that â—ollow after him contentedly in well-doing In his Name and Words I â—ecommend my self unto thy mercy saying Our Father c. A Prayer of a poor Prisoner for Debt O God who art present to us in all places and hast regard to the sighs and groans of the miserable who humbly implore thy pitty and compassion towards them Vouchsafe to look graciously upon thy afflicted servant in this place which is most desolate and comfortless unless the light of thy countenance shine upon me I confess that I have too much abused the liberty which I formerly enjoyed and did not so carefully improve as I oughâ— to have done those happy opportunities which therewith were puâ— into my hands Many ways I am sensible I have offended thy Divine Majesty * Here acknowledge the particulars for which I am heartily sorry and acknowledgâ— my self infinitely indebted to thy goodness that I am not plunged into the depth of misery to bewail my sins in the bottomless pit I thank thee O Lord with all my soul that I am not shut up in the place of outer darkness and that I have any hope to obtain the benefit of the redemption which is in Christ Jesus In whose Name I beseech thee to pardon me and likewise to sanctifie these straits wherein I lye to the freeing my soul from the bond of all iniquity and the restoring me to the glorious liberty of thy children Help me seriously to follow the direction of thy Providence in this restraint and now that I am so much alone by my self to descend into my own heart to search and try my ways and unfeignedly to turn to thee my God Enlarge my spirit more than ever now that my body is confined in fervent Prayer for thy Divine Grace and in chearful Thanksgivings for the innumerable benefits that I have received from thy bounty and in tender pitty and commiseration of the sad condition of all distressed people And be pleased to touch the hearts of my Creditors also with a sense of my miseries incline them to accept of what I am able to pay and make me willing conscientiously to satisfie them to the utmost of my power In the mean time bestow upon me the blessing of a contented spirit Help me patiently to endure the inconveniences of this place And preserve me from the danger of all the temptations which I meet with in it especially from seeking a remedy of my sorrows in the pleasures of intemperance or evil company or any prophane mirth whatsoever Be thou my comfort O God my exceeding joy and the full satisfaction of my soul in all conditions And when thou art pleased to deliver me from this place and restore me again to my desired freedom O Lord make me ever mindful of the vows wherein I am now forward to bind my self Dispose my heart then to be so sensibly affected with the least of those mercies which formerly I have little regarded that I may never forget to praise thee even for the benefit of a sweeter air than now I enjoy and to acknowledge thee in the night season upon my bed and to thank thee for the coursest food and especially I may rejoyce to go again into the great Congregation to praise thee with the most ardent love for all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus Preserve in me also a grateful remembrance of the kindness of my Friends and Neighbours especially of those persons to whom I stand particularly indebted when by their charity I shall be released And whatsoever loss they sustain by my poverty good Lord make it up abundantly to them and theirs out of thy rich grace and mercy Requite their love with plenty and prosperity in this world and give them the reward of eternal life and glory in the world to come through Christ Jesus Amen A Prayer of a great Malefactor in Prison O Most holy and righteous Judge of the whole world give a sinful and miserable wretch leave to prostrate himself before the Throne of thy Grace and implore that mercy which formerly I have despised or abused I am not worthy I confess to lift up my eyes towards heaven and it becomes me in the greatest dejection of spirit to sigh and groan under the load of my sins which have been so great and many so bold so presumptuous and shameless that when with an awakened mind I reflect upon them I am ready to sink into hell and utterly despair of any mercy O God how have I hated