A Prayer for one who is not able to unite understandingly in it. his case, and his thoughts, and what he needs; we beseech thee to strengthen and relieve him, according to his necessities. So far as he is now capable of knowing thy will and his duty, may he be resigned and submissive; trusting in the merits of a righteous Savior. Enlighten his mind with thy heavenly grace. Hear the prayers of his friends. The less able he is to pray for himself, the more earnest should be our supplications on his behalf. Preserve him, we beseech thee, from bodily pains. Bless to his use and benefit the food and medicine which may be administered. Restore him, if it be consistent with thy unerring wisdom, to health of body and to soundness and vigor of mind, that his soul may bless thy holy name. Sanctify his sufferings to the benefit of his soul, and to the promotion of his salvation in Jesus Christ. Blessed be thy holy name, that in the midst of judgment thou rememberest mercy; that thou lovest those whom thy rod correcteth; that thou givest ease to torturing pains, mingling many coinforts with life's bitterest portion. Shall we receive good at thy hand, and shall we not receive evil? Help us, in all the sufferings and other trials of life, to say with our blessed Savior, Not as we will, but as thou wilt. All flesh is as grass, and passeth away as the flower of the field. Make us deeply sensible of the shortness and uncertainty of human life, and let thy Spirit guide and support us through this vale of misery in holiness and righteousness, that when we have served thee in our generation, we may depart this life in peace; having the testimony of a good conscience; in the communion of thy holy church; in the confidence of a true faith; in the comfort of a sure religious hope; in favor with thee our God, and in perfect charity with all the world. Assist us mercifully, O Lord, and hear us in these A Prayer for a sick Child. our supplications, and dispose our ways towards the attainment of everlasting salvation. Among all the changes and sorrows of this mortal life, may we ever be defended by thy most gracious and ready help. These things, and whatever else thou seest necessary for us, for our sick friend, [for this family,] and for the whole family of mankind, we humbly ask, in the name, and through the merits of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. A Prayer for a Sick Child. ALMIGHTY God and most merciful Father, the Giver and the Preserver of our lives; to thee belong the issues of life and death; to thee alone can frail and sinful mortals fly for refuge in distress. Thou hast taught us by thy Son, Jesus Christ, that if we ask in true faith we shall receive; that if we seek, we shall find; that if we knock, the gates of thy mercy shall be opened unto us. With humble reverence we bow before thee, beseeching thee graciously to look upon our afflictions; with pity to behold the sorrows of our hearts; mercifully to forgive our sins, and favorably to hear our prayers. Graciously hear us, we humbly beseech thee: O blessed Lord, graciously hear our prayers, and grant the petitions which, in the name of Jesus Christ, we humbly present before thee. Look with thy compassionate favor upon this child visited with sickness. Visit him, O Lord, with thy salvation. His life is in thy hand; may it be precious in thy sight. Thou hast but to speak the word, and this child shall be well from the same hour. Deliver him, O Lord, we beseech thee, in thy good appointed time, from bodily pain and sickness, and save his soul A Prayer for a sick Child. for thy mercy's sake. Behold with pity the fears and sorrows of those who acknowledge their dependence, and rejoice that they are dependent upon a righteous, merciful and prayer-hearing God, whose tender mercies are over all thy works; who dost not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men; who intendest good in thy severest chastisements, and lovest the soul whom thy hand correcteth. If it be thy good pleasure that this child may live, and his days be prolonged on the earth, relieve him, we beseech thee, from bodily distress: bless the means which are used for restoring him to health. All medicines act by thy decree, and none can fail if thou shalt bless them. Grant that this child may live to thee. Guide and preserve him through all the dangers of life, both of soul and body. Make him a comfort to his friends, a blessing to the earth, and an instrument of thy glory, by serving thee faithfully, and doing good in his generation. But if in thy wisdom thou hast otherwise appointed, and it be thy purpose to remove him from this world of pain and sins and sorrows, receive him, O God, we humbly beseech thee, into those heavenly habitations of life and glory, where the souls of those who rest in Jesus Christ enjoy perpetual felicity. May his soul be washed and sanctified in the Savior's blood. Give now unto us who ask; let us who seek, find; open to us who knock, that this child may enjoy thy heavenly benediction, and rest in the arms of that blessed Savior who has said, "Of such is the kingdom of God." And wilt thou behold with compassion the distressing anxiety of the afflicted parents. Relieve them from their fears and apprehensions. Restore, we beseech thee, their beloved child to their arms in health; and may he long live to their comfort and to thy glory, a member of Christ, a child of God, A Prayer that may be used on a Funeral Occasion. Or and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. give them grace to submit with patience to thy superior wisdom, sensible that the Lord gave what he taketh away. Prepare them for every event of thy providence. In all their sorrows help them to say with thy servant of old, "It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth to him good." Give them, O Lord, in the abundant fruition of thy grace, a better portion than sons or daughters-an unfading inheritance among thy saints in light, where the righteous shall be forever happy. Hear us, O Lord, we beseech thee, for the worthiness of thy Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. A Prayer that may be used with a Family and their Friends on a Funeral Occasion. O ETERNAL and everliving God, whose wise and just providence governeth all things in heaven and on earth; who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and hast compassion upon the children of men; we lift our eyes to thee as the Father of mercies, and our only help in time of sorrow and distress. With great reverence and humility, and with a deep sense of our unworthiness, we desire on this occasion to bow before thee in penitence and prayer. Most just art thou, O Lord, in all thy dealings with mankind: affliction cometh not of the dust: the sorrows which visit the hearts of men receive commission all from thee. Sickness and pains and death are the dispensations of thy righteous hand, and they are less than our sins deserve. Thou art faithful and true in all thy ways: equity and judgment are the habitation of thy seat. We acknowledge the justice of that sentence which thou hast pronounced upon our fallen race, and unto dust shalt thou return." "Dust thou art, It is of thy mer A Prayer that may be used on a Funeral Occasion. cy, and because thy compassion faileth not, that we are not consumed: that we yet remain living monuments of thy forbearing mercy, and are permitted to address thee in supplication and prayer. Graciously, O Lord, look upon us, in this season of affliction; mercifully forgive our sins; with pity behold the sorrow of our hearts; favorably hear our prayers, which, on this mournful occasion, we desire to offer before thy gracious throne. Awakened by this painful visitation of thy providence, which hath called us [again] to the house of mourning, we adore thy justice; we would bow with submission and reverential awe. Extend, O Lord, thy compassionate mercy to each and all of us, who are here present. Forgive us our sins, and renew a right spirit within us. Spare us, O Lord, spare the people whom thou hast redeemed. Teach us so to number our days upon the earth, and so to apply our hearts unto true wisdom, that amidst all the changes and sorrows of this world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found. Grant, O heavenly Father, that the occasion, on which we are now assembled, may cause us to reflect upon our mortality, and truly to repent of our sins. May our mourning be after a godly sort; may we consider that death is the lot of all men, and must soon be ours; and, through thy grace, may we so lay it to heart, that we may never be afraid, nor unprepared to die. While we sympathize in the sorrows of our mourning friends, and weep with those whom thou hast called to weep, may our thoughts be raised to a better hope in a better world. Amidst these painful proofs that the wages of sin is death, may we rejoice in the consolation, that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ; that this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and that, through the mighty power of |