A short Prayer to be said every Morning. O ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of mercy and comfort, with reverence and fear, with humble confidence and strong desires, I approach to the throne of grace, begging of thee mercy and protection, pardon and salvation. O my God, I am a sinner, but sorrowful and repenting : thou art justly offended at me, but yet thou art my Lord and my Father, merciful and gracious. Be pleased to blot all my sins out of thy remembrance, and heal my soul, that I may never any more sin against thee. Lord, open my eyes that I may see my own infirmities, and watch against them; and my own follies, that I may amend them: and be pleased to give me perfect understanding in the way of godliness, that I may walk in it all the days of my pilgrimage. Give me a spirit diligent in the works of my calling, cheerful and zealous in religion, fervent and frequent in my prayers, charitable and useful in my conversation; give me a healthful and a chaste body, a pure and a holy soul, a sanctified and an humble spirit; and let my body and soul and spirit be preserved unblameable to the coming of the Lord Jesus. Amen. II. Blessed be thy name, O God, and blessed be thy mercies, who hast preserved me this night from sin and sorrow, from sad chances, and a violent death, from the malice of the devil, and the evil effects of my own corrupted nature and infirmity. The outgoings of the morning and evening shall praise thee, and thy servants shall rejoice in giving thee praise for the operation of thy hands. Let thy providence and care watch over me this day, and all my whole life, that I may never be against thee by idleness or folly, by evil company or private sins, by word or deed, by thought or desire; and let the employment of my day leave no sorrow, or the remembrance of an evil conscience at night; but let it be holy and profitable, blessed, and always innocent; that when the days of my short abode are done, and the shadow is departed, I may die in thy fear and favour, and rest in a holy hope, and at last return to the joys of a blessed resur rection, through Jesus Christ: in whose name, and in whose words, in behalf of myself, and all my friends, and all thy servants, I humbly and heartily pray, Our Father, &c. A Prayer for the Evening. ETERNAL God, Almighty Father of men and angels, by whose care and providence I am preserved and blessed, comforted and assisted, I humbly beg of thee to pardon the sins and follies of this day, the weaknesses of my services, and the strength of my passions, the rashness of my words, and the vanity and evil of my actions. O just and dear God, how long shall I confess my sins, and pray against them, and yet fall under them! O let it be so no more; let me never return to the follies of which I am ashamed, which bring sorrow, and death, and thy displeasure, worse than death. Give me a command over my evil inclinations, and à perfect hatred of sin, and a love to thee above all the desires of this world. Be pleased to bless and preserve me, this night, from all sin, and all violence of chance, and the malice of the spirits of darkness: watch over me in my sleep; and, whether I sleep or wake, let me be thy servant. Be thou first and last in all my thoughts, and the guide and continual assistance of all my actions. Preserve my body, pardon the sin of my soul, and sanctify my spirit; let me always live holily, and justly, and soberly; and, when I die, receive my soul into thy hands, O holy and ever-blessed Jesus; — that I may lie in thy bosom, and long for thy coming, and hear thy blessed sentence at doomsday, and behold thy face, and live in thy kingdom, singing praises to God for ever and ever. Amen. Our Father, &c. FOR SUNDAY. A Prayer against Pride. O ETERNAL God, merciful, and glorious, thou art exalted far above all heavens; thy throne, O God, is glory, and thy sceptre is righteousness, thy will is holiness, and thy wisdom the great foundation of empire and government: I adore thy majesty, and rejoice in thy mercy, and revere thy power, and confess all glory, and dignity, and honour, to be thine alone, and theirs to whom thou shalt impart any ray of thy majesty, or reflection of thy honour: but as for me, I am a worm and no man, vile dust and ashes, the son of corruption, and the heir of rottenness, seized upon by folly, a lump of ignorance and sin, and shame and death.-What art thou, O Lord? the great God of heaven and earth, the fountain of holiness, and perfection infinite.-But what am I? so ignorant, that I know not what; so poor, that I have nothing of my own; so miserable, that I am the heir of sorrow and death; and so sinful, that I am encompassed with shame and grief. And yet, O my God, I am proud: proud of my shame, glorying in my sin, boasting my infirmities; for this is all that I have of my own,- save only that I have multiplied my miseries by vile actions, every day dishonouring the work of thy hands: my understanding is too confident, my affections rebellious, my will refractory and disobedient; and yet I know thou resistest the proud, and didst cast the morning stars, the angels, from heaven into chains of darkness, when they grew giddy and proud, walking upon the battlements of heaven, beholding the glorious regions that were above them. III. Thou, O God, who givest grace to the humble, do something also for the proud man; make me humble and obedient. Take from me the spirit of pride and haughtiness, ambition and self-flattery, confidence and gaiety: teach me to think well, and to expound all things fairly of my brother, to love his worthiness, to delight in his praises, to excuse his errors, to give thee thanks for his graces,—to rejoice in all the good that he receives,-and ever to believe and speak better things of him than of myself. IV. O teach me to love to be concealed, and little esteemed; let me be truly humbled, and heartily ashamed of my sin and folly; teach me to bear reproaches evenly, for I have deserved them; to refuse all honours done unto me, because I have not deserved them; to return all to thee, for it is thine alone; to suffer reproof thankfully, to amend all my faults speedily; and do thou invest my soul with the humble robe of my meek Master and Saviour Jesus; and, when I have humbly, patiently, charitably, and diligently served thee,change this robe into the shining garment of immortality, my confusion into glory, my folly to perfect knowledge, my weaknesses and dishonours to the strength and beauties of the sons of God. ས. In the mean time use what means thou pleasest, to conform me to the image of thy holy Son; that I may be gentle to others, and severe to myself: that I may sit down in the lowest place; striving to go before my brother in nothing, but in doing him and thee honour; staying for my glory, till thou shalt please, in the day of recompenses, to reflect light from thy face, and admit me to behold thy glories. Grant this for Jesus Christ's sake, who humbled himself to the death and shame of the cross, and is now exalted unto glory: unto him, with thee, O Father, be glory and praise for ever and ever. Amen. FOR MONDAY. A Prayer against Covetousness. I. O ALMIGHTY God, eternal treasure of all good things, thou fillest all things with plenteousness; thou clothest the lilies of the field, and feedest the young ravens that call upon thee:' thou art all-sufficient in thyself, and all-sufficient to us; let thy providence be my storehouse, thy dispensation of temporal things the limit of my labour, my own necessity the measure of my desire: but never let my desires of this world be greedy, nor my labour immoderate, nor my care vexatious and distracting, but prudent, moderate, holy, subordinate to thy will, the measure thou hast appointed for me. II. Teach me, O God, to despise the world, to labour for the true riches, to 'seek the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness,' to be content with what thou providest, to be in this world like a stranger with affections set upon heaven, labouring for, and longing after the possessions of thy kingdom; but never suffer my affections to dwell below, but give me a heart compassionate to the poor, liberal to the needy, open and free in all my communications, without base ends, or greedy designs, or unworthy arts of gain; but let my strife be to gain thy favour, to obtain the blessedness of doing good to others, and giving to them that want, and the blessedness of receiving from thee pardon and support, grace and holiness, perseverance, and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. FOR TUESDAY. A Prayer against Lust. I. O ETERNAL purity, thou art brighter than the sun, purer than the angels, and the heavens are not clean in thy sight; with mercy behold thy servant apt to be tempted with every object, and to be overcome by every enemy. I cannot, O God, stand in the day of battle and danger, unless thou coverest me with thy shield, and hidest me under thy wings. The fiery darts of the devil are ready to consume me, unless the dew of thy grace for ever descend upon me. Thou didst make me after thy image: be pleased to preserve me so, pure and spotless, chaste and clean; that my body may be a holy temple, and my soul a sanctuary to entertain thy divinest Spirit, the Spirit of love and holiness, the Prince of purities. II. Reprove in me the spirit of fornication and uncleanness, and fill my soul with holy fires, that no strange fire may come into the temple of my body, where thou hast chosen to dwell. O cast out all those unclean spirits, which have unhallowed the place, where thy holy feet have trod: pardon all my hurtful thoughts, all my impurities; that I, who am a member of Christ, may not become the member of a harlot, |