Most merciful Father, who art in heaven, and who seest all things that are done on earth, let thy name be hallowed, by all thy creatures, and let me ever carry it towards thee as a great and holy God: May thy kingdom come, and be set up more universally in this world, by the preaching of thy gospel: May all nations submit themselves to thee and to thy Son Jesus Christ: Let thy Spirit rule in the hearts of men, and thy will be done among us on earth, as it is among the angels in heaven: Give me this day my daily bread, and every day of my life bestow on me those things, which are necessary to maintain my health and strength, that I may be more capable of serving thee: Forgive my trespasses, which I have committed against thee, for the sake of the death and intercession of thy dear Son, and enable me from the heart to forgive those who have trespassed against me. Lead me not into temptation, nor let me run carelessly into danger of sinning, but deliver me from the evil one, and from all his devices to defile and destroy my soul: For the kingdom and government of all things, belong to thee: Thou hast power to do whatsoever I ask: And all honour and glory are thy due for ever and ever. Amen.

A SERIOUS ADDRESS TO CHILDREN AND YOUTH, RELATING TO THE GREAT AND NECESSARY DUTY OF PRAYER.

DEAR CHILDREN,

GIVE me leave to propose to you a few serious considerations, to awaken your desires

to seek after God, and to pray to him in your early years, and if you are convinced that this is your necessary duty, you will then more readily hearken to the advices that follow. I. "Consider who and what God is."

Have you not been told that he is an Almighty Being, who made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them? that he is a Spirit, and that he is every where present, though you cannot see him? that he knows all things that you do, and that he can do all that you desire of him? that he is holy, and hates sin, and yet that he is very good and full of mercy, even to his sinful creatures? that he is the greatest, the wisest, and the best of beings? and does he not expect you should love and honour him, who is so great and so good? does he not require that you should praise him for his glorious nature, and for his wonderful works, or have you learned to know him in vain? And is he not your heavenly Father who gave you a being? Did he not make you to love and serve, and worship him? And how can you pretend to serve, and love him, if you never pray to him? Could you but see him, children, you would think him the most lovely and most excellent of all beings, and should you not then be exceeding desirous to be more acquainted with him, and seek to obtain his love? II.

66

Consider who and what you are."

Are you not young creatures, that a few years ago had no being at all, and you cannot preserve your own lives? And is it not of high concern to you to be acquainted with that God, and to pray to him upon whom your very being depends. He that made you can destroy you. And besides, are you not sinful creatures and have deserved the

anger of God? Do not your own hearts and consciences tell you that you have done many things amiss and that you have provoked that God who made you, to be angry with you, and to take away all your comforts? And are you willing to continue under his anger for ever? Do you know how terrible is the anger of God, who can make you miserable in this world, and in that which is to come? And is he not very gracious, to call upon such sinners as you are, to pray to him? Is it not necessary therefore that you should come humbly before him, and fall down on your knees and confess your sins, and entreat him to lay his anger aside, and to love you notwithstanding all your offences? This leads me to the third consideration.

Those wants, which you take the first and most common notice of, are such as relate to your bodies and your present life, which are called temporal wants. Do you not stand in daily need of food and raiment, that you may not suffer sharp hunger and cold? Do you not want the continuance of your health and your ease, that you may not pine away with sickness and pain? Can you keep yourselves alive, or can any of your friends here on earth keep you from dying? Do you not know, that God is the author of all your comforts, and it is on him you depend for daily food and clothing, for health and strength and ease, for recovery from sickness, and for preservation from death? It is certainly from God, that you must seek all these things by prayer.

Are you not exposed to dangers every day, and every night? Do you not want the care of God to keep you both night and day? to preserve you from mischief, from fires, from violent and cruel men, and from all evils of every kind? And since you deserve nothing at the hand of God, can you suppose he will watch over you, as with his eye, and cover you from all evil, as with his hand, if you never call upon him, nor ask his favour? But in the next place, do you not know, that you have a soul as well as a body, and that you want some spiritual blessings, for your souls, as well as temporal blessings, that belong to your bodies? Let us now consider, what these spiritual wants are.

Since you are guilty creatures, do you not greatly want the forgiveness of your sins? Have you not been taught, that your sins have deserved great and sore punishments both here and hereafter? And are you not very desirous to be delivered from this punishment? But can you expect God will pardon and deliver you, if you never pray to him for pardon?

And since you cannot do any thing, to make recompence to the great and holy God, for your offences, how speedily should you apply to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who now dwells in heaven, who did once here on earth, make recompence by his death, for the sins and offences of men? He is the great Mediator and Peace-maker between God and man? How earnestly should you pray, that you may enjoy the benefit of his mediation, and that he may bring you into a state of peace with God, and reconcile you to him? How should you cry to God, that he would forgive you, for the sake of his wellbeloved Son Jesus Christ? Methinks, since you are sensible that you are guilty sinners, you should not be easy one day, without seeking to God for mercy and forgiveness.

Remember also that though your sins were pardoned, yet you have a sinful nature in you, ready to offend God again continually. Do you not find yourselves too ready to commit new sins? Are you not soon ready to be angry, without a cause, or to strike others presently, or call them ill names, if they do not act just as you would have them?

Are you never ready to be envious, that is to grow uneasy, and fret, if other children have better things than you? Are you not ready to disobey your parents or your governors, or to spend your time in play, when you should be at work, or learning your book? Are you not sometimes inclined to hide your faults, by telling a lie? Do not you find yourselves too ready to learn evil words, or to wish evil to others, or take something privately by stealth, that is not allowed you, or to do something that is forbidden? And do you not see then, how much you want to pray for the grace of God, to keep you from sin daily?

And are not your minds too ignorant of God, and religion, and heavenly things, as well as you find your spirits too ready to yield to sin? Is it not a pleasure to you to think, that God has promised his own Holy Spirit, to instruct you in the understanding of holy things, as well as to help you, in doing your duty both to God and man? This is a blessed promise, indeed, to poor ignorant sinful creatures, such as we are. But can you think, God will give his grace, or his Holy Spirit to them, who never pray to him, or ask him for it? and are there not encouragements given, by our Saviour himself, to such requests? Do you not read in your Bible; Luke xi. 13. "If fathers give good gifts to their children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" But besides your temporal and spiritual wants, is there not another sort of blessings, that you stand in need of, which are called eternal blessings? Do not you know, that you cannot live here always? Have you not been taught that your body must die, and be buried, and turn to dust, in the grave; and that your soul, or spirit, which cannot die, must then go into another world? Have you not been told, that Jesus Christ the Son of God, who died for sinners once on earth, is now gone to heaven, to take care of the souls of his people, when they leave this world? And do you think Jesus Christ will take care of your soul, when it comes like a stranger into that other world, if you have not been acquainted with him, by believing his word, and if you have not committed and entrusted your soul into his hands by prayer.

You must go to stand before God the Judge of all, when you die; and are you prepared and fit to stand before God, if you have not obtained a good hope, that God loves you, and is reconciled to you? There are but two places in the other world, and these are heaven and hell: Heaven for the righteous, who love God and pray to him, and hell for the wicked, who neither pray to him, nor love him. And can you ever hope that God will save you from hell and the devil, and that he will receive you to dwell with himself, and with his Son Jesus Christ in heaven, if you never pray to him for these blessings? IV. "Consider what your mercies are."

How kindly has God dealt with you in this world? Has he not given you such parents and friends, who by his order provide food and raiment, and house and bed, and every thing convenient for you? How many poor children are there that want these comforts, and are exposed to hunger and cold? Have not your parents and friends taken care, that you should be taught to read, and to learn many things for your good, both here and hereafter? Do you not know that it was God who put it into their hearts, and also made them able to do it? How many thousand poor creatures are there in this land, who know nothing of God and cannot read a word? Is it not God, who has made this happy difference between you and them? and should you not praise him for his goodness? Have you not seen other children blind, or lame, or crooked, or foolish? Is it not God, who has given you your limbs and your senses? Is it not the same good God, that gives

you health and peace by night and day; and are you not bound to thank him for these his mercies? What! would you live like the brute beasts, who eat and drink and sleep, and take no notice of the great God from whose hand all your blessings come?

Has not God, by his good providence, caused you to be born and bred in Great Britain, in a land, where you have learned the knowledge of the true God, and are not brought up, to worship images of wood or stone among the heathens? Have you not the Bible, the book of God in your hands in English, where you can read of God, and Christ, and heavenly things; whereas the papists breed up their children without their Bibles, and had you been born among them, you must have lived in great ignorance too? And since you are taught to know God and the way to heaven, as well as blessed with so many blessings here on earth, is not your heart full of thankfulness to God? And how can you refrain from falling down upon your knees, and praising the mercy of God, who has done all this for you?

V. "Consider what relation you stand in to others.'

Have you not a father and mother that you are bound to honour and love? and would you never pray, that God would bestow his best blessings on them, and make them live long to breed you up in his fear? Have you not brothers or sisters, or other friends and relations that love you? and have you no mercies to ask of God for them? Do not your masters or teachers, ministers or governors desire that you should pray to God to bless them, that they may the better instruct you, in the knowledge of all things, useful for this world and that to come. They pray for you, and you should pray for them. Have you not heard of magistrates and rulers, who keep all the town, or city, and the whole nation round about you in peace? Have you not heard of our most excellent king George the Second, who preserves the protestant religion among us, and keeps us from being plundered and ruined by the cruel and bloody papists? Have not you heard of the royal family of princes and princesses, by whose means, we hope, this kingdom will be for ever preserved from popery and slavery? And are you not bound to give thanks to God for such a protestant king, and pray for all blessings upon him and his royal house for ever.

And indeed you stand so nearly related to all mankind, that you should sometimes lift up a prayer to heaven for them. Pray for heathens, and Turks, and Jews, that they may be turned away from their follies and errors, and false religions, and be led into the ways of truth and holiness and eternal peace. And you should pray for the nation, also, to which you belong, that we all may be preserved in peace and prosperity: And can you not find in your hearts to forgive those that have injured you, and to lift up one prayer for your enemies that God would forgive them too? This must be done if you would be christians indeed.

Since then, dear children, there are such a multitude of reasons, that oblige you to pray to God, since you see it is your constant duty, and it is your highest interest, if you would be safe and happy in this world, or the world to come, I would persuade myself, you will delay no longer, but begin this religious work immediately; and I humbly hope and pray, that God would abundantly assist and bless you therein, that you may learn from your own experience, how sweet and profitable a thing it is, to call upon the name of the Lord*.

* To encourage you herein, read an excellent little discourse, lately published called, "The Necessity and Advantages of Closet Religion."

ADVICES TO CHILDREN RELATING TO PRAYER.

I. ADVICE.

IF you make use of any of these prayers, let your parents or teachers assist you, in choosing such as are proper for your age and your capacity; and be sure, that you learn to understand every word and sentence, in the prayer which you use: If there be any expression in it, which you do not understand, ask your friends the meaning of it before you speak it to God, that you may not speak words like a parrot, who knows not what he says, or like the children of the papists who are taught to say their prayers in Latin," when they do not understand one word of them.

II. Learn the prayers which you use, by heart, as soon as you can: For hereby, you will be able to pray in the dark where you cannot see to read: Hereby also, you will learn what is the sense and language of a christain prayer, and so you will the sooner be able to form prayers for yourselves, and pray to God without such prayers composed for you. But, I would not have you entirely neglect or omit, praying to God all the while you are learning them by heart: For if you read them in a very humble, serious and pious manner, God will accept your morning and evening worship. This is far better than to live without prayer, to live as the brute beasts, who never call upon God. And indeed, when you can repeat the prayers by heart, I cannot think it amiss, many times to have the book open near you, lest your memory should slip, in your younger years of childhood, before you are capable of putting in other words of your own, to supply the place of these words, which you have forgotten.

III. Seek out a proper time, to retire alone by yourself, morning and evening, at those seasons or hours, wherein you have no other necessary business or duty.

And here I would persuade myself that parents or masters, who take due care of the souls of children, would not only admonish and encourage them to seek God in secret, morning and evening, but would point out a proper place for their retirements. This is easily done in private families: And they should make some observations, whether children observe these seasons or no. In some schools, I have heard there are certain seasons in the day, which are called "The half hour," which are ordained, on purpose, for children to retire; and, if they cannot be entirely alone, yet at distant parts of their bedchambers, they may lift their hearts, and their low voices, to God in worship.

In the morning I would generally say, the earlier the better: For if you lose the first opportunity, you will often find that you will be utterly hindered from praying, by other things that may happen. Besides, it is best to call upon God early, and begin the day with religion, that you may beg a blessing on yourself, and on all your business that day. Do not begin with the world in the morning, before you have been with God. In the evening, I cannot say the later the better: But rather embrace the first convenient evening hour that offers, lest you be drowsy. However, it is much better to pray late, than not to pray at all. If, at any time, you are hindered in the morning, be sure, if possible, that you be not hindered in the evening too. But, the best way, is to keep pretty nearly the same seasons, every day, for your morning and evening retirements, if your circumstances of life, and the affairs of the family, where you live, will allow it.