thee. O LORD Jefus, thou fweet Strength, I beseech thee give my Soul to drink of thy Fountain of Grace, thy fweet Water of eternal Life, that it may awake from Death and thirst after thee. O how extreme fainting I am for Want of thy Strength! O merciful God, do thou turn me I beseech thee, I cannot turn myself. O thou Vanquisher of Death, help me I pray thee to wreftle. How faft doth the Enemy hold me with his three Chains, and will not fuffer the Defire of my Soul to come before thee! I beseech thee come and take the Defire of my Soul into thyfelf. Be thou my drawing to the Father, and deliver me from the Devil's Bonds! Look not upon my Deformity in ftanding naked before thee, having loft thy Garment! I pray thee, do but thou cloath that Breath which yet liveth in me and panteth after thy Grace; and so shall yet fee thy Salvation.

I

O thou deep Love, I pray thee take the Defire of my Soul into thee; bring it forth out of the Bonds of Death through thy Death, in thy Resurrection, in thee. O quicken me in thy Strength, that my Defire and Will may begin to fpring up and flourish anew. O thou Vanquisher of Death and of the Wrath of God, do thou overcome in me Self; break its Will and bruise my Soul, that it may fear before thee, and be afhamed of its own Will before

thy

thy Judgment, and that it may be ever obe dient to thee as an Inflrument of thine. Subdue it in the Bonds of Death; take away its Power, that it may will nothing without thee.

O GOD the Holy Ghost in Chrift my Saviour, teach me, I pray thee, what I fhall do, that I may turn to thee. O draw me in Chrift to the Father, and help me, that now and from hence forward I may go forth from Sin and Vanity, and never any more enter into them again. Stir up in me a true Sorrow for the Sins I have committed. O keep me in thy Bonds, and let me not loose from thee, left the Devil fift me in my wicked Flesh and Blood, and bring me again into the Death of Death. O enlighten thou my Spirit, that I may fee the Divine Path, and walk in it continually. O take that away from me, which always turneth me away from thee; and give me that which always turneth me to thee; take me wholly from myfelf, and give me wholly to thyfelf. O let me begin nothing, let me will, think, and do nothing without thee. O LORD how long! Indeed I am not worthy of that which I defire of thee, I pray thee let the Defire of my Soul dwell but in the Gates of thy Courts; make it but a Servant of thy Servants. O preferve it from that horrible Pit, wherein there is no Comfort or Refreshment.

O GOD

3

O GOD in Chrift Jefus! I am blind in myfelf, and know not myself for Vanity. Thou art hidden from me in my Blindness, and yet thou art near unto me; but thy Wrath which my Defire hath awakened in me, hath made me dark. O take but the Defire of my Soul to thee; prove it, O LORD, and bruise it, that my Soul may obtain a Ray of thy fweet Grace.

I lie before thee as a dying Man, whose Life is paffing from his Lips, as a fmall Spark going out; kindle it, O LORD, and raise up the Breath of my Soul before thee. LORD, I wait for thy Promife, which thou haft made, faying, As I live, I will not the Death of a Sinner, but that he fhall turn and live. I fink myself down into the Death of my Redeemer Jefus Chrift, and wait for thee, whose Word is Truth and Life. Amen.

In this, or the like Manner, every one may confefs his Sins, as he himself findeth on examining his Confcience, what Sins he hath brought his Soul into, Yet if his Purpose be truly earnest, to use a Form is needlefs, for the Spirit of God, which at that Inftant is in the Will of the Mind, will itself make the Prayer for him, in his Interior. For it is the Spirit of God which in a true carnest Defire worketh

worketh Repentance, and intercedeth for the Soul before God, through the Death of Chrift.

But I will not hide from the beloved Reader, who hath a Chriftian Intent, how it commonly useth to go with thofe who are in fuch a firm Purpofe and Refolution. Though indeed it goeth otherwife with one than with another, according as his Purpofe is more or lefs earnest and ftrong. For the Spirit of God is not bound, but useth divers Ways or Proceffes accordingly as he knoweth to be fittest for every one. Yet a Soldier who hath been in the Wars can tell how to fight, and inftruct another that may happen to be in the like Condition.

Now when fuch a Heart with ftrong Refolution and Purpofe doth thus come before GOD, and enter into Repentance, it happeneth to it as to the Canaanitish Woman; that is, it seems as if GOD would not hear. The Heart remaineth without Comfort; its Sins, Follies, and Neglects, also present themselves before it, and make it feel itself unworthy of any. The Mind is as it were fpeechlefs; the Soul groaneth in the Deep; the Heart receiveth Nothing, nor can fo much as pour forth its Confeffion before GOD; but it is as if the Heart and Soul were quite fhut up. The Soul would fain go towards GOD, but the

Flesh

Flesh keepeth it Captive: The Devil too fhutteth it up ftrongly, and reprefenteth to it the Way of Vanity again, and tickleth it with the Lufts of the Flefh, and faith inwardly to it, Stay awhile; do this or that firft; get a Sufficiency of Money or Goods beforehand, that thou mayeft not ftand in need of the World, and afterwards enter into Repentance and an holy Life; it will be Time enough then.

O how many Hundreds perish in fuch a Beginning, if they go back again into Vanity; and become as young Grafts broken off with the Wind, or withered by the Heat!

Beloved Soul, mark: If thou wilt be a Champion in thy Saviour Christ against Death and Hell, and wouldft have thy young Graft grow, and become a Tree in the Kingdom of Chrift, thou must go on, and stand faft in thy first carneft Purpofe. It is as much as thy paternal Inheritance is worth, and thy Body and Soul too, whether thou becomest an Angel in GoD, or a Devil in Hell. If thou wilt be crowned, thou must fight, thou must overcome in Chrift, and not yield to the Devil. Thy Purpose must ftand firm, thou must not prefer temporal Honour and Goods before it. When the Spirit of the Flesh faith, Stay awhile, it is not convenient yet; then the Soul must say, Now is the Time for me to go back C

again