The Child's Prayer. .

MY good God, who hast made me, have

.mercy upon me, and teach me to know thee, and incline my heart to love thee, and enable me in all my life to do thy will as I ought to do. Thou hast formed me in the womb for thyself, and in the church I have been devoted and offered up to the Lord as thy dear child, in all duty to wait upon thee. O blessed guide of my youth ! give me thy grace, to understand and seek after God; yea, to seek the Lord early, and to remember my Creator, and bear the yoke in the days of my youth; that thou mayest not be unmindful of me in the time of age; but make me to find a never failing comfort in my latter days. As I grow in years and stature, so help me, Lord, to grow in wisdom and grace, and in favour with God and men. O keep me from the evil of this world, and carry me safe through it to thy heavenly kingdom. Make me obedient and tractable to my parents and teachers; and lowly and respectful, and courteous to all; and bless me, and help me, Lord, in learning all such things as shall stand me in stead and do me good. O heavenly Father! take care of me and provide for me, and so dispose of me in the world, that I may be useful and serviceable in my generation, and a blessing to the place where thy providence shall settle my abode. Preserve me, O my Lord, from the infection and bad examples, that I may not be led away, and enticed to follow the ungodly despisers of thy laws and religion; but make me

a lover and follower of such as are good and godly, and a pattern of all that is commendable for other's imitation. O God thou knowest my foolishness, and seest how weak I am; O look not upon my follies, nor remember the sins of my youth; but have pity on my infirmities, and pass by my failings. And thou, that out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast ordained strength, O magnify thy power in my weakness, and make me a profitable member of society, and the instrument of thy glory. Leave me not O Lord, to myself, in the hands of my own counsel; but let me be taught of God how to behave myself, and what to do; and take thou the gracious charge and guidance, and government of me: and keep my heart still in thy fear and love; and direct all my ways to please thee my God, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

A Prayer to be used by the Rich and Great,

Lord, the gracious giver of all our good things! thou hast opened thy hand to me in a bountiful manner, and givest me all things plenteously to enjoy: so that I am full, and abound in the store wherein many of my neighbours are indigent and wanting: O that this plenty which I have for my body, may be in mercy and love to my soul! and that I may not be put off with my portion in this life, nor rest in the gifts, forgetting and slighting the blessed Giver! for better I never had the world's good, if I am never the better for it. And the more I have, the sadder account I shall make, if do not good to myself and others with it. The

prosperity of fools destroy them. O good God! grant that this may not be my case, that I may not so abuse my prosperous circumstances, to rebel against thee, my Lord, with thy own bounty; and carry worse towards thee, when thou dealest best with me. I am thy steward, O Lord, grant, I beseech thee, that I may be found faithful in what is committed to my trust; that I may honour thee with my substance, and serve the ends of thy holy religion, in my prosperous condition.

O that with the fulness put into mine hands, leanness may not be sent into my soul! that I may not wax proud and wanton, and careless of seeking after a better world, when I am so well provided for in this. O let not my riches choke thy grace, nor dull my zeal in thy service; but the more thou hast done for me, my God, make me the more careful to approve the thankfulness of my heart to thee, and the more concerned to please thee, and the more fearful to offend thee. Seeing thou hast pronounced it so hard for the rich to enter into thy kingdom, O keep me in continual vigilance, to escape the temptations and dangers to which I am exposed in this condition. And teach me, good Lord, how to abound, and to use this world without abusing it, that the bodily provisions may not, through my folly, become snares and hindrances to my soul, but by thy mercy may be helps and encouragements to my duty..

O let me not trust in uncertain riches, nor value myself upon what I have of the world; but be covetous after the true treasure of thy

heavenly grace and love, and count all things. but loss and dung, that I may win Christ, and be rich in good works, and abound in the fruits of righteousness. As thou fillest me with thy good things, so fill my heart with thy love and grace, to use every gift aright to thy glory, who hast made me so much to differ from multitudes of poor creatures here in the world, O let me not despise any above whom thy distinguished kindness has raised me; but give me a heart to condescend to them of low estate and amidst all my plenty, to be cloathed with humility, and forward to all the offices of charity; ready to communicate, willing to distribute, laying up in store the good foundation against the time to come, that I may lay hold on eternal life; and so making me friends of the untighteous Mammon, that when I fail, they may receive me into everlasting habitations.

Whatsoever I have in the world, O that I may have it, Lord, with thy leave and love, sanctified to me by the word of God and prayer, and by a right use and conscientious improvement of it to the honour of thy name, from whom every good and perfect gift does descend. O let me never gain the world at the hazard and loss of my soul; but rather than so, let me be stript of all which I have in this life, that I may inherit the heavenly treasure and life eternal, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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A Prayer to be used by such as are poor and low in the World.

LORD, the great Disposer of all our estates and concerns, thy providence appoints every one their several stations, and it is thy will that there should be poor and low as well as rich and high, in the world. One thing is needful; and it is not what we have of the world, but what we are towards God, that will do us good, and make us happy. If thou shower not down plenty upon me, yet, Lord, give me what is needful and convenient for me. And however thou dealest by me for the things of this life, O deny me not the riches of thy grace, and the saving good of thy chosen, which is better than thousands of gold and silver. Teach me, my God, to suffer need without repining at my lot, or coveting what I have not, or envying those that have it. O make me contented with my portion, and not aggrieved to be obscure and mean in the world, so that I may be known to heaven, and accepted in the sight of thee, my God, through Jesus Christ.

Let me never stretch out my hand to iniquity, nor seek to help myself by any dishonest ways of getting; but choose rather to be poor than wicked, and to want my daily bread rather than thy heavenly grace; casting all my care upon thee, and trusting to thy fatherly care to provide for me. Let me labour, working with my hands, the thing which is good, in all that I can, to minister to my necessities: and may