rt c5UtbE TO PRAYER. Seri. IV. Of Petition. The fourth part of prayer consists in petition, which in- cludes in it a desire of deliverance from evil, which is called deprecation, and a request of good things to be bestowed, which is sometimes called comprecation. And on both these accounts we must offer up our petitions to God for ourselves and our fek low-creatures. The evils we pray to be delivered from, áre of a temporal, spiritual, or eternal kind. " O Lord, takeaway the guilt of our sins by the atonement of thine own Son. Subdue the power of our iniquities by thy own Spirit. Deliver us from the natural darkness of our own minds, from the corruption of our hearts, and perverse tendencies of our appetites and passions. Free us from the temptations to which we are exposed, and the daily snares that attendus. We are in constant danger whilst we are in this life, let the watchful eye of oar God be upon us for our defence. Deliver us from thine everlasting wrath, and from that eternal punishment that is due to our sins in hell. Save us from the power of our enemies in this world, and from all the painful evils that we have justly exposed ourselves to by sinning against thee." The good we desire to be conferred upon is also of a tem- poral, spiritual, or eternal natgre. As we pray for the pardon all our iniquities for the sake of the great atonement, the death of our Redeemer, so we beg of God the justification of our persons through the righteousness of his own Son Jesus Christ, and our acceptance with God unto eternal life. We pray for the sanctification of our natures by his Holy Spirit, for his enlightening influences, to teach us the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus as well as to discover to us the evil of sin, and our danger by it. We pray for the consolation of the Spirit of God ; and that he would not only work faith and love, and every grace in our hearts, but give us bright and plentiful evidences of his own work and of our own interest in the love of God. We say unto God, " O thou that hast the hearts of all men in thine hand, form our hearts according to thine own will, and according to the image of thine own Son, be thou our light and our strength make us run in the ways of holiness; and let all the means of grace be continued to us, and be made serviceable for the great end for which thon hast appointed them. Preserve thy gospel amongst us, and let all thy providences be sanctified. Let thy mercies draw us nearer to thyself, as with the cords of love ; and let the several strokes of thine afflicting hand wean us from sin, mortify us to this world, and make us ready for a departure hence, whensoever thou pleasest to call us. Guide us'by thy counsels, and secure us by thy grace; in all our travels through this dangerous wilderness, and at last give us a triumph over
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