GRACE AFTER MEA T. Thus Speaketh the Lord in the fifth Book of Mofes. Chapter viii, verfe 10, II. WHEN thou haft eaten and art full, then thou fhalt bless the Lord thy God, for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his ftatutes which I commanded thee this day. LORD GOD and heavenly Father, we thank thee for all thy benefits, which we without intermiffion receive from thy bountiful hand; we bless thy divine will, for preferving us in this mortal life, and for supplying all our wants; but ef pecially for our regeneration unto a hope of a better life, which thou haft revealed unto us by thy gospel. We beseech thee, merciful God and Father, not to fuffer our hearts to be fixed upon thefe earthly and corruptible things; but that we may always look up to heaven, expecting thence our Saviour Jefus Chrift, until he appear in the clouds for our deliverance.Amen. Our Father, &.c. A Prayer for fick and tempted Perfons. A ALMIGHTY, eternal, righteous God, and Α merciful Father, thou who art Lord of life and death, and without whofe will nothing is done in heaven or in earth, although we are not worthy to call upon thy name, nor to hope that thou wilt hear us, when we confider how we have hitherto employed our time; we beseech thee that thou wilt be pleafed of thy mercy to look upon us in the face of Jefus Chrift, who has taken all our infirmities on him we acknowledge that we are utterly incapable of any good, and prone to all evil, wherefore we have justly merited this punishment, yea have deferved much more. But Lord, thou knowest that we are thy people, and that thou art our God: we have no other refuge than to thy mercy, which thou never haft withheld from any one who turned himfelf to thee. Therefore we beseech thee not to impute our fins unto us, but account the wisdom, righteonfness and holiness of Jefus Chrift to us, that we may in him be able to ftand before thee. Deliver us for his fake from thefe fufferings, that the wicked may not think that thou haft forfaken us. And if it is thy pleasure longer thus to try us, give us ftrength and patience to bear all fuch according to thy will, and let it all turn according to thy wisdom to our profit. Rather chaftife us here, than hereafter to be loft with the world. Grant that we may die from this world and all earthly things, and that we may daily more and more be renewed after the image of Jefus Christ. Suffer us not to be feparated by any means from thy love; but draw us daily nigher and nigher unto thee, that we may enter upon the end of our calling with joy, that is, to die, to rife again, and live with Christ in eternity. We alfo believe that thon wilt hear us through Jefus Chrift, who hath taught us to pray, Our Father, &c. Strengthen us alfo in the true faith, which we believe in our hearts, and profefs with our mouths: I believe in God, &c, E OR THUS. TERNAL merciful God and Father, the eter nal falvation of the living, and the everlasting life of the dying; feeing that thou haft death and life in thy hand alone, and takeft fuch care of us continually, that neither health nor fickness, nor any good or evil can befal us, nay not a hair can fall from our head without thy will. And fince thou doft order all things for the good of thy people, we beseech f thee grant us the grace of thy holy Spirit, to teach us rightly to acknowledge our misery, and patiently to bear thy chafstifings, which we have deferved ten thousand times more fevere. We know that they are not the evidences of thy wrath, but of thy fatherly love towards us, that we should not be condemned with the world. O Lord increase our faith in thine infinite mercy, that we may be more and more united to Chrift, as members to their spiritual head, to whom thou wilt make us conform in fufferings and in glory. Lighten the crofs, fo that our weakness may be able to bear it, we fubmit ourselves entirely to thy holy will, whether thou art pleafed to continue our fouls longer in these tabernacles, or take them into eternal life, fince we belong to Chrift, and therefore fhall not perish. We would willingly leave this weak body in hopes of a bleffed refurrection, when it shall be restored to us much more glorious. Grant us to experience the bleffed comfort of the remiffion of fins, and of juftification through Chrift, that we by that fhield may overcome all the affaults of fatan. May his innocent blood wash away all the stain, and uncleanness of our fins, and his righteousness answer for our unrighteoufnefs in thy laft judgment, Arm us with faith and hope, that we may not be ashamed or confounded by the terror of death; but when our bodily eyes are clofing in darkness, may the eyes of our fouls be directed towards thee, and when thou halt have deprived us of the use of our tongues, may our hearts never cease to call upon thee, O Lord, we commit our fouls into thy hands, forfake us not in our laft extremity, and that only for the fake of Chrift Jefus, who hath taught us to pray, Our Father, &c. |