The Flower of Godly Prayers, Prayer 50 – Prayer 52
A prayer for a conpetente and necessarye lyuynge.
Mathe. vi.THy sonne and oure LORD (O heauenlye father) taught vsus to axe our bodyelye foode of the,Luke. xi. and all other thynges that be necessary for the preseruatyon of this oure mortall and corruptible body.Ps. cxlvii. Psa. cx…. For thou art the Lord yt geuest meat to the hongry. Thou fedest al thi cretures in due time. Thou openest thy hande, and replenysheste all lyuynge thynges with thy blessynge.Ps. xxxiiii. Thy eyes are vponupon them that feare the, and vponupon suche as truste in thy mercye that thou mayest delyuer their liues frō death, and nourishe them in the tyme of honger. They that fear the shal hauehave no scarsnes, nether shal thei wāt ani good thing that seke y•. Neuer was it sene▪ yt ye rightous mā, yt is, he yt liueth according to thy word,ps. xxxvii. was forsakē nether hathe his children begged their bread on ye erth. How wōderfully dydst yu fede thy seruant Helias the prophet, whē yu sent hym meat twise on a dai bi the Rauēs.iii. …, xvii. How maruelously dydest thou encrease the oyle and meale of ye widow of Saxepta, Helias Ostesse▪ How diddest thou prouide for thy seruant Daniell when he was in prison for setting forth thy glory?…. xiiii. How wonderfully fedst yu the childrē of Israel,Deut. viii. Exodu. xvi. …. xi. S…pi. xvi. by sēding thē meat doune frō heuē by the space of .xl. yeres in ye wildernes? The fouls of the aire dost ye feede, which nether sow nor reape, nor yet carye into the barnes.Psa. lxxvii Thy son also (yt we may hāge on thy fatherly prouidēce,Math. vi. & not dispayre of a cōpetēt liuīg) fed many thousāds wyth a few loues of bread,Mat. xiiii. & a litle nūber of smal fyshes.Marke. vi. He also at a mariage tourned water into wyne,Luke. ix. to shew, yt those which liue accordīg to thy blessed word,Iohn. vi. euerie one in his vocaciō, shall wante no good thing,Iohn. ii. Thou art the very liuynge God whych geueth vsus abundantly al thinges to enioy them.1. Timo. vi. Thou art our father, thou therefore wilt not suffer vsus thi childrē to perish for hūger.Mathe. vi. Luke. xii. Thou art our Lorde, thou therefore wylte not suffer vsus thy seruantes to dye for want of clothes?Psalm. …v. Ps. cxlvii. Thou fedest the hethen and the brute beasts, is it then to be thought, that thou wilt leaue vsus socourles, which beleue in the, cal on thy holye name, and hang on thy fatherli prouidence? We therfore being thorowli parswaded,Iacob. i. i. Cori. iiii. that al good things pertaining ether to the bodi or to the soule, come from the alone, doubting also nothīg of thy boūteous liberality and liberal bountye toward them, that with strong faith depende on thy fatherlye prouydence, are boulde at this presente to come vntounto thy deuyne Maiestye, mooste humblye besechynge the to worke in vsus thorow thy holye spirite, a mynd contente wyth that is sufficiente,Luke. xii. seyng that no mans life stādeth in the abūdāce of the things which he possesseth, seinge also that we be strangers & pilgrymes in this world & hauehave here no cōtinuing cytye, but seke one to come,Hebr. xiiii. …. Timo. vi. agayne, seynge we brought nothing into the world, neyther shal we cary anye thinge oute of it.Iob. i. For naked came we out of oure mothers wombe, and naked shal we turne thither againe Take awai frō vsus al superfluous worldelye cares, and teache vsus to be cōtēt with food & raimēt.Mathe. vi. Luke▪ xii. Suffer vsus not after the maner of the hethē to be careful for wordly thī ges, as though thou hadst no care for vsus, but teache vsus fyrst of all to seke thy kīgdom & the rightuousnes thereof, and so to loke for all wordly and temporall thynges at thy mercyful hand.Proue. xxx. O Lord, geue vsus neyther pouertye nor richesse, onlye grant thou vsus a necessarye liuing, lest if we be to ful, we deni the, and saye: what fellowe is the Lord? And lest we being constrained thorow pouertie fal vntounto stealing, and forswere the name of ye Lorde our God. Lorde, lette it so come to passe for thy dear sonnes sake Jesu Christ oure Lord, & sauyoure. Amē.
¶ A prayer to be sayd before the Sermon.
THy worde,psa. …xix. O Lorde, is a lantarne vntounto oure feete, and a lyghte to oure pathewayes. For it sheweth vntounto vsus euidētly,Deut. v. and .xvii. how we ought to walk, and turn neyther on the ryghte hande, nor on the left, but euē that way that thou hast appointed, that we may lyue & plese the.Esay…. xxx. Thi law also is a perfecte & vndefyled lawe, it turneth souls and geueth wisdō euē vntounto babes. Thy statuts ar right &reioice the hert,Psalm. xix. thi cōmaūdemēt is pure, & geueth light vntounto y• eis. It is nether emplaster nor salue that healeth vsus, but thy worde. O Lord,Sapi. xvi. which heleth al thīgs. Thorow thy word, which y• hast leafte here amōg vsus,Iohn. xv. ar we made clene. For it is thy power vntounto saluaciō for euerye one that beleueth.Romay. i. To heare this thi word, which is sweter then the hony or honi combe, & more precious then golde, pearle or preycous stone,Psal. xix. we are come hither at this presente (O mooste mercyful father) desyrynge the to send bothe to thy preacher and to vsus thy holi spirite,Psal. xxix. yt he mai teache no thing but thy pure worde & the glorious Gospel of thi most deare sonne, agayn, yt we may diligētly note and repose in oure memorye whatsoeuer shall be godly & truly spoken of him. And for asmuche as nether he that planteth nor he that watereth is anye thyng,i. Cori. iii. but thou, O god, which geue… the encrease, we most entirely pray the that the sede of thy blessed word, which shal now be sown among vsus, may faul into our heartes as into a good grounde, and by no meanes be choked vp of thornes nor dried vp for wāt of moisture,Math. xiii. Mark. iiii. Luke. viii. nor yet carryed away of y• byrdes of the ayer, but thorowe the working of the holy gost, so take rote in our hertes▪ that it may brynge forthe plenty of good frute vntounto the glory and the healthe of oure soules. Amen.
A thankesgeuing after the Sermon.
WE render vntounto the (o heauenly father) moost hertye thanckes for this spiritual and heauenly nourishmēt of thi blessed word,Ihon. vi. wherwith our souls are not only wel refreshed at this presēt, but also our faithis strēghthened, our louelove is kīdled, and our conscience quieted. We most humbly beseche the to geue vsus grace, not only to be hearers of thy word▪ Iac. i.but doers also of the same, not only to louelove, but also to lyue thy Gospell, not onlye to fauour but also to folow thy godly doctryne, not only to professe but also to practise thy blessed cōmā demente, yt whatsoeuer wee outwardly heare and inwardely beleue, we mai shew forth the same in our conuersatiō & liuing vntounto ye honour of thi holy name, the cō fort of our christen brethren & the health of our soules. Amen.