PRAYERS.

A PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN GRACES.

OLY, holy Lord God Almighty, who art,

HOLY

and wast, and art to come; who is a God like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders! Thou art blessed in thyself, and the gracious Author of all our blessings. Thou art the only sovereign Lord, who canst do what thou pleasest in heaven or earth. Thou alone hast everlasting life in thyself, and thou only canst bestow it upon others; and thou dwellest in that light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, or Thou art a God at hand and a God afar off; none can hide himself in secret places, where thou canst not see him, for thou fillest heaven and earth; thine eyes are in every place, beholding the evil and the good; thou searchest the heart, and triest the reins; even the thoughts and intents of the heart are naked and open before thee.

can see.

I know, O Lord, that thou canst do everything; power belongs to thee, and with thee

nothing is impossible; what thou hast promised, thou art able also to perform. Thou art good, and doest good, good to all; and thy tender mercy is over all thy works. O that thou wouldest cause thy goodness to pass before me, that I may taste and see that the Lord is good, and having his loving-kindness always before mine eyes.

O my God, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my face before thee; for my iniquities are increased over my head, and my trespass is grown up into the heavens; behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth, and put my mouth in the dust, if so there may be hope, crying out, Unclean, unclean. If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me; if I say I am perfect, that also shall prove me perverse; for, if thou contend with me, I am not able to answer thee one in a thousand. Behold, I was shapen in wickedness, and in sin did my mother conceive me; for who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? And being conceived in my sin, my understanding is naturally alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in me, because of the blindness of my heart.

I have within me a carnal mind, which is enmity against God; my neck has been as an iron sinew, and I have made my heart as an adamant! I have refused to hearken; yea, have pulled away the shoulder, and have stopped mine ears, like the deaf adder. O how have

I hated instruction and despised reproof! I have forgotten God, and lived without God in the world. My heart hath walked after vanity, and become vain. I have set my affections on things beneath, have followed after lying vanities, and forsaken mine own mercies. I have forsaken the living waters, for cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. My heart is bent to slide back from the living God, and it is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; it starts aside like a broken bow; the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint; from the sole of the feet even to the head, there is no soundness in me, but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.

Lord, I come to thee as the poor publican, and I pray his prayer, God be merciful unto me a sinner! The God of infinite mercy be merciful to me. Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin; for I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Purge my conscience with the blood of Jesus, and I shall be clean; wash me in that purple fountain, and I shall be whiter than snow; hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Let me be justified freely by thy grace, through the redemption of Jesus. Take away all mine iniquities, and receive me graciously; heal my backslidings, and love me freely; and let thy anger be turned away from me, for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. I will say unto God, Do not condemn

me, but deliver me from going down into the pit, for thou hast found a ransom. I have sinned, Father, against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; but I have an Advocate with thee, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and he is the Propitiation for my sin. Lord, remember the true David, even Jesus, and all his troubles; remember all his sufferings, and accept his burnt sacrifice; and turn not away the face of thine Anointed, who by his own blood is entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for men. Remember the covenant in his blood, and be merciful to mine unrighteousness, and my sins and my iniquities remember no more.

Let me be justified by faith, and have peace with God through Jesus Christ; and through him let me have access to that grace wherein believers stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. O make me hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which sin has broken may rejoice. Let the blood of Christ speak better things than that of Abel; let it speak pardon and peace to my soul; let it purge my conscience from dead works, to serve the living God. Let thy Spirit witness with my spirit, that I am a child of God, and a joint-heir with Christ; say to my soul, I am thy salvation.

Lord, give me a wise and understanding heart; that which I know not, teach thou me; let the Spirit of truth guide me into all truth, and make me to understand wherein I have