1. By the Defection of others, or by Variety of Opinions.

O Almighty and most Merciful God! keep me from being a­ny ways unsettled, or shaken in mind, about the way of thy Truth, and of thy Righteousness. Oh! that thy Judgments may not make us harbour any suspition, of the Truth of our Holy Faith; but make us see, that they all come upon us, to try how far we can suffer for it; or to punish us, because we have not been true to it. They are sent, O! Righteous Lord, to punish the Loosness and Wicked­ness of our Lives, amidst the Or­thodoxy and Holiness of our Profes­sions.

And let not any other Persons un­steadfastness in thy ways, how great [Page 59] or numerous soever they be, cause me to waver, or once think of varying from the same. Oh! that I may never follow weak minds, in their fickleness and inconstancy; nor worldly minds, in Varying Belief and Professions, according as they are blown about with every blast of worldly Interest, or Convenience. Let me not think the worse of thy Truths, because others forsake them. Nor run in to those, who prefer the ways of worldly ease, before the ways of innocence. Nor grow weary of the ways of everlasting Life; because others, setting more by worldly enjoyments, are ready to ex­change them, when there is hopes of present security thereby, for ways of everlasting death. Thy Truth, O! Lord, are everlasting, and still the same. And Oh! that my Belief and Love thereof, may always be one and the same too, for our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

2. Or, By a Reverence of any Mens Persons.

ESpecially, O! Lord, let not my reve­rence of any Mens Persons, cause [Page 58] [...] [Page 59] [...] [Page 60] me to erre from the way of thy pre­cepts. Let not them carry me, against my own Knowledge. Nor suffer me to ascribe more Authority, or to have more Belief in their Examples; than in the plain Voice of thy Word, or in the clear & common Notions of Right and Wrong, and of Natural Consci­ence. If they would have me shut mine eyes against this Light; let me no longer reverence, or give ear to them. Yea, Gal. i. 8. Though an Angel from Heaven, should come and preach against the same, let me not believe him. Rom. 3. 4. Let God be true, though they be held Ly­ars. And let these Monitors be ever firmly thought to speak right, though the most admired Persons gainsay it, and both act and speak wrong.

Make me know, O! God, that thy plain Word, and the known and received Dictates of Natural Honesty and Con­science, are always true and faithful; but that every man, even the best of men, are lyable to fail. Let me ever bear in mind, that good men may al­ter and lose their goodness; but that evil and unrighteous things, do not alter, nor can ever lose their unrigh­teousness. [Page 61] So that whensoever a good man falls, to do a manifestly evil, and unrighteous thing; his doing it, can onely make us think the worse of his Person, but is not in any wise to make us think better of the unrighteous Action.

Teach me, O! Lord, that it is thy Law, and not their Example, which is to be my Rule. That I am thy ser­vant, not theirs; and am to hearken unto thee, not unto them; and to Mat. 23. 9, 10. call no man Master upon earth, in oppositi­on to thee my great Master, who art in Heaven. Oh! therefore let thy Truths, O! my God, and not other mens practice, be my Guide; and let thy approbation and acceptance, not their applause, be my recompence, thro' the Merits of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

3. A Prayer for Faith.

O! Almighty and most Merciful Fa­ther, who both seest, & sendest all these sufferings, which are come upon us from the Adversaries of thy Truth; give me Grace, to live by Faith in thee, [Page 62] and not by fear of them; and in all my Actions under the same, to order my self as one who regardeth what thou promisest, and not what they threaten.

Though I converse in the midst of them, and they are full of rage; yet keep me ever mindful, O! Lord, that their Malice cannot hurt me, more than Satans Instruments could touch Job, till Job 1. 10, 11, 12. thou givest them leave. What­soever they devise against me, it will come to nothing, till thy time, and Joh. 7. 10. my hour is come. So that however they threaten, I know I am secure, till thou callest me out to suffering. And since I shall suffer nothing from them, but at thy time, and under thy direction; in the midst of all this fear and dan­ger, I rest my Soul, O! my God, upon thy care, and cheerfully resign my self to thy protection and good pleasure.

And if it seem good to thee to send some sufferings, thou, O! Merciful Father, wilt graciously suit my Try­als to mine Infirmities. Thou wilt or­der me no more, than by thy Grace, 1 Cor. 10. 13. I shall be able to bear; and Psal. 76. 10. the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain. If thou tryest me, it will [...] Pet. i. 6. be only for [Page 63] a season. Thy Grace will take off their Violence, before it has driven me be­yond mine Innocence; Psal. 125. 3. nor wilt thou suffer the Rod of the wicked to rest upon the back of the Righteous, till they are wearied out thereby, to put forth their hand unto Iniquity.

And when thou hast brought me in­to my troubles, make me believe assu­edly, O! my God, that thou wilt not leave me there. Tho' I am in no wise sufficient for them of my self, 2 Cor. 12. 9. thy Grace shall be sufficient for me; for thy strength is made perfect in our weakness. Still as I need thee, O! Father, thou wilt be with me. Thou wilt strengthen me by thy succours, when my Burdens grow too heavy for me. Thou who sendest me tribulations, wilt send me comfort in them; and 2 Cor. 1. 4. make my conso­lations abound by Christ, as my sufferings abound for him. And make all the sor­rows which I endure, to work for thy greater Glory, and my greater good, in thy due time.

And Oh! that in the mean while, I may look steadfastly from the Cross to the Crown, and be firm in the be­lief and expectation, that they who [Page 64] patiently 2 Tim. 2. 11, 12. suffer for Christ, shall be sure to reign with him. Heb. 12. 2. Set the joy be­fore me, that for its sake, I may wil­lingly endure the [...]ross, and despise the shame. And hold my eyes fast on 2 Cor. 4. 17, 18. the exceeding weight of Glory, which shall Recompence our present Ignominy; and on the things eternal, wherewith thou wilt repair our Loss of Temporal, for our Lord Jesus Christs sake. Amen.

4. A Prayer for Trust in God.

O! Almighty and most Merciful Fa­ther, whilst I walk here in the midst of fear and danger, I humbly and cheerfully trust my self to thy care. I place my safety, in an humble confi­dence in thee; and come to meet these difficulties, and prepare to bear them, not in any vain presumption of my own strength, which alas! at best is but weakness; no, nor of any earthly supports; but onely in the Name and Power of the Lord my God.

Lord! I trust to thee, who art able to save me, and hast promised to help me. I trust to thee, who lovest to be trusted, and hast always been true to [Page 65] me, and Psal. 9. 10. never failest those that trust in thee. I look for all my succours, and deliverances, from thy Grace; and am not Is. 28. 16. hasty to fix times to thy Pro­vidence, or to set bounds to my own patience; but am contented, yea thankful, to receive them in thine own way, and at thine own time, even at thy Ps. 102. 13. set-time of sending them. Oh! help me therefore, O! my God, for thy Faithfulness, and thy Mercies sake, and let me not be disappointed of my hope, for our Blessed Lord and Savi­our Jesus Christs sake. Amen.

5. Against trusting more in other things than in God, and fixing too much on Earthly Dependances.

GRant, O! Gracious Lord, that un­der all our tryals & troubles, we may be duely sensible of the vanity and inconstancy of all earthly sup­ports. Oh! that we may never Jer. 17. 5▪ de­part from thee, to trust in them. Nor give over our patient looking up to thee, and thy wise Providence, whose Ways and Methods are far above out of our reach; to presume on our own [Page 66] vain fancies and bold surmises, and Prov. 3. 5. lean to our own understandings. Lord, give us not up to Hos. 12. 1. feed on wind, which serves not to preserve us, but only to puff us up. Nor to turn aside from re­garding thy sure Promises, to support our selves, & delude one another with lyes & vain confidences; and to warm our selves at imaginary Is. 50. 11. Fires, and walk in the Light of those Sparks, which are not of thine, but onely of our own kindling.

Let us not rest our hearts, O! God, and place our confidence, in any Jer. 17. 5 Arm of Flesh; for there is no trust in them. For Ps. 62. 9. surely men are vanity; yea, to be layd in the ballance with thee, they are altogether lighter than vanity. We cannot Jer. 17. 9▪ know all that is in their hearts; and they dayly, and suddenly, change their minds and purposes; or their power fails, and they cannot bring their devices to pass. For where they are the most fixt on things, and seem best prepared for them; 'tis not Prov. 19. 21. their device, O! Lord, but thy purpose which shall stand, & in a moment thou break­est all their measures. And in a little time, Ps. 146 4▪ they turn to their dust, and [Page 67] in that very day all their thoughts perish. They are no staff of support, O! God, but Ezek. 29. 6. a staff of reed to lean upon, and will break, Is. 36. 6. and run into our hands and pierce them, when we lay our weight upon them.

Teach us then, O! Father, in look­ing upon them, not to look off from thee; and to consider them, even the best of them, only as means of thy Care and good Providence, which can preserve and deliver us without them by a thousand other ways, tho' there is not any of them that can profit us without thee. And make us all to look upon thee, as the Lord from whom cometh our help, and in whose sole Grace and Mercy we repose our intire and chiefest Trust, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

7. For Prayers, and unwearyed Devotion under Persecutions.

O! Holy Father, give me Grace to look up to thee in all my distresses, and to make holy & fervent Prayers, both my most bounden service, and my most sure support, under all these Per­secutions. Oh! that the growth of my sufferings, may continually heigh­ten and increase my Devotions. That I may be Rom. 12. 12 instant in Prayers, and [Page 73] Eph. 6. 18. watch thereunto with all perseverance. And the more straitness and scarcity I find at any time, of publick oppor­tunities; make me so much the more diligent and constant, earnest and af­fectionate, in my private devotions.

Let not the Malice of mine Oppres­sors, be able to estrange my soul from thee, or make me weary of convers­ing with the Almighty. Let devotion be the life and stay of my Spirit, and let me never forget, that my chief re­medies against their Violence, are Prayers and Tears. When they drive me from all confidence in my self, teach me to run for sanctuary, and to seek help from thee. Even from thee, O! my God, who with a Fathers pi­ty and tenderness, beholdest what we suffer for thy sake, and wilt support us under the same; who seest our wrongs, and wilt do us right in thy due time. And Ps. 56. 8. who bottlest up all our Tears, and wilt remember them with surpassing and eternal Mercies in the day of Recompences, for our Dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

8. A Prayer for diligent Attendance on Publick Assemblies.

ANd, O! Gracious Lord, in these Tryals, give me Grace diligent­ly to attend upon the Publick Mini­strations, and to make one in offer­ing up thy pure Worship, in the Communion and Assemblies of the Saints.

Make me fully sensible, that when they most violently oppress us, we have most need to fly to thee with joynt accord, to help and defend us. And that when they seek most to ex­tirpate thy pure Worship, it lyes up­on us to meet together, to pay the same and bear it up. Oh! that their Cruelty against it, may enkindle in us a godly Zeal for it. That we may Heb. 10. 23, 25. hold on our Profession without waver­ing; and resolutely stick to thine Ho­ly Assemblies, without which we can not pretend to stand up for thy Cause.

And Oh! that no difficulties, or hazardousness of these Assemblies, may make us indifferent about thy [Page 75] service; and that none among us may lay hold thereof, as an excuse for Ir­religion, or prophane Negligence. Make us all see, that we can have no excuse in rejecting Prayers and pub­lick Ministrations, more than in re­jecting other Duties, only because they are persecuted, and have the Cross upon them. Yea, Lord, let nothing seem so terrible to me, as being de­barred the opportunities of waiting upon thee. Nor any Loss seem so hard to be endured, as losing this way of access to God, and the devotion of my Spirit.

Whilst I am serving thee, make me confident, O! my God, that thou wilt protect me. My safety at all times, lyes in the care and guardianship of thy good Providence. And I can ne­ver have more reason to expect that careful Providence, than when I am taken up in thine immediate service. But if suffering shall happen to meet me there, let me comfort my self to think, that it finds me at a good work, and can not come to me when I am better employ'd. And whatever I lose in this case, make me sensible, [Page 76] O! Lord, that it is not lost, but most wisely and well layd out; and that I can not part with my Worldly Substance for a better Cause, or to my greater Advantange. Oh! that I may Heb. 10. 34. rejoyce in such spoyling of my Goods, as what is a Mat. 6. 20. laying up Trea­sures for my self in Heaven. And be glad to have my poor perishing sub­stance thus lent to thee, to be repayd with an Eternal Inheritance in thy Kingdom, through the Merits of my Blessed Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen.

10. A Prayer for Patience and Charity towards our Persecutors.

O! Blessed Lord, whilst we are suffering at their hands for thy Cause, fill us with Patience, and Cha­rity [Page 80] towards our Persecutors. Keep us always mindful, that there is as much need, of a meek and forgiving Car­riage, as of a Righteous Cause, in those that suffer for thee. And that thou sendest Persecutions, for a Tryal of our Patience and Charity towards our Oppressors; as well as for a Try­al of our Constancy, to thy Truth and Righteousness.

Let us not fail, O! God, of a gra­cious Acceptance with thee, by our impatience and wrathfulness against them. Yea, and let not the way of Truth and Righteousness miscarry in our hands, through the scandal of our angry Passions. Let us not prejudice any against the goodness of our Cause, by the bitterness and implacableness of our spirits; nor tempt good minds, to be hasty in concluding that we want Truth, because they see we can not be easie in suffering for it, and want Charity.

In all our Tryals, O! Blessed Jesus, let us steadfastly consider, how meek­ly and charitably, thou didst endure thine. And learn of thee, 1 Pet. 2. 23. to suffer without threatning, and not only to [Page 81] bear our Enemies, but Mat. 5. 44. to love them. To beat back their Violence, by un­wearyed Patience; and to overcome their inclinations, of heaping Injuries on our heads, by our dayly heaping Forgiveness and Kindnesses on theirs. And, instead of being angry at those, by whom we suffer; let it please us, O! God, that we are counted wor­thy to suffer for thy Name, and ena­ble us to rejoyce at our Losses in this World, in hopes of the Blessed Re­compence thereof in thy Heavenly Kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

11. A Prayer for Grace to turn the same, from carrying on impatience aud anger against others, to carry on amendment of our selves.

LOrd! under all these sorrows and sharp sufferings, teach us to look for the cause thereof within our selves. Our own Sins, O! Righteous Father, are most justly, though severely, pu­nished in them; and our earthly af­fections and dependances, need to be purged off by them. And therefore, instead of envying and accusing others, and taxing the injustice of our Perse­cutors; make us look up with reve­rence to thy Justice, and lay to heart our many private and publick Mis­carriages, and learn thereby to con­demn and amend the errours of our own ways.

[Page 92] Grant, O! God, that the expe­rience of our own fears and failures under our Tryals, may keep us hum­ble and jealous over our selves, and charitable towards the Falls of others. And let our dayly proofs, of thy sea­sonable succours and preservations, teach us to have firm Faith in thee, and to rely intirely on thy care and gracious promises. Let the difficulties which we feel in sustaining Losses for thy sake, shew us the worldliness of our desires. Let the inclinations which we find at any time, to ease or secure our selves by sin, or to allow in our selves what we condemn in others; convince us of the deceitfulness of our own hearts, and of the hypocrisie of our pretences. Shew us all the roots of bitterness, which are ready to discover themselves when we are tryed; and when we see them, give us Grace to cast them out, and to purge our Hearts of the same.

Thus, O! Holy Father, if we can­not amend our Confusions, make them, we humbly intreat thee, thorowly to amend us. And teach us by the need­ful and profitable Discipline thereof, [Page 93] both to walk more perfectly in thy fear; and to bear them with pati­ence, remembring that therein we are reaping the just fruits of our own ways; and to shew Charity towards our Persecutors, as considering how we have done amiss our selves, and how by such Mercy and Forgiveness towards others, we are all to expect Mercy and Forgiveness of our own Offences at thine hands, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

12. A Prayer for Charity to the Per­secuted.

O! Righteous Lord, who tryest thy People with heavy suffer­ings for thy Truth and Righteous­ness sake; give me the heart con­stantly to own thy ways, and those who suffer for them. Oh! that when­soever I see 1 Cor. 12. 26. a Member of thine suf­fering, as a good Fellow-Member, I may suffer with it. That I may be among those, A [...]. 6. 6. who grieve for the af­flictions of Joseph; and come in to bear a share of their Adversity, who are enduring afflictions for thee; and [Page 94] Heb. 12. 3. remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them.

Let 2 Tim. 1. 8. not me be ashamed of the Te­stimony of the Lord, nor of any of those who are his Prisoners. But rejoyce to make my self a Companion of such, as are bearing Tribulation for his Truths, and be glad when I can mi­nister unto their necessities, and re­lieve the same. When I see them Mat. 25. 42, 43. 45. Sick, and in Prison, give me the heart to visit them, or strangers, and forced to leave their own homes for thy Cause, to take them in; or in want of food, and rayment, to supply them therewith. Give me Grace to do something like to them, as I would do to thee, O! Blessed Jesu, wert thou here before me, and in their Condition.

And Oh! that I may look upon such services, as the most blessed op­portunities of shewing my Love unto thys self, remembring that thou wilt say unto us one day, Mat. 25. 40. in as much as ye did it unto the least of these, ye did it unto me. Yea, that I may reekon my self therein, to be shewing kindness, not so much to them, as to my own [Page 95] soul. Knowing, that thus to commu­nicate, and have fellowship with them in their sufferings, is the way to com­municate and have fellowship with them in their Blessedness; and that Mat. 10. 41. he who receiveth a Prophet, or a righteous Man, in the name of a Prophet, or of a righteous Man, shall have a Prophet's, or a righteous Man's reward. Wherewith thou, O! Father, wilt crown, both the Sufferers and their Partakers in the end, through the merits of our Lord and Sa­viour Jesus Christ. Amen.

13. A Prayer for deliverance from Perse­cutions, after one is wearied therewith.

O! Merciful God, who hast visited my Bac [...]slidings, and tryed my Faith, and fixt adherence to thy ways with sharp Persecutions; look now with pity on my sorrows and infirmi­ties, and if it seem fit for thy Glory, and for my Good, send me the sweet and speedy comforts of rest and peace.

Consider my weakness, O! God, for I am Psa. 14 [...]. 6. brought very low. Consider that it is thine own cause, and that I am persecuted for thy sake. Consider [Page 96] those Ps. 69. 6. that wait on thee, and let not them be ashamed, or disheartned for my cause. Consider mine Enemies, and let not them still more and more Ps. 140. 8. exalt themselves. And Ps. 74. 18, 22. remember, that they daily reproach thy ways, and as oft as thou givest them success against us, they triumph in it as thy favouring and owning of their ungodly violence, and asperse thee with their wickedness.

Ps. 74. 22. Arise then, O! Almighty God, and plead thine own cause. Arise, and right the oppressed, and make the proud, and the Men that rage in ways of un­godliness and violence, Ps. 9. 20. to know them­selves. Return not upon them, what they have done to us, O! Lord. But Ps. 83. 16. fill their faces with shame, that they may seek thy Name; and give us ease from their violence, and grace to turn it to thy praise, and to the performance of all holy and thankful Obedience, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

15. A Thanksgiving for any Comfor­table Cessation, or for Rest and Ease from Persecution.

BLessed be thy Great and Glo­rious Name; O! Father of Mercies, and God of all Comforts, for the comfort of these days of ease, from our former Tribulations. Thou hast in great pity considered our Frailty and Weakness, and hath Psal. 125. 3. not suffered the Rod of the Persecutors to lie too heavy, or rest too long upon o [...]r Backs. Thou hast not been Deaf to our Desires when we called upon thee, nor suffered our Hopes in thy Gracious Promises to [...]ail. Thou hast fulfilled thy Word unto thy Servants, who served and [Page 127] suffered for thee in Confidence thereof; and hast made the Wicked to cease from troubling us, and ex­changed the Fiery Trial of their ungodly Violence, for the sweet and refreshing Comforts of this Rest and Peace.

O! Lord, let us never forget this great Mercy, nor abuse it. Let us not grow Careless or Cor­rupt by the Blessings of Peace, or run into Earthly Affections and Dependencies; and contract such Dross, as may need a second time to be brought through the Furnace. But keep us sober, and purged and purified in our Hearts and Minds; and maintain in us [...]uch a Godly Zeal, and watchful diligence under the same, as will make use of the blessed Opportunities of Peace, for going on with more constancy, and with less hindrance and disturbance in thy Service.

And make us learn, O! Graci­ous God, by our past Suffering, and Experience of thy Goodness, to keep improved in Faith and Patience. Having found thee so faithful in [Page 128] our necessity, give us Grace to re­lye upon thee. Let us Heb. 10. 38. not cast away our confidence, nor Gal. 6. 9. grow wea­ry in well doing; knowing that in due time we shall reap, if we faint not. Oh! that the sweet Remembrance of thy Mercies may ever fill our Hearts with Love, and our Tongues with Praise. Oh! that it may make us careful in well doing, and con­fident of thy Faithfulness and Care over us, whilst we commit our Souls unto thy keeping, in holding to thy ways, through our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.