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heart and-flesh, and all here, shall fail them, O do thou never fail them, but be the strength of their heart, and their portion for evermore.Amen..

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The Widow's Prayer.

Ever-living and all disposing God! thou hast taken from me the friend of my bosom, that was even as my own soul; and by the want now taught me the worth of that blessing which I was not so thankful for, nor so careful as I ought, to use and improve in the enjoyment to thy glory. I submit to thy overruling hand, which is always just, though sometimes heavy, as now I feel it upon me. O deliver me, Lord, from the sins which are the cause of thy displeasure; and forgive me all wherein ever I have failed towards my dear partner.He was thy gift, -He was thy gift, and it was thy goodness that I enjoyed, and thy help and comfort that I found in him; who canst supply to me, by thyself, what I received from thee by his hands: for thou art still the same eternal fountain of goodness, whatever means of conveyance thou cuttest off from us. O pity me, Lord, under the breach which thou hast been pleased to make upon me, and support me in the dejection of my heart, and guide and comfort me in all the perplexity of my thoughts.Withdraw not thou thyself from me, O my God, now trouble is upon me; but make even the bitter dispensation a happy occasion to bring me nearer to thyself, by removing that which lay betwixt thee and my heart, and to

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raise this heart of mine from the present world
to a better, where I hope my dear friend is
now with the Lord; that as a widow indeed,
and desolate, and deprived of former helps, I
may trust in God, and continue in supplications
and prayers night and day. O thou that hast a
peculiar care, and tender regard for the widows,
be pleased to espouse my concerns, and direct
my path, and shew me what I have to do, and
fit me for, and assist me in, every duty now in-
cumbent upon me.
O let my Maker be my
husband to teach me, to help, defend, and
comfort me; to deal graciously with me, and
to be all in all to me; and bring me safe, O
my God, through this vale of misery to the
blessed kingdom of thy glory, for the sake of
thy beloved Son, my only Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.

LORD

The Orphan's Prayer.

O my God, thou art he that took

me out of my mother's womb, and art pleased to style thyself, in a peculiar manner, the Father of the fatherless: now am I left unto thee, my eyes are upon thee, and I desire to pour out my soul before thee, entreating thy gracious favor to have compassion on me, and leave me not desolate, exposed to the wants and mischiefs, and dangers of this wicked and miserable world: but when my father and mother have forsaken me, O Lord, do thou take me up, and be a Father, and the best of Fathers to me, and still a gracious Provider for

me.

Guide me, O my heavenly Father, and

my friends also, that are concerned in the disposing of me and my affairs. O be thou pleased to chuse my inheritance for me; and order me, and all that concerns me, to thy glory, and to the promoting of my present welfare, and my everlasting happiness. Direct my designs, that they may be agreeable to thy blessed will; and bless and prosper my undertakings and endeavours, that they may succeed according to my desire, and so as to give me occasion for thy praise. My Lord, I commit myself unto thee, O be thou my God and Guide, even unto death: be ever watchful over me for good, and preserve and keep me, and conduct and lead me, in all the variety of estates and affairs of this life, till thou hast brought me to inherit the blessed portion of thy children, in that most sweet and glorious life, which shall never fail. Grant this, O merciful Father, for thy dear Son's sake, my only Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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The Aged's Prayer.

LORD of my life, thou art my God from the womb, my hope and trust from my youth; by thee I was brought into the world, and upon thee have I lived all my days. O with what patience and long-suffering hast thou endured me, and with what loving-kindness and tender mercies still prevented and followed me! How many have I seen snatched out of this life, as I fear, miserably unprovided for their death; whereas thou prolongest my days, and, together with more days, still addest new mercies to my life. O that it may be in mercy

to my soul that I am suffered to live so long in the world! that as my life is lengthened out, so all that concerns my salvation may be filled up, that I may redeem the time, and improve all the opportunities and means of grace which thou art pleased to put into my hands for the best profit and advantage of my soul, that my age may be the good old age; and the remaining time of my sojourning here, the best of all my time.

Though my sight is dim to the world, let my eyes be ever towards the Lord, and open to see the things of my peace; though my ears are dull of hearing, let my heart be attentive to thy calls, and to hear thy voice, while it is called to day. Though I cannot, as formerly, relish the pleasure of meat and drink, yet let me taste the goodness of the Lord, and savour the things of the Spirit of God, and hunger and thirst after righteousness and those pleasures which are at thy right hand for evermore.

And though my limbs are weak, and my strength will not serve me to travel abroad as I have done; yet make me strong in the Lord, to do thy work, and walk in thy ways, and to perform my great journey home to my house eternal in the heavens; and seeing there is no man that liveth and shall not see death, and the longer I have escaped it the nearer I am now to it, and shall one day certainly fall by it, and must every day reckon upon it, and know not but my soul this night may be required of me; O let not my length of days tempt me to forget their end, or to put my last day far from

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me; but let me keep it ever in my prospect, as drawing nigh to me, that I may order all my concerns, not only like a stranger and sojourner with thee, as my fathers were; but as a dying man, and ready to drop into the grave, waiting, watching, and preparing for the coming of the Lord; that, at thy coming, thou mayest find me so doing.

And because I am old in sins, as well as in years, pulled down with iniquity; as well as with age, and the number of my transgressions exceeds not only my years and days, but even the hours of my life, and the hairs of. my head. Where I cannot, alas! pretend to my innocence, O my gracious Lord, give me true repentance, and that godly sorrow for my sins, which may prevent my going down in a worse sorrow to my grave. Thou hast saved many old sinners, O God, be so merciful to me a sinner. Put all my sins upon the account of thy dear Son, and wash me thoroughly from them, in the fountain of his precious blood: especially, O merciful Lord, acquit and discharge me from the sins that lie heaviest upon me, and that make the thoughts of death and judgment most frightful to me. O give me, Lord, some tokens for good, that I shall find such mercy at thy hands, that I may depart in peace, and finish my course with joy, and, in the end of my life be numbered among the redeemed and blessed of the Lord, through the tender mercies of my God, and the all-sufficient merits of my only Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

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