ALMIGHTY God and most merciful Rather, the Giver and the Preserver of our lives; to thee be long the issues of life and death; to thee alone can frail and sinful mortals fly for refuge in distress. Thou hast taught us by thy Son, Jesus Christ, that if we ask in true faith we shall receive; that if we seek, we shall find; that if we knock, the gates of thy mercy shall be opened unto us. With humble reverence we bow before thee, beseeching thee graciously to look upon our afflictions ; with pity to behold the sorrows of our hearts; mercifully to for give our sins, and favorably to hear our prayers. Graciously hear us, we humbly beseech thee: O blessed Lord, graciously hear our prayers, and grant the petitions which, in the name of Jesus Christ, we humbly present before thee. Look with thy com passionate favor upon this child visited with sickness. Visit him, O Lord, with thy salvation. His life is in thy hand; may it be precious in thy sight. Thou hast but to speak the word, and this child shall be well from the same hour. Deliver him, O Lord, we beseech thee, in thy good appointed time, from bodily pain and sickness, and save his soul for thy mercy’s sake. Behold with pity the fears and sorrows of those who acknowledge their dependence, and rejoice that they are dependent upon a righteous, merciful and prayer-hearing God, whose tender mercies are over all thy works; who dost not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men; who intendest good in thy severest chastisements, and lovest the soul whom thy hand correcteth. If it be thy good pleasure that this child may live, and his days be prolonged on the earth, relieve him, we beseech thee, rom bodily distress: bless the means which are used for restoring him to health. All medicines act by thy decree, and none can fail if thou shalt bless them. Grant that this child may live to thee. Guide and preserve him through all the dangers of life, both of soul and body. Make him a comfort to his friends, a blessing to the earth, and an instrument of thy glory, by serving thee faithfully, and doing good in his generation.
But if in thy wisdom thou hast otherwise appointed, and it be thy purpose to remove him from this world of pain and sins and sorrows, receive him, O God, we humbly beseech thee, into those heavenly habitations of life and glory, where the souls of those who rest in Jesus Christ enjoy perpetual felicity. May his soul be washed and sanctified in the Savior’s blood. Give now unto us who ask; let us who seek, find; open to us who knock, that this child may enjoy thy heavenly benediction, and rest in the arms of that blessed Savior who has said, “ Of such is the kingdom of God.”
And wilt thou behold with compassion the distressing anxiety of the afflicted parents. Relieve them from their fears and apprehensions. Restore, we beseech thee, their beloved child to their arms in health; and may he long live to their comfort and to thy glory, a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. Or give them race to submit with patience to thy superior wisdom, sensible that the Lord gave what he taketh away. Prepare them for every event of thy providence. In all their sorrows help them to say with thy servant of old, “ It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth to him good.” Give them, O Lord, in the abundant fruition of thy grace, a better portion than sons or daughters—an unfading inheritance among thy saints in light, where the righteous shall be forever happy. Hear us, O Lord, we beseech thee, for the worthiness of thy Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
