Second Week. Friday Morning. ful for the preservation of another night, and the renewal of thy mercies this morning, and sensible that our wants are also renewed, we pray thee, O heavenly Father, to accept our thanks and hear our prayers. We praise thee for thy goodness; we acknowledge our transgressions, and we entreat thee, for the worthiness of our Savior Christ, to blot our offences and to wash away our sins. There is not a thought in our heart but thou, O Lord, knowest it altogether. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts, by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that the worship which we now offer may please thee, and that the rest of our life hereafter may be pure and holy. We beseech thee, O Lord, to give us that knowledge of thy word and thy will which will make us wise unto salvation. Wilt thou reveal thyself to us as thou dost not to the world, that we may know thee the true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. May thy law be our study and our delight, and thy Holy Spirit dwell within us, and so sanctify our thoughts and govern our wills, that we may present our bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto thee, which is our reasonable service. As thou, O Lord, art holy; so may we be holy in all manner of conversation: and as He, who lived and died for our benefit, spent his life in doing good; so may we never be weary in well-doing. We are sensible that at best we are imperfect, and that our best deeds merit punishment, rather than reward. Great is thy mercy in accepting unworthy sinners, and justifying those who have transgressed thy laws; unspeakable thy goodness in promising, through faith in Christ, immortal life to those who were dead in trespasses and sins. Make us truly thankful for thy mercies, and in all things obedient to thy will. Give us hearts, O Lord, to feel and to pray for our fellow-men. May the truths of thy word be Second Week. Friday Morning. grafted in their hearts and fruitful in their lives. Let not those who hear the gospel of their Savior Christ neglect his great salvation. O let not them, who have transgressed thy laws, add to their sins by refusing thy offered mercy. When thou callest, give them ears to hear; when thou stretchest out thy hand to save may all regard it. We ask for thy blessing upon our neighbors, relatives and friends. Unite them all in friendship, peace and love; give them prosperity, and every blessing of life and religion. May every heart be filled with thankfulness for thy unbounded goodness. May all the habitations of Christians be houses of prayer, and every family offer thee daily the incense of holy, thankful hearts. Help all thy people to walk with wisdom and prudence towards those who are without the pale of thy church, and to grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. Endue them with spiritual gifts. Let love be without dissimulation. Preserve them from bigotry and from all uncharitableness. May they be kindly affectioned one towards another, with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another. May all bitterness and evilspeaking be put away from them, with all malice. May they mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate, and endeavor, as much as is possible, to live peaceably with all men. May it please thee, O God, to give to all thy people increase of grace: may they hear meekly thy word, and receive it with pure affection and bring forth the fruits of the Spirit. May it please thee to succor, help and comfort all who are in danger, necessity and tribulation. Wilt thou, O Lord, preserve all who travel, by land or by water. Grant that they who are called to journey, who have occasion to travel to distant countries and to various parts of the earth, may be under the constant care Second Week. Friday Morning. and protection of thy good providence. [And him especially who, &c. Any particular case may here be mentioned.] Keep them in safety to their journey's end. In all dangers of soul or body cover them with the shadow of thy wings: give thy angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways. May thy merciful goodness lead and follow them in all their pilgrimage, giving success to the business in which they may be engaged, and making all their affairs prosperous and of happy termination. Be with them, we beseech thee, in all the journey of life, and bring them at last to thy holy, heavenly rest. Grant, O Lord, that all they who go down to the sea in ships and do business on the great waters of the deep, may be under thy special care and keeping. They are called to see the wonders of thy hand, and how great is thy power, which the winds and the seas obey. We earnestly commend them to thy providential care, [and him especially, for whose preservation on the great deep we particularly desire to offer up our prayers.] Do thou, who alone spreadest out the heavens and rulest the raging of the sea, protect them through the path of the mighty waters. Though the floods lift up their voice and their waves, thou, Lord on high, art mightier than many waters. Guard them in the time of peril; preserve them from sickness, from the violence of enemies, and from every evil to which they may be exposed. Conduct them in safety to the haven where they would be, with a thankful sense of thy mercy. Hear us, O Lord, for the sake of thy Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Second Week. Friday Evening. Second Week. Friday Evening. O LORD God of our salvation, who art the hope of all the ends of the earth; all eyes wait upon thee as the Giver of life and breath, and of all things good. Thy glory is above the heavens: thou hast created all things and upholdest them with thine almighty hand. In the name of Jesus Christ we bow at thy footstool, to thank thee for the mercies of the day past, and humbly to ask for the continuance of thy goodness. We desire, O heavenly Father, to acknowledge our unworthiness and to bewail the sins which from time to time we have committed, in thought, word and deed, provoking thy just wrath against us. Give us grace, most merciful God, truly to repent, and to be heartily sorry for all our misdoings. The remembrance of them is grievous; the burthen of them is intolerable. For the sake of Jesus Christ forgive us what is past, and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life. And because without thee we are unable to please thee, mercifully grant that thy Holy Spirit may, in all things, direct and rule our hearts. Give us grace to receive the record that thou hast given unto us eternal life, and this life is in thy Son. May we look to him as our Advocate with the Father; on him depend for pardon and life, and may all our glorying be in him. would desire above all things to be accepted in him, and have redemption through his blood, viewing him as the end of the law for righteousness to those who believe. We Wonderfully hast thou manifested thy love to our fallen race, in that, whilst we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, and that salvation is offered to Second Week. Friday Evening. all through faith in him. Herein is love indeed; not that we loved God, but that thou hast loved us, and hast given him to be the propitiation for our sins. Grant that our souls may be united with him by a divine and living faith. What things have been gain to us may we count but loss for Christ. May we ever know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings; and may we be made conformable to his death, by dying to sin, and rising again unto righteousness. Deliver us, we entreat thee, from the dominion of sin, and save us, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Grant, O Lord, that the love of Christ may constrain us, and that, as he loved us, we also may love one another. In all our intercourse with our Christian brethren and with the world may we follow after that charity which is the bond of perfectness, and the fulfilling of the whole law. Preserve us from inordinate affections and desire of worldly things. May we learn, in whatsoever state we are, therewith to be content. Deliver us from covetousness, which is idolatry and the root of all evil. In seasons of prosperity make us humble, and in adversity resigned to thy will. We beseech thee to give us all such good things, temporal and spiritual, as are needful to our present comfort and peace, and give us grace rightly to use them. May all our conversation be such as becometh the gospel of Christ. Knowing that by our words we shall be justified and by our words condemned, may we set a watch at the door of our lips, that we may speak evil of no man; and take heed to our ways, that we offend not with our tongue. Help us ever to speak the truth in love, having our conversation in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity. And we desire, O God, in our prayer, to remem |