I.

VISIT, I beseech thee, O Lord, this habitation with thy mercy, and me with thy grace and salvation. Let thy holy angels pitch their tents round about and dwell here, that no illusion of the night may abuse me, the spirits of darkness may not come near to hurt me, no evil or sad accident oppress me; and let the eternal Spirit of the Father dwell in my soul and body, filling every corner of my heart with light and grace. Let no deed of darkness overtake me: and let thy blessing, most blessed God, be upon me for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

II.

INTO thy hands, most blessed Jesu, I commend my soul and body, for thou hast redeemed both with thy most precious blood. So bless and sanctify my sleep unto me, that it may be temperate, holy, and safe, a refreshment to my wearied body, to enable it so to serve my soul, that both may serve thee with a neverfailing duty. O let me never sleep in sin or death eternal, but give me a watchful and a prudent spirit, that I may omit no opportunity of serving thee; that whether I sleep or wake, live or die, I may be thy servant and thy child: that when the work of my life is done, I may rest in the bosom of my Lord, till by the voice of the archangel, the trump of God, I shall be awakened and called to sit down and feast in the eternal supper of the Lamb. Grant this, O Lamb of God, for the honour of thy mercies, and the glory of thy name, O most merciful Saviour and Redeemer Jesus. Amen.

III.

BLESSED be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, who hath sent his angels, and kept me this day from the destruction that walketh at noon, and the arrow

that flieth by day; and hath given me his Spirit to restrain me from those evils, to which my own weaknesses, and my evil habits, and my unquiet enemies would easily betray me. Blessed and for ever hallowed be thy name for that never-ceasing shower of blessing by which I live, and am content and blessed, and provided for in all necessities, and set forward in my duty and way to heaven. Blessing, honour, glory and power be unto him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen.

Holy is our God. Holy is the Almighty. Holy is the Immortal. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth, have mercy upon me.

Ejaculations and short meditations to be used in the night when we wake.

"STAND in awe and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. I will lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety 1.'

O Father of Spirits and the God of all flesh, have mercy and pity upon all sick and dying Christians, and receive the souls, which thou hast redeemed, returning unto thee.

Blessed are they that dwell in the heavenly Jerusalem, where there is "no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God does lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof "." "And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign for ever and ever3.”

Meditate on Jacob's wrestling with the angel all night: be thou also importunate with God for a blessing, and give not over until he hath blessed thee.

1 Psalm 4. 4, 8. 2 Rev. 21. 23. 3 Rev. 22. 5.

Meditate on the angel passing over the children of Israel, and destroying the Egyptians for disobedience and oppression. Pray for the grace of obedience and charity, and for the Divine protection.

Meditate on the angel who destroyed in a night the whole army of the Assyrians. Call to mind the sins of thy youth, the sins of thy bed, and say with David, "My reins chasten me in the night season, and my soul refuseth comfort." Pray for pardon and the grace of chastity.

Meditate on the agonies of Christ in the garden, his sadness and affliction all that night; and thank and adore him for his love that made him suffer so much for thee; and hate thy sins which made it necessary for the Son of God to suffer so much.

Meditate on the four last things. 1. The certainty of death. 2. The terrors of the day of judgment. 3. The joys of heaven. 4. The pains of hell, and the eternity of both.

Think upon all thy friends which are gone before thee, and pray that God would grant to thee to meet them in a joyful resurrection.

The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God 1?

Lord, in mercy remember thy servant in the day of judgment.

Thou shalt answer for me, O Lord my God. In thee, O Lord, have I trusted: let me never be confounded. Amen.

12 Pet. 3. 10.

F

I desire the Christian Reader to observe that all these offices or forms of prayer (if they should be used every day) would not spend above an hour and a half: but because some of them are double (and so but one of them to be used in one day) it is much less: and by affording to God one hour in twenty-four, thou mayest have the comforts and rewards of devotion. But he that thinks this too much, either is very busy in the world, or very careless of heaven. However, I have parted the prayers into smaller portions, that he may use which and how many he please in any one of the forms.

SEE SECT. 2.

A prayer for holy intention in the beginning and pursuit of any considerable action, as study, preaching, &c.

O ETERNAL God, who hast made all things for man, and man for thy glory, sanctify my body and soul, my thoughts and my intentions, my words and actions, that whatsoever I shall think, or speak, or do, may be by me designed to the glorification of thy name, and by thy blessing it may be effective and successful in the work of God, according as it can be capable. Lord, turn my necessities into virtue, the works of nature into the works of grace, by making them orderly, regular, temperate, subordinate, and profitable to ends beyond their own proper efficacy: and let no pride or self-seeking, no covetousness or revenge, no impure mixture or unhandsome purposes, no little ends and low imaginations, pollute my spirit, and unhallow any of my words and actions: but let my body be a servant of my spirit, and both body and spirit servants of Jesus; that doing all things for thy glory here, I may be partaker of thy glory hereafter, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

AD SECT. 3.

A prayer meditating and referring to the Divine

presence.

This prayer is specially to be used in temptation to private sins.

Teach

O ALMIGHTY God, infinite and eternal, thou fillest all things with thy presence; thou art every where by thy essence and by thy power, in heaven by glory, in holy places by thy grace and favour, in the hearts of thy servants by thy Spirit, in the consciences of all men by thy testimony and observation of us. me to walk always as in thy presence, to fear thy Majesty, to reverence thy wisdom and omniscience, that may never dare to commit any indecency in the eye of my Lord and my Judge, but that I may with so much care and reverence demean myself, that my Judge may not be my accuser, but my advocate; that I, expressing the belief of thy presence here by careful walking, may feel the effects of it in the participation of eternal glory, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

I