to which they expose us; to deprecate His anger, and to supplicate His mercy and favour[1]. We must use it in the same spirit in which Daniel did, when he set himself to pray for pardon for his own and his brethren's sins, and sought "the Lord God with prayer and supplication, and fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes." Dan. ix. 3.
The subjects for prayer on the Ember days will be the Church of God of which we are members; especially those who are called to bear office in the same; and of these more particularly those who are either ordaining or being ordained. But our Petitions need not stop with these. These are seasons, in which every Minister should be remembered before the throne of grace, in which every Bishop, Priest, and Deacon, claim the prayers of the People. We may ask for them, that their doctrine may be sound and pure, and may come to the hearts of their hearers; that they may diligently labour in their several spheres of action, for the glory of God and the good of mankind; above all, that they may themselves lead holy lives, such as are consistent with their high profession. And, because we are so much more earnest in prayer when we are asking for particular things, and those which we feel to need ourselves, we may make especial mention of our own Clergyman, and our own Bishop, praying that the light, which shines on them, may be reflected on our own neighbourhood. For the same reason, if we happen to know of any trouble or trial, to which the Sacred Ministry near us is exposed, we may mention this also. Additional subjects of meditation will arise according to the particular Ember days which we are celebrating. In those in Lent, we shall have more particularly before us our Lord's example of prayer and fasting, and ask for His Ministers, that they may be like Him, in retiring from the world and overcoming worldly snares and temptations. In those in Whitsun-week, we shall remember our Saviour's words, that His disciples would fast when He was taken from them, think much of the Holy Spirit, which is vouchsafed to them to supply His absence, and implore God that on us in our day this precious Blessing may be given abundantly. And again in those in Advent, we shall reflect on the near approach of the anniversary of our Lord's birth, reflect on His forerunner, the self-denying Baptist, who was filled with the Holy Ghost from His mother's
- ↑ Nelson's Festivals and Fasts, p. 358.
