O LORD our heavenly Father, we come this morning to acknowledge thy kindness in our preservation during the night, and in the merciful circumstances in which now we worship thee. Thou hast granted the rest we have enjoyed. Thou hast watched about our habitation, so that evil has not befallen us, and to thy bounty we look for the supply of all our temporal wants. In thee we live, and move, and have our being.

We would bless thee, still more, for the spiritual engagements and provisions to which we are looking forward this day. Thou hast set thy tabernacle amongst us: thou walkest with us and art our God. We would be thy people. Oh help us to worship thee in the beauty of holiness. We have loved the habitation of thine house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.

Teach us to hallow this day and to keep it holy. Let worldly engagements and distracting thoughts be kept from us. Withhold us from folly and vanity. Enable us to spend this day with thee, and may we derive lasting benefit from thy word and ordinances. Hast thou not said of thy church, This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it. May we meet with thee in the sanctuary. Bless the provisions of thy house, and satisfy our souls with bread. Give us to-day the spirit of prayer; may our hearts be uplifted to thee in devout and grateful praise. Fill us with the love of unseen realities; may the mysteries of redeeming mercy engage our meditations and enliven our devotions.

May thine house of prayer be loved by multitudes who now have no relish for its joys. May the many who disregard thy day and neglect thy worship be brought to feel and acknowledge their folly. To the feast of fat things provided to-day, may the perishing and the hungry come. May they eat and be satisfied, and bless the name of the Lord. Assist thy servants to expound thy word with simplicity and power. Suffer none of them to be embarrassed by the fear of man, and forbid that any should preach in vain. Help them to comfort all that mourn, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord; and do thou make their word quick and powerful, so that multitudes may receive it and turn unto thee and live.

Oh for the universal diffusion of the privileges of this day of prayer. In heathen lands where the sabbath is not known, we beseech thee let it be made. known. Let all idolatry, false religion, superstition, and ignorance be dispelled by the brightness of the Saviour's coming, and by the word of his mouth; and in our own land, especially, may the engagements of this day prove greatly useful in extending thy kingdom.

May every member of our household become obedient to the truth. Spirit of power, give thy word success in all our hearts. Pardon our sins-our individual—our family sins, through the blood of atonement. Create in us a clean heart. Accept our worship, and bless us as thou usest to bless those that fear thy name. And we will ascribe to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, all might, majesty, and dominion, to-day and for ever. Amen.

O LORD God Almighty, we owe to thy kindness the advantages of this day of prayer. What multitudes have not heard thy gospel-many because they have no delight in the sanctuary-some because they have been confined to their own abodes by affliction-myriads because among them the sabbath is not known! Many who have gone to the places devoted to thy worship, have failed to seek thy presence and to serve thee with an enlightened understanding, with humility and sincerity. To us the sabbath has proved a delight, because thou hast awakened our desires after thyself, and sanctified our spirits. We have heard thy word with pleasure, for thou hast opened our ears and hearts. We adore thy sovereign mercy; but we have cause for shame and contrition, when we think of how our sabbaths have frequently been spent. In the day now closing, our coldness and want of spirituality in thy service constrain us to cry, Enter not into judgment with us, O Lord. We come to thee once again, through the mediation of Jesus Christ our Lord. Forgive our wrong doings of this day. Pardon our wandering thoughts, our sluggish affections, our carnal desires. Accept, through Jesus Christ, even our imperfect worship, and bestow upon us the teaching and the grace of thine Holy Spirit, that the truth may abide with us for evermore. We yield ourselves to thy protection and watchful care for the night. May we lie down in peace with God, through

our Lord Jesus Christ. Prepare us either to arise in the fear of God to the duties of another day of business and of care, or to enter upon that world where an everlasting sabbath shall be enjoyed without the imperfections of our sabbaths here on earth. We would keep the end of life in view, and as we draw nearer to the world where thou art, may the prospect cheer our spirits and inspire our zeal and diligence.

Have compassion, O our God, on the ignorant, and soothe the sorrows of the afflicted. Let thy people who may be drawing nigh to death be cheered by thy smile. Send the light of the gospel through every part of the British empire, and into heathen lands. Never let any of thy ministers labour in vain or spend their strength for nought. Spare the lives of missionaries, preserve their character and reputation, support them in difficulties, and let the pleasure of the Lord prosper in their hands. Let our relatives and friends be blessed with this favour. Forbid that any of them should remain strangers to thee.

Hold up

May no temptation prevail against us. our goings in thy ways, that our footsteps slip not. Keep us, O Lord, in thy fear to our life's end. Let thy grace in all times of need be sufficient for us, thy strength being made perfect in weakness.

These favours, O Lord, we pray thee to grant, together with all thou knowest we need, not because we are deserving, nor because we pray, but because Christ has died, and ever liveth to make intercession for us. And to him, with thee, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, we ascribe all honour, glory, and praise, now and ever

LUKE I. 1-38.

MORNING HYMN.

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

O GOD, our Father and our Friend,
To our united prayers attend;
We would our humble homage pay
Before thy throne from day to day.

May this our habitation be
A constant residence for thee;
And may our joint devotions rise
Like holy incense to the skies.

To us thy saving grace impart ;
Oh dwell and reign in every heart ;
May we in piety and love

Be hastening to thy house above.

Or the following.

"Peace be to this house," Luke x. 15.

PEACE be to this habitation,

Peace to all that dwell therein :

Peace, the earnest of salvation,

Peace, the fruit of pardon'd sin; Peace, that speaks the heavenly Giver ; Peace to worldly minds unknown; Peace divine, that lasts for ever;

Peace that comes from God alone.