Page:The Book of Family Worship.pdf/281

 providence shall see fit to arrange, or order, or permit. Conduct us, O Lord, in whatsoever path seemeth good to Thee. Let Thy will be our will, so that in nothing which happens unto us may there be a murmuring or repining. Dost Thou require us to relinquish what appears to us advantage and emolument in the world, help us to surrender them withont murmuring. Dost Thou remove from us those we love; or give us the command, "Get thee from thy kindred and from thy father's house"? may we feel that Thou canst not act from caprice, nor command the surrender but for a wise purpose: to Thy command, therefore, may we willingly submit. Dost Thou call upon us to give up all, to set our honse in order, we humbly pray Thee assist us to obey. Thou hast created, us; Thou hast redeemed us; we are Thine. We surrender everything at Thy command. O let us behold Thy face in righteousness; when we awake in the eternal world, let us be satisfied with Thy likeness. Amen.

Our Father, etc.

LORD Jesus Christ, help us, we pray Thee, that our affections and thoughts may rest entirely in Thee, as King and Lord of all. May the light of Thy truth teach us to deny ungodliness, and to live soberly and righteously in this present evil world. May our eyes be lifted up unto Thee as the first and the last,—the bright and morning Star. May we behold in Thee every perfection, every attribute of the Divine nature, and may the fruits of Thy Spirit, even long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance abound in us.

As Thou hast spared us through another day, and hast preserved us amidst the snares and dangers that beset us, may a spirit of devout gratitude and thankfulness lead us for the future to a perfect obedience to Thy divine will. Whenever opportunities of doing good present themselves, may we avail ourselves of them; and may everything we do be done under a conviction that Thou Lord seest us. May we keep in remembrance the period of our great change, and work while it is day; for the night cometh, in which no man can work. Finally, O Lord, while we are in this world, may we so live as to be prepared, when Thou shalt call us, to resign our present existence, and, with humble but joyful hope, enter into the eternal habitations, there to enjoy that fulness of bliss, life for evermore. Amen.

Onr Father, etc.

LORD Jesus Christ, we come before Thee this morning, and pray that Thou wilt so guide us, and so protect us, that every trial we may be subjected to, shall only have the tendency to purify us, and draw us nearer unto Thee. So thoroughly are our hearts bent upon indulgence in our own evil gratifications, that we are unworthy and unfit to be left a single moment to our own guidance. Help us, then, as Thou knowest that our hearts are set within us to do evil, and that continually, help us to set Thee continually before our eyes. May Thy love-smooth what is rough, and soften what is fierce in our nature. May Thy goodness he