we pray thee, in all humility, for a continuance of this thy bountiful and loving kindness, which thou hast vouchsafed to us and to all the creatures of thy hand, from the beginning of the world to the present hour. Instruct us, O Lord, to feel our own unworthiness, in the contemplation of thy omnipotence; to correct our errors, amend our lives; and when a criminal-neglect of thy sacred ordinances deadens their influence on our conduct, chasten us in thy mercy, that we may avoid the heavy judgment of thine anger. Teach us to love one another as Christ loved us: awaken in us a spirit to profit by the precepts of thy holy Gospel: incite us to imitate, as far as our nature will admit, the great, the pure, the exalted example of our blessed Redeemer, in whose impressive form of prayer we offer up our supplications at the throne of grace; saying, Our Father, &c. DR. JOHNSON. O Lord, my maker and protector, who hast graciously sent me into this world to work out my salvation, enable me to drive from me all such unquiet and perplexing thoughts as may mislead or hinder me in the practice of those duties which thou hast required. When I behold the works of thy hands, and consider the course of thy providence, give me grace always to remember that thy thoughts are not my thoughts, nor thy ways my ways; and while it shall please thee to continue me in this world, where much is to be done, and little to be known, teach me, by thy Holy Spirit, to withdraw my mind from unprofitable and dangerous enquiries, from difficulties vainly curious, and doubts impossible to be solved. Let me rejoice in the light which thou hast imparted, let me serve thee with active zeal and humble confidence, and wait with patient expectation for the time in which the soul which thou receivest shall be satisfied with knowledge. Grant this, O Lord, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. BISHOP TAYLOR. O holy and most gracious Lord, who by thy precepts and practice didst command us to be meek and humble; grant me the grace, as thou hast afforded me the example; command whatsoever thou pleasest, and enable me to do whatsoever thou commandest; correct in me all proud thoughts and vain opinions of myself; let me, Let me in acknowledging thy goodness, bring forth the fruits of what thou hast done for me. not boast myself for what I have received; før from thy mercy, and not my own deserts, do they proceed. Let no riches make me ever forget myself, no poverty ever make me forget thee. Let nor hope nor fear, nor pleasure nor pain, no accident without, no weakness within, deter me from my duty, or turn me from the ways of thy commandments. O let thy spirit dwell with me for ever, and make my soul just and charitable, full of honesty, full of religion, resolute and constant in holy purposes, and inflexible to evil. Make me humble and obedient, peaceable and pious let me never envy any man's good, nor deserve to be despised myself. Teach me to regulate my whole conduct by the tenor of thy gospel; to pay the debt of gratitude which I owe for all thy mercies and lovingkindness, and to dispense, according to my power, a portion of that good which thou hast bestowed upon me to my fellow-creatures; and make the sacrifice of my heart and devotion of my soul to the service of heaven, acceptable to the Almighty Ruler of the universe; through thy mediation, O Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. By the same. O Almighty God, Father and Lord of all the creation, who hath disposed all things and all chances so as may best glorify thy wisdom, and serve the ends of thy justice, and magnify thy mercy, thy secret and undiscernible ways bringing good out of evil; I most humbly beseech thee to give me wisdom from above, that I may adore thee, and admire thy ways and footsteps, which are in the great deep, and not to be searched out. Teach me to submit to thy providence in all things, to be content in all changes of person and condition, to be temperate in prosperity, and to read my duty in the lines of thy mercy; and in adversity to be meek, patient, and resigned; and to look through the cloud, that I may wait for the consolation of the Lord,, and the day of redemption; in the mean time doing my duty with an unwearied diligence, and an undisturbed resolution, having no fondness for the vanities and possessions of this world, but laying up my hopes in heaven, and the rewardsof holy living, and being strengthened with the Spirit in the inner man; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. By the same. O eternal God, merciful and gracious, vouchsafe thy favour and thy blessing to thy servant : let the love of thy mercies, and the dread and fear of thy majesty, make me careful and inquisitive to search thy will, and diligently to perform it; and to persevere in the practices of a holy life, even till the last of my days. Amen. By the same. Bless me, gracious God, in my calling to such purposes as thou shalt choose for me, or employ me in relieve me in all sadness and sickness, give me patience in my sorrows, confidence in thee, and grace to call upon thee in all temptations. O be thou my guide in all my actions, my protector in all dangers: give me a healthful body and a clear understanding, a sanctified and just, a charitable and humble, a religious and a contented spirit: let not my life be miserable and wretched, nor my name stained with sin and shame, nor my condition lifted up to a tempting and dangerous fortune; but let my state be blessed, my conversation useful to my neigh |