Heavenly Father, incline the hearts of children to fulfil their duties to their parents. Teach them that they are bound by the laws of natural affection, and the ties of gratitude, to honour their father and mother-which is also the will of God, and the first commandment with promise. O, how often are the authority and peace of parents disregarded or violated by those for whom they have spent their property, and time, and anxieties; and to whom they have looked for comfort and support in declining age. Lord, do thou make every child feel its obligations to keep its father's commandment, and to forsake not the law of its mother; but to bind them continually upon the heart, and to obey them in reverence and love.

Gracious Parent, look in mercy, I pray thee, on the ungodly children of the church. Lord, shall it be that many shall come from the north, and from the south, and from the east, and from the west, and sit down in the kingdom of heaven, while the children of the kingdom shall be cast out? Turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, until they shall all be households of faith.-But do thou regard, in special compassion, the impenitent offspring of the pious dead. Startle in their memory the echoes of long forgotten parental instructions; bring to their remembrance the images of long neglected examples of parental godliness. And, O let the prayers of these saints, which are kept by thee as odours in golden vials, be poured out before thee, until spirits redeemed shall see of the travail of their souls, and rejoice over their offspring, born again to an endless life.-[See EARLY PIETY, SABBATH SCHOOLS, YOUTH.]

CHRISTMAS.

Heavenly Father, assist me to exercise those feelings of grateful devotion which are suitable to this day, which has been set apart by so many of thy followers, in memory of the birth of thy well-beloved Son. Grant me enlarged and soul-moving views of all that relates to the glorious plan of salvation through a Redeemer.

sores !

Unfold to my mind, I beseech thee, the deep depravity and lost estate into which our guilty race had fallen. The whole head was sick, and the whole heart faint: and from the sole of the foot even unto the head, there was no moral soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying All flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth; and the whole world was guilty before God. Lord, thou wast angry with the wicked every day : thy curse was in their house; and thy wrath treasured up for them perdition in the day of thy wrath. O, if thou hadst not laid help upon One, mighty to save, all men would have had their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Gracious God, make me sensible of that love whereby thou didst give thine only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life-and which thou hast commended to us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Though thou hast shown thy lovingkindness in the works of creation, and in the developements of providence, in this thou hast gathered, as into a bright and burning centre, the matchless proof of thy good-will to man. O, the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge!

Lord, make me to know the excellencies of Christ's glory, and the depths of his humiliation. Though he dwelt in the bosom of the Father, and inhabited the praises of eternity, and exercised the powers of the Godhead, yet he took upon him our sinful nature, was born in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; and was buried, and continued under the power of death for a time. Teach me that he was thus made sin for me, that I might be made the righteousness of God in him.

O God, show me that though he thus gave his life a ransom for many, still there is none who can have redemption through his blood, without the convincing, renewing, and sanctifying power of thy grace. Lord, make me know my sin, and my need of a Saviour; dispose me to turn away from all my transgressions, and to lay hold of the hope set before me in the gospel.

Lord, impress on my heart the features of Christ's lovely and perfect character. May I learn of him who was meek and lowly, kind and patient, obedient and forgiving, wise and holy. Let the same mind which was in him be also in me. Show me

that he is glorified in the bodies and spirits of them whom thou hast given to him; and that if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his. May the grace which has brought salvation, teach me to deny ungodliness and to work righteousness; that his image, destroyed by the fall, may be rerenewed in me, and that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in my mortal flesh.

God of Grace, excite my faith in this blessed Saviour, by clear visions of that heavenly glory

which he has prepared for those that love him. O, thanks be unto thy name, thou hast not only redeemed thy saints from the wretched dominion of sin and the fearful penalties of guilt, but thou hast given them thine unfailing promise, that they shall go into life eternal, and dwell before thy throne, and serve thee day and night in thy temple. Lord,

grant that through his merits, an entrance may be ministered unto me, abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Merciful Father, persuade the ungodly, who are rejecting the Saviour, that without his atoning righteousness their souls must endure the perdition of eternal death; while through his blood they may have remission of sins, and an inheritance among them that are sanctified. Reconcile them unto thyself, through him; not imputing their trespasses unto them. O dispose them to join with fulness of heart, that heavenly anthem, which heralded his birth in our nature-"Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace, good-will towards men!"

CHURCH.

Great Shepherd of Israel, I thank thee that thou hast established thy church on the earth, and hast put the seal of thy redeeming grace on it, and hast promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I would praise thee that he who is thy fulness, has been made head over all things to his church, which is his body, and which he has redeemed by his blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Lord, dispose me to sustain all the relations which I bear to thy heritage. Suffer me not to withdraw, in any degree, from the fellowship of the saints, in

their profession of faith in the Lord Jesus. Thou hast commanded that fellowship; thou hast adapted it to our social nature; thou hast made it the stream of our consolation, the wall of our safety, and the field of our usefulness. May I love to seek thy face in the tabernacles of the righteous, and to worship thee there in spirit and in truth. May I cherish the reputation, and welcome the instructions, and encourage the labours of those whom thou hast set to minister in holy things. Lead me, O Lord, to seek the interest of thy church, in its purity, peace, knowledge, and universal dominion.

Lord, cause all thy people to strive for the welfare of Zion. May they mourn over her desolations, and rejoice when her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burneth. Baptize them by one spirit, into one body; and make them all one in Christ Jesus. May they feel deeply humbled at their want of personal holiness, and at their neglect in extending the blessings of salvation to a perishing world. Let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity. May the sons of God be blameless, and harmless, and without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom may they shine, as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. Make them a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Let utterance be given to them, that they may open their mouths boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel. Let not the ingratitude nor hostility of sinners discourage their efforts to win them to thy service. May they have the pleasure of seeing thy work prospering in their hands, and multitudes added to their number, of such as shall be saved.,