PRAYER-BOOK.
My Friends and Fellow-Christians,
We, dust and ashes, are assembled to speak unto the ⟨Holy⟩ Lord God of heaven and earth, our Maker and our ⟨Judge⟩, who deserves from us all possible reverence ⟨whenever⟩ we presume to call upon Him. We are going to ⟨pray⟩ to that God who strictly charges us to take heed ⟨that⟩ we draw not nigh to him with our lips, whilst our ⟨hearts⟩ are far from him—to that God who is of purer ⟨eyes⟩ to regard our services without the meditation of the ⟨Holy⟩ One and the Just, who died for our sins, but hath ⟨promised⟩ to give us whatever we shall ask of him in his ⟨name⟩, and to perform all our petitions.
Now, therefore, let us lift up our hearts to him that ⟨he⟩ may fill us with reverence and godly fear, with ⟨sincerity⟩ and lowliness of mind, with lively faith in the ⟨good⟩ and prevailing intercession of Jesus, and with ⟨assurance⟩ that we shall receive whatever we ask according ⟨to⟩ his will. With these holy dispositions we should ⟨always⟩ desire to bow down our knees before God.
