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A Thanksgiving after a return from a

Journey.

BLESSED be thy name, O God, who hast protected and preserved me from many perils and dangers in the journey I have lately taken. Thou hast been a covering to me night and day, in every place where I have been, from I know not how many dangers; and hast at last brought me home in peace and safety to my relations and friends, whom thou hast protected and their dwellings, from all evil accidents.

To thy good providence I wholly owe it; and I desire to be duly thankful for these and all other thy great mercies and deliverances, who hast dealt so bountifully with me.

Endue me, O God of all grace, with a more serious spirit, often reflecting and meditating upon thee, and upon thy benefits both to my soul and body, for this life, and that which is to come; that I may not be taught the value and number of thy blessings, by being deprived of them; but, in their constant use and enjoyment, may praise thy infinite goodness and mercy, with sensible love to thee, and delight in doing thy will.

Bless all others, I beseech thee, that desire the same mercy of which thou hast made me a partaker. Receive them into thy protec

tion; conduct them in safety to the end of their journey; make them ever mindful of thy loving-kindness; and carefully to remember, that every new benefit is a new obligation to better obedience; for thy mèrcy's sake in Christ Jesus. Amen.

A Prayer for a Person upon a Relapse into Sin. O LORD, the great and dreadful God, to me belongeth confusion of face, because I have sinned against thee, and have been guilty of so late iniquity in thy sight. I have acknowledged the justice and goodness of thy laws, and have chosen thy service as the most perfect freedom: I know that without holiness none shall see thee, O Lord; and that tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath, is the portion of all that do evil: and yet, O Lord, foolish and miserable sinner that I am, I have yielded again to temptation, and departed from thy ways, and holiness, of life, for the sake of a present satisfaction, a small and momentary pleasure or gain [here name the particular sin.] And hereby I have incurred thy displeasure, abused thy grace and

mercy and forgiveness, I most earnestly beseech thee to have mercy upon me; O Lord, hear ; O Lord, forgive, and hearken unto my prayers; my conscience reproaches me, and my heart is troubled within me; I feel myself deprived of that hope and confidence in thee, through Jesus Christ, which I had attained by my former repentance and amendment, and now consider and find myself liable to thy wrath, and obnoxious to thy judgments, both temporal and eternal."

Correct me, O Lord, but with mercy, lest thou bring me to nothing; I know that the wages of sin is death; but I humbly beseech thee, O merciful God, who art slow to anger and of great pity, and wouldst have none to perish, but all to come to repentance, spare me, and grant me farther time for repentance, that I may finish the work thou hast given me, and which I now purpose and resolve to make the great business of my future life.

Be pleased, O Lord, for thy Son's sake, and for thy goodness sake, to pardon and forgive what is past; and give me grace to bring forth the fruits of repentance in newness and holiness of life.

Blessed be thy goodness, that there are hopes and assurances for returning sinners in and through Christ, who was pleased to shed his

blood, as a meritorious sacrifice, expiation, and atonement for the sins of the world.

O let that blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge my conscience from dead works to serve thee the living God, and purify my soul from all sin and uncleanness, that I may find the power of his death in my dying to sin, and rising unto righteousness; in having the old man crucified with him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, that henceforth I may not serve sin, but that I may live as becomes the gospel; as it becomes one who professeth godliness, and a most holy religion, and who hath, by solemn vows, undertaken to live according to the precepts of it, and to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts: Oh! make me truly sensible, and always to keep in mind, that on the performance of the duty of a Christian, depend all my hopes of pardon and happiness, and all the benefits that Christ hath purchased for me.

To this end let me seriously consider, that the Christian life is a continual warfare; that we are beset with many and great dangers; and that the devil goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; so that I

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pray, lest I enter into temptations, or they get the advantage over me; and grant that I may avoid all occasions of falling, and never set myself in the way of temptations, but keep at the greatest distance from them.

Let me likewise consider, that if after I have escaped the pollutions of the world, I should again be entangled therein, and overcome, that the latter end will be worse than the beginning; and that it had been better for me not to have known the way of righteousness, than after I have known it, to turn aside from thy holy commandment.

O God, who didst send thy Son into the world to free us from sin, and to redeem us from all iniquity; grant that on my sincere endeavour I may be kept from all presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me. And that I may conquer and overcome all my corrupt affections and sinful dispositions, and may attain all those graces which are necessary for my salvation. [Particularly-] That in the exercise thereof, and of all other Christian virtues and graces for the time to come, I may grow strong in the Lord, and never let go my holy profession, but may proceed from strength to strength, that so an entrance may be ministered to me abundantly into thy everlasting kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.