Appendix D - Prayers
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2020
Summary
Evening Prayer—
Give us grace, Almighty Father, so to pray, as to deserve to be heard, to address thee with our Hearts, as with our Lips. Thou art every where present, from Thee no secret can be hid; may the knowledge of this, teach us to fix our Thoughts on Thee, with Reverence & Devotion that we pray not in vain.—
Look with Mercy on the Sins we have this day committed, & in Mercy make us feel them deeply, that our Repentance may be sincere, and our Resolutions stedfast of endeavouring against the commission of such in future.—Teach us to understand the sinfulness of our own Hearts, and bring to our knowledge every fault of Temper and every evil Habit in which we may have indulged to the dis-comfort of our fellow-creatures, and the danger of our own Souls.—May we now, and on each return of night, consider how the past day has been spent by us, what have been our prevailing Thoughts, words and Actions during it, and how far we can acquit ourselves of Evil. Have we thought irreverently of Thee, have we dis-obeyed thy Commandments, have we neglected any knownDuty, or willingly given pain to any human Being?—Incline us to ask our Hearts these questions Oh! God, and save us from deceiving ourselves by Pride or Vanity.
Give us a thankful sense of the Blessings in which we live, of the many comforts of our Lot; that we may not deserve to lose them by Discontent or Indifference.
Be Gracious to our Necessities, and guard us, and all we love, from Evil this night. May the sick and afflicted, be now, & ever thy care; and heartily do we pray for the safety of all that travel by Land or by Sea, for the comfort & protection of the Orphan &Widow, & that thy pity may be shewn, upon all Captives & Prisoners.
Above all other blessings Oh! God, for ourselves, & our fellowcreatures, we implore Thee to quicken our sense of thy Mercy in the redemption of the World, of the Value of that Holy Religion in which we have been brought up, that we may not, by our own neglect, throwaway the Salvation Thou hast given us, nor be Christians only in name.—Hear us Almighty God, for His sake who has redeemed us, & taught us thus to pray.—
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- Later Manuscripts , pp. 573 - 576Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008