A Prayer for a sick Person. Shouldst thou be extreme to mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand! but there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayst be feared. Let thine ears be attentive to our humble supplications; may thy forgiveness be extended to this our brother, who, in this hour of bodily weakness, and in this momentous trial of his faith and hope, would look unto thee who alone canst save. With confidence in thy mercy, and trusting in thy gracious promises, we would commend him into thy hands, as into the hands of a faithful Creator, and a merciful Savior; praying that thou wilt work in him and do for him what shall be best for his present comfort, and for his eternal good. Preserve him, O God, if it be consistent with thy wisdom, from bodily pains, and bless whatever shall be ministered for his comfort and ease. May he have strength and patience to bear whatever thy just hand shall inflict, and grace to make all the improvement from this sickness which thy wisdom intendeth. Sanc There is nothing, O Lord, impossible with thee. Shouldst thou speak the word, he would be restored to health; and we beseech thee, O God, if it be consistent with thy unerring wisdom, that thou wilt raise him up and grant him a longer continuance on the earth. O spare him a little, before he go hence and be no more seen! If thy wisdom has otherwise appointed, O be thou merciful to his soul, and fit and prepare him for a happier state. tify his heart, and renew a right spirit within him. Preserve him from the temptations of the enemy, and from all desponding fears. May he know and feel that thou art a God, mighty to save; and plead with thee, in a lively faith, the merits of an infinite Savior. And when thou shalt call him hence, may he depart in peace, and his soul be received into those heavenly mansions which the Savior has prepared for those who love him. A Prayer for a sick Person. And teach those of us, O God, who survive amidst the daily scenes of mortality which surround us, to realize how short and uncertain is human life, that whatever our hands find to do, we may do it with all diligence and care, before that night cometh in which no man can work. Teach us to watch and to pray, and to remember that the Son of man cometh at an hour which we know not. Thou, Lord, only knowest how soon we shall be as water spilt on the ground. May we ever be mindful of the one thing needful, and finish our work before our course is done. Hear us, O Lord, we beseech thee, for thy mercy's sake in Jesus Christ. Amen. A Prayer for a Sick Person, when there is reason to hope that he is convalescent. MERCIFUL and gracious God, the Giver and the Preserver of our lives, we desire to approach thee, in humble confidence that thou wilt hear the prayer of faith, and impart thy grace to those who need. We know, and we thankfully acknowledge, that all things, in heaven and on earth, are at thy just and wise disposal, and that not a sparrow falleth except the Lord permit. We beseech thee, O God, to pardon our sins, and to accept the supplications and prayers which, with all due reverence and submission, we desire now to present before thee. we come before thee with penitence and faith: with a thankful sense of thy unnumbered mercies, and with a holy confidence in thy word and promises, revealed in Jesus Christ. Permit us, O Lord, [again] to plead with thee in behalf of this our sick brother, who [still] would look unto thee for suc cor. May Most cordially do we unite with him in hum A Prayer for a sick Person. ble, grateful and devout acknowledgments of thy great and manifold goodness vouchsafed to him at all times, and especially during his present sickness. We bless thee, O Lord, that thou hast not forsaken him in this trial of his faith and patience; but hast visited him with many comforts, [and enabled him to bear this visitation with resignation to thy holy will; that thou hast, as we humbly hope and trust, brought him nearer to thyself, and revealed to his soul the comforts of thy love in Jesus Christ.] We thank thee that he is surrounded with kind friends, and with many temporal comforts. [We bless thee, O thou God of all mercy, that, as we have reason to hope, thou hast sent him relief, and that his sickness has abated.] Thou art able to give him full strength, and to raise him up to perfect health. We beseech thee, O Lord, if it be consistent with thy wisdom, that thou wilt extend to him this great blessing; that thou wilt give medicine to heal his sickness, and prosper the means and remedies ministered and applied, to his entire relief. He is weak, but thou art almighty: he is brought low, but speak the word only, and he shall be made whole. Restore him, we beseech thee, to health of body, vigor of mind, and cheerfulness of spirit, that he may go to thy house, and offer thee, with great gladness, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, the fruit of his lips, and the oblation. of his heart may he pay his vows in the presence of all thy people, and spend the remainder of his days in a holy and obedient walking in the way of thy commandments. And wilt thou, O God, refresh his mind with spiritual comforts. Dispose him, in all things, to submit to thy righteous will. May he not be impatient under thy hand, but, through thy grace, behave suitably in every trial, and perform every duty which thou requirest. Sanctify this visitation, to A Prayer for a sick Person. the purifying of his heart from all sinful affections, and building him up in thy holy faith, till he arrives at the perfect stature of the fullness of Christ. Grant him a lively hope in thy heavenly promises, which shall be a helmet of salvation upon his head. O may his whole heart and soul be more and more conformed to the Savior's image. May the uncertainty of life and the frailty of this mortal nature, raise the more earnestly his hopes and desires to the immortal glories of the Redeemer's kingdom, and the endless joys of the world to come. And we beseech thee, O Lord, to behold, with thy favor and blessing, all the sick and afflicted, bestowing upon them temporal comforts and spiritual consolations. Awakened by the visitations of thy mighty hand to a deep sense of the one thing needful, may their thoughts and their hopes be raised to thee. Give them repentance towards God, and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ, that their sins may be done away by thy mercy, and their pardon sealed in heaven before they depart to the eternal world. May they whom thy rod correcteth neither despise thy chastenings, nor faint under thy rebukes, but make improvement from their sorrows to the benefit of their souls. And we bless thy holy name for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith and fear, beseeching thee to give us grace so to follow their good examples, that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom. Hear us, O Lord, we beseech thee, for Christ's sake, and hear the prayer which he has taught us : Our Father who art, &c. Amen. A Prayer for one who is not able to unite understandingly in it. A Prayer for one who, from the nature of his sickness or other cause, is not able to unite understandingly in it. O GOD and merciful Father, who despisest not the sighing of a contrite heart, nor the humble desires of those who look to thee for aid, mercifully behold our sorrows and hear our prayers. In the midst of life we are exposed to sickness, pains and death. To whom can we fly for refuge in distress but unto thee, O God, who, for our sins, art justly displeased, and art of purer eyes than to behold evil. Holy and just art thou in all thy ways, and righteous and merciful in thy dealings with the children of men. Humbly we implore thy forgiveness of our manifold transgressions. With pity behold the sorrows of our hearts and the infirmity of our nature, and turn from us those evils which we justly have deserved. May we be duly thankful, that amidst the manifold sorrows of this mortal state, thou art a God of refuge, hearing prayer and pitying the distressed. In the confidence of this faith, we beseech thee, O Lord, to accept our supplications and prayers for those who are unable to pray for themselves; who by reason of mental disorder, or bodily weakness or distress, are not able to call on thee for what they need. Though we are unworthy, by reason of our sins, to pray on our own behalf, and to offer unto thee any sacrifice, yet we beseech thee, O God, to permit us to intercede particularly for this thy servant, beseeching thee to compassionate his infirmity. Whatever good is fitting for us to ask, and for him to receive, we beseech thee, in thy merciful goodness, to bestow. Write not his sins against him, O thou Preserver of men, but remember thy love in Jesus Christ. Thou knowest, Lord, |