For thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.
— 2 Samuel 7:27
Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
— 1 Kings 8:28
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
— Ephesians 6:17-18
For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
— Philippians 1:19
Certaine Devout Prayers Upon Solemne Occasions, by Robert Bolton. The following contains excerpts. 1638.
O Eternall God, most holy and most Glorious, which dwellest in the highest heavens, and with righteousnesse and truth swayest the Scepter of the whole world, thou that art unto the wicked and rebellious wretches a terrible Judge and a consuming fire, but to the humble and repentant sinners a strong tower of defence, and their exceeding great reward.
We the most miserable and wretched of all thy creatures, though the most noble by creation; for they in their kinds and severall conditions doe thee honour and service, but we whom thou hast plac’d in this world for a more singular and extraordinary glorifying of thee; have not onely made our selves more vile then the basest creatures, and more sencelesse in thy service then the beasts that perish.
…but have even combined with Satan, with hell and with all the powers of darkness, to blaspheme and dishonour thy great name, to profane thy Sabbaths, to break all thy holy Laws & Commandments. O LORD we thus sinful and unworthy, are here ashamed and confounded in thy presence; for our iniquities are increased over our heads, and our trespasses are grown up unto the heavens, so that if now in thy just judgment, thou shouldst come against us, as we have many times, and do daily most justly provoke thee, it had been far better for us we had never been born; Satan would challenge us for his, we should never see thy face again, nor the heavens, nor the earth, nor all the goodness which thou hast prepared for man. From the foul pollution of Original sin, which hath universally infected and possessed all the powers and parts both of our souls and bodies as from a filthy puddle, have issued all kinds of impurities, many works of darkness and fearful transgressions, both in our thoughts, words and actions. Much profaneness and hardness of heart, pride and hypocrisy, contempt of the power of godliness and godly men, a senseless neglect of thy word and judgments, of the way to Heaven and the salvation of our own souls. Even the best of us before our calling, wearied our selves in the vaine pleasures and sinnefull fashions of this wretched world, being detain’d by the policies of hell, either in notorious sinnefullness, or only formall hypocrisy. We walked with boldness in the way of darkness and of death, after the devices and desires of our own wicked hearts, in much bitterness and malice against thy children and their sincerity. Nay and since it has pleased thee to illighten our understandings with saving knowledge, and to pull us by the power of thy good Spirit out of the slavery of sin and Satan into the glorious liberty of thy children: Our best actions and thy good graces in us, have been fouly stain’d by privy pride and secret hypocrisy; we many times stay thy blessings from us by our dullness and untowardness at religious exercises, and by reason we do not faithfully those good things which we know, we have the knowledge of many evil things kept from us which we unadvisedly commit. And whereas heretofore in our new birth, the sins of our unregeneration have wofully vext and disquieted our consciences; yet such is the wretchedness of our corrupted nature, that we have sometimes looked back upon them even with delight, if we have escap’d relapse and backsliding, we do not with that thankfullness and cheerefullness, as we ought, embrace in this happy time of grace and peace, those good meanes which thou hast ordained for our comfort and salvation; So that indeed we walke not worthy of that blessed vocation whereunto we are called, but by our many slips, imperfections and carelessness, we bring much discomfort upon our souls, disgrace to our Christian profession, dishonour to thy Majesty, and offence to our brethren. O LORD we beseech thee for thy holy names sake, and for thy rich mercies in CHRIST JESVS to pardon us all these our offences, and to forgive us all our sins known and unknown, howsoever, or whensoever committed, since or before our calling, and to bury them in the death and Passion of our blessed SAVIOVR, and to hide them in His righteousness for evermore. There is no comfort to be expected to our conscience wounded with the terrour of sin, either in Heaven or in Earth, in Angell, Saint, or mortall man, but only in the spotless justice of thy dear Son. Persuade therefore we beseech thee, upon a good ground, with plentifull assurance every one of our souls, that his precious blood was shed for our sins in particular, that we may sensibly feele the forgiveness of our sins and rejoice in the hope of eternal life.
And for the time to come we humbly intreate thee, to mortify in us all sinful affections, unruly lusts, and unlawful desires, to subdue in us the power of sin, and every corruption whereby Satan keepes us any way in his slavery, or at any time gets the dominion over us. Save us we beseech thee from idleness, worldliness, profaness, security and all occasions whereby thy good Spirit is grieved in us, our graces weakned, and thy great Name dishonoured. Vouchsafe us the Spirit of judgement, that we may discerne betwixt the short span of this wretched life, and the length and breadth of immortality, that we never preferre the pleasures of sin for a moment, and a little glory and preferment in this world, before the testimony of a good conscience, and that excellent weight of glory laid up in Heaven for all thy children. Make us faithful and conscionable in our Callings, zealous and sincere in all religious duties and services, and wisely resolute to stand for thy honour and truth against all opposition either by divels or wicked men. And so direct, we beseech thee, and sanctify all our courses, that for a few and evil days in this vale of teares, we may so store our selves with spiritual comfort, with a sound heart, with a strong faith and a good conscience, that we may stand firme and sure at the day of our visitation, and when upon our deaths bed we shall be set upon, by the weakeness of our own flesh, the terrors of death, the fearefullnes of the grave, and the firiest darts of Satan, we may comfortably pass thorow them all, in the name and power of thy Son, and be receiv’d with joyfulnes & triumph into those sacred mansions, which he has already made ready in Heaven for all those that truly love and fear thee.
In his blessed name we powre out our souls in thankfullness, for all those many blessings and comforts which thou hast vouchsafed us, both upon our souls and bodies, both for this life and a better. For our health, wealth and liberty, our peace, plenty and prosperity, our food, apparell and preservation from our infancy to this very hower, and for all the good meanes of all these. For the free passage of thy glorious Gospell now so many yeares amongst us. But amongst all other temporal blessings of our times, let us never forget, nor we, nor all our posterity for ever, how it pleased thee in our days miraculously to magnify the glory of thy mercy in our wonderful deliverance from the most secret, bloody, and fiery plot of the Gun-powder Treason, that great astonishment of men and Angels. All these outward comforts both public and particular are excellent and precious; yet they are such as we have common with the reprobates and those that shall never see thy face with comfort, but after a short time spent in the miserable pleasures of this vaine world, shall be turn’d to hell and everlasting fire. We therefore more especially magnify thy great name for the more special pledges and tokens of thy infinite love, for that it has pleased thee to confirme and seal unto us by our effectual calling, and the earnest of thy good Spirit, our Election to eternal life from all eternity, our particular Redemption from the powers of hell by the death of thy Son, and an undoubted assurance of the joyes of Heaven in the world to come. Increase in us good LORD, we beseech thee, daily more and more this blessed assurance, which we infinitely esteeme more dear then tenne thousand worlds, by making us to grow in repentance and faith, and spiritual wisdom, and framing us to the obedience of thy Son in all knowledge, love and obedience.
Furthermore gracious Father, we humbly intreate thee, with the bowels of thy tenderest compassions to be merciful unto thy whole Church and every member thereof. Fence it mightily we pray thee with the Spirit of truth, knowledge, and zeal and constancy, that in these worst and last days it may make a strong resistance against the great maine floods of Popery, Schism, profaness and Atheisme.
Be gracious unto this sinnefull Kingdom, and enter not into judgement with the horrible and crying sins, and the many fearful provocations thereof.
…lastly, gracious Father for this sacred business we have now in hand, we humbly beseech thee to bless and sanctify unto us at this time the preaching and hearing of thy holy Word, it is the ordinance of thy own infinite wisdom, it is the glorious instrument which thou hast appointed for the conversion and salvation of the souls of men. But unto us miserable wretches it has been many times thorow the barrenness of our hearts, the secret and deceitful corruptions of our nature, much sleepiness and drowsiness, but as water spilt on the ground, and even the breath of thy Ministers scattered in the aire. Forgive us dear Father all our former untowardness, irreverence and unprofitablenes in these holy exercises; and now at length before we go down into our graves, into black and cruel habitations, from whence we must never returne to praise thee upon earth; let us feele thy divine finger working in us effectually at the preaching of thy Word. Let us have the sense of thine Omnipotency in conquering our corruptions and temptations, that we being thorowly sanctified both in our souls and bodies, forsaking all our known sins, and labouring with sincerity to please thee in all things, may have our fruit in holiness, and the end everlasting life. Hear us, we pray.
Amen.
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