Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, now and for

ever.

XLII.

SATURDAY EVENING.

THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST PLEADED, AND SABBATH BLESSINGS SOUGHT.

O thou that inhabitest eternity, with whom one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, we, whose life is a vapour, who have here no continuing city, do in this our day of grace and salvation, come unto thee for eternal life and blessedness. If we, being evil, know how to give good things to our children, how much more wilt thou, our heavenly Father, altogether good, give unto us good things. Give us then that pre-eminently good gift, thine own Spirit, to be our Teacher and Sanctifier, to create us anew in thine own image, and strengthen us to do all thy will.

Unworthy as we are to approach unto thee, there is one in our nature who is truly worthy, and who is thine elect, in whom thy soul delighteth. He wears our very form, and he is now at thy right hand, on thy throne, making intercession for us. By him then we come near to thee, and now desire the joy of communion with the Father of our spirits.

Our wants are indeed many and great. We want a constant spirit of prayer, a believing heart, a soul

in which love to God and man shall be largely shed abroad from on high. Give us many spiritual blessings on the approaching Sabbath. May it be a day remarkable for the fulness of thy grace. Bless us in all its services. Pour showers of blessing on our dry and weary souls.

Open the mouths of thy ministers to speak thy word; open the hearts of the people to receive it; open their eyes to understand it; and may thy word sown bring forth fruit in them, some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred fold.

O Lord, graciously preserve us and deliver us from mere formality in prayer, Let us not in daily and weekly confession of sin, lose the sense of what it is we confess; but may we feel that it is an evil thing, and very bitter, to sin against the Lord. May we learn to hate sin with real hatred, and not to bear with sin in ourselves or in others.

Bless all the congregations of thy people on the morrow, in all the churches of Christ through the world. Thousands, O Lord, of the sick, would fain attend thy house, and are kept from it. Lord, bless all such with Sabbath grace while unable to come into thy courts. Tens of thousands wilfully absent themselves. Lord, convert them. Lord, teach them to prize what they now despise or disregard. Many are kept away by thy providence; some on the wide ocean, some in foreign lands, some beyond reach of the public means of grace, and some unexpectedly

and unwillingly detained from them. Lord, look on them all in their respective circumstances. God be

merciful to his people Israel, and bless them, and lift up the light of his countenance upon them. O may they know the blessing of our Lord's day. God grant that Christ may speedily be the light of the Gentiles. Let all thy people, let all men with one accord unite in saying-Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands, serve the Lord with gladness, and come before his presence with thanksgiving.'

Thanks, eternal thanks be unto thee, O our Father, for thy merciful kindness is great towards us, and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. The Lord is our strength and our salvation, and he shall be our song for ever.

O Lord, hear the prayers which we, a feeble com. pany of thy sinful children, at the close of another week and the approach of another Sabbath, have now made. We acknowledge our utter helplessness before thee, and that in vain will the prayers of our church be offered, in vain will thy ministers preach, in vain will the song of praise ascend, if thou pour not out of thy Spirit, if thou do not kindle the sacred fire of prayer and praise and love; if thou give not the seeing eye, the hearing ear, the understanding and believing heart. Grant to us and to all thy worshippers through the earth, these inestimable blessings, that we may worship thee in spirit and in truth, for Jesus Christ's sake.

130

Fourth Week.

XLIII.

LORD'S DAY MORNING.

FOR A BLESSING ON THE CHURCH IN EVERY LAND AND ON OUR OWN EFFORTS TO DO GOOD.

O Lord, our only refuge and strength, whose eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show thyself strong in behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards thee, give us a heart truly sound, and right, and perfect in thy worship and service. enable us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, as made of thee unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and by his blood may we now have access with boldness unto thee, through one Spirit.

This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it. Be thou our joy. Be thou our delight. Pour a full blessing upon us; may all the ordinances of thine appointment be enriched with thy grace, and presence, and blessing; so that we may have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things profitable for us to know, and attain thy holy mind and will, and delight in thy ways.

Assist all thy ministers. Open their mouths

every where, boldly and fully to declare the gospel of the grace of God. O that the name of Jesus may be as ointment poured forth, in the midst of thousands and tens of thousands of congregations of thy people in Europe and Asia, in Africa and America, in the isles of the sea, and in vessels traversing the wide ocean, and through the whole world on this thy holy day. Restore Jerusalem speedily. May thy righteousness and loving-kindness be proclaimed to Jew and to Gentile, and in every assembly of thy people clothe the word of salvation with divine power and energy; that it may penetrate, awaken, convert, build up, comfort, and sanctify innumerable precious souls, and every where make ready a people, all prepared for thy coming and thy glory.

Assist us in all our efforts to do good this day to the bodies or souls of those needing our help. Prosper our efforts for the instruction of our more ignorant fellow-creatures, whether old or young. May all our thoughts, our words and works be full of truth and love, and all such as shall glorify thee and benefit man; and may none of our plans to do good fall to the ground and be lost, but all be patiently carried forward by thy grace, and have a blessing from on high. May we see the fruit of our labours, and know of a truth that our God is with us.

Hear us for the only sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.