A Prayer for our Parents.

LORD God, my heavenly Father, I here prostrate myself before thee, to beg thy bessing, grace and mercy, upon my earthly parents. Cast them not away in the time of their old age; forsake them not when their strength fails them; but have compassion, Lord, on their infirmities and help them in all their weakness. O remember not against them any of their former iniquities; but according to thy mercy remember them for thy goodness' sake in Jesus Christ. O that the true wisdom may be with them, and abundance of thy grace upon them, that their hoary heads may be found in the way of righteousness, and their souls be ever precious in thy sight. O let goodness and mercy follow them all the days of their life: let their last days be their best days; and the longer they live here in the world, make them still the readier to die, and the fitter to live with thy blessed self, in the glorious life eternal. O be thou their guide until death; in death their support and comfort; and when heart and flesh, and all here shall fail them, O do thou never fail them, but be the strength of their hearts, and their portion for evermore. Amen.

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 own ruling 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 thee, or towards my dear partner. 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 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 incumbent upon me. O let my Maker be my husband to teach me, and help to 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 be. loved Son, my only Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Orphan's Prayer.

LORD 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, intreating thy gracious favour 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 choose 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 to 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 salva tion 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 pleasures of meat and drink ; yet let me taste the goodness of the Lord, and favour 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 to 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 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 all my fathers were; but as a dying man, and ready to drop into the grave, waiting and watching, and preparing for the coming of my 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 inquity, 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 an aged sinner; 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.