Those that fit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Moft High, give them grace to cry unto thee in their trouble, and in a day of adverfity to confider.

In their captivity give them to bethink themselves, to humble themselves, and pray, and feek thy face, to repent, saying, we have finned, and have done perverfly, and to return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their foul; and bring their fouls out of prifon, that they may praise thy name: Bring them into the glorious liberty of the children of God, out of the bondage of corruption. Let the Son make them free, and then they fhall be free indeed.

Those that are wrongfully imprisoned, be thou with them, as thou waft with Jofeph in the prifon, and fhew them mercy. Hear the poor, and defpife not thy prisoners, but let their forrowful fighing come before thee, and according to the greatness of thy power, preferve those that are unjustly appointed to die.

11. When we pray with or for condemned malefactors, that have but a little while to live.

O look with pity upon thofe, the number of whose mouths is to be cut off in the midft for their fin: O give them repentance unto falvation, as thou didst to the thief upon the crofs, that they may own the juftice of God in all that is brought upon them, that he has done right, but they have done wickedly. O turn them, and they fhall be turned, that being inftructed they may finite upon the thigh, and may be afhamed, yea, even confounded, becaufe they do bear the reproach of their own iniquity. O pluck them as brands out of the fire; let them be delivered from the wrath to come.

Enable them to give glory to God, by making confeffion, that they may find mercy, and that others may hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously.

Lord Jefus, remember them now thou art in thy kingdom: O let them not be hurt of the fecond death: Deliver them from going down to that pit! Though the fleth be deftroyed, O let the fpirit be faved in the day of the Lord Jefus. The God of infinite mercy be merciful to thefe finners, finners against their own fouls.

12. When we pray with or for those that are at fea.

Let those that go down to the fea in fhips, that do bufinefs in great waters, obferve the works of the Lord there, and his wonders in the deep; and acknowledge what a great God he is, whom the winds and the feas obey; who hath placed the fands for the bound of the fea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pafs it; and though the waves thereof tofs themfelves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over.

Opreferve them through the paths of the feas, and in perils of waters, and perils by robbers. If the ftormy wind be raifed, which lifteth up the waves, fo that they are at their wits end, deliver them out of their diftreffes, make the form a calm, and bring them to their defired haven: And, O that thofe who are delivered may praife the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.

WE

CHAP. VII.

Of the Conclufion of our Prayers.

7E are commanded to pray always, to pray without ceafing, to continue in prayer, because we must always have in us a difpofition to this duty, must be conftant to it, and never grow weary of it, or throw it up; and yet we cannot be always praying, we must come down from this mount; nor may we

be over long, fo as to make the duty a task or a toil to ourselves, or those that join with us. We have other work that calls for our attendance. Jacob wreftles with the angel; but he must go, for the day breaks: We must therefore think of concluding. The prayers of David the fon of Jeffe muft be ended, But how fhall we conclude, fo as to have the impreffions of the duty keep always in the imagination of the thought of our heart.

1. We may then fum up our requests in fome com. prehenfive petitions, as the conclusion of the whole

matter.

Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jefus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work, to do his will, working in us that which is well pleafing in his fight, through. Chrift Jefus.

Now the Lord direct our hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Chrift.

And the God of all grace, who hath called us to his eternal glory, by Chrift Jefus, after that we have fuffered a while, make us perfect, ftablish, ftrengthen, fettle us.

And now, Lord, what wait we for? Truly our hope is even in thee, and on thee do we depend to be to us a God all-fufficient.

Do for us exceeding abundantly above what we are able to afk or think, according to the power that worketh in us: And fupply all our needs according to thy riches in glory, by Chrift Jefus.

2. We may then beg for the audience and acceptance of our poor weak prayers, for Chrift's fake. Now the God of Ifraet grant us the things we have requested of him.

Let the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in thy fight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.

Let thine eyes be open unto the fupplication of thy

fervant, and unto the fupplication of thy people Ifrael, to hearken unto them in all that they call unto thee for; for they be thy people, and thine inheri

tance.

O our God, let thine ears be attentive unto the prayers that we have made: O turn not away the face of thine anointed; remember the mercies of David thy fervant; even Jefus, who is at thy right hand, making interceffion for us.

Lord, thou hast assured us, that whatever we ask the father in Chrift's name, he will give it us: We afk all these things in that name, that powerful name which is above every name, that precious name which is as ointment poured forth. O make thy face to fhine upon us for the Lord's fake, who is the fson of thy love, and whom thou hearest always good Lord, give to us to hear him, and be well-pleafed with us in him.

3. We may then beg for the forgiveness of what has been amiss in our prayers.

Lord, we have not prayed as we ought; who is there that does good, and fins not? Even when we would do good, evil is present with us? and if to will be present, yet how to perform that which is good, we know not; for the good that we would, we do not; fo that thou mightest juftly refufe to hear even when we make many prayers. But we have a great highprieft, who bears the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Ifrael hallow in all their holy gifts; for his fake take away all that iniquity from us, even all the iniquity of our holy things, and receive us graciously, and love us freely; and deal not with us after our folly.

4. We may then recommend ourselves to the conduct, protection, and government of the divine grace, in the further fervices that lie before us, and in the whole courfe of our converfation.

And now let us be enabled to go from ftrength to Strength, until we appear before God in Zion, and

while we pafs through this valley of Baca, let it be made a well, and let the rain of the divine grace and bleffing fill the pools.

Now, fpeak Lord, for thy fervants hear. What faith our Lord unto his fervants? grant that we may not turn away our ear from hearing the law, for then our prayers will be an abomination; but may hearken unto God, that he may hearken unto us.

And now the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; let him not leave us nor forfake us; that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his ftatutes, and his judgments; and let our hearts be perfect with the Lord our God all our days, and continue fo till the end be, that then we may reft, and may ftand in our lot, and let it be a bleffed lot in the end of the days.

5. We may conclude all with doxologies or folemn praifes of God, afcribing honour and glory to the Fa ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft, and fealing up all our praifes and prayers with an affectionate amen. Now, bleffed be the Lord God of Ifrael, from everlafting to everlafting, amen and amen.

For ever bleffed be the Lord God, the God of Ifrael who only doth wondrous things, and bleffed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory, amen and amen. Yea let all the people fay, amen: Hallelujah.

To God, only wife, we glory through Jefus Chrift, for ever, Amen.

Now to God the Father, and our Lord Jefus Chrift, who gave himself for our fins, that he might deliver us from this prefent evil world, according to the will of God and our Father, be glory for ever and ever, Amen.

To God be glory in the church by Christ Jefus, throughout all ages, world without end, Amen.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invifible, the only wife God, be honour and glory for ever and ever,