The Bible prayer book ...

Book 1- / THE ~~~HT I

BIBLE PBAFEB BOOK,

OR PRAYERS

SELECTED PRINCIPALLY FROM

THE BIBLE,

FOR THE BENEFIT OF

YOUNG CHRISTIANS.

Why sleep ye, rise and PRAY, lest ye enter, into temptation. Luke, XXII. 46.

DAYTON. ^^

PUBLISHED BY B. F. ELLS, AND E. M. STRONG, AND SOLD BY E. M. STRONG, DAYTON, OHIO.

Copy-right secured according to Law*

Preface

As the public is not overstocked with prayer books, an apology will hardly be required, for this little compilation. But, as there are some, who, though they pray orally, have a very great antipathy to written prayers, it may be deemed necessary to offer some apology for the use of such a work; but in the first place, we will endeavour to determine what is meant by prayer; and this can be dene no BeJfter, than in the language of the pious Montgomary. J\

Pray'r is the soul's sincere desire,

Unutered or expressed; The motion of m fire,

That trembles in the breast.

Pray'r is the burden of a sigh*

The falling of a tear.

The upward glancing of an eye,

When none but Gcd is near.

Pray'r is the simplest form of speech,

That infant lips can try; Pray'r the sublimest strains that reach

The majesty on high.

Pray'r is the christian's vital breath,

The christian's native air, His watchword at the gate of death —

He enters heav'n with pray'r.

Pray'r is the contrite sinner's voice,

Returning from his ways, While angels in their songs rejoice,

And say, — "Behold he Prays." 3*

PREFACE.

"Lord, teach us to pray, as did John his disciples:"— said the enquiring Apostles to the blessed Saviour.

What prompted this desire in the hearts of the Deciples? They felt the great necessity and importance of prayer; but they were young converts, and their inexperienced tongues, could not give utterance to what their hearts felt. # And the Saviour knowing this, did wl&t hesitate ta^ite them a, form of prayer.

^fThose tfNEfs) that I have found to be the most greatful ancT congenial to the hearts of Christians, are such, as are principally clothed in the language of scripture; and, as we have presented this little Book to the Christian public, as a manual to guide the tongue, in giving utterance to the feelings of the heart, we have brought forth the prayers, of the Saints of old, as suitable moddles.

Dayton, November 1, 1835.

THE

LORDS PRAYER.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven; give us, this (Jay, our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for 'thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

It is our duty to pray for one another.

THE SAVIOUR'S PRAYER

For His Deciples.

Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine ownself, with the glory, which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men, whom thou gavest me out of the world: thine they ware, and thou givest them me; and they have kept thy w T ord. Now they have known that a ;s whatsoever thou

hast given me are of thee: for I have given unto them the words which thou givest me ; and they have received them, andhave known surely, that I came out from thee, and t elieved that

thou didst send me. I pray for them : I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine ; and I am glorifie m. And

now, I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father^ keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

PRAYER BOOK. ?

While I was with them in the world. I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as lam not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest ke them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou ' hast sent me into the world, even so have I a] sent them into the world. And for their sake-s, I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone ; but for them also which shall believe on me through their word: that they all may one; as thou, Father, ttrt in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou givest me, I have given them ; that they may be one, even as we are one ; I in them, and thou iji me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory which thou hasi given me: for thou lovedst me before the

lation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee : but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it : that the love wherewith

hast loved me, may be in them and I in them.

Let us learn humility in prayer from —

HE SAVIOUR'S PRAYER

In the garden of Gethsjemane.

Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee ; take away this cup from me : nevertheless., not what I will, but what thou wilt.

The Saviour fell on the ground, when he ofr fered this prayer,

PRAYER BOOK.

It is profitable to make long Prayers on some occasions, but in general it is not. A Prayer is the expression of a want. When we have a particular want, let us pray for that at a particular time, and leave other wants, for other times of prayer. Let us imitate the saints of old.

MOSES' PRAYER For the Presence of the Lord.

O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us, (for it is a stiff necked people.) and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.

MOSES' PRAYER To Enter the Land of Promise.

OLord God, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? I pray thee let me go over and seethe good land, that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.

Encouragement to pray.

THE PRAYER OF THE DYING THIEF.

Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

The Promise of the Saviour.

Verily I say unto thee, — To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise.

TO CHRISTIAN MOTHERS,

Christian mothers have great encouragement to give their children to the Lord. Hannah of old was without offspring, but she prayed to the Lord, for a Son. He heard, and answered her prayer. And when Samuel, the child of prayer, was weaned, his mother took him to the house of the Lord, and lent him to the Lord.

PRAYER BOOK. II

And what did the Lord do with him? Did lis cast him off? No! He made a great Prophet of him.

O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

When Peter was imprisoned by Herod, the Church prayed for him, and God sent his Angel, and took him out of prison and delivered him to those, who prayed for him.

It is my humble opinion, whatever c lay think

on the subject, that in every prayer we 1 have a

special object in view for which we plead; I find this to be the case generally, with the Saints of old. Our wants are many, and great; but some e -iierally

more prominent, than any other: such a emands

a more earnest supplication. I have k :ry good

men go up to the house of the Lord, to pray especially for the prosperity of Zion; but when d come

before God in prayer, they would pray ry thing

else but this. When Elijah prayed on 5 1 i mel for

rain, we apprehend that he prayed fo. 3lse;

and his faithful importunity brought the g; from

which, we should take encouragement, : ray, and never faint." He prayed seven times one ob-

ject, before he received the blessing; and I believe he would have prayed seventy times s ore his faith would have failed, if he had not received the blessing sooner. There is one thing certain; if we have not a distinct object in view, we have nothing to prompt us to pray. The want of a particular object in prayer, s the want of a proper spirit to pray;

for how cant] ray, who feal not their wants, and without this feeling, the spirit will be wanting. I do not however, wish to be understood, as saying, that we should in all cases, pray but for one thing at a time, or have but one subject, for one prayer; but in general, this should be the case, especially in private devotion. So says the example of the Saviour, the Prophets, and Apostles.

SOLOMON'S PRAYER

At tez Dedication of the Temple.

O LORD — God of Israel, there is no god like thee in heaven, nor in earth ; which keepeth covenant, and sheivest mercy unto thy servants that walk before thee with all their hearts. Thou w^ho hast kept with my servant David, my father, that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled i£, w T ith thine hand, as it is ; y. Now t therefore, O Lord God of

Israel, keep with thy servant David my father, that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so children

take heed to their way to walk law, as

thou hast walked before me. then, O

Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David. (But will God in very deed dwell with men on earth! Behold, heaven, and the heaven of heavens, cannot contain thee; howmuchless this house w T hich I have builded?) Have respect, therefore, to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee: that thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said, that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth towards this place. Hearken, therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place ; hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven ; and, when thou hearest, forgive.

If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath came before thine altar in this house. Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head, and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness. And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house: Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them, and to t&eir lathers.

When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin when thou dost afflict them. Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast tought them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy

people for^an inheritance.

If there be death in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore, of whatsoever sickness, there be. Then what prayer, or what supplication soever, shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore, and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house. Then hear thou from heaven thy dwell* ing-place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest ; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men;) that they may fear thee, to walk in thy w T ays so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

Moreover, concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great names sake and thy mighty hand and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house* Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know r thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Is* rael; and may know that this house, which I have built, is called by thy name.

16 BIBLjdJ

If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built, for thy name. Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far offor near. Yet, if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly. If they return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward the land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name. Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling-place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee. Now my God, let, I beseech thee thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore, arise, O Lord God, into thy restingplace, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be cloathed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness, Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed ; remember the mercies of David thy servant.

DAVID'S PRAYER

For His Family.

Who am I, O Lord God ? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? And what can David say more unto thee ? for thou Lord God knowes t thy servant. For thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things to make thy servant know them: Wherefore thou art great, Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any good besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things, and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, /rom the nation and their gods? For thou hast confirmed to thyself, thy people Israel to be a people unto thee forever: andthou,LoRD, art become their God. And now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said. And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hoasts is the God over Israel and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee. For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house; therefore hath thy servant found in his heart, to pray this prayer unto thee. And now, Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant. Therfore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, Lord God, hast spoken ft, and with thy blessinglet the house of thy servant be blessed for ever-

PETER'S PRAYER

For Ministers.

Lord, thou art God, who hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; who, by the mouth of thy servant David hast said. Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings; and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word. By stretching forth thy hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done in the name of the holy child Jesus.

Read what is done in heaven, with the prayers of the Saints. The prayers of Saints, are Sacrafices upon God's most Holy Alter.

3*

And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER

For the safety of the Nation.

O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth ; thou hast made heaven and earth.

Lord, bow down thine ear: and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire: for they ware no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone ; therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.

JEHOSHAPHAT'S PRAYER

For, Israel.

O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein, for thy name, saying, — If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Amnion, and Moab, and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not. Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

EZRA'S PRAYER

For the forgiveness of the sins of the

PEOPLE.

And at the evening* sacrifice, I arose up from ray heaviness ; and having* rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread put my hands unto the Lord my God, and said, —

my God! I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day ; and for our iniquities have we* our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword,, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day. And now for a little space, grace hath been showed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bond-

Hi men; vet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem, And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, which thou hast commanded by thy servants, the prophets, saying, — The land unto which ye go to possess it, is an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to the other with their uncleanness. Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth forever; that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to vour children for ever. And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou, our God, hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this ; should we again break thy commandments, and join in affinity with the people of these abominations, wouldest not thou be angry with us till.

thou hadst consumed us, so that there should he no remnant nor escaping? Lord God of Israel, thou art righteous ; for we remain yet escaped, as it is this day; behold, we are before thee in our trespasses; for we cannot stand before thee because of this.

JOB'S PRAYER

In Affliction.

Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me ! If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the w r ork of thine hands. For now thou numberest my steps; dost thou not watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity. And surely the mountain falling cometh to nought, and the rock is removed out of his place. The waters wear the stones: thou washes! away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth; and thou destroyest the hope of man. Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passeth; thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.

DAVID'S PRAYER

In the Morning.

Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto the will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight; thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the

bloody and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy; and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. Lead me, Lord, m thy righteousness, because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre, they flatter with their tongue. Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own councels: cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee. But let all those that put their trust in thee, rejoice; let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them; let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

AGUR'S PRAYER.

O Lord, two things have I required of thee : deny them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lyes; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me. Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

NEHEMIAH'S PRAYER

For Israel, when he heard of the dis stress

of Jerusalem.

And it came to pass when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, and said,

I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him, and observe his commandments; let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel which we have sinned against thee ; both I and my father's house have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, — If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: but if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now, these are thy servants, and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name; and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.