23. Pious Children pray for their Parents
EXHORTATION.
"Children obey your parents in the Lord! for this is right. Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise,) that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.—Heb. vi. 1, 2, 3.
Among other grievous sins, by which a man may load the curse upon himself, is that also, of sinning against our parents. Although parents have trouble and vexation with their children from the hour of their birth, yet it is their most bitter pang to find their children perverse, unkind, rude, or ill-disposed towards them in riper years, when they have a right to expect nothing but joy and comfort from them. 1. Pious children should often pray for their parents, that God may grant them health, long life, and much peace and happiness.
2. Pious children must *love* their parents, be mindful of their wants and seek to supply them, and be very attentive to them in sickness.
3. They must *obey* them, suffer themselves to be educated to good things, never contradict their parents when they give a direction or command; and never marry secretly, without the consent and knowledge of their parents, for this has no other results but evil and disaster.
PIOUS CHILDREN PRAY FOR THEIR PARENTS.
4. Pious children must *hono*— their parents, and understand that God has placed the parents in his own place and stead, as God gives the children all things by the hands of their parents.
5. Children must remember that they can never repay their parents what the latter have done for them.
6. Ungrateful and perverse children are real faggots from hell, who can never prosper, unless before their death, they repent in tears the sins and wrongs they have done to their parents.
O thou gracious and merciful God! I praise thee from the bottom of my heart, that thou hast caused me to be born of pious and Christian parents. This was the first of the benefits thou hast done me. As it was the first care of my parents after my bodily birth, that I should be laid into thine arms, O heavenly father, by holy baptism, wherein thou didst give me the Holy Ghost as a pledge of my childship and heavenly inheritance, so let this thy good spirit ever lead and guide me, that I may look well to my duties towards thee and towards my parents. I lie before thy most holy face in prayers, and beseech thee to suffer my parents to retain good health, guard them against misfortune, bless their nurture, their labor and occupation, give them a PIOUS CHILDREN PRAY FOR THEIR PARENTS.
long life, requite unto them the faithful care bestowed upon me, for which I can never repay them, with spiritual and heavenly gifts. Give me, O heavenly father, an obedient heart, that I may not offend my parents, or grieve them wittingly or willingly. May I constantly have before my eyes the example of my Jesus, who not only obeyed thee, his heavenly father, but also his foster father Joseph, and his mother Mary, so that my dutiful conduct may give joy and pleasure to my parents at all times, and even in their old age. Guard me against bringing upon myself the curse pronounced on wicked children by disobedience or perverseness, but let me obtain happiness here and hereafter. Give me a new heart filled with reverence towards them, so that I may encounter them with humbleness, may receive their commands with a smiling face, and submit to their chastisements without disaffection. Take heed that I do not come to resemble wicked children, who mock, despise, and insult their parents, but who will also put on the curse as they would a garment, and will forfeit all the blessings promised by thee to dutiful children. Give me thy grace, that I may not sin against my parents, but may constantly reflect upon the pangs I have caused my mother, and with how much trouble I have been reared, so that I may acknowledge this all my THE TRUE BELIEVER PRAYS, ETC life with a thankful heart and mind, and that my parents may experience not disgrace, but pride in me. If in the years of my indiscretion,
I have done my parents wrong, I humbly ask thy forgiveness, O God! and that of my parents and promise by thy grace to endeavor to rejoice them with my obedience and Christian deportment. Give me thy Holy Ghost, so that I may walk in faith and piety, as beseemeth a child of
God, and so that at the last day I may stand with my parents at thy right hand, and may enter into thy glories with them. Thou shalt honor and obey thy father and thy mother, wheresoe'er thy hand can serve them, and thy life shall be long. Amen.
The true Believer prays when a Storm arises.
EXHORTATION.
"He made darkness his secret place; his pavillion roune about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. As the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed;
hail-stones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail-stones and coals of fire."—Psalm xviii. 11, 12, 13.
External occurrences sometimes frighten the children of this world, and induce them to pray.
Among these are thunder-storms. When they
14* arise, the lips, usually so wanton, are eager to pray, not from love to God, but from fear of punishment. True believers indeed, understand,
1. That thunder and lightning proceed from natural causes, and
2. That they execute the commands of God. Just as God can arm all evil creatures against wicked men, so is it easy for him to slay men and cattle, and with his lightnings to set fire to houses, towns and cities.
3. Therefore, pious Christians should never use the abominable curse of swearing by thunder and weather.
4. When a storm arises, they should not lose heart, or despair from fear, for that argues a want of confidence in God.
5. They should remember that God holds thunder and lightning in his hands, and can well protect them, even if they were in the open field and under the open sky.
6. They should turn with the greater devotion to God, and should understand that they are nothing and God everything; that God is a mighty God, and men powerless worms, dust and ashes, whom God can consume with a beck or a flash.
7. They should fear and dread this majestic God, not only when he thunders, but also when his sun is shining, and should take heed not to
WHEN A STORM ARISES.
offend him by words or works, but should so live that they may be always assured of a gracious God, even if he should be pleased to call us away from the world in a thunder-storm.
O thou strong and almighty God! I hear thy voice in the clouds; I see thy lightnings flash, and hear thy thunders roar. Strong is thy arm and great thy power, and if it were thy will thou couldst in a moment strike to earth me and all mankind and all thy creatures. But O Lord! Lord! remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions, but think of me according to thy mercy and thy goodness. O do not punish me in thine anger, nor chastise me in thy wrath. I acknowledge with true humility of heart, that I have deserved nothing less than to be destroyed and crushed in thy just indignation. But O, thou long suffering God! spare me in this tempest. God! be gracious unto me according to thy goodness, and take away all my sins according to thy great mercy. O I grieve deeply to have so often offended thee, and angered thee with thoughts, words and works. O I beg thy grace and forgiveness for all my sins and trespasses. Consider, O heavenly Father, that I am thy creature and thy child; whither shall thy children fly in their troubles, but to their Father? THE TRUE BELIEVER PRAYS, ETC.
Therefore, I come to thee, O my Father, and beseech thee to be gracious unto thy child, to defend me, to protect me, to place a guard of thy angels around me, and to let no evil reach me, and no bolt consume me. O Lord Jesus, thou Son of God, my sole Mediator, Advocate and Saviour! be not far from me, for danger is near; be my strong defence, forsake me not, and take not thy hand from me. God, my salvation! Lo, I stand deserted by all men and all creatures, but O do thou not desert me, but have mercy upon me; and save me. I cling to thee, O Jesus! I cry with the disciples: Lord, help us, we perish! O most precious Holy Ghost! vivify my heart to prayer and devotion, that this tempest may make me truly pious. Grant that I may take care, when thou knockest at my heart by thy holy word, to do penance, be converted, and renounce sin, so that I may be a patient hearer, and not imitate the world in its sinful words, habits and customs. O holy trinity, have mercy upon me, and upon all pious Christians, cover with thy almighty hand my body and my life, my house and curtilage; guard the fruits of the field, let not the lightning fire my house or injure me; be thou my safeguard in peril, for the help of man is of no avail. O thou mighty protector of thy children! let me live in safety under thy guardianship. O Lord! who is like unto THE TRUE BELIEVER RETURNS THANKS, ETC.
thee? who art so majestic, so almighty and so terrible, and also so good and merciful, who dost wake us and cover us. O spare me, and let me once more find grace and salvation in thee. Lord God, Father in heaven, have mercy upon us! Lord God, Son, thou Saviour of the world, have mercy upon us! Lord God, Holy Ghost, have mercy upon us! be gracious unto us, spare us, dear Lord and God! from fire and inundation defend us, dear Lord and God! from sudden death deliver us, dear Lord and God! from lightning and hail deliver us, dear Lord and God! Thou holy Trinity, defend us in soul and body, guard our houses and our possessions. Spare us, dear Lord and God! and ward off this danger, and we will ever praise thy goodness. Amen.