THE

FAMILY

PRAYER BOOK:

OR,

Morning and Evening Prayers for Every Day in the Year.

WITH

PRAYERS AND THANKSGIVINGS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS.

EDITED BY

THE REV. EDWARD GARBETT, M.A.,

INCUMBENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, SURBITON, AND LATE BOYLE LECTURER;

AND

THE REV. SAMUEL MARTIN.

MINISTER OF WESTMINSTER CHAPEL, AND CHAIRMAN OF THE CONGREGATIONAL UNION FOR 1862–3.

LONDON:

CASSELL, PETTER, AND GALPIN.

138.72.

INTRODUCTION.

IT

T would be superfluous to expatiate to those, into whose hands this publication is likely to fall, on the obligations of Prayer, since a personal experience can alone suggest the want which this Volume is intended to supply. Like all other things of Divine institution, prayer is commended by benefits as varied as the aspects in which it can be regarded. It is a duty, for Christ has commanded it; a privilege, for we speak to God himself; an instinct of self-interest, for how else shall our wants be supplied? a necessity, for the full heart must find some mode of utterance; a happiness, for in prayer the Christian enjoys that immediate intercourse with his Heavenly Father, through Christ Jesus, which will constitute hereafter the very bliss and glory of heaven.

Nor is Family Prayer commended by reasons less cogent or varied than private supplication. It is a formal witness to the Unseen, an act of solemn allegiance to Him in whom we live, and move, and have our being. It is the expression of those religious interests and sympathies which the members of a family have in common, neither so general as those of the congregation, nor so closely personal as those of the individual. It is the means of mutual intercession, and the channel through which larger supplies of the Holy Spirit may be sought, sealed as it is with Christ's especial promise to united prayer. It is the truest bond of family affection, the spring of mutual sympathy, an instrument in the education of character, and the foretaste of a heavenly and an enduring relationship.

But the recognition of the duty is more easy than its satisfactory performance. There are some persons so richly endowed with fervency of spirit, tenderness of feeling, and freedom of utterance, that their extemporaneous outpourings of devotion constitute the best mode of family worship which can be suggested. But such gifts are not common, and it cannot be expected that all fathers of families should feel themselves competent to discharge such an office, either with comfort to themselves or with edification to others. To maintain its continuous performance without running either into eccentricity on the one side, or into monotony on the other, requires greater endowments than men can ordinarily be supposed to possess; and no warmth of feeling or fluency of language are in themselves sufficient.

An exact doctrinal knowledge must underlie all enlightened devotion. The free language of the heart is, we admit, very different from the definitions of theology, and must be measured by a widely different standard. Nevertheless, they are intimately related, and mutually react upon each other. The creed of the intellect necessarily guides the affections of the heart. Yet the process is often reversed, and an unscriptural mode of feeling leads little by little into an unscriptural mode of thinking. The relation between the head and the heart is so close, that no permanent discrepancy can exist between them. Not only the subjects of prayer, but its whole tone and character, are affected by the doctrinal creed. How differently, for instance, must the man feel and express himself before God, who believes in the total depravity of human nature and the sovereignty of Divine grace, from the man who believes with the Rationalist in human perfectibility, or with the Romanist in the opus operatum of the sacraments. Hence, a solid knowledge of Divine truth, and that devout familiarity with Scripture which saturates, as it were, the very heart with its tone and spirit, are the first requisites for the conduct of family devotion.

But when the substance of prayer has thus been secured, it still remains to regulate its expression. In private prayer this element scarcely enters into consideration, because here the relation is immediate

between the soul itself and the God with whom it speaks. But when prayer becomes the common act of a number, the case is different. Some one must become the mouthpiece of all the rest, and the devotion of the whole circle can only be real, free, and unrestrained, in proportion as the thoughts and feelings of all are reflected in the language of the speaker. Hence the language should be simple, natural, unaffected. There should be no effort at ornament to distract, no coarseness of speech to offend. Conventionalisms, familiar to one man, but strange to another, should be avoided. Nothing, in short, should divert attention from the object and purpose of prayer to its outward form and vehicle. Affectionate, without familiarity; earnest, without effort; simple, without affectation, the language of prayer should be the outward reflection of prayer itself, by a process as natural as that which moulds the leaves of the bud after the shape of the blossom it encloses.

But when the matter and manner of prayer are both adjusted, it is still necessary to arrange the topics in such order as shall best quicken interest and promote edification. The recurrence of the same unalterable wants in every family circle makes it the more important to vary, as much as possible, the aspects under which they may be presented. In no way can this be accomplished with so much propriety, as by following the inexhaustible stores of Holy Scripture. What so natural, as that the portion of God's Word read should give its character to the prayer that follows, suggesting its salient topics, and colouring, with its own divine hues of promise or of warning, its confessions and its thanksgivings, its ascriptions and its supplications?

On these principles the present Volume of Prayers for Family Use has been compiled. It will be found to be pervaded everywhere with the distinctive principles of evangelical truth, and to breathe throughout an entire harmony of thought and sentiment. The high reputation of its Contributors, and the care with which the whole has been revised, encourage the hope that nothing will be found in it contrary to sound doctrine. The number of writers who have rendered their valuable assistance has tended to secure variety of style, and to prevent poverty of thought and individual peculiarities of expression. The portions of Scripture have been carefully selected from the authorised version, with a view to elucidate Scripture by Scripture, and to combine in one consistent course of instructive reading the various books of the Old and New Testaments. The connecting thought which has been present in the mind of the Editors may not in all cases be equally transparent; but it is believed that the heart of the worshipper may be conscious of a harmony of teaching, where the head may fail to analyse the exact connection out of which it has sprung.

That the object aimed at in this volume has been carried out imperfectly and with some defects, is most readily admitted. Diversities of judgment in the details of such a work must necessarily be expected. It is probable that the editors themselves, when they quietly revise their own work, may become conscious of faults which they would be the first to acknowledge and deplore. If the design is even partially realised, they must be thankful for this measure of success; and conscious of the sense of responsibility before God, in which their work was undertaken, must leave the rest to the forgiving mercies of their Master, and the indulgent judgment of their Christian brethren.

They humbly commend the Volume to the blessing of Him who hears and answers prayer through that gracious Saviour by whom alone we have access unto the Father. May He be pleased to assist with his Holy Spirit all those who use these prayers as the utterances of their family worship! Without His help, all forms whatever will be useless with it, the forms supplied in this Volume may become instinct with spiritual blessing, and every home, where prayer is offered, be as the house of God and as the gate of heaven.