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FOR SUBJECTION OF MIND UNDER SUFFERING.

O THOU great Source of help and strength! I pour out my complaints before thee; I am oppressed by pain and sorrow; I am most earnest and importunate in my desires of ease; and thou, who knowest our frame and pitiest our infirmities, allowest me to be so. But, amidst all these importunities to have my own will, O heavenly Father, I desire above all things, to be entirely resigned to thine; remembering that thou only knowest what is best for me, and that thou dost not afflict willingly.

Endue me with strength and self-command, to maintain a cheerful aspect and composed temper under thine inflictions. May I humbly submit to sufferings which I have deserved, and cherish a Jively hope that thou art chastening me for my profit, that I may become a partaker of thy holiPreserve me from murmuring under any of thine appointments. Let me hope

ness.

that as they are all needful, so they are indeed bringing about the great purpose for which all thy chastisements are designed; and enable me to rejoice in this hope, even amidst the severest of them.

O wean me from this transitory scene. Let the world and its affections recede. May the thoughts of death, and preparation for it, appease and remove far from me all troubles that arise from worldly attachments and desires.

O lift me above them all, and let me continue to love and care for those things which belong to eternity. Let the consolations of thy spirit enable me not only to bow before thee, but even to rejoice in tribulation. It thou wilt, thou canst make the darkness of my way light about me.

Give me humility, and filial submission patiently to suffer what thou shalt appoint, and wisdom to know how to improve this discipline of thy hand. Point out to me the way of duty and of safety.

O Lord, help me, for I am very weak, and my only hope and trust is in thee. O

let my sorrowful sighing come before thee, and hear thou the cry of the afflicted.

Let not earth shut out heaven. Let not spiritual duties be impeded and cramped, nor spiritual consolations excluded, by anxious cares concerning this world, its inordinate affections, and too strongly fastened attachments. Amen.

FOR PATIENCE.

O MOST gracious God! burdened as I am with a heavy load of pain and sickness, give me grace, I humbly beseech thee, to collect what thoughts and powers I have left, to employ them all in bearing my sufferings patiently. When I come to be a little at ease, let me be sure to praise thee for it, and to improve it in meditating upon thy goodness. Let me employ the best strength I have in meditation and prayer, and then let me not fear that it will offend thee, that in this state of pain and weak

ness I cannot seek thee with the vigor of health. Let me assure myself that thou wilt accept of a feeble prayer from a faint and feeble spirit, and of a short prayer from one who cannot attend long to any thing; and let not any temptation prevail to cause me to restrain prayer before thee, the Father of mercies, the God of all grace, and the only refuge of my soul. May I reflect that Elias was a man subject to such passions as I am, and he prayed earnestly, and his prayers were graciously answered; and may I be encouraged to believe that thou wilt do, even for me, abundantly more than I ask, or can even think, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

FOR PATIENCE AS REGARDS OTHERS.

GRANT, O most gracious God, that I may be patient towards all who kindly minister to my wants. Suffer me not in any wise to fret myself, or to be causelessly angry; and if any untoward occurrence happen, let me

not aggravate the matter, or have any evil passions excited by it.

Help me ever to bear in mind how difficult it is for the kindest care to do all things acceptably to a pained and sickly body, and therefore that I ought to take well, and not to quarrel with, what is done for me.

Enable me always, O heavenly Father, to show myself pleased and obliged with the least kindness which I receive, and to put the best construction upon every thing, and to pass over things with ease which are not done for me as I could desire. Assist me, I beseech thee, to make it my study, on all occasions, to give no more trouble than is unavoidable. May I set a watch upon my tongue, and not suffer it to utter any fretful expressions; nor to make my sufferings seem greater, or my supports fewer, than they really are.

Let the remembrance of my sinfulness and unworthiness ever withhold me from complaining and murmuring; and let the conviction that thou art very pitiful and of tender mercy, soothe all my pains and

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