b sins, O holy Father, I desire above all things to partake of thy righteousness; having defaced and corrupted myself, I would fain be made new by thee; having hitherto miscarried, whilst I would be in my own hands, I desire now to be altogether in thine, and never more to wander from thee; and, therefore, whatever else I lose, my earnest and longing prayer is, that I may recover thy likeness, and be made conformable to thy will in all things, through Jesus Christ, my blessed Saviour and Redeemer. Amen. VII. I know, O gracious Lord, that I cannot receive this, but from thyself; O therefore be thou both the blessed giver, and the gift: I confess that I am utterly unworthy to have thy divine image stamped upon my soul, but, alas! 1 extremely need it, and extremely value it; and I dearly love thee, O my God, or else I should not be thus desirous to be like thee. Hear me, therefore, O gracious Father, and breathe into my heart that Spirit, which renews us after thine own image, in righteousness and true holiness. Blessed Jesus, who seekest out sinners to make them good, do not reject me now, when I seek to thee to make me better. I am poor and naked, Oh! clothe me with thy righteousness; ire ore nat yer ade ough mer. can efore ift: I e thy alas! e it; else I and ch reteous ers to when or and sness incon them tions of Scripture as you find yourself most affected with; or to consider the nature and attributes of God; or the fall and miserable state of man, and his redemption by Jesus Christ; or to meditate on such particular duties as you find yourself to have been defective in ; or on the rewards promised to good men, and on the punishments denounced against the wicked, as those things are laid down in the Holy Scriptures, which are our only infallible guide; on which occasion, the book entitled, The Christian Institutes, or the Sincere Word of God, will be very useful, it containing the whole faith and duty of a Christian, digested under proper heads, and delivered in the words of Scripture, so that the reader may find there together those Scriptures which may concern any article of faith, or particular duty, together with the Scripture-motives for the practice thereof. After the devout Christian has spent some little time in reading and meditation as aforesaid, he may use the following prayers.' A Prayer, consisting of Petitions for the Most merciful and gracious God, who of thy Filet mive thy Son Jesus Christ a h F t r I beseech thee, by his infinite condescension, by his perfect obedience, and by his meritorious sufferings, not only to pardon my past sins, but to endue me with power and strength to resist them for the time to come. Replenish me with such supernatural gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, as may enable me not only to act conformably to the light of my own mind, but make be readily obey thy heavenly motions, and constantly follow the precepts of the Holy Scriptures. Give me a zealous sense of piety towards thee, my great Lord and Sovereign, and a due regard to all thy sacred and divine truths. Let me reverence thy word and worship, and all things and persons dedicated and devoted to thy peculiar service. Let me submit to all the afflictions thou shalt think fit to lay upon me, with patience and with meekness. Let me trust to thy providence to supply me under all dangers and necessities. And let me thankfully acknowledge thy bounty, for all those good things which thou so freely hast bestowed on me. II. Give me, O Lord, that divine wisdom which proposes the pleasing thee, as the end and aim of all my actions, and which directs to all those means which thou hast ross; |