the Danger and Odioufneẞ of my Sins, and thereby fo increase my penitential Sorrows and Remorfes, as that by all thefe means together my obftinate Will may at last be conquered, and effectually perfuaded to part with every Sin, be it never fo dear to me, and to comply with every Duty, be it never so croß to my vile Inclination. Then fhall I freely refign up my felf unto thee, and with a firm Refolution devote all my Powers to thy Service. And that I may do fo, and by fo doing be reconciled to thee, O my offended God, before I go hence and be no more feen,receive me, I be feech thee, into thy protection this Night, that I may yet fee the light of another Day, and have a longer Space to finish my Repentance. All which I humbly implore even for Jefus Chrift his fake, in whose name and words I farther pray, Our Father, &c.

If upon fearching your own Heart, you find that after you have fairly reprefented to your felf what finful Plea fures you must part with, what Duties you must fubmit to, and what Difficulties you must ingage with, you are willing without any Reserve or Exception to fubmit your felf to God, beware you be not too hafty to form your Refolution, but take fome little time to try your felf; fee whether you will continue to morrow of the fame mind you are in now, and if then you perceive you have reafon to fufpect your felf; try a little longer, and at the prefent indeavour as much as in you lies to confirm and fettle your felf in the good Mind you are in, by preffing and urging your felf with all thofe Arguments of your Religion by which you have been thus far convinced and perfuaE e

ded;

deed, and while you are thus trying your felf; instead of the former, let this be your Evening Prayer.

Bleffed Lord and most merciful Father, thou art a God bearing Prayer, and to thee shall all flesh come; I admire thy Goodneß, I adore thy Grace, that after fo many heinous provocations I have given thee, for which thon mightest have justly shut thine ears against me for ever, thou hast heard my Cries and pitied my Mifery, and thus far contributed towards my Recovery. I acknowledge 'tis by thy Grace that I am what I am, that this stubborn Heart begins at laft to relent, this perverse Will to bow and stoop, thefe lewd Affections to hunger and thirst after Righteousness; that now at last my foolish foul is perfuaded to part with those fins which are its Plagues and Infelicities, and to embrace those bleffed Duties by which thou haft designed to raise me to immortal Glory. By thefe good Beginnings thou haft given me fome Reafon to hope for a happy Succeß upon my poor Endeavours. Praifed be thy Grace, I am at prefent heartily willing to be thine, and were I but fure to continue thus minded and difpofed, I would immediately make over my Heart and Will to thee by the moft folemn Engagement. But, O Lord, I am afraid of my felf, I dread my own Inconftancy, and thou knoweft I have too much Reafon for it. Ihave mocked thee too often already with my deceitful Promifes and Engagements; I have fin'd & then promifed Amendment, I have promised Amendment and then fin'd again, as if all that I meant by my Promifes, were only to ask leave of thee to fin against thee anew: And now after so many Falfifications I would not for all

the

the World deal treacherously with thee any more; wherefore before I folemnly refign and devote my self to thee by a new Purpose and Engagement, I defire to make fome farther Trial of my own Stedfaftneß, to fee whether this prefent Inclination of my Will be the effect of Paffion or a fetled Judgment. In the mean time therefore I do most humbly beseech thee to be prefent with me in all my ways, and continually to influence my Mind with thy Grace and Spirit; to frengthen my Faith, to fix my Confideration, to perfuade my Will, and feed and cherish these my holy Defires with good Thoughts and Inspirations, that fo ] may remain ftedfaft and immovable, and no Temptation what foever may be able to alter the Temper of my mind, or divert it from its good Inclination; and that having had a fufficient Experience of the fixed Difpofition of my Soul to obey thee, I may devote my felf to thee with a chearful Heart, and an affured Hope of my own Sincerity and Conftancy.O Lord hear and help me for thy Mercies fake,and for Jefus Chrift his fake, in whofe most perfect Form of Prayer I farther pray, Our Father, &c.

If after a fufficient Trial of your felf, you find you are constantly inclined to fubmit to God, to part with every Sin, and comply with every Duty, confider that now it is high time for you to devote your felf to God, and what abundant Reason you have for it, and what a powerful Obligation you muft lay upon your felf by fo doing; and when you have seriously confi dered thefe things, give up your felf to God in this following Form of Prayer, which for the greater Sanction and more awful Solemnity of E6.2

your

your good Refolution, you would do well to repeat at the next Sacrament.

Moft merciful Father, fo infinite is the Goodneß of thy Nature, that thou art always ready to pity and relieve the poor and needy, and to extend thy timely Succours to us helpleß Sinners whenfoever we cry unto thee. Of the truth whereof thou haft given me, who am the vileft of Sinners, a moft fenfible Proof and Experiment. For not long ago I was fo dead in Trefpaffes and Sins,that hadft not thou took pity upon me, and quickned me by thy Grace, I had died for ever; my understanding was fo blind that I faw not my Danger, my Confcience fo fear'd that I felt not my Guilt,my Will fo inflaved to my Lufts that I could not indure to think of parting with them but now, bleffed be thy Grace which firft excited my Endeavours, and bath hitherto profpered them, I do not only fee the Danger my Sins have expofed me to, and fenfibly feel the Guilt of them, but am freely wil ling to renounce them for ever, and to part even with thofe darling Lufts that have heretofore been as dear to me as my right Eye. And now, O Lord, I am come before thee, and I hope with a truly Loyal and fincere Heart, to offer up my Soul and Body to thee, and vow an everlasting Obedience to thy bleffed Will. For Jefus fake refufe not this not this poor Oblation, which though it be infinitely unworthy of thine Acceptance, is the beft thing I am able to prefent thee. To thee, O glorious Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I do from henceforth eternally devote my felf and all my Faculties. [* And here at the Table of my bleffed Saviour, and upon these

*When you renew your Vow in the Sacrament, add,

facred

facred Memorials of his Wounds and Bloud] I utterly abjure all known and wilful Sins and Rebellions, and particularly, all fuch as have been heretofore most dear to me; faithfully promifing by thy gracious Affiftance from henceforth to obferve thy Law without any Referve or Exception. This in the Sincerity of my Soul I do here vow to thy Divine Majefty, and however I may be hereafter tempted, I will never wilfully depart from it, or from any Part of it; fo help me, 0 my God, for Fefus Chrift his fake,in whose own words I farther pray, Our Father, &c.

Directions for the more profitable Exercife of our Private Religion in the state of our actual Engagement in the Chriftian

Life.

When you go into your Clofet in the Morning, confider feriously with your felf the folemn Eugagement you lie under; what a crying guilt it would be to violate it, what Madness and Folly to recede from it, after you have taken fo much pains to reduce your felf to it, what mighty Reasons you have to perfift in it, and what powerful Affistance is promifed you, if you be not wanting to your felf; and then offer up this following Prayer.

Eternal God, who art the Father of our Lord Fefus Christ, and deft through him bestow so many good and perfect Gifts upon thy Creatures, I defire for ever to remember and adore thy Goodness towards me, whom thou haft fnatched as a Firebrand out of

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the