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There is nothing more natural for us, O Lord, than disobedience against thee, and not to do as thou hast bidden us; while in the meantime our wisdom, it is directly opposition against thee; and we love the world, and the love of the world is enmity against thee also; and we love our ease and our pleasures; and so we are always enemies to the cross of Christ. Lord, we have not as yet attained to this, to get our necks subdued to Christ’s yoke; and this rebellion sticks fast into our souls, that we make not thy will to be a law to us, but our own will; and make our will, in a manner, to be a law to thee: for we prescribe forms of religion to ourselves, and upon performing these, we promise peace to ourselves. Lord, it is over much that we fail, so oft as we do, of ignorance and weakness, but that we should go against the light of our own minds, and so wrong our own consciences, this is a fearful, yea, and almost a desperate case. And, therefore, O mighty God, while thou callest upon us, (for while thou callest it is not in vain,) while thou lightest thy candle and has any lost money to seek, while thou sendest out the good Shepherd to bring home the wandering sheep on his shoulders, now, for Jesus Christ’s sake, look where we are hiding ourselves; sweep the house, and find us out, and gather us into thy treasures. And where we are wandering on the mountains of sin, following the silliness of our own hearts, and exposing ourselves to be preys to Satan and all our enemies, Lord, take us on the shoulders of thy mercy, and bring us home again to thy sheepfold. And we entreat thee, O Lord, because there are some hours of darkness, and some of light and comfort, let us still find comfort in thee. Lord, give us grace, while thou art dealing thus with thy people in this land, to bring them home to thee, and making them vow to leave all, and to follow thee, that we be not out of this covenant: for if we do not so, then, when thou sendest deliverance to them, it will be nothing else but destruction to us. Lord, there is no remedy for us, in our hardest cases, but only to flee in under the shadow of thy wings. For this end, Lord, win in upon our hearts, and be thou our God, and establish us to be thy people: and, Lord, let us know thy loving-kindness towards us, that so that may knit our hearts to thee, which are so strange always to thee. Write thy law in our hearts; incline our hearts to do thy will, and not to covetousness. Lord, if thou wouldst give us another nature, than the nature of the old Adam, then we would have other inclinations than we have; and till we have this new nature, we may well study to do things that are good, but it goes not kindly to work; for grace is weak, but the old man is very strong. Therefore, we beseech thee, O Lord, to take the hammer into thine own hand, and beat down these hard hearts of ours; and take the sword into thine own hand, and slay these living corruptions that are in us. And, Lord, from above dress that heavenly plant of faith, and all other plants that are necessary for us to have in our souls; and give us grace, when we look in to our own hearts, to see some heavenly buds of faith, love, patience, etc., sown there; and where there be any buds of this kind, water them by thy Spirit, and warm them by thy consolations; and hold down the weeds, and snub them, that so the good plants may grow and thrive. Lord, we have not thrived well in worldly things this while bygone, but has been plagued in them, because we have not labored to find grace prospering in our souls; and if so be that we knew this aright, we would count it rather done in mercy than in wrath; for it is better for us to meet with affliction in natural things, than to prosper in them, while in the meantime we prosper not in grace. And, therefore, Lord, give us grace to know wherefore it is that we have been thus afflicted, that so we may make the right use of it, and that we may know that these are not blessed who have corn, wine, and oil, but these are only blessed who has the Lord for their God. And, therefore, give us large hearts that cannot be satisfied with anything here, and give us holy hearts, that so we may get sin mortified in them, and give us also resolute hearts to go on into thy ways against all difficulties. And give us patience to bear whatsoever thou shall be pleased to inflict upon us, that thus, being furnished by thy grace and Spirit, we may go on into thy ways. What thou thinkest meet to be spoken to us at this time, accompany it by thy Spirit, and let us be helped forward in our course by it. Sometimes thou will be pleased to lend thine own a far lift forward into the way, and sometimes thou will help them but one step; anything that it pleases thee to do, do it; but we beseech thee to let us find that we are going forward; that so, albeit we find many oppositions, we may still be going on into thy ways till we come to the end of them, through Jesus Christ. In whose, etc.