and speak, and will, and do, the things becoming the children of our heavenly Father: and so find the strong consolation of thy gracious acceptance in Jesus Christ our Saviour: Who, when we pray, hath taught us to say, "Our Father," &c.

FRIDAY EVENING.

O LORD, thou wast before all, thou art above all, and thy years shall not fail. Thou art the Searcher of our hearts. Thou knowest the dulness and hardness, the vanity and deceitfulness of them. We were born sinners, and so we have lived. We have added sin to sin. We have abused thy great and manifold mercies, tempted thy patience, and despised thy goodness. And justly mightest thou have cast us into outer darkness, where is wailing and gnashing of teeth.

But of thy loving kindnesses there is no number. Thou still callest us to return to thee: and "whosoever cometh unto thee, thou wilt in nowise cast out.' O meet us with thy heavenly grace, that we may be able to come to thee. Be thou graciously pleased to stretch forth thy hand, and loose the chains wherewith our souls are entangled. O free us from every weight of sin, from every yoke of bondage. O help us to feel, and bewail, and forsake all our sins. And let us never want the comfortable assurance of thy forgiveness of them, thy acceptance of us, and thy love to us, in the blessed Son of thy eternal love. Thou art never weary, O Lord, of doing us good. Let us never be weary of doing thee service. But as thou hast pleasure in the prosperity of thy servants, so let us take pleasure in the service of our Lord, and abound in thy work, and in thy love and praise evermore. O fill up all that is wanting, reform whatever is amiss in us, and perfect the thing that concerneth us. Let the witness of thy pardoning love ever abide in all our hearts. O speak into every one of our souls the peace which passeth all understanding and let us always look upon thee as our Father, reconciled to us

in Jesus Christ.

In his great name we cry unto thee in behalf of the whole race of mankind. O that all the ends of the earth may see the salvation of our God. Continue thy mercies to this sinful land; teach us, af length, to know thy will concerning us: and, O turn thou all our hearts unto thee, as the heart of one man. Bless the King; O Lord, prolong his days and prosper his government; make him always a "terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well." And grant unto all magistrates and ministers of thy word, a continual supply of all the needful gifts and graces of thy Holy Spirit. Be thou a father to the fatherless, a husband to the widow, a refuge to the oppressed, a physician to the sick, a helper to the friendless, a God of consolation to the sorrowful and distressed.-Bless to us whatsoever thou art pleased to allot to us, and every thing that befalls us. May all work together for good, to build us up in thy grace, and to help us on to thy glory.

Continue thy fatherly care over us this night. O preserve and

defend, and bless and keep us, that no evil may befall us, "nor any plague come nigh our dwelling." Give us comfortable sleep to strengthen us for thy service. And whenever thou callest us to the sleep of death, let us cheerfully resign our spirits into thy hands, through the riches of thy grace, and the worthiness of thy Son, in whose merits and mediation alone we put our trust. And for all that he hath done and suffered for us, to thy name, O blessed God of our salvation, be the praise, and honour, and glory, given by us and all thy people, now and for evermore. "Our Father," &c.

SATURDAY MORNING.

WE present ourselves before thee, O LORD our GOD, to pay our tribute of praise and thanksgiving; desiring thee mercifully to accept us and our services, at the hands of Jesus Christ. In his great name we come to beg thy pardon and peace, the increase of thy grace, and tokens of thy love. For we are not worthy the least of thy mercies. But worthy is the Lamb that was slain to take away the sin of the world, for whose sake thou wilt give us all things. For he hath fulfilled those holy laws which we had broken, and perfectly satisfied for our offences. And in him thou art a God gracious and merciful to those who deserve nothing but punishment.

O merciful FATHER, regard not what we have done against thee; but what our blessed Saviour hath done for us. Regard not what we have made ourselves; but what he is made unto us of thee our God. O that Christ may be in every one of our souls "wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption!" That his precious blood may "cleanse us from all our sins:" and that thy Holy Spirit may renew and sanctify our souls. May he crucify our flesh with its affections and lusts, and mortify all our members which are upon earth. O let not "sin reign in our mortal bodies, that we should obey it in the lusts thereof: but being made free from sin, let us be the servants of righteousness." Let us approve our hearts to thee, and let all our ways be pleasing in thy sight.

O teach us to know thee, O God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And enable us to do thy will on earth, as it is done in heaven. Give us to fear thee and to love thee, to trust and to delight in thee, and to cleave to thee with full purpose of heart, that no temptations may draw or drive us from thee; but that all thy dispensations towards us, and thy dealings with us may be the messengers of thy love to our souls. Quicken us, O Lord, in our dulness, that we may not serve thee in a lifeless, and listless manner; but may abound in thy work, and be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. And make us faithful in all our intercourse with our neighbour, that we may be ready to do good and bear evil; that we may be just and kind, merciful and meek, peaceable and patient, sober and temperate, humble and self-denying, inoffensive and useful in the world ; that so glorifying thee here, we may be glorified with thee in thy heavenly kingdom.

Day by day we magnify thee, O Lord, who makest every day an addition to thy mercies. We bless thee for preserving us the night past, and for the rest thou gavest us therein. O cause us to hear thy loving-kindness in the morning; for in thee do we trust. Cause us to know the way wherein we shall go, for we lift up our souls unte thee. O take not thy Holy Spirit from us: but direct all our ways to please thee our God. Help us to see thy power, to own thy presence, to admire thy wisdom, and to love thy goodness in all thy creatures; and by all, draw our hearts still nearer to thee. Such mercy and grace we beg for ourselves, and all ours and thine every where, in our great Mediator's blessed words: "Our Father," &c.

SATURDAY EVENING.

O LORD, our GOD, thou art infinitely good, and thou hast showed us what is good. Thou sendest out thy light and thy truth that they may guide us, and makest plain thy way before our face. Thou givest us many opportunities and advantages to quicken and further us in thy service. We have "line upon line, and precept upon precept;" thy messengers early and late, to open and apply thy word, to call and warn, to direct and exhort us with all long-suffering. But how little have we improved all the precious talents, which thou hast put into our hands! O Lord, thou mightest justly take away the gospel of thy kingdom from us, and give it unto other people, who would bring forth the fruits thereof. Because thou hast called and we refused, thou hast stretched forth thy hands and we have not regarded, thou mightest leave us to our own perverseness and impenitence, till our iniquities become our ruin.

But, O Lord God, enter not thus into judgment with thy servants. Pardon all our contempt of thy word, and our not profiting thereby. And help us for the time to come, better to improve the blessed opportunities set before us. "As the rain descends from heaven and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and maketh it fruitful, so let not thy word return unto thee void, but prosper in the work whereunto thou sendest it." O make it effectual to build us all up in the true fear and love of God, and in the knowledge and faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

O gracious God, may thy Spirit cause thy word to work thoroughly and successfully in all our hearts. And as we daily "receive, how we ought to walk and to please thee our God;" so help us to "walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing;" increasing in the knowledge and love of thee, abounding more and more in every good thing which is pleasing in thy sight, through Jesus Christ.

At his hands, O Lord our God, we beg thy gracious acceptance of our humble praise and thanksgiving, for all thy blessings, spiritual and temporal, so freely conferred upon us. We praise thee for all the comforts and conveniences of this life, and for all the means and hopes of a better; particularly for what we have received this day; the food of our souls set before us; the word of salvation sounding

in our ears, and the Spirit of God striving with our hearts. O withdraw not thy tender mercies from us, but still continue thy accustomed goodness, and increase thy grace and heavenly blessings upon us, and rejoice over us to do us good.

In mercy pass by all which thy most pure and holy eyes have seen amiss in us this day. Forgive the iniquities of our holy things: overlook all our sins and failings, through our great Mediator and Redeemer, who ever lives at thy right hand to make intercession for us. And for Jesus Christ, and for all which thou art pleased to give us together with him, "not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name" be all the praise, and honour, and glory humbly ascribed by us, and all thy Church, now and for evermore. "Our Father," &c.

PRAYERS FOR CHILDREN.

MY DEAR CHILD,

PREFACE.

A LOVER of your soul has here drawn up a few Prayers, in order to assist you in that great duty. Be sure that you do not omit, at least morning and evening, to present yourself upon your knees before God. You have mercies to pray for, and blessings to praise God for. But take care that you do not mock God, drawing near with your lips, while your heart is far from him. God sees you, and knows your thoughts: therefore see that you not only speak with your lips, but pray with your heart. And that you may not ask in vain, see that you forsake sin, and make it your endeavour to do what God has shown you ought: because God says, the prayers of the wicked are an abomination unto the Lord." Ask then of God for the blessings you want, in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, and God will hear and answer you, and do more for you than you can either ask or think. JOHN WESLEY.

MONDAY MORNING.

O LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, Father of angels and men, I praise and bless thy holy name for all thy goodness and loving-kindness to me and all mankind. I bless thee for my creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all, for thy great love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ. I bless thee for preserving me in the night past, and bringing me safe to the beginning of a new day. Defend me in the same with thy mighty power, and grant that this day I fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of

danger but let all my doings be so ordered by thy governance, that I may do always that which is righteous in thy sight, through Jesus Christ my Redeemer. Grant me such grace, that I may be able to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and with a pure heart and mind to follow the steps of my gracious Redeemer. Keep me, I beseech thee, O Lord, from all things hurtful to my soul or body, and grant me thy pardon and peace, that being cleansed from all my sins, I may serve thee with a quiet mind, bring forth plenteously the fruit of good works, and continue in the same unto my life's end, through Jesus Christ my Saviour and Redeemer. Amen.

"Our Father," &c.

MONDAY EVENING.

ALMIGHTY GOD, who art the gracious Preserver of all maukind, I desire now to offer unto thee my praise and thanksgivings, for all the blessings thou hast this day bestowed upon me. I confess, O my God, that I am unworthy of the least of all thy mercies; for I have gone astray like a lost sheep. I have followed too much the devices and desires of my own heart. I have offended against thy holy laws. I have left undone those things which I ought to have done, and have done those things which I ought not to have done; and there is no health in me. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon me a miserable offender. Spare me, O Lord, who now confess my faults unto thee. Enable me to bewail my manifold sins and offences, which I have from time to time most grievously committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine Majesty. Have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me, most merciful Father; for my Saviour Jesus Christ's sake, forgive me all that is past, and grant me thy grace, that I may ever hereafter serve and please thee, in newness of life, to the honour and glory of thy name, through Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour. Take me under thy gracious care and keeping this night; save and defend me from all dangers. Grant unto my body rest in my bed, and unto my soul rest in thyself; and be thou my God and my guide, my hope and my help, my joy and my comfort, now and for evermore, through Jesus Christ my Redeemer.

Amen.

"Our Father," &c.

TUESDAY MORNING.

O THOU FATHER of all mercies, and God of all goodness, I praise and bless thy name for thy mercies and favours unto me in the night past, and for bringing me safe to behold the light of a new day. Send down thy heavenly grace into my soul, that I may be enabled to worship thee, and serve thee as I ought to do. Enable