PRAYERS AND OFFICES OF DEVOTION. FIRST MORNING PRAYER FOR A FAMILY. O LORD, thou God of our salvation Thou art the hope of all the ends of the earth; upon thee the eyes of all do wait; for thou givest unto all life, and breath, and all things. In thee we ever live and move, and are; and upon thee we continually depend for all the good that we either have, or hope for. Still thou watchest over us for good, and takest care of us in our sleep, when we are incapable of caring for ourselves: daily thou rene west to us thy tender mercies: every morning affords us fresh occasions for praise and thanksgiving: and thou hast assured us by thy word, that, if we commit our affairs to thee, and acknowledge thee in all our ways, thou wilt establish our thoughts, and direct our path. We desire therefore, O Lord, still to put ourselves under thy gracious conduct, and thy fatherly protection: and we beg the guidance, and blessing, and assistance of thy good Spirit, to choose our inheritance for us; and to dispose of us and of all that concerns us, to the glory of thy name. O Lord, withdraw not thy tender mercies from us; take not away the comforts of thy presence, or the assistance of thy Spirit on account of our manifold abuses of thy grace and goodness. Never punish our past sins, by giving us over to the love and power of our sins; but give us truly penitent hearts, and grant us thy merciful discharge from all the guilt that lies upon us. And grant us, O good God, the comfortable sense of thine acceptance of · us in the Son of thy love, that our souls may bless thee, and all that is within us may praise thy holy name. And O that we may find the joy of the Lord to be our strength; that we may be strengthened by it against all our sins; especially the sins to which we are most addicted, and whereof we are most in danger: make us also more ready to every good work, and better disposed for all the duties which we owe to Thee, our neighbour, and ourselves; that herein we may exercise ourselves to have always a conscience void of offence, towards God, and towards men. O help us to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise; carefully redeeming the time that we have lost, and conscientiously improving all those seasons of grace, which thou art pleased to put into our hands. And while we are upon earth, O give us all things needful and convenient for our present pilgrimage: sanctify to us all our enjoyments, and all our occupations in the world: let our crosses also, and our comforts, and all events that now befall us be improved to thy glory: till, through the merits of thy Son, and the multitude of thy mercies, we are conducted safely to be ever with the Lord. Amidst all other affairs in this world, O let us never forget or neglect the one thing needful; but may it be our principal care so to demean ourselves every day, that we may give up our account with joy in the great day of thine appearing. : O gracious Father! keep us, we beseech thee, this day in thy fear and favour; and help us to live to thine honour and glory. If thou guide us not, we shall run into errors; if thou preserve us not, we shall fall into dangers: O let thy good Providence be our defence and security and let thy Holy Spirit be our guide and counsellor in all our ways. And grant that we may do those things which are agreeable to thy will and acceptable in thy sight, through Jesus Christ in whose sacred name and words, we close our imperfect petitions. Our Father, &c. Let thy grace, O Lord Jesus Christ, thy love, O heavenly Father, thy comfortable fellowship, O holy blessed Spirit, be with us, and with all the Israel of God, this day, and for evermore. Amen. A SECOND MORNING PRAYER FOR A FAMILY. O LORD, thou art the God, whose we are, and whom we ought to serve, with all the abilities wherewith thou hast blessed us. We are bound by all the obligations of thy laws, and by all the endearments of thy love to be faithful in the covenant of our God, and to abound in the work of the Lord. But we desire to humble ourselves before thee, that our lives have been so unserviceable to thee, and so full of provocation against thee: that the dishonour which we have done thee, O Lord, has so far exceeded all our services: that we have lived to our C selves, rather than to thee; and have served our own lusts and pleasures, more than thy holy blessed will. O how have we disbelieved thy truths, disobeyed thy commands, disregarded thy promises and threats! how have we resisted and defeated all the gracious methods, which thou hast used to reclaim us from our evil ways, and to bring us over to thyself. We have sinned against thee our God, and done infinite wrong and damage to our own souls: by our sins we have spoiled and destroyed ourselves: but it is not in us, O Lord, to recover and save ourselves in thee, O heavenly Father, in thee alone, is all our help. Yea, thou hast laid help upon One that is mighty, and that is able to save to the uttermost all that come to Thee through him: through him thou hast encouraged us to come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need. In him, therefore, we beg, O Lord, that thou wilt be reconciled to us, and make thyself known to us as a Father of mercies, and a God of all consolation. For his sake enable us also (we beseech thee) to demean ourselves as becomes the children of God, and the members and followers of Christ. O put such principles of grace and holiness into our hearts, as may make us to hate all iniquity, and to abhor every false way. Put thy Spirit within us, causing us to walk in thy statutes, and to keep thy judgements, and to do them. Do not merely lay thy commands upon us; but be pleased, O Lord, to enable us for the performance of them. And so quicken us by thy grace, that we may make it our meat and drink to do thy will; and may run the way of thy commandments with enlarged hearts. O make our services acceptable to thee while we live; and our souls ready for thee when we die. And as long as we are in this world, keep us, O Lord our God, from the evil of it, and from the snares and dangers to which thou knowest we are continually exposed. O make our passage safe through all the changes, troubles, and temptations of this mortal life, and bring us finally to the unchangeable glories and felicities of the eternal world. Be merciful to us, good Lord, and bless us, and keep us this day, in all our ways. Let us take nothing in hand, which is not warranted by thy word. O let us be in the fear of the Lord all the day long let thy fear be ever before our eyes, to restrain us from the things which are displeasing to thee, and destructive to our own souls. And let thy love abound in our hearts, and sweetly and powerfully constrain us to perform whatever is acceptable in thy sight, through Him that hath loved and redeemed us, even the Lord our righteousness: in whose blessed name and words we continue praying, Our Father, &c. The blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be with us, and with all that belong to us, this day and for evermore. Amen. A THIRD MORNING PRAYER. O LORD GOD, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth! thou keepest mercy for thousands; thou pardonest iniquity, transgression and sin; thou retainest not thine anger for ever, because thou delightest in mercy. How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! |