“ We bless thee that we have our habitation fixed in the land of liberty, under the bright beams of thy glorious gospel; that we can worship thee according to our conscience, no one making as afraid; that we are not required to pay adoration to those who by nature are not gods, nor compelled to bow down at the altar of idols. We praise thee that we are in health and strength to use the sacred opportunity of going with the multitude that keep thy holy day, into the house where thou hast recorded thy name, and pomised to meet and bless us. ”

“ O give us strength and power to live more according to thy will, in all righteousness and holiness. Let the benefit and success of our public worship be manifested in our whole deportment; and the influence of the good impressions made upon us in thy house, appear in our sincere love both to God and man, in our abhoring all that is evil, and cleaving to that which is good. Let every heavenly and Christian temper we have this day requested, shine in our conversation, and our lives be a transcript of the graces we ask in our prayers. ”

“ We beg thy mercy upon all those nations which yet sit in darkness and the shadow of death, that the Sun of Righteousness may arise upon them to guide their feet in the way of peace. O hasten the time, when all thou hast promised concerning the church in the last days shall be accomplished ; bring in the fulness of the Gentiles, and let all Israel be saved. Revive and cause to flourish in all places upon earth pure and undefiled religion. ”

“ Continue, we beseech thee if it seemeth good to thee, the voice of health and strength amongst us, and the favour of thy prosperous providence; but give us grace to expect and to be ready for a change. For in a day, nay, in an hour, our prosperity may be turned by thee into deep affliction, our health into pinching sickness, our ease into tormenting pain, and our life into death. ”

“ We praise thee if we have sanctified this day, and our holy services in it, to the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ, by looking only to the virtue of his atonement for the remission of our sins. We bless thee if we have found thy word sweet unto us, and the increasing discovery of thy love delightful to our hearts ; if we have been filled with faith, and experience in our hearts the Spirit of Grace, of prayer and speculation; so that instead of saying, When will the Sabbath be gone, that we may buy and sell and get gain? ”

“ When we join in giving thanks unto thy name, O make all thy goodness to pass before us. Excite in as such a lively remembrance of the multitude of thy mercies towards us, as shall fill our souls as it were with marrow and fatness, whilst our mouths are praising thee with joyful lips.—— From the beginning to the conclusion of the service of thy sanctuary, by the perpetual influence of thy free Spirit, do thou uphold us, that we may be satisfied with the pleasures of thy house, and offer to thee a pure offering in righteousness. ”

“ Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us: and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. ”

“ We beg this of thee, O our God, in order that we may have our affections raised up to heaven where Christ sitteth on thy right hand; that we may grow more dead to the word, and walk more becoming our Christian character; that we may be enriched as much as possible with light and grace, joy and peace in this present life; and to show forth the praise of Him who hath called us out of darkness into marvellous light. ”

“ And, as thou, O Lord, hast ordained that the people should seek thy law at the mouth of thy ministers, do thou fill them with knowledge and sound doctrine, that they may preach not themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. Under their instructions delivered according to thy will, may our ignorance be dispelled, our slothful hearts quickened, our fears removed, our hope encouraged and our souls established in grace. ”

“ Particularly we recommend to thy protection and tenderest care, the kingdom in which we dwell. We entreat thee to direct, sanctify, and govern the heart of our Sovereign Lord, the king. Prosper all the counsels for the good of his subjects. May he live dear to thee, beloved of his people, and receive at thy hands, after death, a crown of glory. ”

“ Let us not abuse our bodily strength to encourage ourselves in sinful security and impenitence. Grant that we may always he ready, by performing the will of our Lord that whensoever he shall come, we may be found of him in peace and enter into his joy; that whenever our health is turned into sickness, and our strength into weakness, and our ease into sharp pain, may we not be cast down or perplexed, but feel in our souls those supports and consolations, which the world cannot give, nor death itself take away.
Hear us, O Lord our God, in these our humble requests; forgive us our sins ”

“ Inspire all who preside in families not only with justice, but with mercy and piety towards thein servants. Like the good centurion, whose praise is in the gospel, may they sympathize with them in all their afflictions, be glad to alleviate their burden, when sickness and old age oppress them, and to sweeten the bitter cup that is appointed them to drink: Give them grace to teach their servants. ”

“ We praise thee that thou happy commanded us to make, on this day, public confession of our guilt, and of thy hatred of sin; of our disobedience and the riches of thy forbearance towards us; of our weakness, depravity, and need of thy perpetual grace to help us. We praise thee for commanding us to make public intercession for all sorts and conditions of men, in order that our hearts may be the more enlarged towards them, and our hands the more ready to minister to their necessities. ”

“ The darkness is no darkness with thee, but the night is as clear as the day. Defend, we beseech thee, our person, our dwellings, and our possessions. Refresh us with sweet sleep; and with the health and strength of our bodies, and the vigour of our minds let us serve thee all our days, till through the gate of death we enter into that blessed kingdom, where there is no night; where we will receive the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls, through Jesus Christ; in dependence upon whose righteousness and intercession we further pray: Our Father, &c. ”

“ O LORD and heavenly Father, who has commanded us conscientiously to discharge each duty we owe one to another, take away we beseech thee, from us all stubborness, pride, and self-conceit; all envy, hatred and ill-will, which would lead us to despise thy gracious restraints, and destroy that harmony which thou wouldst have to reign in every family. From the least to the greatest member of each house, give them grace to walk before thee unto all well-pleasing. ”

“ We have sinned against the light of our understanding, against promises and purposes of obedience, and against the strongest remonstrances of our own conscienses.
O God, we cannot recount the number of our sins, nor fully set in order all their aggravations. We should not thorefore presume to ask for thy pardoning mercy, if we do not trust that thy Spirit hast created within us a holy mourning for all our wickedness, and for that corruption of our nature, from whence, as their fountain, all these poisonous streams have flowed. ”

“ Grant them wisdom to consider their station not as any hardship, much less any disgrace to them, but as the post which thy fatherly love hath appointed them to fill. Give them to understand, to their great peace and strong consolation that by doing their work from a principle of faith and love to Christ Jesus, they may stand as high in thy favour, and grow as rich towards God, as if their condition entitled them to all respect from the world. ”

“ Shield us on every side from the flesh, the world, and the devil, that they may have no power to fill us with sinful distractions, and make us absent in spirit while we are presenting our bodies in thy temple.
While we confess our guilt, open thou our understanding, we beseech thee, that we may understand all the aggravations of our wickedness. Call back to remembrance whatever at any time has made us appear most vile in our own eyes, that we may now feel a godly sorrow, and be really ashamed and confounded at the sight of our iniquity. ”

“ Make us sensible of our transgressions, heartily sorry for them, and more vigilant for the future. O! give unto us, and every family, more of thy grace and power, that we may be of one mind, who dwell together in one house on earth; that at the last day, when we appear to take our trial at the bar of God, we may not be accusers of each other, for excercising any malevolence of temper, but witnesses of the grace of our common Lord, in making us dwell together in perfect amity and Christian love. Grant, O God, these our petitions ”

“ That we may none of us fall short of so glorious an end, O give us a clear knowledge of the excellency of our God, and a firmer dependence upon the word of thy grace. Grant us a strong love to the Lord Jesus Christ, and a greater resemblance of him; that each of us in our particular station may be zealous for God, full of mercy and justice towards men, and possess every temper whereby God can be glorified in us. ”

“ And give us grace so to use and enjoy all our temporal comforts as those who know that the fashion of this world passeth away. Grant we may learn, from this late affliction in our family, to live more like families who are soon to be separated by death, and to give all diligence to grow rich towards God, that we may be better prepared for a breach in our family whenever it shall come. And whensoever, O God thou shalt be pleased to call any of us away though for a season our family may thus be separated may we all be united again in heaven, and be for ever with the Lord and with one another. ”

“ Even when thou afflictest, and causest trouble and heaviness to fall upon us, it is that we may learn righteousness from thy judgments, and receive profit from thy correction.
Wherefore, though thou hast not visited our house with sickness, and art calling us to humiliation for our sins, yet we would still speak good of my name, and love and bless thee. We desire at this season to remember all the past mercies with which thou hast been pleased to bless us and our household. God forbid that our present grief would make us unmindful of the constant benefits we have enjoyed. ”

“ How long has each of our family lain down and risen up, gone out, and come in health strength and peace. How long has the candle of the Lord shone upon us without intermission. For these multiplied favours, blessed, Lord, be thy good and holy name; since the smallest of benefits is more than we deserve, and the sharpest affliction less. ”

“ Make it our delight to employ our time in reading thy word, in meditation and privacy, not yielding to the sinfulness of our hearts, or the custom of the world, in speaking our own words, in thinking our own thoughts, and finding our own pleasure on thy holy day. ”

“ O Lord God establish us in Christ Jesus, and give the earnest of thy spirit in our hearts, that whatever we are called to suffer, we may not be afraid with any amazement, but bear our cross cheerfully, to the edification of those around us. ”

“ Not unto us, not unto us, but to the influence of the Spirit be the praise, if we have confessed our sins this day with any self-loathing, and being melted into contrition for our offences: if the forbearance thou hast shown towards us, and thy tender pity in sparing us, though so richly deserving damnation, have been sensible to our hearts, whilst we were accusing ourselves before thee. ”

“ If we cannot assist the needy by our alms, or protect the oppressed by our power. O let us diligently exercise love, in abstaining from all uncharitableness of speech, from all forwardness and evil tempers : let us look on the failings of others with pity, as if they were our own : make us kind and tender hearted, forbearing and forgiving all, as thou, for Christ's sake, has forgiven us. ”

“ When we are offering up our intercession to thee, give us to feel tenderness of heart, melting pity towards all our fellow creatures in distress, and very fervently desire that thou wouldst immediately appear for their relief. When we ask for mercy and forgiveness, strength and holiness of heart, may we ask with an earnestness suited to the value of these gifts, and with a strong conviction of our unavoidable misery, if our suit is rejected. ”

“ Now teach us effectually to reverence thy sanctuary: make us feel awful conceptions of the God with whom we have to do, and of the infinite importance of the holy exercises in which we are going to engage, Thou knowest our souls cleave to the very dust of the ground. ”

“ In an especial manner we beg thee, O God, that we of this family, who are now kneeling before thee, may be forgiven for Christ's sake, all the instances of which we have been guilty, of irreverence, unkindness, and passion, one towards another. ”

“ We are chargeable with the workings and defilements of pride and hypocrisy, uncharitableness and sensuality of self-love, and worldliness of heart, not-withstanding all the methods thou hast taken to heal these diseases of our souls. ”

“ We have sinned against the clear revelation of thy will, and the strongest obligations binding us to comply with it. We have sinned against thy most inviting promises, and thy most dreadful threatnings ”