reformation amongst us; avert the evils we have deserved; continue thy favor and protection to us; save and deliver us, O our God; for in thee do we put our trust. Retranquillity store and peace to contending nations; unite the hearts of mankind in the bonds of humanity and love; and may the happy time come, when the calamities of war shall cease for ever, and peace and righteousness universally prevail. And this we humbly beg, for thy mercy's sake, declared unto mankind by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. IN A THUNDER STORM. O THOU most high and mighty Lord our God, the voice of whose thunder is in the heaven, and whose lightnings lighten the world, we, thy frail and feeble creatures, do cry unto thee, beseeching thee to inspire our hearts with faith, confidence, and love, and to teach us to look up unto as thee both in the storm FOR RECOVERY FROM O LORD, our heavenly Father, who redeemest the lives of thy servants from destruction, and givest health, and life, and blessing; accept the sincere and humble thanksgivings of thy servant, whom thou hast raised from a bed of sickness, and restored to some good measure of health and strength. We praise thee for this gracious instance of thy goodness; may the remembrance of thy late mercy to him, have a happy and lasting influence upon his mind, and establish the good resolutions he may have formed; and may that life, which thy mercy prolongs, be devoted to thy service, in a constant obedience to thy holy commandments, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. FOR MERCIES RECEIVED. ALMIGHTY God, our most gracious preserver, we offer up to thee our united thanksgivings for thy great goodness to thy servants in the mercies which thou hast vouchsafed to them. May their hearts be filled with unfeigned thankfulness to thee their benefactor; and may they spend the remainder of their days in a course of obedience to thy commandments, that at last they may be partakers of eternal glory and happiness in the world to come, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ON THE BIRTH OF A CHILD. GRACIOUS God, we thank thee that thou hast given to thy servants a new object of affection and concern. Let them receive their child as from thee, and in gratitude dedicate it to thee. Will it please thee to watch over its life and health, to unfold its faculties, to make it a blessing to them and an instrument of good to society, wherever its lot may be cast. Help them to feel their obligations to it as christian parents. Above all, wilt thou early sanctify it in all its faculties and affections, and let it become a child of God. And whether earlier or later thou shalt take it from this scene of discipline, may it not have lived in vain; and this we humbly ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. FOR RAIN. O GOD, our heavenly Father, who by thy gracious providence dost cause the former and the latter rain to descend upon the earth, that it may off upon the seas; we offer up unto thee our united thanksgivings for the signal mercies thou hast vouchsafed to thy servant whom thou hast preserved in his voyage; that thou hast protected him from every danger, to which he was exposed; and hast restored him to his friends in safety. FOR A PLENTIFUL SEASON. Write a law of thankfulness upon his heart, and hereby engage him to a diligent and grateful obedience to all thy commandments, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. bring forth fruit for the use of man; we give thee humble thanks that it hath pleased thee in our great necessity to send a joyful rain upon the earth, and to enrich the furrows thereof with the plentiful dews of heaven. Thou hast filled our hearts with joy and gladness. We pray thee to continue to us the genial influences of the sun and rain, and to make us truly thankful for all thy mercies, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ALMIGHTY and everblessed God, who mercifully suppliest the wants of thy creatures, and art continually giving testimonies of thy gracious providence; we rejoice at this time, with humble thankfulness, in the gifts of thine undeserved bounty, that thou hast caused the earth to yield. its increase, and crowned the year with thy goodness. While thou art thus sending down thy blessings upon us, may we be disposed to live in a sober, temperate, and charitable enjoyment of them, and to bring forth the fruits of holiness and righteousness all the days of our life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. FOR DELIVERANCE FROM A GENERAL SICKNESS. O LORD God, who hast wounded us for our sins, and consumed us for our transgressions, by thy late heavy and dreadful visitation; and now in the midst of judgment remembering mercy, hast redeemed our souls from death; we offer unto thy fatherly goodness ourselves, our souls, and bodies, which thou hast delivered, to be a living sacrifice unto thee; always praising and magnifying thy mercies in the midst of thy church, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. who art a strong tower of defence unto thy servants against the face of their enmies; we yield thee praise and thanksgiving for our deliverance from those great dangers wherewith we were compassed. We acknowledge it of thy goodness that we were not delivered over as a prey unto them; beseeching thee still to continue such thy mercies towards us, that all the world may know that thou art our saviour and mighty deliverer, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. FOR PEACE AND DELIV- MIES. FOR RESTORING PUBLIC O ETERNAL God, our heavenly Father, who alone makest men to be of one mind in a house, and stillest the outrage of a violent and unruly people; we bless thy holy name, that it hath pleased thee to appease the seditious tumults which have been lately raised up amongst us; and we most O ALMIGHTY God, humbly beseech thee to grant to all of us grace, that we may henceforth obediently walk in thy holy commandments, and leading a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, may continually offer unto thee our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for these thy mercies toward us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. COLLECT FOR THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR. GOD of our lives, who art unchanged and unchangeable, without beginning and without end; we render thee our humble thanks that thou hast brought us through the year, which is now closing, by thy mighty and outstretched arm. Thy candle hath shone upon our tabernacle, and thy smiles have gladdened our hearts. We thank thee for the care which thou hast extended to us, and the blessings wh ch thou hast bestowed upon us. We have cause to be grateful, and we have cause also to be humble, in our review of the past. Much of our time has been wasted or misspent. 0 reward us not after our iniquities, and let not thy compassions cease from us; but graciously prolong to us the day of grace and the means of salvation. Sanctify to us the afflictions which thou hast appointed us to bear, and grant that they may contribute to our eternal welfare and peace. We commend ourselves to thy noiy keeping. Prepare us for life; prepare us for death, and for eternity. May we go on our way with new resolutions of obedience, new gratitude for thy mercies, and new vigor to perform thy will. And when our time shall be no more, receive us to thyself in glory; through Christ our Lord. Jesus Amen. END OF THE PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS. |