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OH Lord, who art the on∣ly true perswader and se•…•…ler of the hearts and con∣sciences of all thine elect, per∣swade effectually both us and all other thy people, that be∣sides
a whole change in our* 1.1 selves, in all the qualities and faculties of our soules & bo∣dies, thou hast given sundry peculiar markes and proper∣ties, whereby thy Children may both certainly know themselves to bee thy Chil∣dren, and also by which they may be so knowne, & ought so to be esteemed amongst all thy people; and that so much the more, as they more lively and evidently have these markes upon them.
And namely (good Lord) perswade us of those which thou in this praier hast taught* 1.2 all thine to pray, and to cry for daily, whereby wee carry most lively the Image of our Lord Iesus our elder Bro∣ther. Vouchsafe that we may bee most zealous of the glory* 1.3 of thee our heavenly Father, and that with a holy zeale, having the Spirit of burning,
and the Spirit of judgement joyned together, which worldlings regard not, being little or nothing at all ac∣quainted with it.
Grant that wee all may* 1.4 seeke thy kingdome and righ∣teousnesse first, before all the things of this life; whereas they that are of this world, seeke onely, or at least in the first place, the things of this world.
Helpe and inable us (good* 1.5 Father) heerein, to these ends, that, whereas carnall and un∣regenerate men, seeke onely the satisfying of their owne lusts and pleasures, and by all meanes to have their owne wils fulfilled, little or nothing regarding to know, or to do thy heavenly will; we contra∣rily may seeke to know and fulfill the will of thee our heavenly Father, as thou hast expressed it in thy holy and
sacred word; and that this we may make our very meate and drinke, preferring it (as did our Saviour) before his daily foode.
Vouchsafe us thy holy Spirit, that whereas carnall and worldly men are wont commonly for whatsoever they desire, onely to use and* 1.6 seeke worldly meanes; such as like themselves best, whe∣ther warrantable from thee or no, they make no matter, seldome or never using to seeke and beg them, as they ought, from thy heavenly bounty▪ onely in and by the meanes which thou hast ap∣pointed: and doe as seldome unfeignedly returne thee thankes & prayse, when they have received their desires, but are like the swine under the Acorne trees, never looking up from whence the Mast falls, sacrifising unto
their nets, ascribing all to their owne wits and strength; wee contrarily may looke up unto thee our heavenly Fa∣ther. Lord grant that we may* 1.7 first begge all from thy hea∣venly bounty, using onely the meanes that thou hast ap∣pointed to accomplish our ends, & after returning praise and thankes for all unto thy divine and sacred Majesty.
Teach and perswade us,* 1.8 and all thy people, that wee may bee truly mindfull of the rest of our Brethren thy deere Children▪ wheresoever dis∣persed, and that wee may bee rightly touched with a true and lively feeling both of* 1.9 their bodily and spirituall e∣state, and therefore like as thou ha•…•…t taught & comman∣ded us to pray for all other thy Children as for our selves, O our Father: And, give us this day our daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses. Lead us not into temptation, but de∣liver us from evill, &c. Grant that wee may not onely thus pray for them, with the lips a∣lone, but sigh and groane un∣to thy Majesty for them in all these respects, and desire ear∣nestly to seeke and to use all meanes for them in every one of these kinds, as lively fee∣ling members of the same mysticall body of Iesus Christ with them. Make us to con∣sider,* 1.10 how the carnall world∣ling, hath little or no sense or feeling of any of these things, nay almost no understanding at all, as appeareth daily by all his carriage and affections towards thy deerest servants; whom for this cause hee prin∣cipally hates, and makes a mocke of, even for their pie∣ty, their care, and conscience, to feare and please thy hea∣venly Majesty.
Make us all to have a true* 1.11 sense and feeling of our sins, and of the vilenesse of them, in regard of the nature of sin it selfe, and that it is so dis∣pleasing, and so odious to thy holinesse. Inable us therefore by thy holy Spirit▪ to groane* 1.12 under ou•…•… sinnes, as a burden heavier then the earth: yea, to bee oft-times grieved in∣wardly and •…•…ejected, in re∣gard of our new and many slips and failings, & for them all to cry, Forgive us our tres∣passes: and that we may never* 1.13 give any rest unto our soules, untill wee bee fully assured of the pardon of them all, and that thou our heavenly Fa∣ther ar•…•… fully reconciled unto us in Iesus Christ, and thy displeasure wholly appeased towards us. Whereas the un∣regenerate and carnall man hath usually no feeling of his sinnes at all, whereupon hee
commonly makes but a sport of sinne, and drinke in iniqui∣ty as water, so heaping uppe* 1.14 wrath against the day of wrath, making a scoffe at all the godly who are troubled with their sinnes, as at fanta∣sticall and melancholly fools.
Teach and perswade our hearts, that whereas carnall men can hardly or never for∣give* 1.15 wrong: done unto them, untill they bee revenged, or their corrupt mindes some way fully satisfied; wee con∣trarily may labour to bee so farre off from reuenge, as we may be able to pray with our Saviour, and with Stephen, Fa∣ther forgive them, they know not what they doe; and that if our* 1.16 enemyes hunger, wee may feed them as thou •…•…hast com∣manded, yea, perswade our hearts, that wee may by all* 1.17 meanes seeke the conversion and salvation of our greatest
enemyes. And if thou shalt be pleased to convert any of them soundly, that wee may rejoyce therein, even as the heauenly Angels, and delight in such, above our owne na∣turall brethren or sisters.
Lord worke so uppon us,* 1.18 that whereas the Worldling is seldome or never affraid of Sathan, and of his temptati∣ons, or of sinning against, and provoking thy holiness, and therefore doth continvally or most commonly whatsoever Sathan and his owne sinnefull heart moves him unto, with∣out any checke or controule∣ment, or looking at thee, or without any feare or regarde of the evill which will follow upon that which he doth: we contrarily may desire to feare thee evermore.* 1.19
Make us alwayes to stand in awe of thy Majesty with a holy reverence, least for our
security, or for other our sins thou shouldest leave us to be tempted by Sathan and over∣come; and therefore in the sense and privity of •…•…ur •…•…e∣serts by all our sins, our •…•…ay∣lings, weaknesses, and for the corruption of our sinneful na∣tures, with our inclination to hearken to the Serpent, •…•…o be overtaken and circumvented by him, and in regard of the danger which thereby wee stand in continually, we may cry day and night, Leade u•…•… not into temptation, but deliver us from euill; yea, that wee may strive, as our Saviour* 1.20 hath taught us, To watch and pray continually, that wee may not fall into temptation.
Good Father graunt, that* 1.21 whereas the carnall and unre∣generate man in his actions lookes onely at the command and authority of man, and at his countenance and power,
and what he can doe; and so gives to men the glorie due unto thy Soveraigne Maje∣sty, or secretly takes it to himselfe; wee contrarily may looke higher, even unto thy Highness▪ and to thy absolute Soveraignty over all Kings and Princes, and at thy divine power, and so give unto thee* 1.22 the glory of all abhorring all imagination of any excellen∣cy, that we may any way con∣ceyue to be in our selves; & therefore that wee may in all things desire ever with all thy holy Angels thus to acknow∣ledge thee & thy Soveraign∣ty alone, and to give thee all the glory, and to crie ever∣more, For thine is the kingdom, power, and glorie.* 1.23
And whereas the worldling lookes commonly, & thinkes onely of this present life, and seldome or never thinkes of eternity, but rather labors to
put the remembrance thereof out of his heart, having his portion and so his meditati∣ons onely heere below; grant that we contrarily may be al∣wayes thinking and medita∣ting of eternity, even of that life which is eternall, that so we may live with thee, and fully behold and enjoy thy kingdome, power, and glorie for evermore.
Finally, perswade us and all* 1.24 thine, that whereas the unre∣generate and carnall World∣ling hath usually in all his prayers and dealings with thee, some eye unto himselfe, and his worthiness, for his de•…•…otion and service, or for some other matter in himself, being little or nothing at all acquainted with thy Son our Lord & Saviour Iesus Christ and his intercession, and how to come and appeare before thy holiness, who art onely
our father, in, and thorough him, and how to make his re∣quests onely thorow him, and in his name alone, wee may come clea•…•… other wise. Grant that we contrarily may in all* 1.25 our supplications, prayers, & our giving of thankes, strip our selves of all such opinion of our owne merit or worthi∣ness: and as wee account all but losse and dung, so that we may be found in Christ, not having our owne righteous∣ness, but that which is of Christ; so likewise wee may make all our prayers and sup∣plications with giving of thankes onely in and thorow* 1.26 him, who is that everlasting Amen▪ and thorow whom a∣lone all thy promises are Yea and Amen; who alone hath deserued this honor, and hath this office to make us and our prayers to be accepted; and therfore that we may in faith
cry unto thee evermo•…•…e tho∣row* 1.27 him, Amen, Amen▪
Good Lord helpe us and all thy people, that by all these* 1.28 markes and the like, wee may thoroughly try and examine our selves whether we be thy children, or no; and that wee may never give ouer crying unto thee, untill we finde e∣very one of these lively and sensibly in us. Cause us right∣ly* 1.29 to understand, and to bee fully perswaded heereof, that in what measure we finde the former change wrought in us and every one of these marks, in the same we may know our selves like wise to bee in thy favour, and accepted of thee, and that contrarily vvithout* 1.30 every one of these at least be∣gun in us in some measure, & a sound resolution with an earnest desire and longing of our soules to increase and grow heerein, vvee cannot
assure our selves to bee any better then Hypocrites; and* 1.31 that wee shall never finde sound comfort, that thou wilt acknowledge us for thine, untill we finde these e∣vident markes upon us. Grant unto us therefore, Oh tender Father, all the peculiar marks of thy Children, and all other, that hereby, we and all thine, may know our selves infalli∣bly, to bee thine owne deere Children, for thy beloved Sonne our blessed Lord and Saviour,
To pray to finde in our selves, not onely this change, but the peculi∣ar markes of Gods chil∣dren.
Chiefly those which our Saviour hath taught us to cry for daily, & whereby we most live∣ly beare his Image.
To be most zealous for Gods glory.
2. To seeke the kingdom of God, and his righteous∣nesse first.
3. To seeke onely know∣ing & doing the will of our heavenly Father, & not our owne.
To use onely such meanes for obtaining all good things, as God him∣selfe hath ordained.
Begging and returning all thankes to him for all.
To be ever mindfull of the rest of our brethren as of our selves.
And as well touched with their estate as our owne.
To consider how the car∣nall world∣ling hath lit∣tle or no sense of any of these things,
To have a lively sense of our sins.
To groane under the burden of them.
Never to rest untill we be assured of the remission of our sinnes.
Which the carnall man makes bu•…•… a sport of.
That we may be able to forgive wrongs, and to pray for our enemies.
That if our enemies hunger, wee may feede them.
And seeke their conver∣sion and sal∣vation.
6. To be al∣wayes afrayd of Sathans temptations.
To stand al∣wayes in awe of the Lord, least for our securitie, he leave us up to him.
To strive to watch and pray that we fall not into temptation.
7. To looke ever •…•…o the Lords abso∣lute Sove∣raignty.
And to give him the glo∣ry of all.
8. To be ever and chiefely thinking of eternity.
9. That we may not pray looking at a∣ny thing in our selves, or any other creatures.
But stripping our selves, may come only in Iesus Christ.
Our everla∣sting Amen.
That we may in Faith, cry Amen.
That we may never give the Lord o∣ver till wee find all these in our selves.
That we may know our selves hereby to be thine, and in thy favour as we finde them.
And contra∣rily,
That we can never finde sound com∣fort.