As we were made by thee, so we were made for thee, and our best service is thy due. Blessed be thy name that thou hast so fully instructed us what is thy mind and will concerning us. With sorrow and shame we confess our manifold violations of thy wise and holy law whereby we have exposed ourselves to the curse which it denounAs thy law demands perfect obedience, and we are all transgressors of it, we are convinced that by the deeds of the law no flesh living can be justified.

ces.

We thank thee, O Lord for that blessed gospel which thou hast sent among us, in which the glad tidings of salvation by Jesus Christ are proclaimed. O God, teach us to form right views of the religion of the gospel, and give us to experience the life and power of it in our souls.

We make a profession of Christianity: God forbid that we should rest in a mere profession! but grant that we may be Christians in deed and in truth. O suffer us not to deceive ourselves in a matter of such infinite importance.

O Lord God omniscient, thou searchest all hearts, and triest the reins of the children of men : search thou our hearts, and try our thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us into the way everlasting. Enable us also frequently and impartially to examine ourselves, as in thy sight; and let our own consciences testify whether we are possessed of that repentance towards God, and that faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, which the gospel requires; and whether we have been brought to that new, universal, and cheerful obedience, which is the genuine and necessary fruit thereof.

If hitherto we are any of us utter strangers to these things, convince us of our guilt and danger, and let that blessed Spirit, who is the author of the new creation, create us anew in Christ Jesus.

Work in us that faith which is the operation of God. Direct us to behold Jesus, as labouring, suffering, dying, and ascending, for the salvation of sinners. Give us faith in the efficacy of his righteousness, atonement, and intercession, and enable us to come unto him that we may have life, and to rely upon him for complete salvation.

May we know what it is to have our whole hearts subdued by his love, so as to be crucified with him, to be dead to sin, to be mortified to the world, but alive unto God. Make us to bear his image, to obey his laws, to pursue his service, to seek his glory, to promote his cause.

Whatever there be wanting in us, to constitute us real Christians, Lord discover it to us, and work it in us. Beat down every false presumptuous hope, and let us know the worst of ourselves while yet there is remedy. If any secret sin be lurking in our hearts, root it out, however painful the operation. May all old things pass away, and all things become new.

If we are Christians indeed, and have received the grace of God in truth, give us the comfortable evidence of thy good work begun. May thy Spirit witness with our spirits that we are the children of God. Make us more sensible of our imperfections, more humble for them, more desirous and diligent to have them removed. Do thou, O God, perfect what is lacking in our knowledge and in our faith, and fulfil in us all the good pleasure of thy goodness.

We praise thee for thy continued goodness to us. We commend ourselves, and all that are dear unto us, to thy future care. May thy prov idence guard and provide for us this day, and may thy grace enable us every day to live in thy fear. Pardon, accept, and bless us, O Father of mercies, through thy dear Son Jesus Christ, who is our hope, in whom believing we would rejoice, and desire to be found, living, dying, and for ever. Amen.

FRIDAY EVENING.

O THOU ever-blessed, glorious, and gracious God, who art the fountain both of the natu ral and spiritual life; we thy dependent and oblig ed creatures are once more met together to make our united acknowledgments to thee; to praise thee for the mercies we have already received, and to implore future blessings according to our necessities both for the body and the soul.

We thank thee, O God, that thou gavest us life at first, and that amidst so many dangers, and so many provocations, we continue to live, and to enjoy so many of the comforts of life. It is thy visitation which upholds our spirits, and thy free, unmerited goodness which gives us whatever contributes to render our lives happy. Blessed be God for all our enjoyments of an outward nature, both personal and relative. May they be contin

ued to us, and O may they be wisely improved! While we live, may we live unto the Lord. If any of us are as yet dead in trespasses and sins, do thou raise us to a new, a spiritual and divine life.

Adored be the riches of thy grace, if any of us have ground to hope that thou hast begun this good work in us. We lament the imperfections of it, and pray that thou wilt strengthen what thou hast wrought. It is our earnest desire that we may grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Form our minds to those right notions of religion on which our progress in it so much depends. Give us a growing acquaintance with thee, with ourselves, and with the doctrines, precepts, and promises of the glorious gospel.

We would be seeking after an increase of love to thee our God and Father in Christ Jesus; of resignation to thy wise and holy will, and of be.. nevolence to our fellow-creatures. May we grow in patience and fortitude of soul; in humility and zeal; in spirituality and a heavenly disposition of mind; in a concern for thy glory, and a conformity to thine image. May we feel a grow. ing ambition that whether present or absent we may be accepted of thee, and may be continually improving in our likeness to thee, so that we may be advancing in our meetness for that world, where thy saints behold thy face in righteousness, and are satisfied with thy likeness.

We desire and pray that, while we are continued in this world, we may be rendered more extensively useful. We bless thee, thou bountiful author of all good, for the talents with which

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thou hast entrusted us. We have cause to be ashamed and confounded before thee, when we consider to how little purpose we have hitherto improved them. Justly might we be condemned as slothful and unprofitable servants. Of thy

mercy forgive the debt of ten thousand talents which we owe thee, and enable us more entirely to devote ourselves and all we have unto thee, acknowledging that it is of thine own we give thee. Make us faithful stewards to our great Lord, from whom we have received all we have, and to whom we must shortly render a strict account. May we think of no interest of our own, in opposition to thine, or as separate from it; but consider it as most effectually living to ourselves, when we live most unto thee. Under a growing sense of thy love to us, may we feel an increasing love to our brethren of mankind; and as we have ability and opportunity may we be ready to do good unto all. Whatever of the good things of this life thou hast lodged in our hands, for their relief, may we be thy faithful almoners; and while we give liberally may we do it with discretion, so as to answer the best ends. And do thou multiply the seed sown, and so prosper us in our worldly affairs, if it be thy blessed will, that we may have more to impart to them that need.

Whatever be our talents, may they not be hid; and if thou givest any of us but one, may that be improved with care, as what is to be accounted for to the Lord of all.

May we be particularly concerned to be useful to those with whom we are most intimately connected in life, in promoting their spiritual and