particularly how were my secret devotions performed this morning!

Aid of the Spirit.] Enlighten me, O Lord, by thy word, quicken and sanctify me by thy Spirit, and assist me to be and to do what thou wouldest have me to be and to do.

O thou God of hope, fill me with all joy and peace in believing, that I may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Rom. xv.

13.*)

May I grow in grace, and in the knowledge [and love] of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. iii. 18.)

"May I be a blessing;" (Gen. xii. 2.) be blessed by thee, O God; and so be a blessing to others, especially in spiritual things.

May I be enabled to keep every good resolution I make, by the powerful and promised aid of the Holy Spirit, which is equally as necessary for the daily support of my soul, as bread is for the daily support of my body. (Luke xi. 13.)

Important petitions.] 1. May I set thee, O Lord, always before me; (Ps. xvi. 8.) and endeavour to think, speak, and act as in thy sight; for "thou, God, seest me." (Gen. xvi. 13.)

2. Strengthen my faith in thy promises, O Lord, that I may be comforted in the thought, that thou art my God, my Father, and my Friend, ever present, able, and willing to help me; to hear my petitions, and to answer them in the time and manner thou knowest to be really best for my final good.

3. Intercede for me, O Lord Christ, as thou didst for Peter, that my faith fail not; especially in the hour of death. (Luke xxii. 32.)

4. May I be supported in life, and in death, by a comfortable sense of pardon; by an increasing

I have destroyed myself, may every sinner well say, but in him (in Christ) is my help. Hosea xiii. 9.

faith in Christ, and by a well-founded hope of glory! (Col. i. 27.)

5. My wants are daily returning, I would therefore daily apply to thee, my God, for relief; happy and grateful that I am permitted to do it, and assured that I shall not seek thy face in vain.

6. I want, O Lord, thy power to continue me in life, and preserve my faculties; I want thy wisdom to direct my paths; (Prov. xi. 5.) I want thy goodness to supply my necessities, temporal and spiritual; I want thy mercy to pardon my innumerable sins; and I want thy grace to assist me in the discharge of every duty.

7. O remember not against me my former transgressions. Enter not into judgment with me according to the desert of my sins, but according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness, sake, O Lord. (Ps. xxv. 7.)

8. Blot out all my transgressions as a cloud, which is dispersed by the sun and wind, (Isaiah xliii. 25.) and justify me freely by thy grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. (Rom. iii. 24.)

9. May I for the future keep my heart with more diligence: and so live and walk by faith, that my whole temper and conduct may be suited to my high and heavenly hopes, and to the great and glorious things I have in view. May these things be my delight; and do thou, O God, work in me by thy grace, with me by thy blessing, and by me

as an instrument.

10. Give me, O Lord, more grace, more faith, more love, more zeal for thy glory, and the good of my fellow-creatures. May I be daily more and more acquainted with thee, my God, and be at peace, that thereby good may come unto me, (Job . xxii. 21.) and that so I may obtain that solid peace, which the world can neither give, nor take away.

11. May I consider my daily devotion as the most delightful as well as the most needful part of my daily business, and the privilege of prayer as my greatest comfort.

19. Enable me, O Lord, to "continue in prayer, " and watch in the same with thanksgiving;" (Col. iv. 2.) watch especially against a formal manner of prayer, or an unjustifiable omission of it.

13. May I watch and pray, as my Lord and Master has enjoined me, that I enter not into temptation of any kind; and particularly that I may never be tempted to leave off prayer; but that I may so pray, as to pray Christianity into my heart. 14. May I delight in the law of the Lord, and meditate in it day and night. (Ps. i. 2.)

15. "Let the words of my mouth, and the me"ditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, "O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." (Ps. xix. 14.)

16. May I carry the thought of death with me (especially as I may possibly die this year) whereever I go. May I carry it into my closet, into my family, into my business, and into the house of God; and endeavour to hear, pray, and receive the Lord's supper, as a dying creature. May I encourage this thought when I lie down at night, and awake in the morning. May I live in the constant practice of this, lest that day come upon me unawares; (Luke xxi. 34.) and may God be my helper !

17. Enable me, O Lord, to discern the true state of my soul. Prepare me to meet thee, my God. (Amos iv. 12.) Remove from me the slavish fear of death; and so strengthen me and dispose my heart, that I may die glorifying thee, and benefiting those who may then be about me.

18. May my soul be nourished by those truths, which I have committed to memory, or to writing. 19. I beseech thee to hear me, good Lord, to

THE

forgive the iniquities (or imperfections) of my holy things, (Exod. xxviii. 38.) and finally to receive me into thine heavenly kingdom, through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

A short prayer to be used by one who is sick, for a blessing on the medicines he is taking*.

O LORD, as my help and trust are in thee, and as without thee all man's endeavours are vain, give thy blessing to this medicine, and all the other means which I am now using for my ease and recovery; and (if it be thy blessed will) make whatever I take or do so essential for that end, that I may live, be an instrument of thy glory, and better prepared, than I now am, for the coming of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

A night prayer to be committed to memory, and used by the sick (or others) who are apt to continue long awake. GREAT God, "the darkness hideth not from "thee, but the night shineth as the day." "Thou "art about my path, and my bed, and art ac"quainted with all my ways and thoughts." Ps. cxxxix. 2, 3.

When thou keepest mine eyes waking, I desire to lift them up to thee, the Father of light; to remember thee on my bed, and to meditate on thee in the night-watches. I beseech thee to make thy face shine on thy servant, to gild the present dark

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It is said of Așa, king of Judah," that in his disease he sought not the Lord, but the physicians only." 2 Chron. xvi. 12. He is not censured for having recourse to the skill of physicians, but for placing his sole dependence on them, whom he should have considered as instruments in God's hands, who alone can give success to any means employed for a recovery of the sick. This prayer

therefore is of great importance, and any minister, or others, who attend a sick person, should exhort him to a conscientious observance of it: especially in these degenerate times, when, alas! it is so much neglected.

scene, to compose my mind, and to banish every fear from it: and may "my thoughts and reflec"tions on myself instruct me in the night season," when others are asleep.

I desire to recollect and acknowledge thy constant care and goodness to me by day and night. I would commune with my own heart on my bed, and renew my sincere repentance for all my sins; for which I might justly have been banished to eternal darkness and misery.

I desire to look unto Jesus, the Sun of righte ousness, who endured the cross for my sake, and trust in him, who is able to save to the uttermost. I solemnly give up myself to thy service and disposal, and desire humbly to acquiesce in every painful and disagreeable circumstance. I lift up my heart in grateful acknowledgment for all thy patience with me, and goodness to me.

Support me, gracious Father, under every burden and infirmity: when I walk in darkness, be thou a light about me: animate and comfort me with the views of that better world, where there is no light or darkness, but " the Lord shall be an everlasting light to his faithful servants, and the "days of their mourning shall be ended." Isaiah lx. 20.

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And O that I may learn from my own feelings how to pity the sick and afflicted; those who have painful days and sleepless nights; those whose age and infirmities cause their days and nights to pass heavily on; and those who are under any kind of distress or trial: and may all the sufferings of the present life work out for them, and for me, the most solid, substantial, and lasting happiness, through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Saviour. Amen.