"ALL these things will I give Thee. Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." -Matthew iv. 9, 10.

Great and glorious God, Who alone art worthy of our love and service, cure me of, and preserve me from, the sin and vanity of admiring this world.

Give me grace to renounce all covetous desires, all love of riches and pleasures; to desire only what is necessary, and to be content with what Thou, O Lord, thinkest so;

Not to be troubled at the loss or want of any thing besides Thy favour;—

That no business, no pleasures, may divert me from the thoughts of the world to come :

That I may cheerfully part with all these things when Thou requirest it of me ;

And that I may ever be prepared to do so, dispose me to a temperance in all things, and to lay up my treasure in heaven, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

"Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation.”—Luke vi. 24.

A man must have but little faith, who can read these words, and yet love riches, and the pleasures they afford.

Lord, grant that I may resist every temptation to the love of creatures; lest they steal my heart from Thee, my God, Whom I desire to love with all my soul.

I know that I must, in a great measure, renounce all other objects of my affection, in order to love Thee with all my heart. Lord, give me grace and strength to put this in practice.

"Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world; if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."-1 John ii. 15.

Grant, O Lord, that I may never hope to reconcile two things so inconsistent as the love of Thee and the world.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."-Matthew v. 3.

To be poor in spirit, is to be disengaged from wealth; to look upon it as a burden, or as a trust. "Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content."-1 Timothy vi. 8.

And yet even the Christian world is not content without superfluities and excess. These disorders are not less criminal because so common.

Following the way of Balaam."-2 Peter ii. 15. Nothing is more to be dreaded than covetousness; when a man has set his heart upon his own interests, he easily forgets those of his Great Master.

Give me, O Lord, the eyes of faith, that I may see the world just as it is; the vanity of its promises, the folly of its pleasures, the unprofitableness of its rewards, the multitude of its snares, and the danger of its temptations.

FASTING.

Jesus Christ spared not his innocent flesh, but fasted; the sinner cherisheth his continually, refusing it nothing.

Fasting is in some sense a punishment and expiation for past sins, a remedy for present temptations, and a preservative against future.

My heart is smitten, and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread."-Psalm cii. 4.

The humble and afflicted soul is not much concerned to please the appetite.

"Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger." -Luke vi. 25. That is, ye whose daily meals are feasts, who make profession of a life of sensuality, who know not what it is to fast, even when the church requires it -woe to such Christians!

If we judge ourselves with severity, we shall be judged with mercy.

IN TIME OF TROUBLE.

"When Thou with rebukes dost correct man for

iniquity, Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth."-Psalm xxxix. 11.

O merciful God, Who, in thy wise providence, dost so order even natural events, that they serve both for the good of the universe, and for the conviction of particular sinners, so that men shall have reason to acknowledge Thy glorious attributes; I do with great sorrow of heart, but with all submission to Thy good pleasure, confess Thy mercy as well as justice to me in the judgments, afflictions, sorrows, of this day.

I acknowledge Thy voice, O merciful God, I acknowledge my own transgressions, which have provoked Thee to speak to me after this manner, and at this very time.

O Lord, give me true repentance for all the errors of my life, and particularly for that which was, in all probability, the occasion of this affliction.

Blessed be God, that my punishment was not as great as my crime.

Blessed be God, that He has given me time to repent of the sin that provoked Him to deal with me after this manner.

Blessed be God, that when he spake to me once, yea, twice, that I regarded it at last.

Good God of mercy, give me grace that I may not provoke Thee any more to repeat this word to me, but that I may faithfully perform those vows which are upon me. This I cannot do without Thy gracious assistance, which I most humbly beseech Thee to vouchsafe me, for Jesus Christ's sake, Who