to make thy glory the ruling object of my desires; and to present them only in the name of the heavenly Mediator; whom thou always hearest, for in him thou art ever well-pleased. May every supplication be offered in the wish and hope that Jesus will present it, with his prevailing intercession, at the throne of grace. Lord, make me feel my entire and continual dependance on thee for all the blessings I possess, or hope to enjoy. O do thou give me such a craving sense of want, such a conviction that there is no other source of relief, and such confidence in thy promises, that supplication shall be the language of my tongue, the thought of my heart, and the food of my soul.

Great God, thou art, indeed, not worshipped as though thou needest any thing; for thou givest to all, life, and breath, and all things. It is in mercy to us that thou art willing to hear and answer the prayer of penitence and faith. Thou hast moreover commanded it, as our imperative duty-thus making our privilege and our obligation one and inseparable.

Infinite Fountain of Blessing, grant me the influences of thy Spirit, to show me what I should pray for, and the way in which I should draw nigh to the mercy-seat.-Teach me, I pray thee, the various and numerous wants of my dependent nature, until my thoughts shall grow familiar with them, in all their number, and my heart shall be absorbed by convictions of their importance. Lord, dispose me to submit every object of hope and every pursuit of desire, by prayer, to the control of thy will: and do thou turn me away from continuing or completing any thing, which has not the sanction of thy favour, and upon which I cannot invoke thy blessing. O Lord, suffer me not to confine my supplications to my own wants; but do thou give me a spirit of prayer on behalf of others. Make me feelingly alive to all the interests of thy church, and abundant in intercession for her knowledge, purity, and increase. O burden my heart with anxious solicitude for the impenitent; and lead my feelings out in earnest and importunate pleadings for their salvation.-Lord, suffer me not to approach thee, on any subject, with thoughtlessness or insincerity. Restrain me from a wandering and corrupted mind. May every petition be the expression of true and anxious feeling. Suffer me not to forget my supplications, with the passing breath that utters them; but do thou cause my memory to retain them, and my hope to pursue them; and if I receive not, may I be assured that it is because I ask amiss.

Father of Mercy, assist me to bring my desires into conformity to thy will. Let me not ask thee for any thing inconsistent with thy holy and sovereign pleasure.-Help me to come in the humble boldness of faith to thy throne, that I may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Thou art indeed more ready to hear than I am to pray; and more willing to give than I am to ask. Enable me, I pray thee, to come to thee in the confidence with which I would approach an earthly parent: for if such an one knows how to give good gifts to his children, much more will our heavenly Father give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him. Lord, help thou mine unbelief, and enable me to believe that thou art the rewarder of them that diligently seek thee. -Teach me that if I regard iniquity in my heart, thou wilt not hear me. Do thou therefore cleanse my heart, that my desires may go forth unspotted by sin, and find acceptance in thy sight. Lord, lead me to the thankful acknowledgment of past mercies; and dispose me to hope from them for the bestowment of future good. Bring me to thee, O Searcher of hearts, with humble confession of sins; for it becomes me to say, that instead of having any claim to thine audience and favour, I have only deserved thy displeasure. It is of thy grace that I am even permitted to plead for mercy.

Heavenly Father, dispose me to fulfil every suitable occasion of devotional duty. May I love the public and social supplications of thy saints. Let me not withhold the incense from the family altar. May I delight to hold converse with thee, where there is no other eye to watch, and no other ear to hear, and where I shall feel that I am alone with God. And give me, Blessed Master, that spirit of ejaculatory prayer, which will purify every current of my thoughts, and sanctify every business of my life. O Lord, enable me, in all the vicissitudes of life, to watch unto prayer, and to find that it is good for me to draw nigh to God. May I wrestle, as did thy servant of old, who had power with thee, and prevailed. And may my soul ascribe, in sincerity and love, the praise of all the mercies I derive from thee, to thy matchless grace in the Redeemer, both now and forever. Amen.

PRESS.

God of Wisdom, I thank thee for the invention of the art of printing, by which temporal knowledge and heavenly wisdom have been scattered, in copious profusion, over the face of society. I desire to regard it as a noble instrumentality for imbuing every mind with useful learning, and every heart with saving truth. Yet do thou teach me that its capacity to do good, is often fearfully perverted to do evil. For, O, its works often teem with the pages of folly and slander, licentiousness and infidelity: and its periodical issues, which might be the guardians of public welfare, and the monitors of public virtue, are, many of them, crowded with scandal and falsehood, vice and impiety, which destroy the common good, and deprave the common morality. Gracious God, supplant all these corrupting influences; and cause the whole power of this mighty engine to be exercised on behalf of the temporal and eternal interests of the human family.

Lord, purify our literature in all its forms, and make it auxiliary to religion. Elevate and sanctify the aims of authors, and cause their fountains of thought to flow forth in streams that shall refresh and fertilize the human mind. Let intelligence, prudence, and virtue, control our periodicals of every class. Create distaste and aversion in the reading public, towards every thing that is subversive of morality.

Merciful God, make the press an important means of ascertaining every disputed truth and duty, and of fixing them on immovable foundations. Preserve its liberty, but overthrow its licentiousness. Let it circulate useful knowledge, of every kind, among all the inhabitants of the world. Make it the gift of tongues, to proclaim, in every language, the wonderful works of God. Let the Holy Bible, the sacred tract, the religious paper, and the evangelical volume, reach every household of earth, and fill every mind of man with saving knowledge.

PRIDE.

O thou who hast said that no flesh shall glory in thy presence, redeem and preserve me from the spirit of pride. Show me its folly and sinfulness; and incline me to watch closely against its corrupting influence over my soul. Lord, why should a worm of the dust, a being of weakness, want, and dependence, exalt itself in the vanity of self-sufficiency, and ask the tribute of praise or homage from its fellow-creatures? O, thou hatest pride; thou makest it go before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Lead me, I pray thee, to reflect that this wicked spirit cast out the rebel angels from their first estate, into that fearful darkness, where they are reserved in everlasting chains; and that by it man was beguiled, in the garden of Paradise, into that disobedience which brought death into the world; and that it has ever since been a fountain of guilt, sending forth innumerable streams of corruption and desolation. Enable me to set this vice in strong contrast with the meekness of Christ, and with that humility, by which are riches, and honour, and life. Lord, wherefore should I glory, since all that I am, and all that I have, are the gifts of thine unmerited goodness? O do thou give me such abiding perceptions of thy greatness and excellency, and of my own weakness and unworthiness-such views of the presumption, sinfulness, and danger of pride, and of the beauty and blessedness of meekness-as shall lead me to renounce, at once and forever, the dominion of a haughty spirit.

Great God, stain the pride of human glory. May sinners learn the vanity and guilt of every thing that exalts itself against the will of God. Teach