The following prayers come from Charles Spurgeon, other Reformed pastors, and the Puritans. God of Israel, God of Jesus Christ, our God forever and ever, help us now by the Sacred Spirit to approach you aright with deepest reverence, but not with servile fear, with holiest boldness, but not with presumption. Teach us as children to speak to the Father and yet as creatures to bow before our Maker. Our Father, we would first ask you whether you have ought against us as your children. Have we been asking somewhat of you amiss, and have you given us that which we have sought? We are not conscious of it, but it may be so. And now we are brought, as an answer to our presumptuous prayers, into a more difficult position than the one we occupied before. Now it may be that some creature comfort is nearer to us than our God. We had better have been without it. and have dwelt in our God and have found our joy in Him. But now, Lord, in these perilous circumstances, give us grace that we may not turn away from You. If our position now be not such as You would have allotted to us, had we been wiser, yet nevertheless grant that we may be taught to behave ourselves aright, even now, lest the mercies You have given should become a cause of stumbling. and the obtaining of our heart's desire should become a temptation to us. Rather do we feel inclined to bless you for the many occasions in which you have not answered our prayer. For you have said that we did ask and miss, and therefore we could not have. And we desire to register this prayer with you, that whensoever we do ask amiss, you would, in great wisdom and love, be pleased to refuse us. O Lord, if we at any time press our suit without a sufficiency of resignation, do not regard us. We pray thee, and though we cry unto thee day and night concerning anything, yet if you see that in this we err, regard not the voice of our cry. It is our heart's desire now, in our coolest moments, that this prayer of ours might stand on record as long as we live. Not as I will, but as thou wilt. But O Lord, in looking back, we are obliged to remember with the greatest gratitude the many occasions in which you have heard our cry. We have been brought into deep distress, and our heart has sunk within us. And then we have cried to you, and you have never refused to hear us. The prayers of our lusts you have rejected, but the prayers of our necessities you have granted. Not one good thing has fell of all that you have promised. You have given to us exceeding abundantly above what we have asked or even thought. For there was a day when our present condition would have been regarded as much too high for us ever to reach. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever. Our inmost heart is saying, Amen. Blessed be his name. If it were only for answered prayer, or even for some unanswered prayers, we would continue to praise and bless you as long as we have any being. And now, Lord, listen to the voice of your children's cry. Wherever there is a sincere heart seeking for greater holiness, answer that request. Or wherever there is a broken spirit seeking for reconciliation with yourself, be pleased to answer it now. You know where there is prayer, though it be unuttered and even the lips do not move. Oh, hear the publican who dares not lift his eye to heaven. Hear him while he cries, God be merciful to me, a sinner. Hear such as seem to themselves to be appointed to death. Let the sign of the prisoner come before you. Oh, that you would grant peace and rest to every troubled spirit all over the world. who now desires to turn his face to the cross and to seek God in Christ Jesus. Lord, if there are any of your servants exercised about the cases of others, we would thank you for them. Raise up in the church many intercessors who shall plead for the prosperity of Zion and give you no rest until you establish her and make her a joy in the land. Oh, there are some of us that have cried to you about our country. You know how in secret we groaned and sighed over evil times. And you have begun to hear us already for which we desire to praise and bless your name. But we would not cease to pray for this land that you would roll away from it all its sin. That you would deliver it from the curse of drunkenness, rescue it from infidelity, from potpourri, from ritualism. from rationalism and every form of evil, that this land might become a holy land. Lord, bring the multitudes of the working men to listen to the gospel. Break in, we pray, upon their stolid indifference. Give them a love of your house, a desire to hear your gospel. And then you will look upon the poor rich, who so many of them know nothing about you and are worshiping their own wealth. The Lord granted to many, for whom there are no special gospel services, but who are wrapped up in self-righteousness, may be brought to hear the gospel of Jesus, that they also, as well as the poor, may be brought to Christ. Bless this land with more gospel light and with more gospel life and love. Hear us, O Lord. The following prayer is from the Rites and Progress of Religion in the Soul by Philip Doddridge. To Christian breathing earnestly after growth and grace. Oh, the ever-blessed fountain of natural and spiritual life. I thank thee that I live and know the exercises and pleasures of our religious life. I bless you that you have infused into me your own vital breath, though I was once dead in trespasses and sins, Ephesians 2 verse 1, so that I am become in a sense peculiar to your own children, a living soul, Genesis 2 verse 7. But it is my earnest desire that I may not only live but grow. growing grace and in the knowledge of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3 verse 18. Upon an acquaintance with whom my progress in it so evidently depends. And it's you I humbly entreat you that you will form my mind to right notions in religion, that I may not judge of grace by any wrong conceptions of it. nor measure my advances in it by those things which are merely the effects of nature and possibly its corrupt effects. May I be seeking, after an increase of divine love to you, my God and Father in Christ, of unreserved resignation to your wise and holy will, and of extensive benevolence to my fellow creatures. May I grow in patience and fortitude of soul, in humility and zeal. in spirituality and a heavenly disposition of mind, and in a concern that, whether present or absent, I may be accepted of the Lord. that whether I live or die, it may be for your glory. In a word, as you know, I hunger and thirst after righteousness. Make me whatever you would delight to see me. Draw on my soul by the gentle influences of your gracious spirit, every trace and every feature which your eye, O Heavenly Father, may survey with pleasure, and which you may acknowledge as your own image. I am sensible, O Lord, I have not as yet attained. My soul is utterly confounded to think how far I am from being already perfect. But this one thing, after the great example of your Apostle, I would endeavor to do. Forgetting the things which are behind, I would press forward to those which are before. Oh, that you would feed my soul by your word and spirit. having been as I humbly hope and trust regenerated by it. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, even by your word, which lives and abides forever. 1 Peter 1 verse 23. As a newborn babe, I desire the sincere milk of the word, that I may grow by it. And may my profiting appear unto all men, until at length I come unto a perfect man. and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. And after having enjoyed the pleasure of those that flourish imminently in your courts below, be fixed in the paradise above. I ask and hope it through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory. both now and forever. Amen. The following prayer comes about called Family Prayers and Prayers on the Ten Commandments, published in the year 1846 by Henry Thornton. First morning, O Lord God Almighty, who art the creator and the governor of the world, and hast abundantly provided for the various wants of thy creatures. who has ordered the day and the night to succeed each other. And when you have refreshed man with sleep, require him to pursue his work until the evening, who has also ordained that he shall be born to trouble and has appointed the grave to be the end of all living. We thank thee that while thou hast thus placed our lot in this life, thou has not left us without hope in that world which is to come. We adore you for the gift of Jesus Christ, your Son, by whose gospel life and immortality are brought to light, and we are fully instructed in all those things which concern our salvation. We bless you for the pardon of sin through faith in a Redeemer, for the guidance of your providence, and for the consolations of your spirit. We thank you for your holy Sabbaths. for your written word, and for all the other means of grace which you have entrusted to us. Grant, we beseech you, that we may this day pursue with fidelity and diligence that work which you have assigned to us, and that we may at the same time maintain a spiritual and heavenly mind. In the midst of life, we are in death. Let us remember this awful truth, and let us live this day as we shall wish that we had done, if it should, indeed, prove our last. Save us from the sins to which we are most prone. Leave us not to the natural dispositions of our own minds, which are ever inclined in us to evil. But put your spirit within us, and teach us to cultivate every Christian temper, and to abound in every good work. Strengthen our faith in the glorious promises of the gospel, and fill us with that joy and peace in believing, which shall be more than a compensation for all the temporal sacrifices to which we may be called. Dispose us to bear affliction with a patient and a quiet mind. or if you should continue to us prosperity, to be ever watchful over ourselves and moderate in our enjoyments, and let us impart freely to others the good gifts which you have showered down upon us. Inspire us with zeal and the fulfillment of our relative duties, with integrity in our dealings and the spirit of kindness to all men. Let us continually examine ourselves, and advancing in self-knowledge let us prevail over our several infirmities. Let us grow in grace and in all goodness and in meekness for your heavenly kingdom. We pray for your blessing on all our friends and relations. May they also be filled with the knowledge of your will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. And may we and they be of one heart and one mind, loving each other as brethren in Christ and uniting our endeavors to promote both the good of all men and your glory. Have mercy on the poor and the afflicted, strengthen the weak, succor the tempted, and guide the ignorant to the way of knowledge. Bless a rising generation. Save them from the dangers of this evil world. Sanctify to them the events which shall befall them. Make them instruments in your hand for the advancement of the interests of your church on earth and members of your blessed family in heaven. We offer you these, our humble and imperfect prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen. The following prayer is taken from a book from the Parker Society, a collection of prayers during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1544 through 1578. This prayer is by John Fox, author of the Book of Martyrs. Lord Jesus Christ, son of the living God, who was crucified for our sins and rose again for our justification. And ascending up to heaven reigns now at the right hand of the Father, with full power and authority, ruling and disposing all things according to your own gracious and glorious purpose. We sinful creatures, and yet servants and members of your church, prostrate ourselves in our prayers before your imperial majesty. having no other patron or advocate to speed our suits or to resort to, but you alone, beseeching you to good, to your poor church militant here in this wretched earth. Sometime a rich church, a large church, a universal church, spread far and wide, through the whole compass of the earth, now driven into a narrow corner of the world. and have much need of your gracious help. Amongst us Englishmen here in England, after so great storms of persecution and cruel murder of so many martyrs, it is please your grace to give us these Alcyon days, which we yet enjoy, and beseech your merciful goodness still that they may continue. But here also, alas, what should we say? So many enemies we have that envy us, disrest and tranquility, and do what they can to disturb it. They which are friends and lovers of the Bishop of Rome, although they eat the fat of the land, and have the best performance in offices, and live most at ease, and ill nothing, yet are they not therewith content. They grudge, they mutter and murmur, they conspire and take on against us. It frets them that we live by them or with them, and cannot abide that we should draw the bare breathing of the air, when they have all the most liberty of the land. And, albeit your singular goodness has given them a queen so calm, so patient, so merciful, more like a natural mother than a princess, to govern over them, such as neither they nor their ancestors ever read of in the stories of this land before. Yet all this will not calm them. Their unquiet spirit is not yet content. They repine and rebel in needs would have with the frogs of Aesop, a Sassonia, an Italian stranger, the bishop of Rome, to play king over them, and care not if all the world were set afire so that they with their Italian lord might reign alone. So fond are we Englishmen of strange and foreign things, so unnatural to ourselves, so greedy of newfangled novelties, never contented with any state long to continue, be it never so good, and furthermore so cruel one to another, that we think our life not quiet unless it be seasoned with the blood of others. For that is their hope. That is all their gaping and looking. That is their golden day, their day of jubilee, which they thirst for so much, not to have the Lord to come in the clouds, but to have our blood and to spill our lives. That, that is it which they would have, and long since would have had their wills upon us, had not your gracious pity and mercy raised up to us, this our merciful queen, your servant Elizabeth, somewhat to stay their fury. For whom, as we have most condignedly give you thanks, so likewise we beseech your heavenly majesty, that as you have given her to us, and of so many manifold dangers preserved her from before she was queen, so now in her royal estate she may continually be preserved not only from the hands, but from all malignant devices wrought, attempted, or conceived of enemies, both ghostly and bodily against her. And this her government, be her governor. We beseech you, so shall her majesty well govern us, if first she be governed by you. Multiply her reign with many days, and her years with much felicity, with abundance of peace and life, ghostly, that as she is now double the years of her sister and brother, so if it be your pleasure, she may overgrow in reigning the reign of her father. And because no government can long stand without good counsel, Neither can any counsel be good except to be prospered by you. Bless, therefore, we beseech you, both her majesty and her honorable counsel, that both they may rightly understand what is to be done, and she accordingly may accomplish that they do counsel to your glory and furtherance of the gospel and public wealth of this realm. Furthermore, we beseech thee, Lord Jesus, who with the majesty of your generation dost drown all nobility, being the only Son of God, heir and Lord of all things. Bless the nobility of this realm and of other Christian realms, so as they, Christianly agreeing among themselves, may submit their nobility to serve you, or else let them feel, O Lord, what a frivolous thing is this nobility which is without you. In general, give to all the people in the whole state of this realm such brotherly unity and knowledge of your truth, and such obedience to their superiors as they neither provoke the scourge of God against them, nor their princess sword to be drawn against her out of the scabbard of long-suffering where it has been long hid. Especially give your gospel long continuance amongst us, and if our sins have deserved the contrary, grant us, we beseech you, with an earnest repentance of that which is past, to join a hearty purpose of amendment to come. And for as much as your little flock has scarce have any place or rest in this world, come Lord, we beseech you and make an end that this world may have no more time nor place here and that your church may have rest forever for these and all other necessities requisite to be begged and prayed for asking in Christ's name. And as he has taught us, we say our father, which art in heaven and so on. From the same book, this prayer written in 1578 is called a prayer to God the Father. Most loving Father, which being most high dwells in the highest places, hearken to the prayers of your servants, yet wayfaring here on earth, whom you of your unspeakable goodness have vouchsafed the name of your children and given them the most precious pledge of your spirit. have granted them leave to call upon you with reverent boldness by the name of Father. We pray that your holy name may be so known through the whole world that like as in the heavenly city, you alone are to glory of all folk. So on earth, no man may glory of himself, but all men acknowledge their own unworthiness and your bountifulness and glory in you, which is the only true glory. And because we have a number of different and hard encounters to endure against the world, the devil and his ministers, and the flesh, which we bear about us, we beseech you even with sighs that your kingdom may come. That like as in heaven, all things submit themselves to your majesty with trembling. So also your spirit may reign in our hearts, making us to acknowledge you the king of all kings. than the which nothing can be either greater or better. And as in your holy palace, there is no rebellion. So let all mortal creatures put away all fleshly lusts and with all their hearts, obey your kingly commandments, both in prosperity and adversity, life and death. assuring themselves that you cannot will anything but that which is singularly good, and that the same is singularly good even because it is like you. Which will of yours it has pleased you, O most dear Father, to express to us in the Holy Bible that we might know it? But no man is able to fulfill your commandments unless you give him the grace, and of unspeakable mercy take our inability in good part. And for as much as according to your son's doctrine, we take in no thought at all for the time to come, to hang wholly upon the providences of thee, our most bountiful father, give us daily at your pleasure whatsoever the necessity of this life requires. But a for all things, because that according to the saying of your dear servant, Paul, you are chiefly the father of spirits, feed our souls with spiritual food, whether it be that we have need of milk, or we are able to brook solid meat, because we have grown to further years of discretion. The meat that gives life indeed is the knowledge of you by your holy scriptures and the grace of your spirit. whereby we grow up in you. Thorough daily increase of virtue in the inner man until we be fully men, grown according to the full measure of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. By your word you begat us when we were nothing. By the same you have begotten us again unhappily, born of Adam. And by the same do you feed and cherish us now again, begotten. For that is the heavenly bread. That is the new wine in which all the blessed spirits are continually and happily fed, which dwell in your house and praise you forever and ever, whereof if you vouchsafe to bestow some portion daily upon us, your children, The hunger and thirst of worldly things will decrease in us from day to day. And although you have forgiven us all of our sins once already in our trust and in Christ by faith, yet notwithstanding because that as long as we carry this mortal flesh about us and bear the treasure of your grace and earthen vessels, we sin daily through natural infirmity. So as we have daily need of your mercy to forgive us of our backslidings, Let us not fall quiet and clean out of your favor, but let us continue in that peace in which we beset, at one with you, by the blood of your only begotten Son. And therewith grant that if you have mercifully pardoned all our misdeeds, so we, forgiving one another their daily trespasses, which are small, are nothing in comparison of our offense towards you, may maintain mutual peace, agreement, and charity among ourselves. For he that bears any grudge or heart burning toward his neighbor cannot have the favor of you, because you are the God of peace. But forasmuch as, while we go at warfare in these tents of our bodies, that malicious tempter, from whose tyranny you have set us free by your Son, Jesus Christ, cease us not to try all his policies, to draw us back again into bondage. We beseech you, give us not over into the hands for lack of your defense, for he seeks the destruction of our souls, but grant us such grace that we, continuing in the fellowship of your most loving Son through faith and charity, may finally come to the life where there is no offending nor any danger to be doubted of is Satan's hand. Amen. The following prayer translated from the Latin by Augustine. I call upon you, O God, I call upon you because you are near to all of them that call upon you in truth. Thou art the truth. Teach me, I beseech you, in your mercy, O Holy Truth, teach me to call upon you in truth. For how should I do so? I know not. Teach me, therefore, I most humbly beseech you, O Most Blessed Truth, for wisdom without you is foolishness, to know you is perfect knowledge. Instruct me with your divine wisdom and teach me your law. For I believe that he is most happy who is instructed by you and taught from your law. I have a desire to call upon you, which I pray that I may do so in truth. What is it to call upon truth and truth, but to call upon the father and the son? Truly most holy father, your word is the truth and the beginning of your word is truth. For this is the beginning of your word that your word was in the beginning. In the beginning itself, I worship Thee, O Thou Principle. Beginning in the very word of truth, I cry to You, Most Perfect Truth, into which the very same truth teach and direct me. For what is sweeter than to call upon the Father in the name of His Only Begotten Son, than to move the Father to compassion by mention of His Son, than to pacify the King by the name of His well-beloved Child, For by this means the offender is released from prison, the captive set at liberty. By this means they that have received a sorrowful sentence of death or want to purchase not only pardon, but unhoped favor. if they plead the love of the well-beloved Son. By this means servants that do trespass escape their master's punishment, when his loving Son is their intercessor. Even so, Almighty Father, I pray for the love of your omnipotent Son. Draw my soul out of prison. that I may confess to your name, deliver me from the chains of sin I beseech you by thy co-eternal and only Son, and most mercifully restore me to life by the mediation of your most precious Son sitting at your right hand. For what other intercessor I should appoint I know not, but him who is a propitiation for our sins, who sits at your right hand pleading for us. Behold my advocate with you, O God the Father. Behold the chief bishop who needs no other bloody expiation, for that he shines and brood with his own blood. Behold the holy and well-pleasing sacrifice offered up and received in all sweetness. Behold the immaculate lamb which lay still before the shearers, who being buffeted, spit at, and appropriately railed at, opened not his mouth. Behold, he who sinned not took our sins upon him, and with his stripes he healed our infirmities. Amen. The following is taken from a book called Certain Devout Prayers of Robert Bolton, The Puritan, A Morning Prayer. O Lord, we beseech you graciously to accept this our morning sacrifice of prayers and thanksgiving that we poor wretches offer to you, the God of all glory and majesty. Take from us all dullness of heart, all wicked and wandering thoughts. Put into our souls a spirit of prayer with affections, ill and fervency that we may rightly and reverently call upon your great and glorious name. Eternal God, most mighty and most fearful, which dwells in the highest heavens, and with your wise providence direct all things to an excellent end, thou which art to the wicked and rebellious wretches a terrible judge and a consuming fire, but to the humble and repentant sinner a strong tower of defense and her everlasting reward. We the unworthiest of all your creatures, though the most noble by creation, for there in their kinds and several conditions do they honor and service to you, but we whom you have placed in this world for a more excellent glorifying of you, have not only made ourselves more vile than the basest creatures, and more senseless in your service than the beasts that perish, but have even conspired with hell, Satan, and all the powers of darkness to blaspheme and dishonor your great name. To profane your Sabbath, to break all your holy laws and commandments, we, O Lord, thus wretched and unworthy, are here ashamed and confounded in your presence. For our iniquities are increased over our heads, and our trespasses are grown up unto the heaven. And so grievous are they that if you should require but the least of them at our hands, Satan would challenge us for his. And we should never see your face again, nor the heavens, nor the earth, nor all the goodness which you have prepared for man. The thoughts of our heart, rises up in judgment against us, for whereas they should be meditating on your mercies and goodness, of honoring you in our vocations, whereas they should be knit fast to the blessed word, O Lord, they are for the most part idle, wicked, enticing, and full of the corruption of our raging concupiscence. The vanity of our talk condemns us, for whereas our words should be spent in defending your honor and truth, and reprehending the horrible sins of those amongst whom we live, and giving grace to those that hear us. They are for the most part full of profaneness, worldliness, and lying. The wickedness of our deeds cry continually for vengeance and curse us upon us. For besides our many and gross sins, even our best actions are fearfully infected with pride and hypocrisy. Whereas they should wholly and principally be directed to your honor and glory, They are foully stained and corrupted with bi-respects of credit, pleasure, or profit. In hearing your blessed word, which we should count the very crown and garland of all our delights, we fill in ourselves great want of due preparation, reverent attention, meditation, and practice. In our prayers, that inestimable comfort of a regenerate soul, we are grievously vexed with dullness, weariness, and bi-thoughts. And all other good duties of obedience to your holy commandments, we want that courage, zeal, and spiritual wisdom, which those excellent mercies have vouchsafed us, required our hands. Oh Lord, for your great mercy sake, forgive us these great sins. When we look upon the violence of our souls by reason of these many transgressions, we see nothing before our eyes, but your heavy wrath and everlasting curse. the torments of hell and limitless confusion, but yet in this stands our comfort. We know that to them which truly thirst after your kingdom, which is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, which faithfully desire to serve you in sincerity, though they be encompassed with many weaknesses, you are a father of infinite mercies and everlasting compassions and will pass by many infirmities of your children. We humbly, therefore, beseech you, most gracious Father, to bury all our sins, both before and since our calling, in the grave of Christ Jesus, and hide him in his righteousness forevermore. There is no help or comfort to be had either in heaven or on earth, in angel saints or mortal men to our wounded consciences, but only in the spotless justice of your dear Son. Give assurance, therefore, we beseech you, to every one of our souls that his precious blood was shed for our sins in particular, that we may sensibly feel the forgiveness of our sins and rejoice in the hope of eternal life. In His blessed name, we give you all possible thanks for those many mercies and comforts which you have plentifully bestowed upon us, these most unworthy wretches. We thank you, dear Father, for our health, wealth, and liberty, for our peace, plenty, and prosperity, for our food and apparel, for our preservation from our cradle to this hour, and all the good means of these, but more especially for the more special tokens of your great love. For these we have common with the reprobates and those which shall never see your face with comfort. But after a short time spent in the miserable pleasures of the faint world, shall be turned to hell and everlasting fire. We thank you for choosing us before all worlds to be heirs of heaven and citizens with your saints. We thank you for comforting us, our election by our effectual calling. Oh, happy be that blessed time when your good spirit that put His first motions into our hearts to become your children. This is a blessing we infinitely esteem before all worldly comforts, and wherein is the preciousness of all true joy and contentment. O most loving and gracious Father, we beseech you go forward with the works of this, our new birth, that you have begun in us and never take away your hand to the day of Jesus Christ. You have promised that whom you loved once, you will love forever. And you are without all shadow of change, and sooner shall the mountains be cast into the sea before one jot of your gracious promise fall to the ground, or one tittle of your word be unaccomplished. Take from us, therefore, we beseech you, all privy pride and hypocrisy, all vanity and vain glory, all dullness, backwardness, and security in your service, which hangs so fast on, which cleaves so close to our souls. and fearfully hinder us in the course of godliness. But above all things, let us never fall back again into the gross and horrible sins of our unregenerate days. Reveal to us, we beseech you, all our sins. Give us tender consciences and a continual increase in spiritual wisdom and heavenly understanding until we come to that happy strength by which the world is crucified to us and we unto the world. and be able to say out of the powerful filling of your goodness upon our souls, with your blessed servant, David, God is our hope and strength, our help in trouble, ready to be found. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth be moved and though the mountains fall into the midst of the sea, though the waters are of rage and be troubled, and the mountains shake at the same, amen.