O Lord God, in whose hand are the wills and affections of men, kindle in my mind holy desires, and repress sinful and corrupt imaginations; enable me to love Thy commandments, and to desire Thy promises; let me, by Thy protection and influence, so pass through things temporal, as finally not to lose the things eternal; and, among the hopes and fears, the pleasures and sorrows, the dangers and deliverances, and all the changes of this life, let my heart be surely fixed, by the help of Thy Holy Spirit, on the everlasting fruition of Thy presence, where true joys are to be found. Grant, O Lord, these petitions. Forgive, O merciful Lord, whatever I have done contrary to Thy laws, for Jesus Christ’s sake—Amen.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784).