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plan or model in little, by which we may frame our prayers; and the expreffions being remarkably concife and yet vaftly comprehenfive, it will be of good ufe fometimes to lay it before us, and obferving the method and order of it, to dilate upon the feveral paffages and petitions of it, that we may ufe it the more intelligently; of which we fhall only here give a fpecimen, in the affiftance we may have from fome other fcriptures.

Our Father which art in Heaven.

O Lord our God, doubtlefs thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Ifrael acknowledge us not thou, Ŏ Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer, thy name is from everlafting; And we will from this time cry unto thee, our Father, thou art the guide of our youth b.

Have we not all one Father? has not one God created us? Thou art the Father of our fpirits, to whom we ought to be in fubjection, and live d

Thou art the Father of lights, and the Father of mercies e, and the God of all confolation: The eternal Father of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things h.

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Thou art the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrifti, whofe glory was that of the only begotten of the Father, who is in his bofom by him, as one brought up with him, daily his delight, and rejoicing always before him '. Thou art in Chrift, our Father, and the Father of all, believers, whom thou haft predeftinated to the adoption of children and into whofe hearts thou haft fent the Spirit of the Son, teaching them to cry Abba, Fathern, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God • !

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Ifa. Ixiii. 16. b Jer. iii. 4. c Mal. ii ro. d Heb. xii. 9. e James i 17. f 2 Cor. i. 3. g Ifa. ix. 6. b Rom. xi. 36. k m Eph. Eph. i. 3. John i. 14, 28. Prov. viii. 30. 15. n Gal. iv. 6.

• 1 John iii.
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that they are at their wit's end, deliver them out of their diftreffes, make the ftorm a calm, and bring them to their defired haven: And, O that those who are de livered may praife the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men w.

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CHAP. VII.

Of the Conclufion of our Prayers.

WE are commanded to pray always, to pray with

out ceafing, to continue in prayer, because we must always have in us a difpofition to the duty, must be conftant to it, and never grow weary of it, or throw it up; and yet we cannot be always praying, we must come down from this mount: nor may we be over long, fo as to make the duty a talk or a toil to curfelves, or those that join with us. We have other work that calls for our attendance. Jacob wrestles with the angel; but he must go, for the day breaks: We must therefore think of concluding. The prayers of David the fon of Jeffe must be ended. But how fhall we conclude fo as to have the impreffions of the duty kept always in the imagination of the thought of our heart.

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1. We may then fum up our requests in fome comprehenfive petitions, at the conclufion of the whole matter.

Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jefus, that great Shepherd of the fheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do his will, working in us that which is well-pleafing in his fight, through Chrift Jefus 2.

w Pfalm cvii. 25, 27, 28, 29, 301

a Heb. xiii, 20+

Now the Lord direct our hearts into the love of God, and into a patient waiting for Christ ".

And the God of all grace, who hath called us to his eternal glory by Chrift Jefus, after that we have fuffered a while, make us perfect, ftablifh, ftrengthen, fettle usc. And now, Lord, what wait we for? Truly our hope is even in thee, and on thee do we depend to be to us a God all fufficient.

Do for us exceeding abundantly above what we are able to afk or think, according to the power that worketh in us: And fupply all our needs according to thy riches in glory by Chrift Jefus &.

2. IVe may then beg for the audience and acceptance of our poor weak prayers for Chrift's fake.

Now the God of Ifrael grant us the things we have requested of him h

Let the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy fight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer i.

Let thine eyes be open unto the fupplication of thy fervants, and unto the fupplication of thy people Ifracl, to hearken unto them in all that they call unto thee for; for they be thy people, and thine inheritance k.

O our God, let thine ears be attent unto the prayers that we have made: O turn not away the face of thine anointed; remember the mercies of David thy fervant; even Jefus, who is at thy right hand making interceffion for us.

Lord, thou haft affured us, that whatever we ask the Father in Chrift's name, he will give it us m. We afk all these things in that name, that powerful name which is above every name °, that precious name which

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b 2 Theff. iii 5. CI Pet. v. Jo. d Pfalm xxxix. 7. e Gen. xvii. 1. f Eph. iii. 20. g Phil. iv. 19. bi Sam. i. 17. i Palm xix. 14. 1 Kings viii. 51, 52. / 2 Chron. vi. 40, 42. m Joha xvi. 23. Phil. ii. 9. n . Cant. i. 3.

is as ointment poured forth P. O make thy face to fhine upon us for the Lord's fake, who is the Son of thy love, and whom thou hearest always; good Lord, give us to hear him, and be well pleafed with us in him '.

3. We may then beg for the forgiveness of what has been amifs in our prayers.

Lord, we have not prayed as we ought; who is there that does good, and fins not? Even when we would do good, evil is prefent with us, and if to will be prefent, yet how to perform that which is good we know not; for the good that we would, we do not w fo that thou mightest justly refufe to hear, even when we make many prayers *. But we have a great HighPrieft, who bears the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Ifrael hallow in all their holy gifts ; for his fake take away all that iniquity from us, even all the iniquity of our holy things, and receive us graciously, and love us freely ; and deal not with us after our folly

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4. We may then recommend ourselves to the condu, protection, and government of the divine grace, in the further fervices that lie before us, and in the whole course of our converfation.

And now let us be enabled to go from ftrength to ftrength, until we appear before God in Zion; and while we pass through the valley of Bacca, let it bemade a well, and let the rain of the divine grace and bleffing fill the pools ".

Now fpeak, Lord, for thy fervants hear. What faith our Lord unto his fervants &? Grant that we may not turn away our ear from hearing the law; for then

p Dan. ix. 17. 9 xvii. 5. 18, 19.x Ifa. i. 15 y Exod. xxviii. 38 6 Palm lxxxiv. 6, 7.

Col. i. 13. r John xi. 42. Mat. t Rom. viii. 26. & Eccl. vii. 20. w Rom. vii. % Hof. xiv. 2

a Job xlii. 8.

C 1 Sam. iii. 9.

d Jcfh. v. 14.

our prayers will be an abomination ; but may hearken unto God, that he may hearken unto us f.

And now, the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers; let him not leave us, nor forfake us, that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his ftatutes, and his judgments: And let our hearts be perfect with the Lord our God all our days, and continue fo till the end be 8, and then we may reft, and may stand in our lot, and let it be a bleffed lot in the end of the days.

5. We may conclude all with doxologies, or folemn praifes of God, afcribing honour aud glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and fealing up all our praifes and prayers with an affectionate Amen.

Now bleffed be the Lord God of Ifrael, from everlafting to everlafting, Amen and Amen.

For ever bleffed be the Lord God, the God of Ifrael, who only doth wondrous things, and bleffed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory, Amen and Amen *. Yea, let all the people fay, Amen, hallelujah 1.

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To God only wife be glory, through Jefus Chrift, for ever, Amen.

Now to God the Father, and our Lord Jefus Chrift, who gave himfelf for our fins, that he might deliver us from this prefent evil world, according to the will of God and our Father, be glory for ever and evern, Amen. To God be glory in the church by Christ Jefus, throughout all ages, world without end, Amen.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, învisible, the only wife God, be honour and glory for ever and ever 3, Amen: To him be honour and power everlasting, to him be glory and dominion, Amen.

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