'Prayers to be used on behalf of a Christian Family.

footstool; we come boldly to the Throne of Grace; we approach Thy Glorious Majesty in our beloved Saviour's name. Clothed with the robe of His righteousness, the pure, white, spotless robe which He hath thrown around us to hide our sins from Thee, we enter Thy cloud of glory, and kneel with boldness, but with reverence and godly humility, before Thee. O give us, gracious Heavenly Father, a sweet sense of pardon through the blood of Jesus Christ. And yet, O Lord, we are unworthy of this blessedness, though we thus address Thee. We are among the evil and the unthankful. Thou mightest have led us forth with the workers of iniquity. We have no right or title of our own to justify us even in approaching Thee: and the love of Thy dear Son is our only plea.

O that at the great day of final reckoning, when our crucified and living Redeemer shall proclaim His Almighty Sovereignty, with ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of the redeemed around Him, not one of those, now kneeling in the presence of our Maker! may be absent, or missing from that Heavenly throng!

Lord, bless this whole family. May it be a family among which Jesus may delight to dwell. May all of us, and all dear to us, be numbered among Thy saints, on earth, and be found daily kneeling at Thy footstool. May they be bright and living examples of the saving and sanctifying influence of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And, Ö Lord, bring to Thy Son, Jesus Christ, any whom we love, who may be still living in sin. Bring all, blessed Lord, to a saving knowledge of Jesus. May not one be a castaway.

The Lord bless us, and keep us. The Lord made His face to shine upon us and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up His countenance upon us, and give us peace, both now and evermore. ΑΜΕΝ.

2.-To be added if any Member of the Family le Suck.

"In every pang that rends the heart,
The Man of Sorrows had a part;

Prayer on behalf of a Sick Member of a Christian Family.

He sympathises with our grief,
And to the sufferer sends relief.

Though now exalted up on high,
He bends on each a brother's eye
Partaker of the human name,

He knows the frailty of our frame.

With boldness, therefore, at the throne,
Let us make all our sorrows known ;
And ask the aid of Heavenly power,
To help us in the evil hour."

Logan.

O Thou God of all compassion, who art a very present help in trouble, we desire to commend to Thy Fatherly care the sick member of this household. In Thee, O Lord, do we hope; and Thou wilt hear us O Lord, our God. We meet together, therefore, to plead with Thee on behalf of that beloved member of this family who is visited with sickness. We know that sickness came into the world through sin. Our many and grievous sins, which we have from time to time committed, justly deserve to be visited with Thy displeasure, O God. But, Lord, Thine only Son came into the world to take our sins upon Him. For His dear sake forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Look down from Heaven, O Lord, and be pleased to hear the prayers which we would offer up to Thee on behalf of our sick brother. Bless the means used for his recovery; and cause him to place full trust and confidence in a gracious Heavenly Father, who doeth all things well. Grant that this sickness may be a blessing to him. May he find comfort in the midst of trial, and that peace which the world cannot bestow. O Lord, we leave him in Thy hands: we commit him to Thy gracious mercy and protection. O Lord, bless him and keep him. O Lord, make Thy face to shine upon him, and be gracious unto him. O Lord, lift up Thy countenance upon him, and give him peace both now and evermore. ΑΜΕΝ.

Prayer for One in Danger.

"THERE IS A LAND OF PURE DELIGHT."

“There is a land of pure delight,

Where saints immortal reign:

There endless day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.

There everlasting spring abides,
And never-withering flowers:
Death, like a narrow sea, divides,
This Heavenly land from ours.

But timorous mortals start and shrink
To cross this narrow sea;
And linger, shivering, on the brink,
And fear to launch away.

Could we but climb where Moses stood,

And view the landscape o'er ;

Not Jordan's streams, nor death's cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore."

Watts.

3.-To le added if the sick one be in danger.

O most merciful and gracious Lord God, the God of all comfort, our only help in time of need; we fly to Thee for succour on behalf of this Thy servant here lying under Thy hand in great weakness of body. Look graciously upon him, O Lord; and the more the outward man decayeth, strengthen him, we beseech Thee, so much the more with Thy grace and Holy Spirit in the inner man. Give him unfeigned repentance for all the errors of his past life, and stedfast faith in Thy Son Jesus; that his sins may be done away, and his pardon sealed in Heaven, before he go hence to be no more seen. Sanctify to him, we beseech Thee, all Thy Fatherly corrections; give him an entire resignation to Thy blessed will; wean his affections from things below, and fix his thoughts on Heaven. O merciful Father, take him not out of this world until he has found pardon for his sins, and peace for his

Prayer for a Blessed Death.

soul, through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, his Saviour.

Blessed Jesus! we remember what Thou didst for those who brought to Thee the sick of the palsy; how Thou said'st, "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee," and didst then command him to arise and walk. O! do the same, if it be Thy will, for us! We know, O Lord, that nothing is impossible with Thee. Say the word only, and Thy servant shall be healed. Raise him from this bed of sickness; and, if it be Thy will, give him renewed health, and grant him a longer continuance amongst us. But, O Lord, we desire from the heart to say, "Thy will be done!" We know that it is appointed unto all men once to die. But Thou hast taken away the sting of death, and hast made it to Thy people the pathway to immortality. Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Lord! we commit the soul of our dear brother unto Thee. Deal with it as Thou mayest think best. Give our brother, blessed Lord, an entire resignation to Thy will. Wean his affections from the things of this world; and, whether it be Thy good pleasure to spare him, or to take him away, grant him the assurance that all his sins have been blotted out, and that his name has been written in the Lamb's Book of Life. AMEN.

4.-Prayer for a Blessed Death.

(From Hele's Offices-slightly altered.)

O eternal and ever-living God, who didst at first breathe into man the breath of life; and when Thou takest away that breath, he dies, and is turned again into his kindred clay : look with pity, we beseech Thee, upon our brother, for there is but a step between him and death. O, let Thy good Spirit work in him whatever Thou seest to be wanting, to fit and prepare him for the time of his dissolution.

Prayer for a Joyful Resurrection.

Give our brother, O Lord, that sincere and earnest repentance to which Thou hast promised mercy and pardon. Wean his heart from the world and all its fading vanities; and to make him to pant after those more excellent and durable joys which are at Thy right hand for evermore. Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon him; and in all the pains of his body, and all agonies of his spirit, let Thy comforts refresh his soul, that he may be enabled to wait patiently till his great change shall come.

And grant, O Lord, that when his earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, he may have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens; and that for His sake, who, by His precious death, hath purchased for all true believers a sure and certain title to everlasting life, Jesus Christ, Thine only Son, our Lord. AMEN.

5.-Prayer for a Joyful Resurrection.

O merciful God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! who is the Resurrection and the Life; in whom whosoever believeth shall live, though he die; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Him shall not die eternally; we meekly beseech Thee, O Father, to raise our brother from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness; that, when he shall depart this life, he may rest in Jesus, as all the faithful do; and that at the general resurrection at the last day, he may be found acceptable in Thy sight; and receive that blessing which Thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear Thee, saying: Come, ye blessed children of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world." Grant this, we beseech Thee, O merciful Father, through Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Redeemer. AMEN.

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