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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A43573	Closet-prayer a Christian duty, or, A treatise upon Mat. VI, VI. tending to prove that worship of God in secret is the indispensible duty of all Christians ... together with a severe rebuke of Christians for their neglect of, or negligence in, the duty of closet-prayer, and many directions for the managing thereof ... / by O. Heywood.	Heywood, Oliver, 1629-1702.	1671 (1671)	Wing H1762; ESTC R24371	90,506	148

affected with the sweetness of pardoning grace and ardently pleads with God for acceptance again when the graces of the Spirit are acted in the duty as an holy awe and fear of God faith love humility zeal and fervency and a willingness to forgive others as well as to be forgiven by the Lord Lastly a soul may know when it hath communion with God by the consequences of duty as when the Christian is more vile in his own eyes as Abraham was gives God all the glory sees and bewails his defects in greatest inlargements when the spirit is left in a better frame and fitter to bear crosses and perform after-duties c. I do but hint these things 4. Case Suppose I have prayed and prayed and find not my heart affected 't is dead dull distracted I do no good get no good in duty I fear I offend God What shall I do Ans Such a case is sad yet consider 1. It may be the case of gracious hearts David was so depressed and troubled that he could not speak Psal 77.3 4. Gods best Children are sometimes out of frame their spirits unfit for duty 2. A total neglect will not mend the matter nor help the frame of your hearts one sin will never cure another running from the fire is not the way to be warm your hearts will not be better but worse by forbearance omission indisposeth 3. Who knows but God may come in the next time Keep upon the Royal Exchange still ply the oars give God no rest gratifie not Satan by neglect Tradesmen keep their Markets though for small gains you 'l get something at last worth your pains they never were ashamed that have waited on him The issue will be good 4. God may graciously accept thy obedience though thou have not sweet inlargement the obedience is thine the inlargement God's he is a free Agent and works when he pleaseth he loves to see poor souls tug and struggle with their own hearts though they can get little forward yet they would be better and do better The Father takes it well when the Child is striving to obey him though it fall very far short He sees the Spirit is willing though the flesh be weak and accepts of upright endeavours Nay observe it a Christians conscientious attendance upon God without inlargements may be more acceptable to God than when he hath the sweetest inlargements because there is most obedience in those duties but in the other a Christian is as it were hired to performances by the Earnest-peny of inlargements Oh 't is a brave thing to persevere in duty under discouragements he that can trade when times are so dead that all his wares lye upon his hand yet trades more surely his stock is great So 't is an evidence of much Faith Love Sincerity when the Soul can maintain this Heavenly Trade when his sensible incomes are small Yet when God thus withdraws from you you must deeply lay it to heart inquire the cause make your peace with him and ply the Throne of Grace with greater importunity Thus much briefly for these Cases of Consciences And now beloved friends I have dispatcht this Subject concerning Closet-prayer What remains but that we should all fall closs to the constant practice of this duty What do Ministers preach Sermons or print Books for Is it to be seen and heard in publick Is it to be applauded Or is it not rather to do good to peoples souls And can people get any good by hearing a sound of words or a complemental reading what is written Is there not something else required of you now even a setting about the conscientious practice of what is before you What say you sirs to this Point Is Closet-Prayer a Christian duty or is it not If it be not why doth Christ direct us to the right manner of performance and assure us that our Father will reward it openly Will God reward any thing but commanded duty There 's no question but 't is a duty I challenge any man to disprove it now and to stand to his assertion another day before the God of Heaven But I think none will deny it to be a duty and sirs dare any man that professeth Religion live in the gross neglect of plain duty Do you think it 's fit it should be done and will you not do it Shall your own tongues be brought in as witnesses against your selves Will you be like that Son that said I go sir but went not Shall God wait your leisure and you 'l not give him a visit Will you go into your Closets to make up your accounts And will you not reckon streight betwixt God and your Souls Dare you go from day to day under the guilt of a known sin If you do not what you have read this Book will flie in the face of conscience another day But I am most afraid lest Christians trifle about this work and shuffle it off after any fashion and so put off God with a meer outside performance to pacifie conscience without that warmth and life we should have in our Closets 'T is recorded of Luther that he prayed every day three hours and even then when his spirits were most lively Per tres horas easq ad studia aptissimas Nor were his Closet-Prayers dull careless heartless be so fervent and ardent saith Melancthon that they which stood under his window where he stood praying might see his tears falling and dropping down Oh but where is this zeal and ardency in our secret devotion Are we not ready to drop asleep even upon our knees Alas how formal are we The fire of God is wanting in our sacrifices Nay do we not take Gods Name in vain many times and know not what we say Oh why do we thus forget Gods omnipresence and omniscience Doth not he know our hearts And should not we approve our selves to God in our Closets Yea doth not Satan stand under our Closet-window or rather at our Elbow and hears what we say to God in our Closets If you take not notice of your mistakes in Closet-Prayer Satan doth and takes advantage by them Indeed I have heard some make this a scruple whethey should in secret confess heart-sins lest Satan should be acquainted with what he knew not before and so be furnishd with matter to accuse them of but an ingenious confession prevents Satans accusation because we have a promise of remission annexed thereunto Rom. 8.33 And who shall lay any thing to the charge of justified persons He hath little reason to take your confessions and dash them in your teeth since that was both the means and evidence of pardon But if you fear that you may do as Hannah in Prayer speak in your hearts and then Satan cannot tell what you say but your God doth However neglect not the duty for this you may be sure that Satan will catch more advantage by omission or negligent performance than by an ingenuous acknowledgment of heart-sins though he do hear you Sirs Awake to righteousness Rouze up your selves to the work put not off God or conscience with a negative answer you may as well say Nay as pretend and promise to do it and not perform fall to the practice of it therefore this day there 's danger in delays if you do it not to day you 'l be more unfit to morrow At this instant fall upon thy knees beg a blessing upon this book for the good of thy soul and others look upon Closet-Prayer as thy priviledge as well as thy duty 'T is a mercy thou mayst go to God as often as thou wilt and for what thou needest 'T is no small favour that God hath allowed thee the use of this privy Key to open Heaven-gates when thou hast not the more publick key of others help in Prayer yet this is thy incouragement Thy Father that sees in secret will reward thee openly I shall shut up all with a piece of Herberts Poetry called Artillery AS I one Evening sate before my cell Methought a Star did shoot into my lap I rose and shook my cloaths as knowing well That from small fires comes oft no small mishap When suddenly I heard one say Do as thou usest disobey Expel good motions from thy brest Which have the face of fire but end in rest I who had heard of Musick in the Sphears But not of speech in Stars began to muse But turning to my God whose Ministers The Stars and all things are if I refuse Dread Lord said I so oft my good Then I refuse not even with blood To wash away my stubborn thought For I will do or suffer what I ought But I have also Stars and Shooters too Born where thy Servants both Artilleries use My Tears and Prayers night and day do woe And work up to thee yet thou dost refuse Not but I am I must say still Much more oblig'd to do thy will Than thou to grant mine but because Thy promise now hath even set Thee Laws Then we are shooters both thou dost deign To enter combate with us and contest With thine own clay But I would parley fain Shun not my Arrows and behold my brest Yet if thou shunnest I am thine I must be so if I am mine There is no articling with thee I am but finite yet thine infinitely FINIS

CLOSET-PRAYER A Christian Duty OR A TREATISE UPON MAT. VI. VI. Tending to prove that the Worship of God in Secret is the indispensible duty of all Christians both by sundry Examples and Arguments TOGETHER With a severe rebuke of Christians for their neglect of or negligence in the duty of Closet-Prayer And many Directions for the managing thereof Exhortations to it Objections answered Cases of Conscience cleared By O. HETWOOD Minister of the Gospel Jer. 13.17 But if ye will not hear it my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride and mine eye shall weep sore and run down with tears because the Lords Flock is carried away captive ●●ndon Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and ●…ce Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside 1671. There is of this Author two other Books Printed 1. Heart-Treasure from Mat. 12.35 2. The sure Mercies of David Explained and Applied in several Sermons from Isa 55.3 The Epistle to the Reader Especially to the strict and serious Professor of Christianity Christian Friend THE power of Godliness is much spoken of but I am afraid very rarely to be found amongst even famous professors Most content themselves with external visible duties which Formalists may carry on with as much seeming zeal and applause as sincere worshippers A formal spirit is the disease of the present day The beams of Gospel-light in the late noon-tyde-dispensations have so far extracted an assent to fundamental truths and the necessity of some practical duties that 't is a shame in some places not to have a form of Godliness Many will be found Orthodox in their judgments and externally conformable in their practises yet without a principle of Grace in their hearts or the life of Religion in their lives in the day of accounts witness the foolish Virgins Thousands do finally miscarry besides the grosly prophane Some go to hell with a candle in their hands Christ's Colours in their hats his Word in their mouths and in the habit of Religion Every one is not a Saint that looks like one a painted picture makes a fair shew but wants life A Formalist will be comely indeed if animated with the truth of grace But the leaven of hypocrise spoyls many good duties This was that leaven of the Pharisees that sowred their prayers and rendred them distastful to God They made Religious duties a stage to act vain glory upon their Prayers had a thick shell and little kernel Our Saviour would not have the Saints like them Christs Disciples must do some singular thing more than others Their righteousness must go beyond that of the Scribes and Pharisees Sincerity is that spirit and life that is to run through Religion else it is a Body without a Soul or Cloaths without the Man This is the chief drift of our Saviours teaching and main design of Gospel-commands to render Professors sincere and spiritual approving their hearts to God in Evangelical performances I have many times bewailed the condition of those who are very busie in Externals of Religion abroad and are grosly negligent of the main Essentials at home They are like those who are propping up some remote members of their body while their Vitals are wasting in a languishing Consumption These are like a Man in a Feaver his face and hands burn but his heart shakes and quivers for cold These I may call Pepper-professors hot in the mouth but cold at the stomack There are thousands in the World will run many miles to hear a Sermon will countenance the best Preachers will read the Scriptures and good Books will pray in their families yea keep days of Fasting and Prayer with others that yet will not set about heart-work and flesh-displeasing duties of mortifying beloved lusts loving forgiving and praying for enemies yea that will not set themselves solemnly to the duties of Meditation Self-examination and secret Prayer The Vessel will not stir except the wind of applause blow the sails these are like the Nightingale in the wood of which it is recorded that she sings most sweetly when she thinks any is near her An Hypocrite can pray best when taken notice of by men you shall seldom see him at work with his heart in a Closet he is of the mind of those carnal persons of Christs natural kindred Joh. 7.4 who said to Christ If thou do these things shew thy self to the World for saith the Text ver 5. Neither did his brethren believe in him q. d. Such as carry on duties or counsel others to such undertakings as may expose them to publick view for ostentation declare plainly they want true grace which makes persons Jews inwardly Whose circumcision is of the heart in the Spirit whose praise is not of men but of God Rom. 2.29 The main trade of a Christian is his Home-trade as one saith Jurnal Christian Armour Chap. 12. Sect. 3. p. 304. which is spent in secret betwixt God and his own soul here he drives an unknown Trade he is at Heaven and home again richly laden in his thoughts with heavenly meditations before the World knows where he hath been The consideration of these things hath ingaged me to spend some thoughts concerning this great and much neglected Duty of Closet Prayer which when I had delivered and several had got Copies thereof it was judged fit for the Press some hopes conceived of its further usefulness I perused it again and methodized it into this form and communicated my thoughts to some concerning the publication of it A friend gave me notice there was a Book extant upon the same Subject which I enquired after and found one of Mr. Brooks on the same Text That Book I look'd over and was ready to think it would save me a labour but upon second thoughts I considered that this might fall into some hands that that would not that several men writing on the same Subject may be useful is ordinary that our Method and most of our Matter is different for I had finish'd mine before I saw the other except two or three leaves in the close Besides that the other is larger this a small Piece and more portable as a pocket-pocket-book or Vade mecum let it be then a short Appendix to that excellent Piece I am heartily glad any of Gods servants have set themselves to promote this part of practical piety 't is an excellent design and I am well assu●… if Christians were more in their Closets with God their own souls would thrive better and things would succeed better abroad Mr. Rogers being silenced from publick work desired his Hearers to spend that time they were want to come to his Lecture in in serious Prayer and Meditation in their Closets and he was confident Satan would be a loser and their souls gainers by that providence And this I can affirm that if persons would spend part of that time in secret Prayer they take to run abroad to Sermons in they would be better proficients Not but that hearing