Household Prayers, Prayer 13
The thirteenth Prayer. To demaund the vertue of hope.
God, by his great mercy, hath regenerated vsus to a liuely hope, by the reſurrection of Ieſus Christ from the dead. To the end, that being iuſtified by his grace, we ſhould be made heires according to the hope of eternall life, which hope maketh vsus not aſhamed.
1 Pet. 1. Tim. 3. Rom. 5.
O GOD, all good and wiſe, it hath pleaſed thee, by certaine meanes, & proceedings, to work in thy elect, regeneration neceſſary for their ſaluation, whereby they do in themſelues feele the old Adam to die with his luſts, and the newe man to encreaſe in the deſires of righteouſneſſe, when the Holi-ghoſt euen this day plucketh out of their hearts, vice, and inſteade thereof, planteth vertue, making it to bring forth fruite, furthering therby daily, the rooting out of ſin, and encreaſe of the gifts of thy grace. I beſeech thee (O Lorde) that as it hath pleaſed thee, freely to iuſtifie me by the ſingular gift of faith in our Sauiour Ieſus Chriſt, granting me peace with thy Maieſtie through his ſacrifice: ſo thou wouldſt vouchſafe to illuminate the eyes of my ſoule, as to make mee knowe, to the ſanctification of thy name, what the hope of thoſe is, whome thou haſt called to the incorruptible inheritance of thy glorie. Graunt (my God) that my thoughts may be repleniſhed and contented with this ſtedfaſt hope in thy louelove, which thou offereſt vntounto vsus in the goſpel, with this holie deſire, I ſay, ſupported with an aſſured expectation one day, and for euer to obtaine the celeſtial riches, which thou haſt graunted mee to beleeue, which no eie hath ſeen, no eare hath heard, nor no vnderſtanding hath comprehended: namely, that I may be able to behold thy countenance and liue, to participate without ende, thy kingdome aboue, to enioy there the ſocietie of the angels, to be there a fellow heire, with the glorified ſpirits: Finaly, there to bee fully vnited vntounto Chriſt, & by him, to thee, O Father, the fountaine of eternal life, and ſo to poſſeſſe the ſoueraigne good eternaly. Let this holie meditation, and the hope to enioy that full and perfect contentment, ſo occupy my ſenſes, that it may be my thought, my pleaſure, my labour, my habitation, and my moſt ordinary vacation. Alſo that all the cares of the world, and the affections of my fleſh, which might diuert mee from ſo chriſtian a reſolution, may giuegive place to this ſpiritual vertue, the anker wher of reſteth in heauen, that it may lodge wholy and for euer in the ſecret of my heart; ſith it is verie true that it will yeeld as certainely his ſolide and ſole good, in fulneſſe of time, as if already I did poſſeſſe it, vniting mee vntounto thee, (O Lord) by the holy miſteries of thy grace. Alſo thou art the beginning and the ende of our hope of eternall life, becauſe thy louelove is powred vponupon vsus by the Holighoſt, whom thou haſt giuen vsus, and thy Sonne Ieſus is the mean and fulneſſe, according as in him doth remaine all that is beautifull, delectable, peaceable, rich, permanent, and glorious aboue in Heauen, which thou haſt promiſed vsus. Of which treaſure of ineſtimable valew, thou doeſt thus euen already graunt mee the vſe, by the effects of thy diuine vertues, which make mee to pierce through the heauens with my imagination, and to eſtabliſh my ſoule in thy peace, as if in my boſome I kept the full fruit of thy promiſe, and did alreadie liue there aboue in like eſtate as the Angells. For (O eternall God) thy mercy is vponupon me, as I doe truſt in thee. And therfore, albeit I creepe here vp and downe, through manie infirmities; Yet will I in patience abide the appearing of thy glorie in the daie of the comming of thy Sonne, to iudge the quicke and the dead, as being thorowly aſſured, through thy grace, in the end of my courſe, to obtain the diadem wherewith thou crowneſt thine; and at the laſt day, and euer in my fleſh, to behold that great Sauiour of the elect, who liueth with thee and the Holyghoſt one god eternally Amen.