Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

FOR A FAMILY.

O GOD! Our creator and heavenly father! the giver of all good, upon whom we depend now and for ever!

Under an awful sense of thy constant presence with us, we, thy creatures and thy servants, are assembled together, to thank thee for thy common blessings and undeserved goodness to us; and, particularly, to acknowledge the watchful care of thy good providence, by which we have been preserved, during the defenceless hours of the night, and brought in health and safety to the light of another day.

Thy mercies, o GOD! are renewed unto us every morning. Let our gratitude and dutiful obedience to thy holy laws bear some proportion to thy favours, that we may be a family praising and reverencing thee before men, by our virtuous and religious behaviour.

We desire to set thee, our GOD, before us in all our ways, that thy blessing may go along with us in our several employments, and that we may never undertake

any

any thing that we dare not beg of thee to prosper.

If it be consistent with thy wise and good. designs for us; we pray that we may be preserved from all dangers and accidents, and continued in health. But as we know not what is best for us, we would, therefore, refer our outward state wholly to thee; and be anxious only to be kept from the ways of sin, and to be carried forward in the paths of religion and virtue, which lead to thee and thy favour.

Grant that we may be sincere in heart, and uncorrupt before thee; and just and upright in all our dealings with our fellowcreatures; and dispose us to acts of kindness towards them, to share in their distresses and relieve them; and to rejoice in, and embrace, all opportunities of doing them good, especially of promoting their eternal happiness.

Assist us also in the just government and subjection of our inferior appetites and passions to the laws of reason and true religion; and make us moderate in the use of lawful things, that we may be kept at the greatest distance from what is unlawful and sinful.

It hath pleased thee, the sovereign disposer of all things, to appoint the different orders and ranks of men for wise purposes of public good. Enable us all to be useful in our several stations and capacities; and to discharge our duty towards each other. with diligence and fidelity. May we live in the love and reverence of thee, o GOD! who seest in secret, and wilt reward thy servants in the future world, where greater piety and virtue will make the only differ ence in the rank of thy creatures, one from the other.

These, our humble requests, we offer unto thee, o father supreme! as the disciples of Jesus Christ our lord, whose holy example we ardently desire to follow; and in whose form of words we conclude these our prayers for ourselves and others.

OUR FATHER! who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us, day by day, our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those, who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil : for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

EVENING

EVENING PRAYER

FOR A FAMILY.

O ALMIGHTY and eternal GOD! Our constant preserver and benefactor! by whose goodness we are brought to the close of another day; we thank thee for this and for all thy mercies.

It is thy gracious design, o GOD! in lengthening our days to give us time for repentance, and for improvement in every thing holy and good, that we may be fitted for perfect and durable happiness with thee.

If we have this day overcome temptations to evil, if we have in any respect obeyed thy holy will, and done good in the world, unto thee be the praise. But we take shame to ourselves that we have hitherto profited so little by thy forbearance and continuance of us in life. With unfeigned sorrow, we confess our sins before thec, and seek forgiveness at thy hands. We thank thce, o father of mercies! for the assurance of thy free pardon and accept

ance,

ance, upon forsaking our sins, which thou hast given us in the gospel of our lord Jesus Christ.

Help us to correct and amend whatever has been amiss in our conduct and dispositions, and preserve us from falling into any former sins; of all these, we now sincerely repent before thee, and hope that we may grow wiser and better by our past miscarriages. Let the example of Jesus, thy holy and beloved servant and messenger, and our lord and master, be always before us; that we may follow him in his piety, integrity, purity, meekness, humility, and zeal for the good of others; and be approved by thce, at the last, as his true disciples; that, when he, who brought the knowledge of life and immortality to light, shall appear again at the end of the world, we also may appear with him in glory.

With a sincere desire for the happiness of our fellow-creatures, we offer up our prayers for them unto thee, who art the common father of all. Continue thy good providence over the nations that unhappily know not thee; and raise up chosen instruments to carry amongst them the knowledge

« ElőzőTovább »