NINETEENTH WEEK.—FRIDAY. — Morning

O GOD, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for thy mercy shown to us as a family, and as individuals, during the past night, we praise Thee. We bless Thee for preservation from numberless evils. We bless Thee for food, raiment, health, friends. Above all, we bless Thee for the gift of thy Son, to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin, and also an ensample of godly life; and for the promise of thy Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.

We confess ourselves most unworthy of all this mercy and love. We are sinners, great sinners. Oh, be not extreme to mark what we have done amiss. Blot out as a cloud our transgressions, and as a thick cloud our sins. Pour out upon us this morning thy Holy Spirit. Raise up thy power, and come amongst us, and with great might succour us. Keep constantly before our minds to-day the remembrance of thy great love, and let it constrain us to avoid all sin, and to seek in word and work to glorify Thee. In all the manifold temptations to which we may be exposed to-day, be Thou with us, and strengthen us to resist and overcome them. In all the troubles that may befall us to-day, be Thou with us. Give us comfort, and a quiet mind. Enable us to see thy hand in all, and to believe that all is well. In all the difficulties in which we may be placed to-day, be Thou with us. Give us counsel and guidance; deliver us from impatience; help us to cast all our care upon Thee, and then quietly to wait for the way of escape which Thou wilt open to us.

And especially we pray Thee to make us useful to others to-day. By word and by example, help us to point them to Jesus. May we ourselves live, and speak, and act as those who have been separated to be thine own. May we ever show by our conduct that we have taken Christ for our Master and our Friend; that we are really resting upon Him as our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption; and that we have a good hope that hereafter we shall live and reign with Him.

Bless, O God, all our dear relatives and friends. Make them all thy children by adoption and grace.

Bless our beloved Queen, our rulers, and our country generally. Let peace and concord abound, and hasten that glad day when thy name shall be magnified throughout the whole world, and when the knowledge of thy glory shall cover the earth even as the waters cover the seas.

Pardon, O Lord, the imperfections of these our prayers, and do exceeding abundantly for us above all that we can either ask or think, for his sake in whose merits alone we trust, even Jesus Christ, thy dear Son, our Saviour. Amen.