The Whole Duty of Prayer, Part 1 · Prayer 15 – Prayer 16
An Evening Prayer for a Family.
O GOD, the God of the Spirits of all Flesh, the high and lofty one that Inhabitest Eternity, who hast made the Earth by thy power, Establish'd the World by thy Wisdom, and stretched out the Heavens by thy discretion; the Father of Eternity, and Fountain of Mercy, the giver of all good things, the forgiver of all sins, and the comforter of all such as fly unto thee. Lord, we are here present before thee, be thou present with us, and President amongst us; we appeal from the Seat of thy Justice, to the Throne of thy Mercy, beseeching thee to give us a sense of our own Miseries, and an assurance of thy Mercies; let us not be possess'd with over much fear, but that with a holy confidence of thy goodness, we may with joy appear in thy presence, in an humble acknowledgment of our sins.
TO this end, we confess that we have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and are no more worthy to be called thy Children; we have transgressed thy holy Laws and Commandments, not only by our Thoughts and Words, but by our Deeds and Actions; our Iniquities are more in number than the hairs of our Head, and make us seem vile in our own Eyes, but much more in thy sight. Lord, unto thee we confess our sins, O grant us Pardon and Absolution for them; open unto us Penitents, that ever streaming Fountain of thy Sons Blood, that our sins being Bathed therein, we may appear without blemish in thy sight; by his Death mortifie our sinful Corruptions, hide them in his Wounds, and bury them in his Grave, that they may neither rise in this life to shame us, nor in the World to come to condemn us.
GIVE us thy holy Spirit, let him purge our Consciences, heal our Corruptions, illuminate our Understandings, confirm our Memories, and consecrate our Souls and Bodies, that they may be fit Temples for thy holy Ghost to dwell in. Be merciful to thy Church, and enlarge her borders; shower down the choicest of thy blessings upon the heads and hearts of thy Servants, our Soveraign Lord and Lady, King William and Queen Mary, bless them with length of days here, and with a Crown of Glory hereafter; bless Katherine the Queen Dowager, her Royal Highness the Princess Ann of Denmark, with all the rest of the Royal Family. Bless the Nobility, Gentry, Ministry, Magistracy and Commonalty, our Relations in the Flesh, and Friends in the Spirit; protect all that stand up for thy Truth, but as for thy Foes, let them be ashamed and confounded.
AND now seeing thou hast brought the Night upon us, wherein thou hast ordained man to rest in, we humbly beseech thee, who art the Keeper of Israel, who never slumberest nor sleepest, to watch over us by thy Providence; cause thy holy Angels to pitch their Tents round about us, that being freed from the terrors of the Night, and refreshed with moderate rest and sleep, we may the better be enabled to praise thy Name, and to walk before thee in all good Works, and holiness of Conversation, all the days of our lives. Let our Bed, O Lord, put us in mind of our Grave, and our rising from thence of our Resurrection, that whether we wake or sleep, we may be always thine.
AND knowing that thy Name, O Lord, is a strong To ver of Defence, we here commend our selves this Night, to thy most holy protection; if it be thy Divine Will to call any of us hence in our sleep, O Lord, for thy Sons sake, have mercy upon us, and receive our Souls into thy most blessed Kingdom; but if it be thy heavenly pleasure to add more days unto our lives, add more amendment unto our days, that living we may live in thy Fear, and dying we may dye in thy Favour, and in the end, Reign with thee in Glory.
Amen.
A Collect for the Night.
INTO thy hands, O Father, we commend our Spirits, for thou hast redeemed us, O thou God of Truth; into thy most merciful Tuition, and gracious Preservation, do we commend our selves, our Souls and Bodies, our Relations, our Goods and good Names, all ours, and all that call upon thy Name. Lord, be thou present with them and us, and about our Beds, unto our lives end; let not our fantasies be troubled with vain Imaginations, nor the Dreams and Visions of our heads, like Nebuchadnezzar's, make us affraid, but give us quiet and comfortable rest, that our Souls and Bodies being refreshed, we may when we awake, laud and praise thee, and joyfully perform the business of the next day in our particular Callings.
LET our whole life be a serving and glorifying of thee, that we may live in thy Fear, dye in thy Favour, and rest from all our Labours, and be blest with thy glorious Vision, enjoying the presence of our blessed Saviour, the comfort of thy holy Spirit, and the Communion of thy most holy Saints and Angels, that we, together with them, may ascribe unto thee the Glory of our Redemption from Sin, Satan, Hell, and Death, World without end.
Amen.