Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

EIGHTEENTH MORNING.

MOST MERCIFUL AND GRACIOUS GOD, we kneel down to thank Thee for Thy protection and care during the past night and we now lift up our voice unto Thee in the morning, imploring Thee this day to bless us; watching over us by Thy merciful providence; putting Thy Spirit within us, and delivering us from all evil.

We are prone, O LORD, to fall into sin. How many incidents, every day, arise, which, if Thy grace be withheld from us, draw forth our natural corruptions! We, therefore, pray Thee, who knowest our frame, and foreseest the trials which are to come upon us, mercifully to prepare us for them; and enable us, amidst the various difficulties, temptations, and sorrows of life, to walk as the patient followers of CHRIST, and as the faithful servants of the Most High GOD.

We bless Thee, O God, for all Thy goodness to us in times past:-for every trial which Thou hast lightened; for every difficulty and snare which Thou hast taken out of our way; and for every affliction which Thou hast either sanctified or removed.

We thank Thee, that we are here met together, in so much peace and comfort, to offer up our praises to Thee, we thank Thee, that we are yet in the land of the living; having time given us for repentance, and having every opportunity of knowing Thy Holy Will. We thank Thee for all Thine unnumbered mercies; for our health and strength, and all our worldly goods; for our friends and kind benefactors; and we pray that

we may, each of us in our stations, be instruments in Thy hand for the benefit of our fellow-creatures, and at the same time, faithful witnesses, in the world, of the truth and excellency of Thy Gospel.

O LORD, grant that this day, we may walk in a manner worthy of our great obligations to Thee, and of our high and heavenly calling. May we remember both Thy spiritual and temporal mercies, and be occupied in acts of grateful obedience to Thee. And we pray Thee to impress upon us more deeply those truths of Thy Gospel, by which our hearts become prepared for every good and beneficent work. May we think of that Saviour who died on the cross for us; who endured all the extremities of misery that we might be saved, and is now at Thy right hand, making intercession for us. May we remember our Christian profession; living as believers m this crucified LORD, deeply affected with the remembrance of His death, and animated by His glorious resurrection. May we all die unto sin, and live unto righteousness; and, as He, who hath called us, is Holy, may we also be holy in all manner of conversation. We pray, O LORD, for Thy protection this day and may we faithfully follow Him whose name we bear; may we have hope in His mercy, and may we at length enter into His glory.

Our Father, &c.

The grace of our Lord, &c.

[ocr errors]

NINETEENTH MORNING.

O LORD, GOD ALMIGHTY, Our Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor, we desire to thank Thee for all Thy past mercies; at the same time beseeching Thee to give us Thy continual grace, and to pour down Thy blessing upon us.

We pray Thee to conduct us by Thy merciful providence in our passage through this life; to defend us amidst our many dangers; to save us from every trial, which we are too weak to endure; and so to order all the circumstances which befall us, that we may not be overpowered with difficulties, nor overwhelmed with temptations, which may come upon us unprepared.

Preserve us, O LORD, from day to day, and from year to year. Give us grace to hate sin, and to avoid those societies and employments, which would lead our hearts from Thee. May our eyes be opened to see the wickedness around us; and may we carefully abstain from all conformity to the sinful customs of this evil world. But when we reflect on the many hindrances to our leading a Christian life; when we contemplate our temptations, both from within and from without; when we look back to the past instances of our weakness, and forward to the yet untried scenes of danger and of difficulty, through which, we may, each of us, have to pass before we leave the world,-on Thee, O LORD, and on Thee alone, are we ied to trust; and to Thee do we lift up our daily prayer, for grace to pre

serve us in the paths of righteousness, so that we may end our days in peace.

O LORD, grant unto us, this day, Thy Holy Spirit. Keep alive in our souls the sense of spiritual things. Impress us with a recollection of the great truths which we have been taught. Fill us with a knowledge of those doctrines of Thy Gospel, which Thou hast appointed to be the means of delivering man from sin, and of preserving him in the ways of holiness, in the midst of an ungodly world.

Enable us to walk worthy of the LORD throughout the day which is now before us. May we be obedient to Thy will, submissive to Thy providence, and ever thankful for Thy mercies.

Hear, O LORD, and answer these our prayers; forgive us also our numberless transgressions, and accept our imperfect services, for Thy mercies' sake in JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.

Our Father, &c.

The grace of our Lord, &c.

TWENTIETH MORNING.

O LORD, GOD ALMIGHTY, whose creatures we are, to whom our prayers are constantly addressed, and whom we daily profess to serve, bestow upon us Thy grace, that we may yield up to Thee our hearts, and place our delight in acts of obedience to Thee. We beseech Thee so to strengthen our faith, and to animate our hearts with Thy continual love, that we may be enabled to triumph over those temptations to which we are exposed. Give us Thy Holy Spirit; turn us from the love of sin, if we are in any measure inclining to it; and put into us such an ardent desire to please Thee, that we may be always employing our time and talents in Thy service. We desire to acknowledge Thy right over us; we are bound to honour Thee by all we do, and to seek our Maker's glory.

He hath

We thank Thee, O LORD, that besides our obligations as creatures to the great Author of our existence, Thou hast added the most affecting motives to win us to obedience. We are not our own: we are bought with a price. Thy Son hath died to save us. He hath suffered on the cross, that we might be free. given his life a ransom for us; that He might constrain us by the greatness of His love, to give up our powers to Him. Grant, therefore, O LORD, that we, being daily mindful of what our Saviour hath done for us, may show that we are sensible of our obligations, by the habitual readiness of our minds to do and suffer all things which Thou shalt appoint for us, or in any wise require of us

« ForrigeFortsæt »