O God, help us to become more and more spiritually minded: to be more exact in the performance of our religious duties; and to perform them from a conviction of their purifying power: to be more just, prudent, and orderly in the performance of our temporal duties; for if we are not faithful in that which is least, how can we be in that which is greatest. Finally, O Lord, we commit our way unto Thy guidance. Oh lead us in the way everlasting! Amen.
Our Father, etc.
SATURDAY EVENING.
O LORD Jeans Christ, our redeeming Lord, we desire to praise Thy holy name for the various products of the earth which minister to the supply of our daily wants: for the animals, the vegetables, the minerals, by which our comfort is secured and our convenience constantly added unto. Nor do they merely supply our temporal necessities; they furnish instructive lessons to our minds; they are images of things heavenly or their opposite; they teach us the necessity of orderly arrangement within ourselves, and of subjecting all our desires, propensities, and passions, to the regulating power of Thy truth and goodness. O Lord, we desire to adore Thee for all Thy blessings, and we pray that we may be sensibly affected by them, so as to manifest at all times a becoming reverence to Thee who hast so marvellously provided for us. And now, O Lord, permit us to retire to rest under the shadow of Thy wings. May serenity and peace permeate our every thought and desire. May we feel Thee near us, and confide in Thy protecting love. May the Word of Thy truth be precious to our souls, and if we are in states of wakefulness, may we meditate upon it in our beds and be still. May no plague come near our dwelling; may the pestilence which walketh in darkness smite us not; but may Thy protecting hand sustain us from this time forth and for evermore. Amen.
Our Father, etc.
TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK.—SABBATH MORNING.
O HOLY and merciful Jehovah, with feelings of gratitude for the institution of the Sabbath, we hast made this day as a day of rest to our bodies, and of peace and instruction to our souls. Help us to begin its duties in a spirit of freedom, that we may serve Thee voluntarily and not by constraint. O teach us to feel that a life of piety is a life of pleasantness, and must lead us into the possession of true peace.
As Thou, O glorified Lord, wast manifested that the works of the devil might be destroyed, so may we, as followers of Thee, apply Thy Word to our evils, and expel them from the affections in which they have intrenched themselves. Impress us with the certainty that though the present life is as a probation to that which is to come; though in this world we must enter on and pursue the path of the regeneration; though pains and sorrows accompany our every effort to detach ourselves from the world, and from its seducing pleasures; and though to effect a reconciliation with Thee we must commence an exterminating war
