A guide to godliness or a Treatise of a Christian life showing the dutiesA guide to godlynesse or a Treatise of a Christian life shewing the duties

O Lord our God, who art in thine own nature glorious and full of majesty, infinite in goodness, wisdom, power, bounty, truth, and all perfection, most just in all thy ways, and holy in all thy works, and our most gracious Father in Jesus Christ, we thine unworthy servants, finding and feeling our selves loaded with the unsupportable weight of our manifold and grievous sins, do come unto thee for ease, and being sick in sin, even unto the death, do flee unto thee the alone Physician of our souls, that we may be eased and cured, and do here lay open before thee our miserable estate and condition, that thou mayest magnify thy mercies in our recovery. We confess our hereditary diseases, and that original leprosy of our bodies and souls, whereby they were infected and corrupted, even in our first conception, and so disabled unto thy service, that we cannot of our selves think a good thought, nor so much as entertain into our hearts a desire to come out of the miserable thraldom of sin and Satan. Our wisdom is enmity against thee, and we are not capable of that knowledge which thy Spirit revealeth. All the imaginations of the thoughts of our hearts are only evil, and that continually; our consciences are loaded with dead works; our wills crooked and rebellious, still resisting all good motions of thy Spirit; our hearts hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; our affections, desires and passions so disordered and poisoned with natural corruption, that they are become filthy and loathsome sinks of sin; and all the members of our bodies, the ready instruments of our defiled souls for the acting of all abominable wickedness. So that being, through his natural corruption, a sinful generation and viperous brood, we have justly deserved, that thou shouldest reject and pursue us with thy wrath, though we were free from all other sins, saving those alone whereof we were guilty as soon as we were borne. And yet (alas) we have not stayed here, but have added unto this our original sin, innumerable numbers of actual transgressions, by breaking thy whole Law, and every Commandment thereof, in thought, word and deed, both in the omission of all duties therein required, and in the commission of the vices and sins therein forbidden;

O Lord our God, who art in thine owne nature glorious and full of maiesty, infinite in goodnesse, wisedome, power, bounty, truth, and all perfection, most iust in all thy waies, and holy in all thy workes, and our most gracious Father in Iesus Christ, wee thine vnworthy seruants, finding and feeling our selues loaded with the vnsupportable waight of our manifold and grieuous sinnes, doe come vnto thee for ease, and being sicke in sinne, euen vnto the death, doe flee vnto thee the alone Physicion of our soules, that wee may be eased and cured, and doe here lay open before thee our miserable estate and condition, that thou mayest magnifie thy mercies in our recouery. Wee confesse our hereditary diseases, and that originall leprosie of our bodies and soules, whereby they were infected and corrupted, euen in our first conception, and so disabled vnto thy seruice, that we cannot of our selues thinke a good thought, nor so much as entertaine into our hearts a desire to come out of the miserable thraldome of sinne and Satan. Our wisedome is enmity against thee, and we are not capable of that knowledge which thy Spirit reuealeth. All the imaginations of the thoughts of our hearts are onely euill, and that continually; our consciences are loaded with dead workes; our wills crooked and rebellious, still resisting all good motions of thy Spirit; our hearts hardened through the deceitfulnesse of sinne; our affections, desires and passions so disordred and poisoned with naturall corruption, that they are become filthy and lothsome sinckes of sinne; and all the members of our bodies, the ready instruments of our defiled soules for the acting of all abominable wickednesse. So that being, through his naturall corruption, a sinfull generation and viprous brood, wee haue iustly deserued, that thou shouldest reiect and pursue vs with thy wrath, though wee were free from all other sinnes, sauing those alone whereof wee were guilty as soone as wee were borne. And yet (alas) we haue not stayed here, but haue added vnto this our originall sinne, innumerable numbers of actuall transgressions, by breaking thy whole Law, and euery Commandement thereof, in thought, word and deede, both in the omission of all duties therein required, and in the commission of the vices and sinnes therein forbidden;