might, which is the first and great commandment ;a to set our love upon thee, and to delight ourselves always in thee;b and therein we shall have the desire of our heart.c Circumcise our hearts to love the Lord our God with all our heart,d and with all our soul, that we may live. O that the love of God may be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.e . O that Jesus Christ may be very precious to us,g as he is to all that believe, that he may be in our account the chiefest of ten thousands, and altogether lovely; and that he may be our beloved and our friend :h that though we have not seen him, yet we may love him ; and though we now see him not, yet believing, we may rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory,i Let the love of Christ to us constrain us to live, not to ourselves, but to him that died for us and rose again.k And, Lord, grant that we may not love the world, nor the things that are in the world, because if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him; that we may set our affections on things above, and not on things that are on the earth./ (4.) We must pray that our consciences may be always tender, and that we may live a life of repentance. Lord, take away the stony heart out of our flesh, and give us a heart of flesh.m Make us afraid of all appearances of evil, and careful not to give Satan advantage against us, as being not ignorant of his devices.o Lord, give us the happiness which they have that fear always, that when we think we stand, we may take heed lest we fall. (5) We must pray to God, to work in us charity and brotherly love. Lord, put upon us that charity which is the bond of perfectness, that we may keep the unity of the Spirit in a Matt. 22. 37. d Deut. 30. 6. 6 Psalm. 91. 14, e Rom. 5. 5. c Psalm 37. 4, the bond of peace,a and may live in love of peace, that the God of love and peace may be with us.b Lord, give us to love our neighbour as ourselves, with that love which is the fulfilling of the law,e to love one another with a pure heartd fervently, that hereby all men may know that we are Christ's disciples.e And as we are taught of God to love one another, give us to abound therein more and more,g and as we have an opportunity, to do good to all men,h and as much as in us lies to live peaceably with all men, always following after the things which make for peace,ż and things wherewith one may edify another.k Lord, make us able to love our enemies, to bless them that curse us, and to pray for them that despitefully use us, and to do good to them that hate us, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another in love,/ as Christ forgave us.m (6.) We must pray for the grace of self-denial. Lord, give us grace to deny ourselves, to take up our cross daily, and to follow Christ,n to keep under the body, and bring it into subjection.o Lord keep us from being lovers of our own selves,p from being wise in our own conceit, and leaning to our own understanding.q Lord, give us to seek not our own only, but every one his brother's welfare.r And grant that none of us may live to ourselves, or die to ourselves, but whether we live or die we may be the Lord's, and may live and die to him.s (7.) We must pray for humility and meekness. Lord, give us all to learn of Christ to be meek and lowly in heart, that we may find rest to our souls ; and that herein the same mind be in us that was also in Christ Jesus.v Lord, hide pride from us, and clothe us with humility,w a Eph. 3. 4. b 2 Cor. 13. 11. e John 12, 15. i Rom. 12. 18. m Col. 3. 13. 2 Tim.3. 1, 8 Rom, 14. 6,7. w Job 33. 17. c Rom. 13. 9, 10. and put upon us the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in thy sight is of great price.a Lord, give us grace to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.b Let anger never rest in our bosoms,c nor the sun ever go down upon our wrath ;d but enable us to show all meekness towards all men, because we ourselves also were sometimes foolish and disobedient.e Let us be clothed as becomes the elect of God, holy and beloved, with bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness and long-suffering,g that being merciful, as our Father which is in heaven is merciful, we may be perfect as he is perfect.i (8.) We must pray for the graces of contentment and patience, and a holy indifference to all the things of sense and time. Lord teach us whatsoever state we are in, therewith to be content; let us know how to be abased, and how to abound; every where, and in all things, let us be instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.k And let godliness with contentment be great gain to us,/ and a little with the fear of the Lord, and quietness, is better than a great treasure and trouble therewith.m Lord, grant that our conversation may be without covetousness, and we may always be content with such things as we have ;n still saying, The will of the Lord be done.. Enable us in our patience to possess our own souls ;p and let patience always have its perfect work, that we may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.q Lord, give us grace to weep as though we wept not, and to rejoice as though we rejoiced not, and to possess as though we possessed not, and to use the world as not abusing it, because the time is short, and the fashion of this world passeth away.r a 1 Pet, 5. 5. 3. 5, d Eph. 4. 26. h Luke 6.36. 1 Tim. 6, 6. o Acts 21. 14. r 1 Cor. 7, 29, 30, 31. 6 Eph. 4. 1, 2. i Matt. 5, 48, m Pov. 15. 16, 17, 1. c Eccl. 7. 9. g Col, 3. 12. (9) We must pray for the grace of hope; a hope in God and Christ, and a hope of eternal life. Let patience work experience in us, and experience hope, such a hope as maketh not ashamed.a Through patience and comfort of the scriptures, let us have hope and be saved by hope,c Let the God of Jacob be our help, and our hope always be in the Lord our God.d Let us be begotten again to a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,e and let that hope be to us as an anchor of the soul sure and steadfast, entering into that within the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered.g Let us have Christ in us the hope of glory, and never be moved away from that hope of the gospel ;h but enable us to give diligence unto the full assurance of hope unto the end.i (10.) We must pray for grace to preserve us from sin and all appearances of it and approaches towards it. Now we pray to God that we may do no evil, but may be blameless and harmless as the children of God,k without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation./ Turn away our eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou us in thy way: Remove from us the way of lying, and grant us thy law graciously.m Incline not our hearts to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with them that work iniquity, and let us not eat of their dainties.n O clense us from our secret faults, keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let not them have dominion over us, but let us be upright, and innocent from the great transgressions :0 and grant that hereby we may prove ourselves upright before thee, by keeping ourselves from our own iniquity.p Let thy word be hid in our hearts, that we may not sin against thee,q and thy grace be at all times sufficient a Rom. 5.4 5, o Palm 19 12, 13, b Rom. 15. 4. e Rom. 8. 24. g Heb. 6, 19, 20. k 2 Cor. 13. 7. 'n Psalm 141.4. q Psalm 119.11. for us,a ready to us, and mighty in us, and never giye us up to our own hearts' lust, to walk in our own counsels.b Enable us to walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,c so circumspectly that we may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion to blaspheme that worthy name by which we are called,d and with well doing may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men,e and may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things g 7. We must pray for grace to enable us both to govern our tongues well and to use them well. Lord, enable us to take heed to our ways, that we offend not with our tongue, and to keep our mouth as it were with a bridle,h that it may not be hasty to utter any thing.i Set a watch, O Lord, before our mouth,k keep the door of our lips, that we may not offend in word./ Let our speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt.m and enable us always out of the good treasure of our heart to bring forth good things.n Let our mouth speak wisdom, and our tongue talk judgment; and let not thy words depart out of our mouth, nor out of the mouth of our seed, or our seed's seed, from henceforth and for ever.p Enable us always to open our mouth with wisdom, and let the law of kindness be in our tongue :q give us to know what is acceptable,r that our tongue may be as choice silver, and our lips may feed many.s 8. We must pray for grace to direct and quicken us to, and to strengthen and assist us in our duty, in the whole course of our conversation. Let the grace of God, which hath appeared to us, and to all men, bringing salvation, effectually teach us to deny all ungodliness and worldly fleshly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing |