amretired from the World to converfe with thee, and fpread my wants and my defires before thee, thofe worldly cares and Delights with which I have been too too converfant,are importunately thrusting themselves upon me,to divert myThoughts,diftract my Intentions, and carry away my Affections from thee; by reason whereof my Mind wanders, my Hope droops, and my Defires are frozen,and whilst I am drawing near thee with my Lips,my Heart is running away from thee. O myGod have pity upon me,pluck my Soul out of this deep mire, quicken, raife and fpiritualize these my groveling Affections. Poffeß this Heart, which opens it felf to thy gracious Influences, with fuch a strong and vigorous love to thee, as may lift me up above all earthly things,& continually carry forth my Soul in vehement Defires after thee, that so I may always approach thee with a Joyful Heart, being glad to leave the company of all other things to go to thee,my God, my exceeding Foy. Give me a fober, diligent, and collected fpirit, that is neither choaked with Cares, nor fcattered with Levity, nor difcompofed with Paffion, nor estranged from thee with finful Prejudice or Inadvertency; but fix it faft to thy felf with the indiffoluble Bands of an active Love and pregnant Devotion,that fo when-ever I proftrate my felf before thee, I may presently be born away far above all these fenfible Goods in a high Admiration of thee, and a paffionate Longing after thee. And now, O Lord, while I am addreffing to thee, gather in, Ibefeech thee, my wandring thoughts, and fix and stay them upon thy felf. And O do thou touch my cold and earthy defires with an out-stretched Ray from thy felf, and caufe them to rife and flame up to thee in Fervours answerable to my pressing Wants,that I may fo ask as that I may receive, fo feek as that I may find,

fo knock as that it may be opened unto me, through Jefus Chrift my bleffed Lord and Redeemer, Amen.

If after this you find your Heart is very much enlarged,and your Mind and Affections vigorously difpofed towards God and heavenly things, fix your Mind a little while upon the Beauty and Excellency of his Nature, or upon fome of the most affecting Inftances of his Love, or upon the blessed State above, and then go on with this following Prayer.

Thou most excellent Being thou infinitely amiable and adorable Majefty,thon pattern of Beauty, and Standard of Goodneß, who art glorions beyond all Praife, and doft out-reach all Wonder,and comprehend all perfection, blessed be thy name, thou haft touched my foul with a lively fenfe of thy Glory; I feel it Shining through me, & like an active flame infinuating into my Heart; it fires my Love, cherishes my Hope, wings my Devotion, and diffufes a vital warmth over all my Faculties; it raifes me up into a heavenly State, and fills me with joy unspeakable and full of glory; it captivates every thought in Obedience to thy Will,and brings every Power of my Soul into Subjection to thee. Bleffed be thy Name, thou haft conquered me by thy Love, I refign my felf to thee with a chearful heart. I am intirely thine, I am thy Servant, truly I am thy Servant, and in this Title I glory more than in all the Honours of the World. But though I am highly advanced and exalted by ferving thee, yet thou art fo infinitely happy in the boundleß perfections of thy own Nature,that thou canst reap no other advantage from it but only the pleasure of feeing thy poor Creature bless'd

and

and made happy by it. What then fhall I render unto thee, O thou Foy of my Life,thou treasure of my Love, thon fupreme Felicity of my Nature! Alas, I have nothing but my felf to give thee, nothing but this poor Heart, that burns with Love to thee, that pants and breaths after thee, and defires above all things in the world to be eternally united to thee in perfect Love. If I had ten thousand Hearts to love thee, ten thousand Tongues to praise thee, I would devote them all to thee, as freely and chearfully as I do my felf.For whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon Earth that I defire befides thee. O God, thou art my God, and my Portion for ever. In thee I am bleft,and in the Light of thy Countenance I rejoyce more than in all the foys and Pleafures of the World. I am ravisht with thy Beauty, I admire thy Love,and from the bottom of my Soul adore thy Wisdom and Goodneß. My heart is ready, O Lord,my heart is ready, I will fing and give praise. Awake up my Glory, awake all the Powers of my Soul, my felf will awake and celebrate thy praises.Praised be the God of Glory, praised be the God of Love, praifed be the Father of Mercies, praised be the best Friend of Souls, for thy Goodneß reaches to the beavens, thy Glory fhines throughout the Creation, and thy Mercy is spread over all thy works. Who can comprehend thine infinite Beauties, who can rehearse thy noble acts, who can fhew forth all thy Praife! I do confeß my Thoughts are infinitely too fhort,my Affections too narrow, my Expreffions too fcanty, to comprehend and fufficiently admire and celebrate thy Glory. But, O my God, thou knowest that I love thee, and, bleffed be thy Name, I feel infinite reafon foto do. O that I could love thee more, that I could love thee but as much as Angels and glorified Spirits do, who yet

I

cannot

cannot love thee as much as thou deferveft,because thou deferveft to be beloved infinitely. But my Soul thirfts for thee, and longs after thee, O when shall I be admitted into thy blessed Prefence, there to fee and admire, and love, and adore thee for ever! when shall I Shake off this Clog of finful Mortality, that finks and depreffes me,and flee to thofe happy Regions of perfect Love,where I shall continually feed upon thee with inexpreffible delight, and be filled with a strong and everlasting Senfe of thy Goodneß, O thou that art the beginner and finisher of every good work, be pleased to affift my holy Endeavours to withdraw my mind more and more from thefe fenfible things, that it may have a clearer fight of its heavenly Country from whence it came,and whither it defires to return; that so having my Eye always fixt on that bleffed recompence of reward, I may live above this World, and in despight of all its Terrors and Allurements, perfevere to the end in a steady and even courfe of Obedience. And now, O Lord, fince thou hast been graciously pleafed to infpire my mind with the fe delightful Thoughts of thee, and to enlarge my Heart with fuch sweet Transports of Love to thee; grant, I beseech thee, that they may not only pleafe, but better me; that they may lift me ир above all the Temptations of this World,and revive my Strength, and quicken my Endeavours,and compofe my distrustful Heart into a stedfaft Dependance upon thee, that fo I may be fruitful in all good works, and my heart may be establisht unblameable in holines before thee, unto the coming of our Lord Jefus, Amen, Amen.

After

After you have used one or more of the foregoing Prayers, according as they fuit with the prefent Temper of your Mind, take a short view of your Defects and Imperfections, and especially of those that cleave moft to your Nature; and briefly reprefent to your Mind the intrinfic Evil and Vileness of them, and how they clog your Religion, blemish your Nature, and obstruct your Happiness, and then conclude with the following Prayer for growth in Grace.

God who art the most excellent Nature,the Perfection of all Beauty, and the Fountain of all Graces, who deft infallibly understand what is best to be chofen, and invariably chufe by the best and pureft Reafon; look down, I beseech thee, upon me thy poor defective Creature, who am ashamed of my self to fee how unlike thee I am; how I am laden with ImperfeEtions,and how after all my religious Endeavours, my Nature is still vitiated with unreasonable Lufts and Affections; how much Vanity and Impertinence there yet remains in my Mind,how much Perverfeneß in my Will, how much spiritual and carnal Iniquity in my Affections and Appetites. Lord, I have been long a contending with this corrupt Nature, and yet upon all Occafions I find my felf too too prone to be. Woe is me, even my ties that stick closest fairest Graces have their Spots and Blemishes, my pureft Difpofi

* Here name the particular Infirmi

to your Nature.

tions their finful intermixtures, and my best Works their Flaws and Imperfections. O my God, have pity upon me, who here lie fighing at thy Feet, under a miferable difeafed Nature; and as thon haft begun the bleffed Cure in me, fo for Chrift his

Lake