O ALMIGHTY and everlasting Father, who in the beginning spake and it was done, saying, “Let there be light, and there was light;” O most adorable Redeemer, who, when Adam had eaten the forbidden fruit, wast revealed as the seed of the woman, and didst in the fulness of time die an accursed death to save us from the guilt and power of our sins, and thereby break the serpent’s head; O blessed and eternal Spirit, who didst once move upon the face of the great deep, who didst overshadow the blessed virgin, who didst descend on the Son of God at his baptism, and didst come down after his ascension in fiery tongues upon the heads of each of his apostles; O holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three persons and one God, by whose joint consultation we were first made, and into whose name we have been again baptized; Accept my humble and hearty sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, for calling me out of darkness into thy marvelous light; for quickening me when dead in trespasses and sins, and moving on the face of my polluted and disordered soul.
Thou hast promised, O Lord, that thou wilt not quench the smoaking flax, or break the bruised reed. And thou hast told us, that thy Holy Spirit should be in us as a well of water springing up unto eternal life. Finish therefore, I beseech thee, the good work begun in my soul, and now thou hast called me, never let me lie down again in sin.
Thou seest, O Lord, the good seed sown in my heart, is but as yet as a very small grain of mustard-seed. O continue to water, with the dew of thy heavenly blessing, what thy own right-hand hath planted, and it shall become a great tree.
Thou hast touched the eye of my mind by thy divine power, and I see men as trees walking. Let thy holy Spirit, by his blessed influences, more and more remove the remaining scales, ’till I at length see all things clearly.
With shame and confusion of face, O Lord, I confess, I am unworthy of this and all other thy mercies. For I have long since done despite to the Spirit of grace, crucified the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame. But do thou, who art rich in mercy to all that call upon thee, in faithfulness forgive me what is past, and grant I may from henceforward work out my salvation with fear and trembling, since thou hast so graciously wrought in me both to will and to do, after thy good pleasure.
I know, O Lord, that now thou hast begun to deliver me out of my natural, and worse than Egyptian bondage, I must expect to pass through a barren and dry wilderness, that there are lions in the way, that the sons of Anak are to be grappled with, before I attain to the true sabbath of the soul.
But thou, angel of the everlasting covenant, who didst send thy ministring spirits to rescue righteous Lot, who [♦]leddest thy sheep by the hands of Moses and Aaron, and didst appear in a vision to Ananias, commanding him to go and lay his hands upon thy servant Saul; send me always a faithful and experienced pastor, who may lead me by the hand, and keep me from lingring in my spiritual Sodom, by his prudent directions under thee; and preserve me from the snares and fury of my spiritual adversaries, which otherwise may overtake and destroy my soul.
[♦] “ledest” replaced with “leddest”
O make me teachable like a little child. Convert my soul and bring it low. Grant I may be willing to learn what things I ought to do, and also may have power faithfully to fulfil the same.
Strengthen me, I beseech thee, by the holy Spirit, to cut off a right-hand, to pluck out a right-eye, to lay aside every weight, especially the sin that doth most easily beset me; to forsake father and mother, brethren and sisters, yea, and my own life also, rather than not be thy disciple.