CHAPTER I. 9b death, and a rich andabundant entrance into the kingdom of thy Son in glory. But since while we are here we wear these bodiesof flesh about us, and there are many things necessary to support our lives, and to make them easy and comfortable; we entreat thou wouldst bestow these conveniences and refreshments upon us, so far as is consistent with thine own glory and the de- sig,ns of thy grace. Let our health, our strength, and our peace be maintained, and let holiness to the Lord be inscribed upon them all, what whatsoever we receive from thine hands, may be improved to thine honour, and our own truest advantage ; heal our diseases, and pardon our iniquities, that our souls may ever bless thee." And as we are required to offer up petitions for ourselves, and makeour own requests known to God, so we are commanded to make supplication for all saints ; Ephes. vi: 18. and to offer up prayers and intercessions for all risen ; 1 Tim. ii. 1. And the word intercession is the common name for this part of our peti- tions. In general, we must pray for the church of Christ, for Zion lies near to the heart of God, and her name is written upon the palms of the hands of our Redeemer ^ and the welfare of Zion should be much upon our hearts ; we Ought ever to have the tenderest concern for the whole church of God in the world : his church he values above kingdoms and nations; and therefore if we distinguish degrees of fervency in prayer, we ought to plead more earnestly with God for his church, than for any na- tion or kingdom ; that hewould enlarge the borders of the domi- nionof Christ, that he would spread his gospel among the hea- thens, and make the name of Christ known and glorious from the rising of the sun to its going down; that he would call in the remainder of his ancient people the Jews, and that he would bring the fullness of the Gentiles into his church : that he would pour down a more abundant measureOf his own Spirit, to carry onhis own work upon the earth. And we are to send up long- ing and earnest wishes to heaven, that the Spirit may descend and be diffused in plentiful degrees upon churches, upon minis- ters, upon families, and upon all the saints. We are to pray that God would deliver his church from the power of persecuting enemies ; that he would restrain the wrath of man, and suer not the wicked to trumpla over the righteous. We are also in particular to request of God mercy for the nation to which we belong ; that liberty and peace may be established and flourish in it ; for governors that rule over us, in places of supreme authority or subordinate ; that wisdom and faithfulness may le conferred upon them from heaven, to manage those aftitirs God hath intrusted them with on earth. We must pray for our friends, and those that are nearly related to us, that and would deliver them from all the evils they feel or fear, and bestow upon them all thegood we wish for ourselves here or hereafter.
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