SOME FORMS OF PRAYER
SOME SHORT FORMS OF PRAYER FOR THE USE OF THOSE WHO MAY NOT BE ABLE TO COLLECT FOR THEMSELVES OUT OF THE FOREGOING MATERIALS
A PRAYER TO BE USED BY CHILDREN
God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee.
Thou art my God and I will praise thee, my father's
God and I will exalt thee.
Who is a God like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. When my flesh and my heart fail, thou art the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Thou madest me for thyself to shew forth thy praise.
But I am a sinner; I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
God be merciful to me a sinner.
O deliver me from the wrath to come, through Christ Jesus who died for me, and rose again.
Lord, give me a new nature. Let Jesus Christ be formed in my soul, that to me to live may be Christ, and to die may be gain.
Lord, I was in my baptism given up to thee; receive me graciously, and love me freely.
Lord Jesus, thou hast encouraged little children to come to thee, and hast said, that of such is the kingdom of God; I come to thee; O make me a faithful subject of thy kingdom, take me up in thy arms, put thy hands upon me, and bless me.
O give me grace to redeem me from all iniquity, and particularly from the vanity which childhood and youth is subject to.
Lord, give me a wise and an understanding heart, that I may know and do thy will in every thing, and may in nothing sin against thee.
Lord, grant that from my childhood I may know the Holy Scriptures, and may continue in the good things which I have learned.
Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me thy law graciously.
Lord, be thou a Father to me; teach me, and guide me; provide for me, and protect me; and bless me, even me, 0 my Father.
Bless all my relations [father, mother, brothers, sisters] and give me grace to do my duty to them in every thing.
Lord, prepare me for death, and give me wisely to consider my latter end.
0 Lord, I thank thee for all thy mercies to me; for life and health, food and raiment, and for my education; for my creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and the hopes of glory.
Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift; Blessed be God for JESUS CHRIST. None but Christ, none but Christ for me.
Now to God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, that great name into which I was baptized, be honour and glory, dominion and praise, for ever and ever, Amen.
Our Father which art in heaven, &c.
ANOTHER PARAPHRASE ON THE LORD'S PRAYER, IN THE WORDS OF THE ASSEMBLIES SHORTER CATECHISM
OUR Father in heaven, we come to thee as children to a Father able and ready to help us.
We beseech thee, Let thy name be sanctified; enable us and others to glorify thee in all that whereby thou hast made thyself known, and dispose of all things to thine own glory.
Let thy kingdom come; Let Satan's kingdom be destroyed, and let the kingdom of thy grace be advanced; let us and others be brought into it, and kept in it, and let the kingdom of thy glory be hastened.
Let thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven; make us by thy grace able and willing to know, obey, and submit to thy will in all things, as the angels do in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread; of thy free gift let us receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and let us enjoy thy blessing with them.
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. We pray that for Christ's sake thou wouldest freely pardon all our sins, and that by thy grace thou wouldest enable us from the heart to forgive others.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: Either keep us (O Lord) from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever. Lord, we take our encouragement in prayer from thyself only, and desire in our prayers to praise thee, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to thee: And in testimony of our desires and assurance to be heard through Jesus Christ, we say Amen.
Our Father which art in heaven, &c.
ANOTHER PRAYER DRAWN OUT OF MY PLAIN CATECHISM FOR CHILDREN (WHICH WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE YEAR 1703) WHICH WILL BE
EASY TO THOSE CHILDREN WHO HAVE LEARNED THAT CATECHISM
LORD, thou art an infinite and eternal Spirit, most wise and powerful, holy, just, and good.
Thou art the great God that madest the world, and art my Creator; and thou that madest me doest preserve and maintain me, and in thee I live and move and have my being. 0 that I may remember thee as my Creator in the days of my youth, and never forget thee.
Lord, give me grace to serve and honour thee, to worship and obey thee, and in all my ways to trust in thee and to please thee.
Lord, I thank thee for thy holy word, which thou hast given me to be the rule of my faith and obedience, and which is able to make me wise unto salvation.
I confess, 0 Lord, that the condition I was born in is sinful and miserable. I am naturally prone to that which is evil, and backward to that which is good, and foolishness is bound up in my heart; and I am by nature a child of wrath, so that if thou hadst not raised up a Saviour for me, I had been certainly lost and undone for ever. I have been disobedient to the command of God, and have eaten forbidden fruit.
But blessed and for ever blessed be God for the Saviour Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, and the only mediator between God and man, who took our nature upon him, and became man, that he might redeem and save us.
Lord, I bless thee for his Holy life, give me to follow his steps; I bless thee for the true and excellent doctrine which he preached, give me to mix faith with it; I bless thee for the miracles which he wrought to confirm his doctrine: And especially that he died the cursed death of the cross to satisfy for sin, and to reconcile us to God; and that he rose again from the dead on the third day, and ascended up into heaven, where he ever lives making intercession for us, and hath all power both in heaven and in earth; and that we are assured he will come again in glory to judge the world at the last day.
Lord, I thank thee that I am one of his disciples; for I am a baptized Christian; and I give glory to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in whose name I was baptized.
Lord, be thou in Christ to me a God, and make me one of thy people.
Be thou my chief good and highest end; let Jesus Christ be my Prince and Saviour; and let the Holy Ghost be my sanctifier, teacher, guide and comforter.
Lord, enable me to deny all ungodliness, and worldly fleshly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, always looking for the blessed hope.
Work in me repentance towards God, and faith towards our
Lord Jesus Christ; and give me to live a life of faith and repentance.
Lord, make me truly sorry that I have offended thee in what I have thought, and spoken, and done amiss, and give me grace to sin no more.
And enable me to receive Jesus Christ, and to rely upon him as my prophet, priest, and king, and to give up myself to be ruled, and taught, and saved by him.
Lord, grant unto me the pardon of my sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and eternal life.
And give me grace to manifest the sincerity of my faith and repentance by a diligent and conscientious obedience to all thy commandments.
Enable me to love thee with all my heart, and to love my neighbour as myself.
Give me grace always to make mention of thy name with reverence and seriousness, to read and hear thy word with diligence and attention, to meditate upon it, to believe it, and to frame my life according to it.
Lord, grant that I may receive all thy mercies with thank- fulness, and bear all afflictions with patience and submission to thy holy will.
Lord, grant that my heart may never be lifted up with pride, disturbed with anger, or any sinful passion; and that my body may never be defiled with intemperance, uncleanness, or any fleshly lusts; and keep me from ever speaking any sinful words.
Lord, give me grace to reverence and obey my parents and governors; I thank thee for their instructions and reproofs: I pray thee bless them to me, and make me in every thing a comfort to them.
Lord, pity, help, and succour the poor, and those in affliction and distress.
Lord, bless my friends, forgive my enemies, and enable me to do my duty to all men.
Wherein I have in any thing offended thee, I humbly pray for pardon in the blood of Christ, and grace to do my duty better for the time to come, and so to live in the fear of God, as that I may be happy in this world, and that to come.
Lord, prepare me to die, and leave this world; 0 save me from that state of everlasting misery and torment, which will certainly be the portion of all the wicked and ungodly, and bring me safe to the world of everlasting rest and joy with thee and Jesus Christ.
And give me wisdom and grace to live a holy godly life, and to make it my great care and business to serve thee, and to save my own soul.
All this I humbly beg in the name and for the sake of Jesus
Christ, my blessed Saviour and Redeemer, to whom with thee, 0
Father, and the eternal Spirit, be honour, glory, and praise henceforth, and for evermore. Amen.
Our Father which art in heaven, &c.
A MORNING PRAYER FOR A FAMILY
LORD our God, we desire with all humility and reverence to adore thee as a Being infinitely bright, and blessed, and glorious, that hast all perfection in thyself, and art the fountain of all being, power, life, motion, and perfection.
Thou art good to all, and thy tender mercies are over all thy works; and thou art continually doing us good, though we are evil and unthankful.
We reckon it an unspeakable privilege, that we have liberty of access to thee through Jesus Christ, and leave to call thee our Father in him. O look upon us now, and be merciful to us, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.
O give us all to account our daily worship of thee in our family the most needful part of our daily business, and the most pleasant of our daily comforts.
Thou art the God of all the families of Israel, be thou the God of our family, and grant that whatever others do, we and ours may always serve the Lord; that thou mayest cause the blessing to rest on our house from the beginning of the year to the end of it. Lord, bless us, and we are blessed indeed.
We humbly thank thee for all the mercies of this night past, and this morning, that we have laid us down and slept, and waked again, because thou hast sustained us; That no plague has come nigh our dwelling; but that we are brought in safety to the light and comforts of another day.
It is of thy mercies, O Lord, that we are not consumed, even because thy compassions fail not, they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.
We have rested and are refreshed, when many have been full of tossings to and fro till the dawning of the day: We have a safe and quiet habitation, when many are forced to wander and lie exposed.
We own thy goodness to us, and ourselves we acknowledge less than the least of all the mercy, and of all the truth thou hast shewed unto us.
We confess we have sinned against thee, we are guilty before thee, we have sinned and have come short of the glory of God: We have corrupt and sinful natures, and are bent to backslide from thee; backward to good and prone to evil continually.
Vain thoughts come into us, and lodge within us, lying down and rising up, and they defile or disquiet our minds, and keep out good thoughts. We are too apt to burden ourselves with that care which thou hast encouraged us to cast upon thee.
We are very much wanting in the duties of our particular relations, and provoke one another more to folly and passion than to love and to good works. We are very cold and defective in our love to God, weak in our desires towards him, and unsteady and uneven in our walking with him; and are at this time much out of frame for his service.
We pray thee forgive all our sins for Christ's sake, and be at peace with us in him who died to make peace, and ever lives making intercession.
There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? but, Lord, let not us be put off with the good of this world for a portion: for this is our heart's desire and prayer, Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon us, and that shall put gladness into our hearts more than they have whose corn and wine and oil increaseth.
Lord, let thy peace rule in our hearts, and give law to us, and let thy peace keep our hearts and minds, and give comfort to us; and let the consolations of God, which are neither few nor small, be our strength and our song in the house of our pilgrimage.
Lord, we commit ourselves to thy care and keeping this day:
Watch over us for good; compass us about with thy favour as with a shield; preserve us from all evil, yea, the Lord preserve and keep our souls; preserve our going out and coming in.
Our bodies and all our worldly affairs we commit to the conduct of thy wise and gracious providence, and submit to its disposals. Let no hurt or harm happen to us; keep us in health and safety; bless our employments, prosper us in all our lawful undertakings, and give us comfort and success in them. Let us eat the labour of our hands, and let it be well with us.
Our precious souls and all their concerns we commit to the government of thy Spirit and grace. O let thy grace be mighty in us, and sufficient for us, and let it work in us both to will and to do that which is good, of thine own good pleasure.
O give us grace to do the work of this day in its day, according as the duty of the day requires, and to do even common actions after a godly sort; acknowledging thee in all our ways, and having our eye ever up to thee, and be thou pleased to direct our steps.
Lord, keep us from sin; give us rule over our own spirits, and grant that we may not this day break out into passion upon any provocation, or speak unadvisedly with our lips: Give us grace to live together in peace and holy love, that the Lord may command the blessing upon us, even life for evermore.
Make us conscientious in all our dealings, and always watchful against sin, as becomes those who see thine eye ever upon us: Arm us against every temptation, uphold us in our integrity, keep us in the way of our duty; and grant that we may be in thy fear every day, and all the day long.
In every doubtful case let our way be made plain before us; and give us that wisdom of the prudent, which is at all times profitable to direct; and let integrity and uprightness preserve us, for we wait on thee.
Sanctify to us all our losses, crosses, afflictions and dis– appointments, and give us grace to submit to thy holy will in them, and let us find it good for us to be afflicted, that we may be partakers of thy holiness.
Prepare us for all the events of this day, for we know not what a day may bring forth: Give us to stand complete in thy whole will; to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, and to follow Jesus Christ.
Lord, fit us for death, and judgment, and eternity, and give us grace to live every day as those that do not know but it may be our last day.
Lord, plead thy cause in the world; build up thy church into perfect beauty; set up the throne of the exalted Redeemer in all places upon the ruins of the Devil's kingdom. Let the reformed churches be more and more reformed, and let every thing that is amiss be amended; and let those that suffer for righteousness sake be supported and delivered.
Do us good in these nations; bless the queen and all in authority; guide publick counsels and affairs; over-rule all to thine own glory; let peace and truth be in our days, and be preserved to those that shall come after us.
Be gracious to all our relations, friends, neighbours, and acquaintance, and do them good according as their necessities are. Supply the wants of all thy people. Dwell in the families that fear thee, and call upon thy name. Forgive our enemies, and those that hate us; give us a right and charitable frame of spirit towards all men, and all that is theirs.
Visit those that are in affliction, and comfort them, and be unto them a very present help. Recover the sick, ease the pained, succour the tempted, relieve the oppressed, and give joy to those that mourn in Zion.
Deal with us and our family according to the tenor of the everlasting covenant, which is well ordered in all things and sure, and which is all our salvation and all our desire; however it pleaseth God to deal with us and with our house.
Now blessed be God for all his gifts both of nature and grace, for those that concern this life, and that to come; especially for Jesus Christ the fountain and foundation of all; Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.
We humbly beseech thee for Christ Jesus sake to pardon our sins, accept our services, and grant an answer of peace to our prayers, even for his sake who died for us and rose again, who hath taught us to pray:
Our Father which art in heaven, &c.
AN EVENING PRAYER FOR A FAMILY
MOST holy and blessed and glorious Lord God, whose we are, and whom we are bound to serve; for because thou madest us, and not we ourselves, therefore we are not our own but thine, and unto thee, O Lord, do we lift up our souls: Thy face, Lord, do we seek; whither shall we go for a happiness but to thee from whom we derive our being?
Thou art the great benefactor of the whole creation: Thou givest to all life and breath, and all things: Thou art our benefactor; the God that hast fed us, and kept us all our life long unto this day. Having obtained help of God, we continue hitherto, monuments of sparing mercy, and witnesses for thee that thou art gracious, that thou art God and not man; for therefore it is that we are not cut off.
One day tells another, and one night certifies to another, that thou art good and dost good, and never failest those that seek thee and trust in thee. Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and of the evening to praise thee.
It is through the good hand of our God upon us, that we are brought in safety to the close of another day, and that after the various employments of the day, we come together at night to mention the loving kindness of the Lord, and the praises of our God, who is good, and whose mercy endureth for ever.
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with his benefits, even the God of our salvation; for he that is our God is the God of salvation. We have from thee the mercies of the day in its day, according as the necessity of the day requires, though we come far short of doing the work of the day in its day, according as the duty of the day requires.
We bless thee for the ministration of the good angels about us, the serviceableness of the inferior creatures to us, for our bodily health and ease, comfort in our relations, and a comfortable place of abode, and that thou hast not made the wilderness our habitation, and the barren land our dwelling; and especially that thou continuest to us the use of our reason, and the quiet and peace of our consciences.
We bless thee for our share in the publick tranquillity, that thou hast given us a good land, in which we dwell safely under our own vines and fig-trees.
Above all we bless thee for Jesus Christ, and his mediation between God and man, for the covenant of grace made with us in him, and all the exceeding great and precious promises and privileges of that covenant, for the throne of grace erected for us, to which we may in his name come with humble boldness, and for the hope of eternal life through him.
We confess we have sinned against thee; this day we have sinned and done foolishly: 0 God, thou knowest our foolishness, and our sins are not hid from thee: we misspend our time, we neglect our duty, we follow after lying vanities, and forsake our own mercies. We offend with our tongues: Are we not carnal and walk as men, below Christians? Who can understand his errors? Cleanse us from our secret faults.
We pray thee give us repentance for our sins of daily infirmity, and make us duly sensible of the evil of them, and of our danger by them, and let the blood of Christ thy Son, which cleanseth from all sin, cleanse us from them, that we may lie down to night at peace with God, and our souls may comfortably return to him, and repose in him as our rest.
And give us grace so to repent every day for the sins of every day, as that when we come to die we may have the sins but of one day to repent of, and so we may be continually easy.
Do us good by all the providences we are under, merciful or afflictive; give us grace to accommodate ourselves to them, and by all bring us nearer to thee, and make us fitter for thee.
We commit ourselves to thee this night, and desire to dwell in the secret place of the most High, and to abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Let the Lord be our habitation, and let our souls be at home in him.
Make a hedge of protection (we pray thee) about us, and about our house, and about all that we have round about, that no evil may befall us, nor any plague come nigh our dwelling. The Lord be our keeper, who neither slumbers nor sleeps; Lord, be thou a sun and a shield to us.
Refresh our bodies (we pray thee) with quiet and comfortable rest, not to be disturbed with any distrustful disquieting cares or fears; but especially let our souls be refreshed with thy love and the light of thy countenance, and thy benignity, which is better than life.
When we awake, grant that we may be still with thee, and may remember thee upon our beds, and meditate upon thee in the night-watches, and may improve the silence and solitude of our retirements for communing with God and our own hearts; that when we are alone we may not be alone, but God may be with us, and we with him.
Restore us to another day in safety, and prepare us for the duties and events of it; and by all the supports and comforts of this life, let our bodies be fitted to serve our souls in thy service, and enable us to glorify thee with both, remembering that we are not our own, we are bought with a price.
And forasmuch as we are now brought one day nearer our end, Lord, enable us so to number our days, as that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom: Let us be minded by our putting off our clothes, and going to sleep in our beds, of putting off the body, sleeping the sleep of death, and of making our bed in the darkness shortly, that we may be dying daily in expectation of and preparation for our change, that when we come to die indeed, it may be no surprise or terror to us, but we may with comfort put off the body, and resign the spirit, knowing whom we have trusted.
Lord, let our family be blessed in him, in whom all the families of the earth are blessed, blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things by Christ Jesus, and with temporal blessings as far as thou seest good for us: Give us health and prosperity, but especially let our souls prosper and be in health, and let all that belong to us belong to Christ, that we who live in a house together on earth, may be together for ever with the Lord.
Look with pity upon a lost world, we beseech thee, and set up Christ's throne there where Satan's seat is; send the gospel where it is not, make it successful where it is; let it be mighty through God to the pulling down of the strong holds of sin.
Let the church of Christ greatly flourish in all places; and make it to appear that it is built upon a rock, and that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it; and suffer not the rod of the wicked any where to rest upon the lot of the righteous.
Let the land of our nativity be still the particular care of thy good providence, that in the peace thereof we may have peace. Let glory dwell in our land, and upon all the glory let there be a defence.
Rule in the hearts of our rulers: We pray thee continue the queen's life and government long a publick blessing; make all that are in places of publick trust faithful to the publick interest; and all that bear the sword a terror to evil doers, and a protection and praise to them that do well. Own thy ministers in their work, and give them skill and will to help souls to heaven.
Be gracious to all that are dear to us: Let the rising generation be such as thou wilt own, and do thee more and better service in their day than this has done.
Comfort and relieve all that are in sorrow and affliction, lay no more upon them than thou wilt enable them to bear, and enable them to bear what thou dost lay upon them.
Do for us, we pray thee, abundantly above what we are able to ask or think, for the sake of our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ, who is THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. To him with the Father and the eternal Spirit be glory and praise now and for ever. Amen.
Our Father which art in heaven, &c.
A FAMILY PRAYER FOR THE LORD'S DAY MORNING
MOST gracious God, and our Father in our Lord Jesus Christ: It is good for us to draw near to thee; the nearer the better, and it will be best of all when we come to be nearest of all in the kingdom of glory.
Thou hast thy Being of thyself, and thy happiness in thyself; we therefore adore thee as the great JEHOVAH: We have our being from thee, and our happiness in thee, and therefore it is both our duty and our interest to seek to thee, to implore thy favour, and to give unto thee the glory due to thy name.
We bless thee for the return of the morning light, and that thou causest the day-spring to know its place and time. O let the day-spring from on high visit our dark souls, and the Sun of righteousness arise with healing under his wings.
We bless thee that the light we see is the Lord's: That this is the day which the Lord hath made, hath made for man, hath made for himself, we will rejoice and be glad in it. That thou hast revealed unto us thy holy sabbaths, and that we were betimes taught to put a difference between this day and other days, and that we live in a land, in all parts of which God is publickly and solemnly worshipped on this day.
We bless thee that sabbath liberties and opportunities are continued to us; and that we are not wishing in vain for these days of the Son of man; that our candlestick is not removed out of its place, as justly it might have been, because we have left our first love.
Now we bid this sabbath welcome: Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. 0 that we may be in the Spirit on this Lord's day; That this may be the sa