Household Prayers, Prayer 12
The twelfth Praier, To obtaine the gift of Faith.
The law was our ſchoolmaister, to bring vsus to Christ, that wee might bee iustified by faith. Abraham beleeued in God, and it was imputed to him for righteouſneſſe: Yee all are the children of God by the faith that is in Ieſus Chriſt
Galath. 3. Rom. 4.
ALmightie and eternal god, it hath pleaſed thee in thy vnſearchable counſaile, for a time, to giuegive vntounto men, the Lawe, to the end to guide them to IESVS Chriſt, vnderunder a ſchoolehouſe of figures and ſhadows, euen thoſe whom thou of thy grace haſt called into the faith of this promiſed Sauior, to obtaine in him their iuſtification and ſaluation. And when in the fulneſſe of time hee appeared vntounto vsus, clothed in our nature, for the accompliſhing of thy great and precious promiſes, this iuſtification of thy elect was fully reuealed & made ours, by beleefe in his Goſpel. But, O Lord, thou dooſt well know, and eueryevery man in himſelfefeeleth, the incredulitie, and weaknes of man, who being but earth, and fleſh, cannot climbe vp into heauen, and to the ſpirit of life, ſo to confeſſe and apprehend theſe deepe myſteries of thy louelove. And indeed it is an ancient and common complaint of thy Prophets and Apoſtles, who manie times hauehave ſaid as much (O Lord who hath belieued our preaching?) Alſo there be ſo many impoſtures in the worlde, ſo many dreames, ſo many inuentions; yea which is more, ſo many aſſaults, ſo many ſnares, and ſo ordinary miſeries that ſhake the beſt: To bee briefe, ſo great is the vanitie, ignorance, and infirmitie of our nature, that if thou (O moſt mercifull God) workeſt not that in vsus, which thou commaundeſt vsus to doe, if thou dooſt not teach vsus that vvee may knowe, if thou dooſt not conuert vsus, that wee may cleaue to thy worde, if thou doſt not giuegive vsus to thy Sonne, that hee may keepe vsus thine, if hee bring vsus not cloathed in his righteouſneſſe to the throne of thy grace, and if thy ſpirite leadeth vsus not in the paths of thy Kingdome, holding vsus faſt in the effects of his gifts, vppon the way of thy trueth, wee cannot harken to this voyce of the ſhepheard of our ſoules, neither in our harts conceiue ſuch and ſo liuely a Faith, that all vncertainty might be baniſhed, and the ſame ſealed with his owne efficacie: much leſſe can we feele the peace and ioy that true faith bringeth with it. For that cauſe, (O Lord,) in thy louelove haſt thou promiſed to poure vponupon thy children and ſeruants this ſpirite of thy ſtrength, light, mercy, and perfection, to forme in their heartes this thy ſingular gift, which vntounto vsus, is a ſubſiſtance of the things that wee hope for, and a demonſtration of thoſe that wee ſee not. By this ſo holy and neceſſarie an ornament of the faithfull, wee doe in all aſſurance, crie vntounto thee, [Abba, Father,] and in our conſciences feele, that wee are at peace with thy maieſty, throgh Chriſt, beeing iuſtified in his blood, that wee may liue religiouſly and holily according to his worde. I doe therefore beſeech thee, my GOD, to accompliſh, in my ſoule, theſe great effects of thy louelove, newe cloathing me with the light and vertue of thy holie ſpirit, that after the meaſure of the gift thereof, I may be able, with a true and liuely faith, to penetrate into the ſecret of my calling, and to that end, vouchſafe ſo to augment in mee this faith, that by the degrees of the perfection thereof, it may appeare in all her fruites, cauſing mee to worſhip, inuocate, and ſerue thee according as thou commandeſt, that my vnderſtanding may be withdrawne from the ſeduction of errour, and my wil from carnal concupiſcence, alſo that my hart may infinitely bee comforted with the feeling of this, that by chriſt I am reconciled to thee to holineſſe of life, and eternal beatitude: ſo that dayly encreaſing in this all ſpiritual vertue, I may attaine to ſome portion of thy Soueraigne wiſedome, and perfect righteouſneſſe, to the ende, that when my ſoule ſhall forſake this fleſhly habitation, the ſame faith may be as wings to tranſport it into thy boſome, to the celeſtial reſt of the Angels and Saints, there to poſſeſſe the fulnes of her peace, and of all ioy. So be it.