A Prayer when going Abroad.

LORD, thou art the same God in all places; art same all and no where can I go but thou art there. Both at home and abroad, on my way and at the end, thou art ever with me by the universal presence of thy grace, and thy good Spirit, to conduct and guide me continually; to protect and save me from all dangers and mischiefs; and to make my way prosperous, and all my affairs successful. O let the blessing of the Lord follow me, and rest upon me; and preserve my going out, and my coming in; and never leave me nor forsake me, O Lord; but be my God and Guide this day, and in all this my intended journey, and all my life long which is but a pilgrimage and passage through this world, in which I am continually hastening home, to the period of all my travels, to the place where I must take up and dwell forever.

O good God, make me continually mindful of that progress, and of that journey's end; and keep me from sinful wanderings, and those worst of all falls, to fall from my God. Take care of me, I beseech thee, and lead me, and keep me, and help me : and after all my motions here, O bring me safe at last to thy holy hill, and to thy heavenly rest, to the blessed end of my faith, the everlasting salvation of my soul, through the greatness of thy mercy to me, in thy dear Son, my gracious Lord, and only Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer for Illumination and Knowledge.

LORD, the eternal uncreated Light; thou hast not left thyself without witness amongst us, but in thy word and works before us, in our souls and consciences within us, and in all thy crea

tures on every side of us, we may see th thy presence, thy power, wisdom and That I have therefore no more and better knowledge of God, and the things belonging to my peace, it is my shame, and owing to my sinful dulness and negligence, in that which does most nearly and eternally concern me. Ah Lord, I have not improved in knowledge answerable to the light which thou hast caused to shine upon me, nor according to the means of instruction wherewith thou hast blessed me: but I have need to be taught myself the things whereof I might have been a teacher to others; for which I desire, Lord, to humble myself, and to beg thy pardon, and come now to ask wisdom of God, who givest to all men liberally, and upbraidest not.

I cannot see or know thee, O Lord, but by the beams of thy own light, which thou art pleased to impart. O wilt thou vouchsafe yet further and more fully to discover and manifest thyself to my soul ! and teach me to know aright thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent! O blessed Sun of Righteousness, arise upon me with healing in thy wings, to scatter all the clouds of folly and ignorance, and error, and prejudice, that overspread my soul. Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law; and open my understanding that I may understand the scriptures, and not remain in darkness concerning any thing that is needful for me to know, in order to my present peace and duty, and to my eternal bliss and felicity. And whereinsoever I, or any whom I am concerned with, or for, are otherwise minded than we ought to be, O God reveal the same to us; and let us all be taught of thee to know thee, from the greatest to the least! And not be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

That the soul be without knowledge is not good O incline our ears to wisdom, and our hearts to understanding; that we may follow on to know the Lord, and increase in the knowledge of God. Shew us thy ways, O Lord, and lead us in thy truth. And whatever else we are ignorant of, unto us let it be given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God; and to know what we are to believe, and how we are to conceive of thy blessed self, and all the things of God that concern us. O Lord, our light, give us understanding in the way of godliness; a spiritual discerning of the things of thy Spirit; and make us wise to salvation. Give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation, in the knowledge of thee: the eyes of our understanding being enlightened, that we may see what is the hope of thy calling, and what the riches of the glory of thy inheritance in thy saints, and what the mighty power of thy Spirit, which works in them that do believe.

O put thy law in our inward parts, and write it in our hearts, that we may be well acquainted with thy will revealed in thy word; that the scripture may not be to us a book sealed, or a gospel hid; but a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; to shew us what we have to do, and how to demean ourselves in all estates, affairs, and circumstances of our lives.. O that our ways were directed to keep thy statutes! And help us, O Lord, so to do thy will, that we may know the scriptures to be of God, and may have the witness in ourselves; and perceive the divinity of thy word, by the heavenly power and efficacy of it upon our lives. And though now we see but darkly, as in a glass, and know but in part; and cannot by searching find out the Almighty to perfection, yet help us still more and better to know our God, so as we can know; till here

after we shall know as we are known, and to see face to face, in that blessed presence of thine, where is fulness of joy for evermore. Amen.

A Prayer for Repentance.

MOST holy Lord God, against whom I have

displeased; thou hast revealed thyself from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, that impenitently go on in their trespasses; and hast let us know, that as we all have sinned, so, except we repent, we shall all perish. Even the Saviour of sinners will not save any sinner, without repentance; nor dost thou remit what we do not repent; though upon our repentance, thou hast assured us of thy gracious pardon and acceptance: And when we return unto thee, and humble ourselves before thee, thou wilt shew us thy compassion, and grant us thy salvation. O gracious Lord! great is thy mercy to vouchsafe unto us this remedy; and to deal so favourably with us as to forgive and receive us, when we are but sensible of our miscarriages and rebellions; and humbly submit ourselves, and leave off to do so foolishly and wickedly.Such humiliation and reformation is the best and most needful thing for me to do; but O how averse and insufficient am I to do it! thou Searcher of hearts, knowest my heart to be so hardened, through the deceitfulness of sin, that as soon may I fetch water out of the flint, as godly sorrow out of this obdurate heart of mine, if thou the great God do not soften it with thy holy fear, and dissolve and overcome it with thy powerful love: and that I can no more turn with all my heart to the Lord than I can turn the course of a river to run back to the

fountain, unless thou draw me by thy grace, and give me power from on high, to enable me for the blessed work.

O thou that didst cause water to gush out of the stony rock, wilt thou break and melt my rocky heart into such contrition as works repentance unto salvation! Yea, thou that fashionest all the hearts of the sons of men, take away from me the heart of stone, and give me a heart of flesh, broken and contrite, such as thou wilt not despise, that I may look upon him whom my sins have pierced and mourn; and be in bitterness for all the foul offences that I have committed against the Lord of love, the God of all my mercies. O give me such true repentance for them, that thou mayest also give me full pardon of them. Give me, good Lord, that repentance which the holy word requires, and such as thy gracious goodness in Christ Jesus will mercifully accept; even the repentance unto life, never to be repented of. O help me so to repent, and to be converted, that my sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. Turn thou me, O Lord God of my salvation, and so shall I be turned, and change my mind, and amend my life, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance; not only confessing and bewailing sins committed, but also hating and forsaking sins confessed and bewailed, loathing, as much as ever I have loved, the things that displease my holy will, and dishonor thy blessed name.

What I cannot recall, yet, Lord, give me grace to repent. And where I am, alas! so far from innocent, Father of mercies, make me penitent. And touch my heart with such a powerful sense of all thy loving kindness, as may work upon my ingenuity; to break my heart for my sins, and from them: