Lord Jesus Christ, I give Thee most hearty thanks and praise, that Thou
hast again washed me, a poor sinful being, of all my transgressions, and,
for the most certain assurance of such washing and forgiveness of all my
sins, hast permitted me to eat of Thy true body, and to drink of Thy true
blood, and, taking me as an impure child after such cleansing, hast again
received me into the fatherly arms of Thy grace and mercy, and doest thus
show and present me blameless, pure and without fault unto Thy heavenly
Father.
I pray Thee most heartily and from my whole soul, that, after Thy great
benefit, Thou wouldst yet add this in abundance, and graciously grant me
Thy grace through the working of the Holy Ghost, that I may be truly
sensible of Thy great goodness, thankfully receive it, and from my heart
magnify and praise Thee during my whole life. And do Thou further work in
me through Thy Holy Ghost, and effect that I also may heartily forgive my
neighbor anything he may have done against me, as Thou, O Lord, hast
pardoned and forgiven all my great and numerous transgressions, yea, and
hast entirely wiped them out of Thy remembrance; that I may also love my
neighbor, and from my heart show him all manner of good, even as Thou, O
Lord, hast shown unto me more than I am able to thank for; in order that
Thou, O good and faithful God, in us mayest be magnified and praised
together with the Father and Holy Ghost throughout all ages. Amen.
41. Prayer that God would hereafter keep us from sin, and if we sin,
that He would not reckon it to our account.
O thou kind and merciful God, Thou dear Father in heaven, Thou hast out
of grace and divine love, bestowed upon us Thy dear Son, and with Him all
grace, life and salvation. We pray Thee, dear Father, preserve unto us
this blessed treasure and heavenly gift, the gracious countenance of Thy
dear Son, Jesus Christ, that we may never lose Him through
unthankfulness, or otherwise be deprived of Him. We are indeed poor,
miserable and frail beings, who fall from one sin into another; we now
sin in thought, now in word and deed, and it is with difficulty that we
stand. Here we never find rest and peace; the devil watches our very
thoughts, stirs them up, and fans the passions into flame, the world
watches our words and deeds, walk and life, and gives us much offense and
occasion to sin, our own flesh also never rests, besides yet all the
occasional sins, vices and weaknesses which daily beset us, and which
terribly trouble our conscience, entirely destroy the joy of our heart
and turn it into sorrow and sadness. Therefore we pray Thee, Thou kind
and merciful God, that when, as it may happen, we have become negligent
and unthankful, and do not so walk as we should--O do Thou still remain
our gracious God; be Thou friendly towards us, comfort us in goodness and
mercy, do not hold us accountable or make us suffer for our manifold
sins, but purge our hearts and consciences by Thy word, in order that we
may serve Thee in sorrow and joy, magnify, honor and praise Thee in time
and in eternity. Amen.