things, when I neglect the one thing needful! Help me, my God, to use the reason and understanding which thou hast given me, in looking before me, and considering what it is that makes for my true happiness; and give me also resolution and faithfulness to choose and follow it, whatever difficulties at present may be in it. Help me, O Lord, to remember and consider all the powerful inducements, which may quicken me into a greater care for my eternal state; that my being may not last longer than the good of my being, but may it go well with me elsewhere for ever, when all that is here shall fail me. O that I may now give diligence to make my calling and election sure, and strive to enter in at the strait gate, and labour for that meat which endures to everlasting life; by patient continuing in well-doing, seeking for glory, honour and immortality; that I may not fall short of that rest which remains for the people of God: but so labour here in thy work, that hereafter I may rest from my labours in thy kingdom; not for the merit of my works but for thy mercy's sake in Jesus Christ.Amen.

A Prayer for Faithfulness and Constancy in the Profession of our Religion.

MY Lord and my God, who hast called me to the knowledge of thy eternal truth, and by the light of the gospel shining upon me, hast made the way of life and salvation plain before me! Be thou pleased to give me the ingenuity and courage still to confess thee before men; and to own thy holy religion, even in the face of an evil and adulterous generation. O let me not be tossed to and fro, and carried away with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they

lie in wait to deceive. My God and guide! suffer me not to be led away with the error of the wicked and to fall from my own steadfastness; but may I ever hold fast the profession of my faith without wavering, and hold the beginning of my confidence steadfast to the end. O give me such experimental knowledge and relish, and love of thy holy truth, as may make me ever faithful and true to it; that my mind may not be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ, and that I may never be put out of that religion, the goodness whereof I have perceived so much by my own experience; but may still appear with zeal for the religion in which I have found so much happy advantage, and heavenly satisfaction to my soul; and grant me, good Lord, to find and feel still more and more of the powerful efficacy of true Christianity upon my heart, that I may be rooted and grounded in the faith, and retain such a dear love of the truth, and take so much pleasure in the way which thy grace has put me upon, that I may never turn from it, nor prove false to it; but notwithstanding all temptations to seduce or affright me out of it, I may openly declare for it, and ever be true to it, and faithfully persist in it to my life's end. Amen.

A Prayer for Zeal and Activity in the Practice of our Religion.

LORD, the holy jealous God! thou hast declared how loathsome to thee are the lukewarm, and pronounced him cursed that does the work of the Lord deceitfully; and told us the dreadful doom of the slothful servant, who was called wicked, and condemned, not for committing foul evils, but for neglecting to improve his talents. Thou didst send

us into this world to provide for the next; and we are a people devoted to the Lord, that have vowed and promised to serve our God, with all the utmost and best that we are or have: This is the one thing needful, that we were made for, and that we are all most strictly bound to, and must in earnest mind and follow it, as ever we would escape the damnation of hell, and enter into the joy of our Lord; but I am ashamed, O my God, that I have loitered so long in thy vineyard, and trifled so much in thy work; that I have busied myself about vanities; and slighted my greatest business. And well may I now tremble for fear of thy judgments, when I have so little concerned and bestirred myself, as one of thy redeemed, zealous of good works.

O merciful Lord! forgive me all my sinful omissions, and all thy careless performances of the duties of thy service; and quicken me into a greater zeal and diligence to promote thy glory, and to work out my salvation; that I may not only contend earnestly for the faith and doctrine of the gospel, but be as zealous for the practice of all gospel duties; so shewing that I am in earnest with the religion whereof I make profession.

To glorify thy name, and save our souls, is the greatest of all our concerns in the world; nothing can deserve so much of our care and zeal and diligence; when it is for a crown and a kingdom, for heaven and the glory eternal, and to be delivered from thy wrath and everlasting damnation, that we strive and labour. O how much are we concerned to be vigorous in, and attentive toit! ready to do every good work, and most industrious at the business of such infinite consequence, abounding in the work of the Lord! when upon this moment depends the endless eternity to come, and all that concerns us for

ever, hangs upon the poor short life present, that is so quickly gone, and will never return. O my God! imprint these considerations so deep upon my heart, that I may no more trifle with the weighty things of eternity, nor show a cold indifference about that which is of such absolute necessity; but may act as one that must be a blessed or a damned creature for ever and be as zealous for my God, as ever I have been eager for the world; and as active in the pursuit of things eternal, as I have been to pursue the temporal; that I may indeed give up myself to thy service, and make it the main care and business of my life; so shewing the sincerity of what I do profess, by that zeal and fervency, which is the life and soul of Christianity. O thou great Rewarder of them that diligently seek thee! help me seriously to engage in thy service, and unweariedly to go through with it; not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; exercising myself to godliness, continuing watchful in prayer, keeping my heart with all diligence, ordering my conversation with all usefulness, and running the race set before me with all cheerfulness, full of life and spirit in thy work, and full of good deeds and fruits to thy honour, ever labouring to be accepted here to thy favour, and hereafter to thy glory.

Yea, make me more zealous for thy honour, Lord, than for my own; and whatever is injurious and reproachful to thee, O let me hate it perfectly, and oppose it strenuously, and yet with such prudence and kindness towards men, that I may not betray my own shame, in defending thy glory, nor let my zeal consume, but inflame my charity; and put me upon doing all the good that ever I am able in my generation; to serve the interest of my Lord, and to help forward the salvation of souls. O make

me valiant for thy truth, and discreet in my conduct, that I may neither betray the holy cause by my fear, nor reproach it by my folly. Ŏ let me not spend my zeal and spirits for earthly, but for heavenly things; not for my own lust and honour, but for thy blessed will and pleasure; not in frivolous contentions, about the little appendages and circumstantials of religion, but in pressing after the vital and substantial part; and in my concernment and endeavour about the great unquestionable duties and qualifications necessary to the saving of the soul. And grant me thy grace, O Lord, to live now so zealously to the glory of thy name, that I may come to live blessedly for ever, in the glories of thy kingdom; not for the sake of my services, but of thy mercies, whose gift is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer against Worldliness, and for a Heavenly Mind.

T

HOU, O blessed God, art the only satisfying portion and happiness of our souls, in whom alone the desires of our hearts may find that rest and repose, which all the world else cannot give; but, alas, this world, and the things of it, have had too much of my thoughts, and too much of my heart, till I have grown remiss in my affections, and cold in my love towards thee, my God, and those things above, which are most worthy of my love. I have been eager in the pursuit of vanities and trifling concerns of this present time; but O how slack and flighty in that which does most nearly and eternally concern me! Intent upon this world, as if it would never end; and forgetful of the next, as if it should never begin. I have forsaken the Fountain of livin