Imatges de pàgina
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for all other the Means of Grace, and for the Hopes of Glory; but above all, I magnify, I blefs, I adore thy great and glorious Name, for fending thy Son into the World, to die for the Redemption of me and all Mankind.

I bless thee, likewife, O Lord, for all the temporal Mercies which I have received from thy moft bountiful Hand; for that Measure of Health I have enjoyed; for the many Friends and Relations thou haft given me for delivering me from the great Calamities I have juftly deferved, and with which many of thy beft and dearest Servants have been vifited. It is to thy Goodness I afcribe it, that I have the Ufe of my Senfes, and of my Reafon; that I am not languishing upon a Bed of Sickness nor groaning under the fharpeft Pains; that I am not pining with Want, nor forced to beg my daily Bread, but am am com

dition.

This is to be va petently provided for, and fee ried, according to my dear Wife and Children, every Perfon's Con- and many other Comforts round about me. It is by thee alone, O Lord, my Affairs do in any Measure profper, or any the least of my Undertakings fucceed; it is thy Wisdom that directs me, thy Truth that inftructs

me,

me, and thy Power that at all Times ferves me.

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More particularly, O Lord, I defire to blefs and praise thy holy Name, for [here may be mentioned any other Particulars, Mercies or Deliverances ]

And now, O Lord what Returns fhall I, that am a poor Sinner, make for all these marvellous Inftances of thy Mercy and Loving-Kindnefs? O let my Tongue be daily founding forth thy Praises; and grant that I may manifeft the Sincerity of thofe Praises, by a holy Life and Converfation; by walking before thee in all Godlinefs and Honefty; by ferving the faithfully, and making a right Ufe of all thofe Bleffings thou beftoweft on me; by studying to please thee in all Things, and doing every Thing that becomes the Servant of fo kind and bountiful a Master.

O let me never behave myself in fo ungrateful a Manner, as to provoke thee to withdraw thy Mercies from me; but give me fuch a lively Senfe of thy Loving-Kindnefs as my excite my Thankfulness, and engage me to pay a willing and chearful Obedience to thy Commandments; that devoting my felf entirely to thy Service, I may daily grow in Grace, and be continu

ally

Part II. ally advancing to new Degrees of thy Favour; that fo thefe Bleffings here, may be an Earneft of thy future Mercies; which I beseech thee to grant me, for the Sake of thy beloved Son, Jefus Christ our Lord; to whom with thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghoft, be afcribed, as is most due, all Honour, Glory, Power, Thankf giving, and Praise, both now and for ever

more.

Amen.

A concluding Prayer.

BLESSED be thy Name, O Lord, for the Opportunity thou haft this Day vouchfafed me of humbling my felf before thee. Pardon, I most humbly befeech thee, all my "Failings and Defects at this Time, the Wanderings of my Prayers, the Coldness of my Affections, and the Difproportion of my Repentance to the Heinoufnels of those Sins which I have committed.

O let thy Mercy and Goodness fupply what is want ing in me, and be thou graciously pleased' to pity my Weakneffes, and forgive my Infirmities, through the Merits, and for the Sake of thy beloved Son, and my alone Saviour, Jefus Chrift the Righteous; to whom with thee, and the Holy Ghoft be all Honour and Glory afcribed, now and for evermore. Amen.

AN

OFFICE FOR THE SICK.

A Prayer at the Beginning of any Sickness, which may be alfo ufed during its Conti

nuance.

O Almighty God and merciful Father, whofe never-failing Providence ordereth all Things both in Heaven and Earth; I defire, with the profoundest Reverence, to humble myfelf before thee, acknowledging that thou, even in thy fevereft Difpenfations, haft kind Intentions, and gracious Designs towards us: behold me thy poor Servant upon whom thou hast been pleased to lay thine afflicting Hand; fanctify, I befeech thee, this thy Fatherly Correction to me, and grant that I may receive it with all the Patience and Submiffion of a dutiful Child. Suffer me not, O Lord, to murmur or repine under any Difpenfations of thy Providence; but let all that is afflictive to me, be a Means to wean me from the World, to bring me nearer to thyfelf, and to purge away all that Dross and Defilement which my Soul has contracted

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tracted in this finful Life. I know, O Lord, that thy Judgments are right, and that thou of thy Goodness haft caused me to be troubled: O give me such a Measure of Grace and Patience, as may enable me chearfully and willingly to fubmit Will my to thine.

I acknowledge, O Lord, that I have justly deserved to be feverely dealt with by thee; for notwithstanding all the gentle Methods which thou haft ufed towards me, I have not loved thee as I ought to do; but in the Days of Health and Profperity have forgotten thee, my God, and turned afide after Vanity and Folly; but, O merciful Father, let not my Sins provoke thee to turn away thy Face from me thy Servant, now feeking unto thee in this Time of my Trouble; hut not up the Bowels of thy tender Compaffions from me; but for the Merits and Interceffion of thy beloved Son, pardon all my Sins, the proper Caufes of all my Sorrows, and vouchfafe, I beseech thee, for his Sake, to be reconO fuffer me not to fink ciled unto me. under the heavy Load and Burden of my Tranfgreffions, but stretch forth thy helping Hand to fave and deliver me; and fay unto my Soul, I am thy Salvation.

O Lord,

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