To be used in Families, Meetings for Prayer, and on other occasions. chief desire to honor thee, and to save ourselves and others. Grant that all things may be done decently and in good order, to thy glory and to our edification. May our mouth be exercised in wisdom, and our talking be of thy judgments. In every duty of prayer or praise; of reading thy word or speaking of thy mercies, let thy Holy Spirit be with us, to strengthen our faith, to restrain our wandering thoughts, to enliven our devotion, and to fix our attention and our desires on spiritual things, and to unite our hearts in Christian love. Our hearts are in thy hand; our wants and our infirmities are all before thee. Thou knowest our desires and our necessities before we ask, and our ignorance in asking. O gracious God, wilt thou do for us and work in us whatever thou seest fitting for our present need, and our eternal good. Increase in us faith and hope and charity, and may we never forget that the greatest of these is charity. O shed abroad thy love in our hearts; may that spirit be in us which was in our Savior Christ; that meekness and humility, that forgiving temper and spirit of love. May our benevolent affections be raised in thankfulness to thee, and fall, as the dew of heaven, upon our fellow-men.

Assist, O Lord, and hear our supplications for all mankind. Bless thy church universal, wherever dispersed, throughout the world. May mercy and peace be upon the whole Israel of God. Prosper thy word, wherever it is spoken, and send it where it is not heard. Cause thy face to shine upon thy chosen people, and grant that thy way may be known through all the earth, and thy saving health among all nations. May the borders of Zion be enlarged, till the kingdoms of the earth become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ, and all shall know thee from the least to the greatest. Bless all who name the name of Christ, with every

To be used in Families, Meetings for Prayer, and on other occasions.

gift and every grace. Revive thy work in the midst of the years. Pour out of thy Spirit, O blessed Lord, amongst us. Awaken the zeal of thy people: bless the labors of thy ministering servants. May all our churches arise and shine, and be the salt of the earth; and may the light of gospel truth dispel the darkness of sin and unbelief. Încrease and bless the means which are used to extend the knowledge of Christ and the doctrines of life. Wilt thou, O Lord, add to thy church daily and in great numbers such as should be saved. May they who are now living in sin be renewed in heart, awakened to righteousness, and saved in Christ forever. Awaken in our minds a deep concern for the perishing souls of our fellow-men. O blessed Lord, who died for their sins, save them from perdition.

We beseech thee, O Lord, mercifully to hear these our supplications and prayers. Pardon our cold affections and wandering thoughts, and fulfil our desires and petitions in such manner as may be most expedient for us; granting us, in this world, knowledge of thy truth, and in the world to come life everlasting. These, our petitions, we present in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And unto thee, who art able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the throne of thy glory, be ascribed all majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

ADORABLE and everliving God, the Father of all mercies, the Giver of all good, we, thine unworthy creatures, who are still, by thy patient goodness, preserved, and permitted once more to meet before thee, desire, with heart and voice united, to lift our souls to thee in adoration and praise. Thou art the Lord, by whom we escape death, and enjoy the

To be used in Families, Meetings for Prayer, and on other occasions. things which pertain to life and godliness. We bless thee as the Author of our being, and the Giver of life, and of all that makes life desirable. Thou hast holden us up ever since we were born, and may our praise be always of thee. Impress upon our hearts a lively and lasting sense of what thou hast done for us, and work in us that which is pleasing in thy sight.

We acknowledge, O God, our sinfulness, and beseech thee to give us that true repentance which is not to be repented of, and that faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ which renews the heart, worketh by love and overcometh the world.. Through the merits of his blood, may our sins be forgiven; and through thy sanctifying grace, may we be created again unto good works. O may thy Spirit help our infirmities and make intercession for us. Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be acceptable in thy sight. May our prayers be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice.

Great, O Lord, are thy mercies vouchsafed to us, while our hearts are worldly, forgetful of thy goodness, and neglectful of thy great salvation. Shut not thy merciful ears to our prayers; but spare us, O Lord God, most mighty; thou holy, just and merciful Savior, permit us not, for the vanities of life, to err from thee, nor, for any things of time and sense, to lose our souls.

Teach us, O thou God of mercy, to realize how short and uncertain is the life of man. The Son of man cometh as a thief in the night, and thou only knowest how soon we shall be called to another world, and our souls be fixed in their eternal state. And yet we live in this world as though we were never to leave it; forgetful of our latter end, and unprepared for judgment. How wasteful are we of our precious time! how careless of our souls!

For the Closing of a Religious Meeting.

how thoughtless of eternity! Justly mightest thou call us away in the midst of our sins. O quicken us that we may live. Awaken us to righteousness, that we sin not. Remember not, Lord, our sins against thee, but thy love to us in Jesus Christ; not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences. And wilt thou, O merciful God, awaken in our minds a deep concern for the salvation, not of ourselves only, but of others. Hear our prayer, we humbly beseech thee, for those who do not pray for themselves. Arrest, by thy grace, those who are going along the broad way to ruin; turning a deaf ear to the calls of mercy and of a bleeding Savior, and unmindful of the judgment which awaits them. O may thy quickening Spirit convince them of sin, of righteousness and of judgment, and turn their hearts to the wisdom of the just.

Extend thy mercy to all for whom we ought to pray. Bless our churches and our country. Behold, O Lord, in mercy, this little flock of thy worshipping people here before thee. Bless the church of God which Christ has purchased with his blood, and especially that branch of it with which we are particularly connected. Keep us, O Lord, by thy perpetual mercy. Unite our hearts in Christian love. Enrich our minds with true wisdom and heavenly grace. May we be steadfast and immovable; always abounding in the work of the Lord, through Jesus Christ, to whom, with the Father and Holy Spirit, be endless praise. Amen.

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ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our

For the Closing of a Religious Meeting.

hearts by the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit, that we may address thee with reverence and godly fear, and with hearts duly thankful for thy unnumbered mercies. We thank thee for thy goodness in preserving our unprofitable lives from day to day, and from week to week; that seasons of spiritual refreshment often return, and that time and opportunity are given us to know thy word and to do thy will. We bless thee, O God, especially for thy favors vouchsafed us during the past day and this present evening. To the praise of thy patient goodness we thankfully acknowledge it, that we have had this pleasing opportunity of meeting together; that we have been permitted with social affections to unite our hearts and voices in prayer and praise to thee, the Lord God of our salvation; that we may talk of thy loving kindness early in the morning, and of thy faithfulness in the night season. O may we be duly thankful for this, and for all thy mercies may we realize the blessedness of gospel truth; of seeing the things which we see, and of hearing the things which we hear. May the counsels of thy word sink deep in our hearts, and bring forth the fruits of pure and undefiled religion. Like thy servants of old who feared the Lord, may we speak often one to another on the subject of our salvation in Jesus Christ; and may a book of remembrance be written, a remembrance, not of our sins and unworthiness, but of thy mercy, and of the love of Christ, which passeth man's understanding. May a sense of thy goodness increase our love of thy law, and make us more faithful in serving thee.

Let thy fatherly hand, we beseech thee, ever be extended to preserve us from sin and danger, and to guide our steps in the way of righteousness and peace. Though, through the frailty of our nature, and amidst the busy cares of life, we are prone to be forgetful of thee, our God and Savior, Ô be not