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<DATE>2010-08-06</DATE>
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<NAME>Pip Willcox</NAME>
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<DIV1 TYPE="instructions">
<PB N="1" REF="1">
<HEAD><HI>Directions for Prayer, for the Dio|ce&s;s of</HI> Bath
<HI>and</HI> Wells.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">To the poor Inhabitants within the Dioce&s;s of
<HI>Bath</HI> and <HI>Wells,</HI> THOMAS their Unworthy Bi&s;hop wi&s;heth the Knowledge and the Love of God.</HEAD>
<HEAD TYPE="sub">Price 2 <HI>d.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Dearly beloved in our Lord,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>THE Catechi&s;m truly teaches all <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> That they are <HI>not able of them&s;elves to do tho&s;e things</HI> they have vow'd in their Bapti&s;m to do, namely, <HI>To walk in the Commandments of God, and to &s;erve him, without his &s;pecial grace,</HI> or favor|able A&s;&s;i&s;tance, and this <HI>they are to learn at all times to call upon</HI> God <HI>for, by diligent Prayer.</HI></P>
<P>How good and &s;ea&s;onable this advice is, you will all &s;ee, if you con&s;ider what helple&s;s and needy Creatures the ve|ry be&s;t of Men are. Alas! our weakne&s;s is very great, our wants are very many, our dependance on God for all things, all our lives long, is entire, and ab&s;olute, and ne|ce&s;&s;ary, and there is no way in the World to gain help and &s;upplies from God, but by Prayer; &s;o that it is as ea|&s;ie, and as po&s;&s;ible to pre&s;erve a natural Life without daily Bread, as a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Life without daily Prayer.</P>
<P>It was for this rea&s;on that our Saviour him&s;elf took a particular care, to teach <HI>his Di&s;ciples to pray,</HI> [Luke 11.1.] and it is for the &s;ame rea&s;on, and in imitation of our Heavenly Ma&s;ter, that I have joyn'd the&s;e Directions for Prayer to the Catechi&s;m.</P>
<P>Sure I am, the Zeal I ought to have for your Salvation can &s;ugge&s;t to me nothing more conducing to the good of your Souls, than to exhort and be&s;eech you all of ei|ther Sex, to learn how to Pray.</P>
<P><PB N="2" REF="2"> This is the fir&s;t general Reque&s;t I &s;hall make to you, and I am the more earne&s;t in it, becau&s;e my own &s;ad experi|ence has taught me, how &s;trangely ignorant common People u&s;ually are of this Duty; in&s;omuch, that &s;ome ne|ver Pray at all, pretending they was never taught, or that their Memories are bad, or that they are not Book|learn'd, or that they want Money to buy a Book; and by this means they live, or die rather like Bea&s;ts than Men; nay, their Condition is much wor&s;e than that of Bea&s;ts, for the Mi&s;ery of a Bea&s;t doth end at Death, but the Mi&s;ery of a Wicked Man does then begin, and will endure to all Eternity.</P>
<P>To prevent then as much as lies in me, the Damnation of tho&s;e Souls which God has committed to my care, and to cure that lamentable ignorance and forgetfulne&s;s of God, which is the cau&s;e of the Damnation of &s;o very many, I do not only ince&s;&s;antly pray for you my &s;elf, but I beg of you all to pray for your &s;elves, and I be&s;eech you to read the following In&s;tructions<HI>:</HI> or if you cannot read your &s;elves, to get &s;ome hone&s;t charitable Neighbours to read them often to you, that you may remember them, and God of his great Mercy reward the Charity of &s;uch Neighbours.</P>
<P>If any of you, either by your own negligence, or by the negligence of your Parents, or for want of Catechi|&s;ing in your Pari&s;h, are wholly ignorant of your Duty; tho' it be a mo&s;t &s;hameful and dangerous thing, for one who calls him&s;elf a <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> to know nothing of Chri&s;t or Chri&s;tianity, yet if you are willing to learn, and beg pardon of God for your wilful ignorance hitherto, and will &s;incerely do your endeavour to get &s;aving knowledge, and heartily pray to God to a&s;&s;i&s;t you, you &s;hall find, that the very <HI>entrance of God's Word giveth light, that it giveth under&s;tanding unto the &s;imple.</HI> [P&s;al. 119 130.]</P>
<P>I mu&s;t warn you before-hand, that corrupt Nature will be very bu&s;ie in hindering the learning of your Duty, and thoughts will ari&s;e in your mind that the Task will be <PB N="3" REF="2"> too hard and too tedious for you to undertake; but I faith|fully promi&s;e you to impo&s;e no hard or tedious task on you, but &s;uch, as you your &s;elves &s;hall confe&s;s, to be very complying with your Infirmities; for our mo&s;t compa&s;&s;i|onate Saviour teaches me to &s;ay no more to you, than <HI>you can bear</HI> (John 16.
12.)</P>
<P>All I &s;hall exhort you to, is to learn your Catechi&s;m, which you may do by degrees; if you learn but a line or two in a Day, you will, by God's Ble&s;&s;ing, in a very &s;hort time learn it all over, and you will rejoice, and thank God, for the &s;udden and happy progre&s;s you have made.</P>
<P>God forbid you &s;hould ever think your &s;elves too old to learn to &s;erve God, and to be &s;aved, both which are taught in the Catechi&s;m, and therefore the Catechi&s;m is of nece&s;&s;ity to be learned; for how can you go to Heaven, if you never learn'd the way thither? How can you be &s;aved, if you do not know your Saviour?</P>
<P>'Tis a great Error, to think that the Catechi&s;m was made for Children only, for all <HI>Chri&s;tians</HI> are equally con|cern'd in tho&s;e &s;aving Truths which are there taught; and the Doctrine delivered in the Catechi&s;m is as proper for the &s;tudy, and as nece&s;&s;ary for the Salvation of a great Doctor, as of a weak <HI>Chri&s;tian,</HI> or a young Child.</P>
<P>But you will be the more encouraged to learn your Catechi&s;m, when you &s;ee how excellent a help it will be to Prayer, for it will at the &s;ame time further your Know|ledge, and your Devotion both together; and the Pray|ers I intend to commend to you, are chiefly the very An|&s;wers in the Catechi&s;m, which being daily repeated, will be the better fix'd in your Memory, and you cannot ima|gine any advice for Prayer can be more ea&s;ie and famili|ar, than that which directs you to turn your very Cate|chi&s;m into Prayers.</P>
<P>You are by this time I hope &s;atisfied, that the Duty to which I exhort you, is no hard Task: and yet I will en|deavour, by God's a&s;&s;i&s;tance, to make it more ea&s;ie, by putting you into an ea&s;ie method to attain it.</P>
<P><PB N="4" REF="3"> If you are wholly ignorant of your Catechi&s;m, let it be your fir&s;t care to learn &s;uch Ejaculations, &s;uch &s;hort Prayers as the&s;e, and &s;ay them often and hear|tily.</P>
<Q><P><HI>Lord have mercy upon me.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Chri&s;t have mercy upon me.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Lord have mercy upon me.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Lord pardon all my wilful ignorance, and gro&s;s care|le&s;&s;ne&s;s of my Duty, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us my Saviour.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P>O my God a&s;&s;i&s;t me in the learning of my Duty.</P>
<P>Lord help me to know, and to love thee.</P>
<P>Lord pity me, Lord &s;ave me, Father forgive me.</P>
<P>Glory be to thee, O Lord who ha&s;t hitherto &s;par|ed me.</P>
<P>O that I might at la&s;t learn to glorifie, and love, and &s;erve thee!</P> </Q>
<P>Such &s;hort Prayers as the&s;e, you may ea&s;ily get by heart, and the Method in which I advi&s;e you to proceed, is, that in which Children are commonly taught, in regard I am now to look on you as a Child: For there are two &s;orts of Children; there are Children in age, and <HI>Children in under&s;tanding,</HI> (1 Cor. 14. 20.) and in this latter re&s;pect you are Children, and the &s;ame method for the mo&s;t part is proper for you, which is proper for tho&s;e that are Children in Age.</P>
<P>I mu&s;t therefore feed you <HI>with Milk,</HI> before you can be capable of <HI>&s;trong Meat,</HI> (Heb. 5. 13.) and I mu&s;t look on you as
<HI>Lambs</HI> of my Flock, which I am to u&s;e tenderly, and the&s;e following Directions which I give to Parents, for the training up their Children in Piety, I do equally de&s;ign for the training up of you. God of his Infinite Goodne&s;s, ble&s;s them to you both.</P>
<P>I exhort all you who are Parents, to in&s;til good things into your Children as &s;oon as ever they begin to &s;peak; <PB N="5" REF="3"> let the fir&s;t words they utter, if it be po&s;&s;ible, be the&s;e, <HI>Glory be to God,:</HI> Accu&s;tom them to repeat the&s;e words on their knees, as &s;oon as they ri&s;e, and when they go to Bed, and oftimes in the Day, and let them not eat or drink, without &s;aying, <HI>Glory be to God.</HI></P>
<P>As their Speech grows more plain and ea&s;ie to them, teach them who Made, and Redeem'd and &s;anctified them, and for what end, namely to glorifie and to love God; and withal, teach them &s;ome of the &s;horte&s;t Ejaculations you can, &s;uch as the&s;e.</P>
<Q><P>Lord help me. Lord &s;ave me.</P>
<P>Lord have mercy upon me.</P>
<P>All love, all glory be to God who fir&s;t lov'd me.</P>
<P>Lord keep me in thy love.</P> </Q>
<P>Within a little time you may teach them the Lord's Prayer, and hear them &s;ay it every Day, Morning and Evening on their Knees, with &s;ome one or more of the fore-going Ejaculations; and by degrees as they grow up they will learn the Creed, and the whole Catechi&s;m.</P>
<P>Be &s;ure to teach your Children with all the &s;weetne&s;s and gentlene&s;s you can, le&s;t if you &s;hould be &s;evere, or &s;hould over-task them, Religion &s;hould &s;eem to them ra|ther a Burden than a Ble&s;&s;ing.</P>
<P>As their Knowledge increa&s;es, &s;o let their Prayers in|crea&s;e al&s;o, and teach them as they go to turn their Ca|techi&s;m into Prayers, after the manner which I &s;hall &s;hew you, and to confirm and improve their knowledge, bring them duly to the Church to be Catechi&s;ed by the Pari&s;h Prie&s;t, that by his familiar and devout Explications of the Catechi&s;m, they may learn to under&s;tand it, and may be capable of reading the Expo&s;ition on it, and other Books of Piety.</P>
<P>Take con&s;ciencious care to &s;ea&s;on your Children as ear|ly as you can, with the Love of God, which is <HI>the fir&s;t and great Commandment,</HI> (Matth. 22. 38.) and with <HI>the</HI> <PB N="6" REF="4">
<HI>fear of God, which is the beginning of Wi&s;dom,</HI> (P&s;al. 111. 10.) for the awful love, and the filial fear of God, mu&s;t al|ways go together.</P>
<P>The &s;ame method you ob&s;erve in teaching your Chil|dren, the &s;ame you may ob&s;erve in teaching your Servants, according as you &s;ee they want teaching, and you your &s;elves will reap the benefit of it as well as your Servants for the more devout Servants they are of God, the more faithful Servants will they be to you.</P>
<P>Remember, you mu&s;t teach both your Children and Servants by your Example, as well as by your In&s;truction, for they learn be&s;t by Example, and if they &s;ee you give an example of fraud or lying, of revenge or calumny, of uncleanne&s;s or drunkenne&s;s, of cur&s;ing and &s;wearing, and irreligion; in&s;tead of teaching them to obey God, you teach them to provoke him; in&s;tead of teaching them to honour God, you teach them to bla&s;pheme him; in&s;tead of leading them the way to Heaven, you lead them the way to Hell; and you will increa&s;e your own Damnation, by furthering theirs, which God forbid you &s;hould ever do.</P>
<P>Now that you may the better give a good Example to your Family, I will (by God's help) give you a method of daily D<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">votion, taken for the mo&s;t part out of the Ca|techi&s;m, which will be &s;uitable to all <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> be they never &s;o well in&s;tructed, and which you may by little and little teach your Children; and which tho&s;e who have been bred up in ignorance, and are Children in un|der&s;tanding, and yet willing to be taught, may learn to &s;ay al&s;o, as the Capacities of either do increa&s;e; for a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> mu&s;t never &s;tand at a &s;tay, but mu&s;t be always <HI>growing in Grace, and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Sa|viour Je&s;us Chri&s;t;</HI> (2 Pet. 3.
18.)</P>
<DIV2 N="prayers" TYPE="method">
<HEAD>A Method of daily Prayer.</HEAD>
<P><HI>As &s;oon as ever you awake, offer up your fir&s;t thoughts and words to God, &s;aying,</HI></P>
<P><PB N="7" REF="4"> <HI>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Gho&s;t: Three Per&s;ons and one God ble&s;&s;ed for evermore: All love, all prai&s;e be to thee.</HI></P>
<P>As you are ri&s;ing &s;ay,</P>
<P><HI>I laid me down and &s;lept, and ro&s;e up a again, for the Lord &s;u&s;tained me: All love, all glory be to God.</HI> (P&s;al. 3. 5.)</P>
<P><HI>As &s;oon as you are dre&s;t, kneel down, as our Saviour him&s;elf</HI> kneel'd, (Luke 22. 41.) <HI>at his Prayers, and remember you are in God's pre&s;ence, and &s;ay your Prayers with Reverence and Devotion.</HI></P>
<DIV3 N="morning" TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>Morning Prayer.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Glory be to thee, O Lord God, for my pre&s;ervation and refre&s;hment, and for all the Ble&s;&s;ings of the night pa&s;t, for which, all Love, all prai&s;e be to thee.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Father, forgive me all the evil of the night pa&s;t, for the Merits of Ie&s;us my Saviour.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><HI>O merciful God, keep and protect, and ble&s;s me this day, and pro&s;per me in my Calling, and pre&s;erve me from &s;in and danger, for the merit of Ie&s;us my Saviour,</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><HI>I believe in God the Father Almighty,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><HI>All love, all glory be to thee, O God the Father, who ha&s;t made me and all the World.</HI></P>
<P><HI>All love, all glory be to thee, O God the Son, who ha&s;t redeemed me and all Mankind.</HI></P>
<P><HI>All love, all glory be to thee, O God the Holy-Gho&s;t, who doe&s;t &s;anctifie me, and all the elect People of God.</HI></P>
<P><HI>All love, all glory be to thee, O Father of mercy, who in my Bapti&s;m did&s;t make me a Member of Chri&s;t, thy own Child, and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O my God, I do this Day dedicate my &s;elf to thy Ser|vice, and do renew the Promi&s;e and Vow of my Bap|ti&s;m.</HI></P>
<P><PB N="8" REF="5"> <HI>I do from my heart renounce the Devil and all his Works, the Pomps and Vanity of this wicked World, and all the &s;inful Lu&s;ts of the Fle&s;h; from all which, good Lord deliver me.</HI></P>
<P><HI>I believe all the Articles of the Chri&s;tian Faith, and I will keep thy Holy Will and commandments, and walk in the &s;ame all the Days of my Life.</HI></P>
<P><HI>All this, O Lord, I am bound to believe and do, and by thy help &s;o I will; and I heartily thank thee, O Hea|venly Father, who ha&s;t call'd me to this &s;tate of Salva|tion, through Ie&s;us Chri&s;t my Saviour; and I pray unto thee to give me thy Grace, that I may continue in the &s;ame to my Lives end.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Lord, hear me, help me, pardon my failings, &s;upply all my Wants, and the Wants of all faithful People, which I &s;um up in the words of thy own beloved Son.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Our Father which art in Heaven,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>After the like manner you may pray at Night.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="evening" TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>Evening Prayer.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Glory be to thee, O Lord, for my pre&s;ervation, and for all the Ble&s;&s;ings of the Day pa&s;t; for which, all love, all prai&s;e be to thee.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Father, forgive me all the &s;ins I have this Day com|mitted, either in thought, or word, or deed, either again&s;t thee, or again&s;t my Neighbour, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us my Saviour.</HI> Amen, Amen.</P>
<P><HI>It grieves me, O merciful God, that I &s;hould daily of|fend thee: But I repent, O pitty and pardon me, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us thy Beloved.</HI> Amen, Amen.</P>
<P><HI>O my God, keep and protect, and ble&s;s me this Night, and pre&s;erve me from &s;in and danger, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us.</HI> Amen, Amen.</P>
<P><HI>Lord refre&s;h me this Night with &s;ea&s;onable Sleep, that I may ri&s;e the next Morning more fit and able to &s;erve thee in my Calling, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us thy Beloved.</HI> Amen, Amen.</P>
<P><PB N="9" REF="5"> <HI>I believe in God the Father,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><HI>All love, all glory be to thee, our God the Father, who,</HI> &amp;c. as in the Morning.</P>
<P><HI>I de&s;ire thee, O Lord God, O Heavenly Father, who art the giver of all Goodne&s;s, to &s;end thy Grace unto me,</HI> and to my Wife and Children, to my Husband and Children, Father and Mother, Brethren and Si&s;ters, Kindred and Friends, Ma&s;ter and Mi&s;tri&s;s, (you mu&s;t name the&s;e Relations, according as you &s;tand related) <HI>and to all People, that we may wor&s;hip thee, &s;erve thee, and obey thee, as we ought to do: And I pray unto thee, that thou would&punc;&s;t &s;end us all things that be needful, both for our Souls and Bodies, and that thou wilt be merciful unto us, and forgive us our &s;ins; and that it will plea&s;e thee, to &s;ave and defend us in all dangers, gho&s;tly and bodily, and that thou wilt keep us from all &s;in and wicked|ne&s;s, and from our gho&s;tly Enemy and from everla&s;ting Death: And this I tru&s;t thou wilt do of thy mercy and goodne&s;s, through our Lord Ie&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> Amen. <HI>Lord, &s;o be it.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Lord, hear me, help me, pardon my Failings, &s;upply all my Wants, and the Wants of all for whom I pray, which I &s;um up in the words of thy own beloved Son,</HI></P>
<P><HI>Our Father which art in Heaven,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>As you are going to Bed, &s;ay,</P>
<P><HI>I will lay me down in peace and take my re&s;t, for it is thou, Lord, only that make&s;t me dwell in &s;afty,</HI> (P&s;al. 4. 9.)</P>
<P>As you began the Day, &s;o end it with glorifying God, and when you are in Bed &s;ay,</P>
<P><HI>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Ho|ly Gho&s;t, three Per&s;ons and one God, ble&s;&s;ed for evermore. All prai&s;e, all love be to thee.</HI></P>
<P>I earne&s;tly beg of God, to make you &s;en&s;ible your &s;elves, and to give you grace to make your Children and Servants &s;en&s;ible al&s;o, how Nece&s;&s;ary, and Happy, and Heavenly a Duty Prayer is, and how many <HI>exceeding great and precious Promi&s;es</HI> God has made to them that
<PB N="10" REF="6"> devoutly pray to him; and if you are thus &s;en&s;ible, you will not con|tent your &s;elves with Morning and Evening Prayer only, but you will be de&s;irous, if you have Opportunity, to retire about Mid-day&punc; for a few Minutes, that you may imitate the Devotion of holy <HI>David,</HI> and of
<HI>Daniel,</HI> and pray <HI>three times a Day,</HI> Dan. 6. 10. and that you may not want a help for Noon-tide Prayer, the Catechi&s;m &s;hall &s;upply you.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="midday" TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>Prayer at Noon.</HEAD>
<P><HI>At Evening, and at Morning, and at Noon-day will I pray, and that in&s;tantly, Lord, hear my voice,</HI> (P&s;al. 55. 19.)</P>
<P><HI>Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Ho|ly Gho&s;t: As it was in the beginning, is now and ever &s;hall be, World without end.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><HI>All love all glory be to thee. O God, the Father, who ha&s;t fir&s;t loved us, and ha&s;t given thy beloved Son to die for our Sins, and to ri&s;e again for our Iu&s;tification.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great Good|ne&s;s, according to the multitude of thy Mercies do away mine Offences.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Wa&s;h me throughly from my wickedne&s;s, and clean&s;e me from my &s;in.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Make me a clean Heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us thy Beloved</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><HI>O Lord God, who &s;ee&s;t I am not able of my &s;elf to walk in thy commandments, and to &s;erve thee; be plea|&s;ed to help and &s;trengthen me by thy &s;pecial Grace, that I may daily and &s;incerely perform my Duty towards thee, and my Duty towards my Neighbour, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us my Saviour.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><HI>O my God, give me grace to believe in thee, and to love thee with all my Heart, with all my Mind, with all my Soul, and with all my Strength; to wor&s;hip thee, to give thee thanks, to put my whole tru&s;t in thee, to call upon thee, to honour thy Holy Name and thy Word, and to &s;erve thee truly all the Days of my Life, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us thy Beleved.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><PB N="11" REF="6"> <HI>O my God, give me Grace to love my Neighbour as my &s;elf, to do to all Men, as I would they &s;hould do to me; to love honor and &s;uccor my Father and Mother</HI> (this clau&s;e mu&s;t be left out, if your Father and Mother be dead) <HI>to honor and obey the King, and all that are put in Authority under him; to &s;ubmit my &s;elf to all my Governors, Teachers, Spiritual Pa&s;tors, and Ma&s;ters; to order my &s;elf lowly and reverently to all my Betters; to hurt no Body by Word or Deed; to be true and ju&s;t in all my Dealing; to bear no malice nor hatred in my Heart; to keep my Hands from picking and &s;teal|ing, and my Tongue from evil &s;peaking, lying and &s;lan|dering; to keey my Body in temperance, &s;oberne&s;s and cha&s;tity, nor to covet or de&s;ire other Mens Goods, but to learn and labour truly to get mine own Living and to do my Duty in that &s;tate of Life, unto which it has plea|&s;ed thee to call me, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us thy Beloved.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><HI>Lord hear me, help me, pardon my Failings, &s;upply all my Wants, which I &s;um up in the words of thy Belo|ved Son.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Our Father which art in Heaven,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>In&s;tead of the&s;e two la&s;t Prayers, you may &s;ometimes &s;ay the Ten Commandments, which you may turn into a very good Prayer, by &s;aying after every one.</P>
<P><HI>Lord have Mercy upon me, and incline my Heart to keep this Law.</HI></P>
<P>Where you not only beg pardon for the &s;ins you have committed again&s;t each Commandment, but you al&s;o beg Grace to keep it.</P>
<P>At the end of them you may &s;ay,</P>
<P><HI>Lord have Mercy upon me, and write all the&s;e thy Laws in my Heart, I be&s;eech thee.</HI></P>
<P>And &s;o conclude with the Lord's Prayer.</P>
<P>Do not think that this Practice of Prayer will be too hard, or too long for young Per&s;ons, or for labouring People; for if you cannot &s;ay them all, &s;ay as much as you can; or if you are at Day Labour, or have not time or convenience to &s;ay them, offer up to God two or three hearty Ejaculations in their place: But if you can get time and convenience, &s;ay them all, and I dare a&s;&s;ure you, that all the three <PB N="12" REF="7"> Forms of Prayer which I commend to you, will not in all take up a quarter of an hour; and certainly that Per&s;on has very little &s;ence of his Duty, very little concern for his immortal Soul, very little Ho|nour for God, or value for Heaven, who will not &s;pend one quarter of an hour in the &s;pace of four and twenty hours, in the Service of God, and the Salvation of his own Soul.</P>
<P>I do by all means exhort you to give your Servants a few Minutes lei&s;ure at Noon, to pray after your Example, and to u&s;e your Chil|dren to do the &s;ame, for they will &s;oon be able to &s;ay the Lord's Prayer and two or three Ejaculations, and teach them to &s;ay the&s;e at Noon, as well as at Morning and at Night, and 'tis incredible to think how much good this Practice will do them, and what great comfort you your &s;elves will reap from the early Devotion of your Children.</P>
<P>To further this Devotion in your Children, in&s;tead of Idle Tales and Songs, which Pollute their Souls, and when they come to be &s;eri|ous, will co&s;t them great pains to unlearn: You mu&s;t teach them &s;hort P&s;alms by heart, which will exerci&s;e their Memories and Piety both together; and as you teach the P&s;alms to your Children, I exhort you to learn them your &s;elves,</P>
<P>You cannot imagine the great benefit of learning P&s;alms by heart; for when you are under any Temptation, or are in any Affliction, or when you lie Waking in the Night, or when you are Sick, the&s;e P&s;alms will come into your Mind, and the Devout repeating them will yield you mo&s;t &s;ea&s;onable Con&s;olations.</P>
<P>The very common People, in the fir&s;t and pure&s;t Ages of the Church, were &s;o &s;en&s;ible of the Spiritual Advantages of learning P&s;alms, that they learned the whole P&s;alter by heart, and &s;ung or &s;aid the P&s;alms in their Shops, and at the Plow, in&s;omuch that St.
<HI>James</HI> makes it the proper Expre&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tian Mirth, (James
5. 13.) <HI>If any be merry let him &s;ing P&s;alms.</HI></P>
<P>This is the way to &s;tore your own and your Childrens Minds with Ejaculations, or &s;hort Prayers for all Occa&s;ions, which I advi&s;e both Old and young to accu&s;tom them&s;elves to, becau&s;e it is the true way of Praying without cea&s;ing, and it is a kind of Prayer mo&s;t ea&s;ie, and may be u&s;ed at any time of the day, or in any Place, and is one of the mo&s;t efficacious means in the world to keep us in God's Favour, which is of all things mo&s;t de&s;irable.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="exclamations" TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>Ejaculations.</HEAD>
<P>At going out, or coming in.</P>
<P><HI>Lord ble&s;s my going out and my coming in from rhis time forth for evermore.</HI> (P&s;al, 121. 8.)</P>
<P><PB N="13" REF="7"> At Meales.</P>
<P><HI>Lord grant, that whether I eat or drink, or what&s;oever I do, I may do all to thy glory.</HI> (1 Cor. 19. 31.)</P>
<P>At Work.</P>
<P><HI>Pro&s;per thou the Work of my Hands, O Lord O pro|&s;per thou my Handy-work.</HI> (P&s;al. 90. 17.)</P>
<P>In the Shop, or Market.</P>
<P><HI>Lord, give me grace to u&s;e this World, &s;o as not to abu&s;e it.</HI> (1 Cor. 7. 31.)</P>
<P><HI>Lord grant that I may never go beyond, or defraud my Brother in any matter, for thou art the Avenger of all &s;uch.</HI> (1 The&s;&s;. 4. 6.)</P>
<P>In temptation or danger.</P>
<P><HI>O God, make &s;peed to &s;ave me: O Lord, make ha&s;te to help me.</HI></P>
<P>At any time of the Day.</P>
<P><HI>Wherever I am, whatever I do, Thou Lord &s;ee&s;t me: O keep me in thy fear all the Day long.</HI> (Prov. 23. 17.)</P>
<P><HI>Lord, give me grace to keep always a Con&s;cience void of offence towards thee and towards Men,</HI> (Acts 24. 16.)</P>
<P><HI>Lord teach me &s;o to number my Days, that I may ap|ply my heart to Wi&s;dom.</HI> (P&s;al. 90. 12.)</P>
<P><HI>O let my Mouth be filled with thy Prai&s;e, that I may &s;ing of thy Glory and Honour all the Day long</HI> (P&s;al. 71.7.)</P>
<P><HI>All love, all glory be to thee, O God, who did&s;t fir&s;t love me.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Vnto him that lov'd us, and wa&s;h'd us from our &s;ins in his own Blood, be glory and dominion for ever and ever.</HI> Amen. (Rev. 1.
5.)</P>
<P><HI>O ble&s;&s;ed Spirit, &s;hed abroad the love of God in my Heart.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Prai&s;e the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me, Prai&s;e his Holy Name.</HI> P&s;al. (103. 1.)</P>
<P><HI>Prai&s;e the Lord, O my Soul, while I live will I prai&s;e the Lord, Yea, as long as I have any Being, I will &s;ing Prai&s;es unto my God.</HI> (P&s;al. 146. 1.)</P>
<P><PB N="14" REF="8"> You that have Families, I do farther exhort, that be&s;ides your pri|vate Prayers, you would offer up to God, a Morning and Evening Sacrifice in your Families, and that every one of you would take up the Holy Re&s;olution of <HI>Jo&s;hua, (as for me, and my Hou&s;e, we will &s;erve the Lord,</HI> (Jo&s;h. 24. 15.) And the Prayers I advi&s;e you to u&s;e, are ta|ken out of the Common Prayer, as being mo&s;t familiar, and of great|e&s;t Authority withall.</P>
<P>If any of your Family are gone abroad to their Work before the re&s;t can be ready, call that little Congregation about you that is at home, and you that are pre&s;ent pray for tho&s;e that are ab&s;ent, and by this means tho&s;e that are ab&s;ent upon nece&s;&s;ary Employments, will &s;hare in the Ble&s;&s;ings for which you pray.</P>
</DIV3>
<DIV3 N="family" TYPE="prayer">
<HEAD>Morning Prayer for a Family.</HEAD>
<P><HI>Let the Words of our Mouths, and the Meditations of our hearts, be alway acceptable in thy &s;ight: O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O God the Father of Heaven, have mercy upon us mi&s;erable Sinners.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O God the Son, Redeemer of the World, have mercy upon us mi&s;erable Sinners.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O God the Holy Gho&s;t, proceeding from the Father and the Son, have mercy upon us mirerable Sinners.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O Holy Ble&s;&s;ed and Glorious Trinity, three Per&s;ons and one God, have mercy upon us mi&s;erable Sinners.</HI></P>
<P><HI>O Lord we be&s;eech thee mercifully hear our Prayers, and &s;pare all tho&s;e who confe&s;s their Sins unto thee, and they who&s;e Con&s;ciences by Sin are accu&s;ed, by thy merci|ful pardon may be ab&s;olved, through Chri&s;t our Lord.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><HI>Almighty God, who &s;ee&s;t that we have no power of our &s;elves to help our &s;elves, we give thee humble Thanks for thy pre&s;ervation of us this Day pa&s;t (or this Night pa&s;t) and for all the Ble&s;&s;ings thou daily vouch&s;afe&s;t us; and we be&s;eech thee to keep us both outwardly in our Bodies, and inwardly in our Souls; that we may be defended from all Adver&s;ities which may happen to the Body, and from all evil Thoughts which may a&s;&s;ault and hurt the Soul, through Ie&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><PB N="15" REF="8"> <HI>Almighty God, who&s;e Kingdom is everla&s;ting, and power infinite, have mercy upon the whole Church, and &s;o rule the Heart of thy Servant, our King and Governor, that he (knowing who&s;e Mini&s;ter he is) may above all things &s;eek thy Honour and Glory, and that we and all his Subjects (duly con&s;idering who&s;e Authority he hath) may faithfully &s;erve, honour, and humbly obey him, in thee, and for thee, according to thy ble&s;&s;ed Word and Ordi|nance, through Ie&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord, who liveth and reigneth ever one God, World without end.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><HI>Vnto thy gracious Mercy and Protection, O Lord, do we commit our &s;elves this Day, (or this Night) and all our Relations and Friends: Lord pro&s;per us in our Cal|lings: Lord ble&s;s us and keep us: Lord make thy Face to &s;hine upon us, and be gracious unto us: Lord lift up thy Countenance upon us and give us Peace, both now and evermore, for the &s;ake of Ie&s;us thy Beloved, in who&s;e own ble&s;&s;ed Words, we &s;um up all our wants.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Our Father which art in Heaven,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P>The &s;ame form, changing but one word, is proper for the Night as well as the Morning, to make Family Prayer the more ea&s;ie to you.</P>
<P>That Prayer which I have &s;et down, wherein you pray for the King, and pray for your &s;elves al&s;o, that you may be good Subjects, I ex|hort you never to omit, becau&s;e you know that the Country wherein you live, was the only Seat of the late Rebellion, and the Tares of Sedition have been indu&s;triou&s;ly &s;own among you, and you have the greater rea&s;on to pray, that you may continue firm in your Allegiance; be&s;ides, St.
<HI>Paul</HI> teaches you, that <HI>to pray for Kings, is good and accept|able in the &s;ight of God our Saviour,</HI> (1 Tim. 2. 2, 3.)</P>
<P>To your Family Prayers, you may add, as you &s;ee occa&s;ion, one of the&s;e following.</P>
<P><HI>Almighty and everla&s;ting God&punc; give unto us the increa&s;e of Faith. Hope and Charity, and that we may obtain war which thou doe&s;t promi&s;e, make us to love that which thou doe&s;t com|mand&punc; through Ie&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><HI>Lord we be&s;eech thee, Grant thy People grace to with&s;tand the Temptations of the World&punc; the Fle&s;h, and the Devil, and with pure Hearts and Minds to follow thee the only God, through Ie&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P><PB N="16" REF="9"> <HI>Prevent us, O Lord, in all our Doings, with thy mo&s;t gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help, that in all our Works begun, continued, and ended in thee, we may glorifie thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy obtain everla&s;ting Life, through Ie&s;us Chri&s;t our Lord.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P>The&s;e and the like &s;hort Prayers, may be &s;aid alone in the Clo&s;et, as well as in the Family, by changing only the Number, and for (we) &s;aying all along (I) and for (us) &s;aying (me.) As for Ex|ample, when you read any part of the Holy Scripture, either alone by your &s;elves, or with your Families, both which you &s;hould do daily, if you have lei&s;ure, but if you have not, &s;ee that you do both on the Lord's-Days, and on Holy-Days, and therefore Read|ing, &s;ay this Prayer.</P>
<P><HI>Ble&s;&s;ed Lord, who ha&s;t cau&s;ed all Holy Scriptures to be written for our Learning, Grant that we (I) may in &s;uchwi&s;e hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly di|ge&s;t them, that by patience and comfort of thy Holy Word, we (I) may embrace, and ever hold fa&s;t, the ble&s;&s;ed hope of everla&s;ting Life, which thou ha&s;t given us in our Sa|viour Ie&s;us Chri&s;t.</HI> Amen.</P>
<P>God of his Infinite Mercy ble&s;s the&s;e In&s;tructions to his Glory, and to the furtherance of your Devotions, through Je&s;us the be|loved. <HI>Amen. Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="9">
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
