The Flower of Godly Prayers, Prayer 61 – Prayer 63
A prayer agaynste couetousnes.
THy sonne and oure Lord (O heauenly father, byddeth vsus take hede and beware of couetousnes, for no mannes lyfe, sayeth he, standeth in the aboundaūce of thyngs which he posesseth. Thy holy Apostle also affirmeth couetousnes to be the rote of al euilles,i. Tim. vi. and that they which study to be riche, fal into temptacion and snares, & into many folyshe and noysome lustes, which drowne men in temptacion and destrucciō. And in a nother place he calleth couetousnes the worshyppyng of Idolles.Ephes…. v. Thus, in eueryevery place of the holye scrypture thys most damnable synne of couetousnes is cōdēpned and forbiddē ▪ Notwithstanding. O lord thorow the suttel working of the Deuill, we se how this most vyle monsture hath preuailed, and almost ouercome the whole world and brought into his subieccyon not onli the wicked and vnfaithful, but thē also that professe thy blessed name and holy religion. For frome the fyrste to the laste, frō the hiest to the lowest, al gyue theyr mynde to couetousnesse.Iere. vi. Phil. ii. Al seke their own & not Iesu Christes. They renounce the world in word but in dede no mā ēbraceth it more desirousli. Thei bi mouth professe couetousnes to be a line but in worke they magnifi it, not onelye as a vertue, but also as a God. In word they confes yt to be theyr Lord,Esay…. v. but in dede they serue Māmō. Thei make no end of ioynīg house to house, land to land, Lordshyp to Lordshyp, ferme to ferme, pastur to pasture.i. Peter. v. Another sorte which ought to be an exāple to thy flocke, cheyneth, coupleth, lynck…the, and ioyneth lykewyse dignyty to dignity, promocyon to promocion, benefice to benefyce, prebend to prebende, deanry to deanry, office ro office, & office for a vauntage, vntounto the greate dishonoure of thy holy name, the hyndrance of thy blessed Gospell and the confusion of theyr cōsciēce, if they had any.Esay…. lvi. They be shamlesse dogges that hauehave neuer inoughe nor be neuer fatysfyed.Abacuc. ii. They go forth daili more and more, to hepe vp thicke clay against them selfs. Their couetousnes knoweth nether ende nor mesure, so yt if thou dost not shortly reforme this outragious desyre of hauīg, it is like to come to passe, that Mammon shal be honored for a God, & thou vtterly dispised, few shal possesse the whole fruites ofthe earth, the other shal miserably sterue for hū ger. For ther is no mercye on the earthe,Os…. iiii. as thy Prophete complayneth. All seke theyr own and not Iesu Christes.Philip. ii▪ They be louers of themselfs and haters of other. O good lord it may plese yt therfore for thy mercyes sake, to redresse these pestylences wher wyth the moost parte of the worlde at thys present be infected. Open ye eies of the couetous worldlyngs, that they may clearely se how vile an Idole they serue,Psal. xxxix. how vncertain possessions they gather together, not knowing to whom they shall leaue them. Take awai frō them inordinate and vnsaciable desire of hauīg.Psal. cxix. Encline their herts vntounto thi testimonis, & not vntounto couetousnesse.i. Peter. ii. Teach thē that in this world they are but straūgers and Pylgrimes,Hebr. xiii. and hauehave here no abidig citie, but seke for one to come, and that therfore thei ought to be contente wyth that is sufficient. For nothinge broughte they into this world, nether shal they carye any thyng out of it.i. Tim…. vi. Teach them not to put theyr trust in vncerten rychesse, but in ye, the liuing god: which geuest vsus al thyngs abundantelye to enioye them. Teache them to do good and to be rich in good workes, and readye to geue & to distribute, layinge vp in store for them selfs a good foūdacyon agaynste the time to come, yt they may obtayne eternal life. Teach them to learne & practise this thy commaundement geuē bi the prophet: breake thy bread to the hungri,Esa. lviii. & lede into thi house the pore & harbourles. When yu seest a naked mā, couer him, and thou shalt not despise thy flesh. Teache thē to louelove theyr neighbour as them selfes,Leui… xix. Math. xiii. and to seke the commodite of theyr Christē brethren no lesse then theyr owne.Mark. xii. Yea teach them euer to set befor their eies this cō maundement of thy holi Apostle, let no man seke his owne profyt, but the cōodite of other.Luke x. Roma. …iii. In fine, grant that the conuersaciō of so manye as professe thy name,Iacob. ii. may be so far stranged from the most detestable sinne of couetousnes, that it be not once named amōge them:Hebr. xiii. agayne that they make thē bagges which waxe not old,Ephe. v. and gather treasure in heauē that faileth not,Luke. xii. where no thief commeth nor moth corrupteth that they being rich in good workes,Mathe. vi. may obtain that blessed life, which yu hast promised to so mani as be louing and merciful thorow Iesu Christ our Lorde. Amen.
A prayer agaynste Glotonye and Dronkennesse.
VUe are warned by thi deare son (O most merciful father) to take heede yt our hearts be not ouerwhelmed with feasting and dronkennes.Luke. xix. Eze. xxxvii.For thorow festynge manye hauehave died,Ose. iiii. and thorow drōkēns innumerable hauehave peryshed. If oure fyrste parentes hadde not obeyed theyr appetyte,Gene. ii. they had not transgressed thy cō commaundement by eatinge the forbiddē frute, nor hauehave gottē so great an euil both to them selfes and to al their posterity. If Lotte had not ben ouercome with wine he had neuer so filthely committed inceste with his owne doughters.Genesis. ii. Ex… xxxii▪If the people of Israell had not geuē them selfs vntounto bāckettinge,i. Cor x. they had not neuer so wyckedly fallē into Idolatry, nether had so mani thousands of mē ben slain.Math. xiii, If king Herod had not ben ouercome wyth banckettyng, he wold not so sone hauehave consented to the death of the godly preacher S. Iohn.Luke. xvi. If that rich gloton had not bene so greatly geuen to the pampring of his belly, he woulde neuer hauehave ben so vnmerciful to pore Lazarus. If the Sodomits had not vsed bancketting and riotous liuinge,Ezechi. xvi. they had not peryshed wt so horrible punyshments For thou▪ O lord canst not abide thy creatures to bee abused.Gene. xix. For besydes euerlastynge dampnacion, which abydeth all glotones & dronckerds, thou punishest these voluptuous Epicures & beastlye belli slaues with corporal plages, with sicknes and pouerty, as thy seruaunt Salomon testifieth. Where is wo, sayeth he?Prou. xxiii. wher is sorowe? where is stryfe? wher is brawling? wher are woūds withoute a cause. Where be red eyes? Euen among those that be euer at the wine, & seke out where the best is. Agayne he saieth, kepe no company with wine bibbers and riotous eaters of fleshe, for suche as be dronckerdes and ryotous persōnes shal come to pouerti. Another of thy seruaunts also declareth, that excesse of meats brī geth sicknesse, and glotony commeth at the last vntounto an vnmesurable heat. Yea he sayeth▪ that an vnsaciable eater slepeth vnquietly,Eccle. xxxi. and hathe ache and pain of the body. Seing these foule and fylthy monstures of glottonye and drōkennes bring vntounto vsus the destruccion both of body and soule, we besech the, O heauenli father, to geue vsus grace, that from hensforth we may be from these beastly vices as from mooste presente pestilēces, and vse thy good creatures soberly, temperatelye and thāckfully,Roma. xiii. & by no meanes make prouision for the fleshe to fulfil ye lusts therof, but be sober & watch yt we fal not into ye snares of oure gostly enemie the Dyuel, whiche walketh about like a roringe Lion seking whom he may deuour and labour for that meate,i. Peter. v. which perysheth not but abydeth into euerlasting life:Iohn. x.vi. that we liuing soberly, watching warely, prayinge continually, and loking diligently for the comming of thy dearlye beloued sōne,Luke. xvii. may be found redy whensoeuer he commeth & enter with him into the glory of heauē for euer and euer. Amen.i. Te…so. vi.Mat. xxiiii
A prayer agaynst Idlenes.
IMmediatly after thou haddest created man (O maker of heauen and earth) and placed him in the garden of Eden,Gene. ii. thou conmaundedst him to dresse, & keepe it, because he shoulde not be idle. For idlenes is ye occasiō of much euil.Eccl. xxxiii In lyke manner after man had transgressed thy holy cōmandement, thou expulsing hym out of paradice for his disobediēce,Gene. iii. & sending him abrode into the face of the earth, commandedst him to eate his bread in the swete of his face, & in the labour of his hāds,Psal. cxix. so that thy good pleasure is, that no man shulde be idle. Thys thy commaundement was diligentli obserued of the godly auncyente fathers.…ene▪ iiii. Adam tilled the earth. Abel was a shepparde. Iubal exercised Musick. Tubalcain was a worker in metal, and a grauer in brasse and yron.Gene. ix. Nohe planted a vyneyarde. Abraham, Lot, Isaac and Iacob were shepherdes and plowemenne,G…ne. xiii. and .xxvi.xxix.xii. Exodu. iii. i. Re…. xvi. …. i. Ioseph was a Magistrate. Moises, Dauid, Amos wt diuers, other, kept shepe before they wer called vntounto office. Thy dearly beloued sōne, before yu appoyntedst hym to be a preacher of thy blessed wil vntounto ye world was a Carpenture,Mark. xiii and so got his lyuinge. Hys Apostles were fysher mē.Math. iiii. Blessed Paul laboured with hys own hands, and got both his own liuing & others yt were wyth him.…. xx. Thabita is cōmended in the holy scripture, because she made garments, and gaue them to the pore people. So manye, O Lord, as had any sparcke of godlynesse or pretēce of honesti in them,i. Tesso. ii. euen from the begīning vntounto this day euer abhorred idlenes,ii. Tes. iii. and practised one thing or other,Actes. ix. so yt they wer neuer ydle, but earnestly trauailed eueri one accordīg to their vocacion. For as the bird is born to flie, so is man borne to labour. Yea thi holi apostle hath charged vsus in thi name,Iohn v. i. Tes. iii. that if ani wil not l…bour, he shuld not eat. He cōmā deth also, yt we shulde withdrawe our selfs frō eueri one yt walketh inordinatly, & wil not laboure for his own liuīg? And the wise mā sēdeth vsus vntounto ye Emmet as vntounto a mastres & exāplar of labour,Proue. vi. & willeth vsus to consider her property, that we may be wise which although she hath nether gide, techer nor heade, yet prouideth she her meat in sōmer, & gathereth together her fode in haruest, we besech y• therfore O Lord, to dryue away frō vsus, al idlenes and sluggish behaueoure, and to geue vsus grace yt eueri one of vsus euē so manye as professe thy blessed name, may be earnest in folowing their vocacion, & delighte in godly trauails & vertuous exercises▪ ye magistrate in rightously gouerning ye common welth, the spiritual minister in truli preachīg thi blessed word, the comon people in diligētly folowing their occupatiōs, sciences & mistiries, yt none be foūd idle in the christen publique weal. So shal it come to passe, that all beīg vertuousli occupiedaccordīg to thi holi commandemēt, yu shalt delighte in vsus as a father in hys childrē, & sēd vsus the frutes of our labours, that is, aboundaunce of al temporal thinges in this presēt worlde, and after oure departure euerlastinge glorye, thorowe Iesu Christ our Lorde. Amen.