John Hall (1633-1710): A prayer in time of prosperity

 

A prayer in time of prosperity by the bishop of Bristol and master of Pembroke College, Oxford, John Hall (1633-1710), to be found at the beginning of his Jacob’s Ladder: Or, The Devout Soul’s Ascension to Heaven (1676), p. 154-157:

Heavenly Father, Lord of plenty, thou who hast created the world by thy power, and continuest thy love in thy providence and protection; to thee do I render thanks for my plenty, and to thee do I offer the service of my store. What I have, is thine; for the earth is thine, and all that therein is; the compass of the world, and they that dwell therein; it is thou only that commandest thy blessing in the store-houses, and in all that thy servants do set their hands unto. Lord make me one of thy faithful servants, that what thou hast sent me, may be a testimony of thy love, and not of thy hatred. Make me always to magnify thee in the time of plenty, and not to be high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in thee the living God, who givest me all things richly to enjoy. O suffer me not to treasure up the deceitful riches of this sinful world as thereby forgetting to be rich toward thee, but as from thy bounty I receive these temporal blessings, so in thy mercy make me abound in grace, that always having sufficiency in all things, I may abound to every good work.

In this my prosperity, prepare me for adversity, if it shall please thee at any time to send it unto me, give me a sense of the afflictions of many of thy saints and distressed servants, and enlarge my heart that I may be ready and forward to contribute to their necessities. Make me to shew mercy with cheerfulness, and to possess with thankfulness what thou sendest unto me, that I may neither forget thee in thy poor members, nor deny thee to be the giver. Let me never stop mine ears at the cries of the distressed who beg for relief in the name of thyself. Thou, Christ, who wert rich didst for my sake become poor, that so through thy poverty thou mightiest make me rich; Lord make me as willing to the poor for thy sake, always considering that the vanities of the earth are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed. Make me labour for heavenly riches, and for the ornament of the hidden man in the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in thy sight of great price.

Make me, O heavenly Father, rich in thyself, rich unto liberality, rich in good works and in faith: make me to buy of thee gold tried in the fire that I may be rich, and white raiment that I may be clothed, that the shame of my nakedness may not appear. Let me always remember that great account which one day I must render to thee, the Lord of heaven and earth, that so I may serve thee here with my substance in my body, and in my soul with zeal and devotion; and hereafter be received to thine everlasting glory, through the merits of thy Son in thy bosom Jesus Christ, my only Lord and Saviour. Amen.