Godly Private Prayers for Christian Families, Prayers · Prayer 25
A Prayer for grace and wiſedome.
O Moſt mighty God and mercifull Father, poure into my heart thy heauenly grace & wiſedome. Comfort my ſinnefull ſoule with thy heauenly Manna, molifie and make ſoft my hard heart with the ſweete & pleaſant oyle of thy moſt holy word. Suffer me not (O mercifull Lord) to ſwerue or ſlide from the waies of truth, but grant helpe of thy holy Spirit, that I may walke in the ſame vntounto my liues end, and let not thy heauenly wiſedome depart from me at any time during this life.
According to the multitude of thy mercies doe away mine offences. Preſerue me from this my youth and infancy, vnderunder thy fauourable protection. GiueGive mee grace (O Lord) that I may euen to the graue continue a faithfull and manly Sould…er in defence of thy truth, and that I may in all my life, daily grow to the ripe perfection of godly wiſedome, and truly and iuſtly, acknowledge thee mine onelyonly God. Deut. 6. That I may onelyonly feare thee and honor thee. That I may cleaue faſt vntounto thee. Deut. 10. That I doe not after the abhomination of any idolatrous people, worſhip ſtocks or ſtones. Deut. 8. Nor let me not (O Lord) harken to any falſe Prophets that teach their owne imaginations, and not the word of God. Deut. 13.
Now vouchſafe (O Lord God) to heare me, and let thy wiſedome gouerne mee. I know (my God) that no creature can truly ſay, I hauehave done my dutie in the ſe… uice of the Lord: neither is it in the power of man (who is ſo deeply ſubiect to ſinne) to eſcape all thoſe ſtumbling blockes which hauehave made our waies dangerous and perillous through thoſe innumerable practiſes, wherewith Sathan our great enemie through his malice and craft, hath deuiſed to intrap our ſinfull ſoules to our vtter deſtruction.
Lord of thy great mercy roote and pull out of my heart all the workes of Sathan, namely, fornication, adultery, vncleannes, wantonneſſe, pride, enuie, vnnaturall deſires, vnpure thoughts, lewd behauiour, idleneſſe, and all other vicious and naughty actions, which being followed according to the pleaſures and delights of the world in this life; bring with them euerlaſting damnation of body and ſoule, in the world to come.
Encreaſe in me (O Lord) ſuch aboundance of thy grace, wiſedome, and heauenly bleſſing, that through the operation of the ſame in me, I may proue a true workman in thy harueſt, ſuch a ſeruant as occupieth his Maiſters Talent vntounto gaine, a witneſſe that beareth teſtimony of Chriſt, to all people, at all times, and in eueryevery place, continue conſtant in the truth, during the whole courſe of this my mortall life.
In thy truth (O God) do I delight, therefore make me perfect in the ſame. In thee alone doe I repoſe my whole truſt and confidence, ſaue me (O God) of all mercy, and defend mee againſt my enemies.
Eſtabliſh and confirme me (O Lord) in faith towards thee. Keepe thou my lips, and gouerne my tongue. Suffer not my heart to purpoſe any thing that may diſpleaſe thee, nor my tongue or lips to ſpeake ought whereby I ſhould purchaſe thy wrath.
Whoſoeuer doth truſt in thee (O God) ſhall vnderſtand thy truth, and the faithfull ſhall hauehave reſt in thy fauour: but the vngodly according to their owne wicked thoughts ſhall find corruptiō. The ſoules of the iuſt are in the hand of God, and the force of death ſhall not touch them.
All wiſedome commeth from the Lord, and hath beene with him alwaies, and is with him from the beginning, Eccle. 1. The feare of the Lord doth expell ſin. Lord of thy mercy grant me thy heauenly wiſedome, whereby I may truly learne to know thee rightly, and be diligent to performe thy precepts effectually.
Lord leaue me not in my young daies, let thy wiſedome enter into my heart, and make her habitation in my ſoule; ſo ſhall I liue in thy fauour, and perſeuer in thy lawes through thy grace.
Let not them that truſt in thee (O Lord God of Hoaſtes) bee aſhamed: let not thoſe that ſeeke thee bee confounded, O God of Iſrael. Lord I make my prayers vntounto thee in an acceptable time: euen in the multitude of thy mercies. O God, heare mee in the truth of thy ſaluation.
In thee alone (O heauenly Father) are all things generally: and what is not of thee, is altogether naught. Repleniſh and bleſſe me (O Lord) with all good giftes: ſhew thy louing countenance towards me, gouerne me by thy grace, continue me in thy fauour, and protect and defend me now and euermore, vnderunder the winges of thy manifold mercies, ſo ſhall no vile temptation hauehave power to preuaile againſt me.
Such is the force of thy heauenly wiſdome (O God) that whoſoeuer obtaineth the ſame, and directeth his life accordingly, ſhall proſper and ſee good daies. Whoſoeuer pleaſeth thee (O Lord) from the beginning, are made whole through wiſedome, Sapient. 9. Which of thy mercy (O my God) vouchſafe to grant vntounto me, for thy deere Sonne Ieſus Chriſt his ſake. To whome with thee, & the holy Ghoſt be all glory, honor, and praiſe, now and for euer, Amen.