For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; of whom the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named; that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthene, &c. Eph. iii. 14-16. Read on to verse 21.

THIS is a prayer, and a form fit to be used by ministers for their congregations, and by all Christians for themselves: it may be used as a daily prayer; we should offer it up in faith, without apprehending that the favour we ask is too great. God will do exceedingly more for us than we can either ask or understand. Whatever we ask, he will grant us still more; for though we are sinners, yet Jesus hath received gifts even for sinners; and to every one of us (ver. 7.) is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ, that we may enjoy all things richly, Christ being rich towards alf them that call upon him. O God, thou art our Father, reconciled to us in Christ; grant us therefore power, great power, according to the riches of thy glory, not according to the narrowness of our hearts. We stand in need of great power, for we have great enemies! strengthen us by thy Spirit in the inner man. Lord Jesus, do thou dwell in our harts, and grant us to be rooted in thy love, that we may know it more and more, and that it may be shed abroad in our hearts, and that we may be filled with all the fulness of God.

To thee, my God, I daily sigh,

But not for golden stores; Nor covet I the brightest gems

On the rich eastern shores.

Nor Pleasure's soft enticing charms
My fond desires allure;

Far greater things than earth can yield,
My wishes would secure.
Those blissful, those transporting smiles
That brighten Heav'n above;
The boundless riches of thy grace,
And treasures of thy love.

Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear. Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. Therefore, remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart. Psalm cxix. 11, 38; and ver. 6, 32, 49.

Go

OSPEL comforts sweetly and powerfully urge us to obedience; and law terrors check us from resting on that obedience. Both are needful, to guard us from security and legality. Whosoever despises or neglects obedience, entertains a false notion of the gospel, and is running headlong into licentiousness and ruin: and he who relies on his obedience to justify him, defeats the design of the gospel, and frustrates the grace of God, making it of no effect. May the Lord lead and keep us in the right way!

Laden with guilt, and full of fears,

I fly to thee, my Lord;
And not a glimpse of hope appears
But in thy written word.

This is the judge that ends the sfrife,
Where wit and reason fail;

My guide to everlasting life,

Thro' all this gloomy vale.
-O! may thy counsels, mighty God,
My roving feet command;
Nor I forsake the bappy road
That leads to thy right band!

Through the law I am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the fuilh of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal. ii. 19, 20.

HRIST being our Head, in whom all fulness dwells, he will certainly fill all his members with life and strength, according to his promise. John xiv. 19. "I live, and ye shall live also ;" and chap. xvii. 3. "This is eternal life," &c. To know Christ, and God in Christ, as love is true light and life; he that has this has enough. O the excellency of the knowledge of Christ! O Lord, teach me to know thee as the Bridegroom of my soul, that the law may not rush into my conscience, now thy bride-chamber, and condemn me any more! I desire to be devoted to thee alone. Rom. vii. 4. Grant, therefore, that my whole heart and life, all my words and actions, may be governed only by a living faith on thee, who hast loved and given thyself for me!

Come, dearest Lord, descend and dwell
By faith and love in ev'ry breast;
Then shall we know, and taste, and feel,
The joys that cannot be exprest.

Come fill our hearts with inward strength,
Make our enlarged souls possess,

And learn theheight, and breadth,and length
Of thine unmeasurable grace.

Now to the God whose pow'r can do
More than our thoughts or wishes know,
Be everlasting honours done

By all the Church, thro' Christ his Son!

I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. Psalm cix. 22.--Divine Answer: I know thy poverty, but thou art rich. Rev. ii. 9. For, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Matt. v. 3. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your hearts shall live for ever. Psal. xxii, 26. The Lord healeth the broken in heart, the Lord lifteth up the meek. Psal. cxlvii. 3, 6. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. Matt. xii. 20.

SUCH are the tender mercies of Christ towards the weakest of his people, that he supplies them from time to time with all proportionable strength, till at last they are able to gain a complete victory. As soon therefore, as we are sensible of our poverty, or miserable condition, and are desirous of grace and strength to overcome sin, and evidence that desire to be sincere by constant prayer, we have actually some grace and spiritual life, and are delivered already from the jaws of Hell; for there is no such feeling in dead souls; and in Hell there is only a desire to be delivered from the punishment of sin, but not from sin itself.

Bless'd are the humble souls, that see
Their emptiness and poverty;
Treasures of grace to them are giv'n,
And crowns of joy laid up in Heav'n.

Bless'd are the men with broken heart,
Who mourn for sin with inward smart;
The blood of Christ divinely flows;
A healing balm for all their woes.

I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John viii. 12. Therefore, walk while ye have the light, lest durkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. Chap. xii. 35.

HE that is faithful, keeping ever close to Christ, and his light, strictly watching and obeying the motions of his Spirit, will be evermore tender in conscience, and receive so much more light: consequently he will be from time to time more deeply rooted in repentance, faith, and assurance, so as either to be preserved from many combats and disorders, or at least be carried sooner through the same. He may meet with dark valleys in his pilgrimage (for Nature is covered with darkness, and grace sometimes only glimmers like a spark); yet by degrees it will blaze, and at last break through and enlighten all our darkness.

Is he a star? he breaks the night,
Piercing the shades with dawning light:
I know his glories from afar,

I know the bright, the morning star.
Is he a sun? his beams are grace;
His course is joy and righteousness!
Nations rejoice when he appears

To chace their clouds and dry their tears.

Nor earth, nor seas, nor sun, nor stars,
Nor Heav'n his full resemblance bears!
His beauties we can never trace,
Till we behold him face to face!
O let me climb those higher skies,
Where storms and darkness never rise!
There he displays his pow'rs abroad,
And shines and reigns th' incarnate God.