a direful Sentence upon his obstinate Enemies sending them to be Tormented with the Devil and his Angels even for the Coming of this Kingdom you are also to pray saying with the Holy ones under the Altar Come Lord Jesus come quickly CHAP. XV. A farther Account of the Things to be Pray'd for AND having Pray'd God thus to rule in your heart by Grace that you may be fit for his coming in Glory to Crown his Servants and Torment his Enemies you are to Pray again that God would enable you to do both his secret and revealed Will and that you may patiently and contentedly submit to the former and readily and chearfully perform the latter as far as it is set down in his Holy Word Now Obedience to God's Law and Submission to his Providence are both requir'd to the doing of his Will For you are not only to observe what he enjoyns or prohibits but also to submit to whatever happens to you according to his Good Will and Pleasure whether it be Misery or Happiness And he who taught you to do thus did illustrate it with his own Example when with an admirable Resignation he Pray'd Not mine O Father but thy Will be done Now the manner of your Doing God's Will is taken from the Pattern of the Holy Angels who are God's ministring Spirits executing his Commandments with readiness fidelity and perseverance flying upon his errand with the wings of Love and Zeal But seeing you find perhaps in your self a reluctancy to do thus and that your Duty herein is often delay'd through Idleness or interrupted through Vanity so that your Obedience moves heavily and is clogg'd with fears and broken off by temptations you are to supplicate the Father of all Mercies that he would bestow upon you that Zeal and Affection for his Service wherewith the Holy Angels are Inspired to the intent that you may as they do his Will with Fervency and Chearfulness And that following the Examples of their Obedience whilst you are on Earth you may be joyn'd with them and your blessed Brethren in Glory to sing eternal Praises in Heaven And as our Lord in the three first Petitions of his Prayer compris'd all things respecting God and his Glory for which you are to Pray So in the next three Petitions he has sum'd up whatsoever you have need to desire respecting your own or your Neighbours Wants and Necessities And you may observe that the things relating to God's Glory are by our Saviour's Prescription first to be solicited and if this be rightly done you can scarce miss of the rest For all other things shall be given to them Who first seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness Matth. 6.33 And seeing God's Glory is of greater moment than yours or any man's Wants therefore you are to Pray for the first And yet seeing you are neither all Flesh nor all Spirit but a compound of both and that both have Needs to be supplyed you are to Pray for the relief of both And first you are to beg a supply for your Bodily Necessities all which our Lord comprehended under the name of Bread Which Word signifies outward comforts And in Praying God to give you this you declare your sole dependance to be on him for this present life and for all things that support it And the begging them of God declares likewise your abhorrence of all unjust and indirect ways to obtain them Next by the adjunct Daily added to Bread you evidence your contentedness with present necessaries and your purpose to Pray continually for them Which likewise declares your trust in God and that you cast your Cares upon him acknowledging that all you have or expect are from his bounteous Hand and sanctified by his Blessing And this Petition for Daily Bread was no doubt taken from that Prayer of the Jews which was thus The necessities of thy People Israel are many and their knowledge small so that they know not how to disclose their Necessities let it be thy good Pleasure to give to every man what sufficeth for food c. And the Petition for Daily Bread is by some thus paraphras'd Provide for us to morrows Bread and give it us to day that we be not solicitous for to morrow for sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof All things needful for this present life come from God and the Petition for Daily Bread shews that you are not to desire them all at once but that he would distribute them by little and little according as you need them That by this means you may never be destitute of nor desist in Praying for them For if you should possess them in too great abundance and as it were in a heap you might be in danger to rest contented within your self and forget to call upon the Lord Prov. 30.8 9. Christ in this Petition for Daily Bread seems to have reflected upon the sending of the Manna and as that was daily gather'd so this might be daily begg'd and given Some of the Fathers have Allegoriz'd this Petition and understood it of Christ the Bread of Life and the partaking of him in the Blessed Eucharist which does nourish the Soul unto Life Eternal as material Bread does the temporal Life of the Body And tho' I could wish that in this sense the Request for Daily Bread were both understood and practis'd and that now as in the Primitive Times the Sacrament of Christ's Death were daily celebrated yet I think the Petition is best interpreted of all manner of Food that is necessary for the preservation of human Life and of whatever is requir'd to support Man's frail Nature which could not be particularly express'd in so short a Form But if you look not farther than to your Bodily needs even to that of your Soul the supply of the first may prove a Misery and not a Happiness if the other be neglected Now the first thing you are to beg for your Soul is the forgiveness of your Sins and that God would not exact their penalty but that for the sake of the satisfaction Christ made to his Divine Justice he would mercifully acquit you from their Guilt and Punishment And to the end that you may not forfeit God's Pardon to you by Denying yours to your Brethren you are humbly to beseech the Almighty to give you those bowels of Compassion towards others when they trespass against you which you stand in need of when you trespass against them and if you who through the corruption of Humane Nature are prone to revenge can through God's Grace forgive others you need not doubt but your Heavenly Father whose Goodness is infinite will forgive you For it is certainly true That if you forgive Men you shall be forgiven of God Not that you are to give Law to God or to ground your Prayers on the merits of your own Works but that you subscribe to God's order to Pardon if you purpose to be Pardon'd And here take
concerning Matters of highest importance in a grave and learned Assembly Will he not rather if he may choose to come prepared and compose and weigh every Word and Period before he ventures to speak lest he expose himself by any rude and indigested Expression this would be but a becoming Piece of Respect at least and the want of it be condemn'd as no small Presumption Now in the case before us the reason of the thing is only so much stronger than it can be put in any worldly Concerns as there is so much more of awe due to the Person we are to speak to and the Business we come upon is of far greater Moment than any thing that is meerly Temporal can pretend to You that Fray are but a Worm Dust a Shadow a Bubble Nothing nay worse sinful polluted and abominable He to whom you Pray is the Lord of Heaven and Earth who is able eternally to destroy your Soul and Body in Hell The things you may Pray for are not of an inferiour but of the greatest Moment even the Salvation of your Soul Grace in this Life and Glory in the next And when you have maturely consider'd these things I leave you to make your own Conclusion as to the Preparation now spoken of And whether Reason do's not convince you of its Necessity But if your great Oracle Reason were Dumb in this case yet the Scriptures are plain and express to the purpose They teach you not to come before God without having first fitted your self for so dreadful a Presence And this you may collect from God's Command to Aaron which was that neither he nor his Sons should Enter upon Divine Service till they had wash't their hands and feet in the Laver appointed for that end Exod. 4. A Ceremony that among other things did certainly imply that all ought Piously to compose and order themselves for the Celebration of Religious Doubts and to put away all Filthiness both of Flesh and Spirit e're they did enter upon so Momentous a Solemnity You read in Esay 1. that God would not look upon Israel when they spread out their hands unto him which was an ancient manner of Praying nor hearken when they made many Prayers because their Hands were full of Blood and their Actions full of Injustice But if they would wash and make themselves clean and put away the evil of their doings and retract their faults then he would incline his Ear to their Supplications and be found of them when they sought unto him But till this was done all their Sacrifices Prayers and Oblations were to no purpose Whilst Israel lov'd to wander and would not refrain their feet whilst they continued in their Vices and would not give over their wicked Courses God did not only reject their own Prayers but also the Prayers that others made in their behalf For he positively forbad the Prophet to pray for them Jer. 7.16 and 14.12 11. Declaring that he would not hear their Cry when they Fasted nor accept them when they offer'd Burnt Offerings and Oblations And those Cruel Princes that pluck't the Skin of the People and the Flesh from their Bones who chopt them in pieces for the Pot and as flesh for the Caldron when they cry'd unto the Lord he would not hear them because they were wicked in their doings Mich. 3.2 3 4. Though they cry in mine ears saith the Lord with a loud voice yet I will not hear them Ezek. 8.18 Mine eye shall not spare neither will I have pity You have then no hope that God should accept your Services whilst you continue Impenitent Your Heart must be furnish'd with sincere Piety if you expect your Prayers should be regarded in God's sight or that any other part of Worship should be seasonable and welcom to him Without Repentance all the Religious Acts you can possibly execute are but Illusion and Hypocrisie inward Wickedness hidden under the Cloak and Visard of outward Sanctity Till therefore you give Glory to God by a free Confession of your Sins and by a lively Conversion fly to his Mercy you can neither feel the effects of Pardon nor the acceptation of your Prayers Whilst your Silver is Dross and your Wine mixt with Water whilst your Life and Actions that should be Pure continue Corrupt and Degenerate all you do in Religion in stead of Appeasing will incense the Divine Displeasure CHAP. VII Preparation to Prayer practised by the Jews c. AND what is now spoken concerning this Preparation is no novel or upstart Doctrine but an ancient Orthodox Truth Taught and Practis'd by Men of all Religions and rejected by none but the Lewd and Miscreant And first as to the Antient Jews Aristaeus reports that it was their Custom to Wash before they Pray'd Hist 72. And the modern Jews living in the Eastern Countries observe the same custom of Washing as a Preparative to Prayer and reading the Shemaah And no doubt they do this in imitation of the Priests who enter'd not upon performing any Religious Office in the Sanctuary unless they had first Wash'd And it was with respect to this Custom that David would not come to the Altar till he had washt his Hands in Innocency that is till he had prepared himself to Worship God being well assur'd that he was not worthy to receive the Divine Protection or any gracious Answer to the Prayers wherein he did not joyn Purity to Devotion and had a Heart as clean as the Hands he had washt And that his Thoughts and Actions were as purified as his Body And tho' it was common with the Jews in any solemn Business to wash their Hands in protestation of their Innocency yet this Ceremony was especially used before they said their Prayers Which shew'd the great esteem they had for that Duty and that they thought it of such Holiness and Purity as that it could not be rightly perform'd without a Preparation answerable thereunto And this you may further collect from the several Rules prescrib'd by the Rabbins to be observ'd by the Jews when they come to Pray And 1. The Masters forbad any to enter the Temple with Shooes on their Feet Which Prohibition they founded on those Words of God to Moses Exod. 3.5 Put thy shooes off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground which command was also given to Joshua 5.15 by the captain of the Lords host God does not bid them to put off their Shooes as if the Ground whereon they stood were Holy by an internal or perpetual Quality but because of God's Presence which he was pleas'd at that time in that place in a more especial manner to exhibit And from this injunction given to these two Worthies Solomon likely gave that General Rule namely that every one should take heed to his Feet when he enter'd the House of God Which Text the Targum explains thus Thou Son of Man take heed to thy Feet when thou entrest into the Sanctuary to
came to offer Was their Incense unsavory Or were their Censers unhallow'd Was their Altar profane Or did they offer with Strange Fire No but the fault was in themselves their Hearts were Proud and Stubborn leven'd with Envy and Malice and this was what kindled Gods Wrath and provok'd him to an unheard of Method of Destruction For they did not dye the common death or as every one dieth but the Lord made a new thing and the earth open'd her mouth and swallow'd them up and they went down quick into the pit Numb 16.29 30. Malice made the offering of these Wretches unwelcome and it still corrupts not only Prayer but makes all other Solemn Acts of Religion to lose their Acceptance with the Almighty For he has no Pleasure in Wickedness neither can any evil dwell with him Such as be foolish shall not stand in his sight and he hateth all them that work vanity Psal 5.4 5. Such as run eagerly upon Sin and are as 't were mad to commit it shall perish through their own imagination and the Lord shall cast them out in the Multitude of their Transgressions Their own Malicious Uncharitable Designs of Mischief shall betray them to Ruin and their very Prayers shall become an Abomination unto the Lord and be no more acceptable than was of Old the Presenting unto God what they had no Value for themselves such as Unclean things or the Refuse of their Flock God is obliged by Promise to prosper and crown your Fidelity in his Service and to Defend and with his Favour to compass you as with a Shield He will open his Ear to your Petitions and hearken to the Voice of your Prayer which you make in Faith and Charity only have this always in Mind That as there is a great Benefit in Prayer so there is some Difficulty to discharge it aright And that it is Impossible to do this without due Preparedness Which being maturely consider'd by the Primitive Christians they never began their Publick Prayers till the Priest had raised their Minds with a Preparatory Introduction To which Pious Custom our own Church had an Eye when She Order'd him that ministers to Prepare the Congregation for Prayers with the Reading some select Sentences of Scripture and after that is done with a short Affectionate Exhortation That by this means the People might be Stir'd up and Excited to a devout and reverent Deportment and to Draw nigh unto God with their Hearts as well as their Lips And from what has now been said you will be easily able to conclude That there is a Moral Impossibility your Prayers should prevail while you remain Impenitent And tho' one main Branch of your Prayer is for the Remission of your Faults yet you cannot expect this till you resolve to forsake them To confess and bewail with your Tongue the Sin you approve and cherish in your Heart will make all your Prayers but an Heap of Indignities against God and of Imprecations upon your self When therefore you come to Adore Worship and Serve the Lord your inward Thoughts and External Actions are to be Purified from Sin by Sincere Repentance For God heareth not the impenitent nor those who regard iniquity in their heart John 9.31 Psal 66.18 In a Word all the same Things that are requir'd of you when you come to the Lord's Supper are requir'd of you when you come to Prayer Namely To examine your self whether you repent you truly of your former sins stedfastly purposing to lead a new life have a lively faith in God's mercy through Christ a thankful remembrance of his death and to be in charity with all men And when you are thus rightly prepar'd to offer Prayers unto God and rightly qualified he will hear in Heaven and from thence bless you in Christ Jesus Twenty First Sunday after Trinity GRant unto Us we beseech thee Merciful Lord and to all thy Faithful People Pardon and Peace that we may be cleansed from all our Sins and serve Thee with a quiet Mind through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen Twenty Fourth Sunday after Trinity O Lord We beseech Thee absolve us from our Offences That through Thy bountiful Goodness we may all be deliver'd from the bands of those Sins which by our Frailty we have Committed Grant this O Heavenly Father for Jesus Christ's sake Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Amen CHAP. X. Circumspection at Prayer HAving already given you an Account of that Preparation which is requir'd when you come to Prayer and shewn the Necessity thereof and wherein it consists I am now to acquaint you with the Circumspection you are to use at the performance of this Great and Solemn Act of Religion By Circumspection I understand your care and diligence to deep your Soul Devout and your Body Reverent during the time of Prayer And First as for the Circumspection which regards the keeping of your Soul Devout it does in a great measure consist in avoiding as far as possible whatever may occasion the Wandring of your Thoughts in Prayer which are chiefly such as now follow I. Inconstancy and Unsettledness of Mind by reason whereof your Thoughts are distracted and divided contrary ways an Emblem of this unhappy State of Man with respect to the wandring of his Thoughts has been ingeniously enough drawn out in the way of a Picture wherein Christ is suppos'd to be hanging on the Cross and the Votaries upon their knees looking up to him and breathing out the different aspirings of their Souls according to the expression in the Gospel Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Out of the mouth of the one flows a Label directing itself in a strait line to to the Wounds of a Bleeding Saviour Praying to be made Partaker of the Merits of the Blood that he shed from the Mouth of the other are seen to proceed several Labels waving to and fro some pointing one way and some another some to the Fields and Rural Sports and Diversions others to the Sea to Trade and Business some are made up of corrupt Passions and Appetites others are fill'd with unlawful Desires or the recital of sinful Pleasures past and many other things of the like Nature The first Man would not suffer any thing to interrupt or divert him in the Prayers he offer'd but like a Beam of Light they swiftly and directly made their way to their proper Object the other did not mind what he was about but gave his thoughts the Reins and left them at liberty to ramble where they list And though he may seem to look the same way as the other did yet his mind is roving all the while verifying the expression of the Prophet quoted by our Saviour Matth. 15.8 such a one may seem to draw nigh with his mouth and honour God with his lips but his heart is far from him II. Carking immoderate Worldly Thoughts are the next thing which discompose your Mind and beget in you diffidence and distrust in God
condemn'd by our Saviour but the Repetition now spoken of is to mend your Incogitancy and Thoughtlesness of the Business you are about For it is not the tumbling out of so many words or of the same words over and over again or the Length and Multitude of them that is pleasing unto God any farther than as they express the fervency of your Spirit the Importunity of your Zeal and the greatness of your Wants But if you affect Length and Repetition in Prayer either out of Hypocrisie or Vainglory it will be so far from pleasing God and prevailing with him that it will have a quite contrary effect And this you may conclude from our Saviours carriage in this Particular who disliking the Heathens Length and Vociferation in Prayer gave his Disciples a short comprehensive Form which they were to use and imitate in their calling upon God Fourthly When you find out the Wandring of your Thoughts and that you are ready to mind any thing rather than that you should there is no such Cure for this as Attention For by it you instantly recal your self to your Business and to a serious minding of what you are about And you will soon perceive your obligation to do this when you consider that without doing it you slight one of the most Eminent Parts of God's Worship By drawing nigh unto him with your lips when your heart is far from him Besides if you exactly weigh your lack of Attention you will find it has in it a great degree of Atheism For not to Attend to what you say when you speak unto God betrays in you a low esteem of his Majesty and that you have mean unworthy Thoughts of the Godhead which has ever been accounted a piece of the vilest Atheism Call home then your roving Thoughts and employ them in what you are about Get as near Heaven as you can and have your mind there and there only For unless this be your care and practice when you offer to God the Sacrifice of Prayer you will be but like the Cheat in Plutarch Who brought unto the Altar of his Idol the Skeleton of an Ox cover'd with a fair hide pretending that he offer'd a goodly Sacrifice of Flesh and Entrails when indeed there was nothing but a skin full of bones You would count him a vain Thoughtless Person worthy of Ridicule and Contempt who coming to beg his Life of his Prince should give over his Suit to run after a Butterfly And yet this is your figure when in Prayer you suffer your mind to be carried away to impertinent objects and fasten your Thoughts to the things which you ought to avoid thinking on Can you hope as was but now intimated God should incline His ears to the Prayers to which you will not incline your own That he should regard your Petitions when you do not regard them your self You may easily observe your aptness to heedlesness at Devotion and how many things all foreign to what you are about do interpose when you fall down upon your Knees you may find to your sorrow the Common Enemy tampering with your Heart at the same time your tongue is speaking unto God 'T is therefore necessary to recollect your self to fix your mind when you come before the Almighty and to affect your Soul with this consideration That you are not sure of another opportunity to solicit him with your Prayers But if through the frailty of humane Nature you cannot always exercise that Attention which is necessary to restrain your wandring in Prayer then beg of God to assist your frailty and to establish your Attention against all avocations And tho' they may steal upon you at Devotion that he would enable you by his Grace to reject them And if after all you cannot be rid thereof be sure to give them no encouragement but to deny them your approbation and consent For when you do sincerely strive against them God will either crown your endeavour with conquest over them or pardon them if they prove invincible But if the want of attention in Prayer be the fruit of your own wilful Negligence you can hope neither for God's assistance nor his pardon whilst this negligence is continued CHAP. XI Zeal in Prayer ZEal is another help against the wandring of your thoughts in Prayer Now Zeal is a sacred warmth and fervour of Mind and an affectionate earnestness to have your Prayers heard For it is not enough that you keep your Thoughts to what is utter'd by him that ministreth in the publick Service and to ponder and mind every word he speaks but you must do it with intention and fervency For both all wandring and all deadness in Prayer must be driven away True Zeal will melt and dissolve your heart and make you cry unto God with the utmost strength of Spirit and it will move you to be wholly bent to obtain what you crave A cold indifferent Suitor seldom prevails with Men. For if a begger should ask relief at your hands and do it in so loose a manner as that he seem'd indifferent whether he had it or no you would think he had either little Want or great Pride and so have no heart to relieve him Now the things you beg of God are so much above the rate of any ordinary Alms that you can never expect they should be given you if you are slight and heavy in asking them When you apprehend and fully consider the matter of your Prayer and add to it a devout earnestness of desire then may your Devotion be truly said to be Zealous And tho' this quality chiefly resides in the Soul yet it often appears in the gestures of the Body As was seen in Moses who when he made intercession for Israel Fell down before the Lord forty days and forty nights and did neither eat bread nor drink water because of all the sins that Israel had sin'd in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger Deut. 9.18 And the Zeal of this meekest of Men was more than ordinary when he desir'd God rather to blot him out of his BOOK than that he should execute his menaces against Israel Elias cast himself upon the earth to express his Earnestness in praying for Rain And the ever Blessed Jesus continued all night in Prayer and offer'd up his supplications with strong crying and tears Luke 6.12 Heb. 5.7 And pray'd with such Ardour and Affectionateness that the sweat fell from him to the ground as if it had been great drops of blood Luke 22.44 And this zeal and earnestness seems to have been meant by S. Paul when he exhorted Believers to be instant in Prayer Rom. 12.12 To strive in prayer Rom. 15.30 To labour frequently in prayer Col. 4.12 Night and day to pray exceedingly To pray always with all prayer praying earnestly 1 Thes 3.10 Eph. 6.18 1 Pet. 4.7 Jam. 6.7 By all which sacred Texts that Zeal and Vehemency seems to be enjoyn'd which I
notice that according to Diodati the Forgiveness of Trespasses for which you Pray cannot be understood of the general remission of Sins in respect of the everlasting Judgment which has no other cause or ground before God but Christ's satisfaction and intercession but of the pardon of particular faults of Believers in regard of punishments in this life It was a rule of the Wise Men among the Jews That our pardoning of those who have injur'd us is rewarded by God with hearing our Prayers for Forgiveness And to this purpose are the words of Siracides Ecclus 28.1 2 c. He that revengeth shall find vengeance from the Lord and he will surely keep his sins in remembrance Forgive thy Neighbour the hurt he hath done unto thee so shall thy Sins also be forgiven when thou prayest One man beareth hatred against another and doth he seek pardon from the Lord He sheweth no mercy to a man which is like himself and doth he ask forgiveness of his own Sins If he that is but Flesh and Blood nourish hatred who will entreat for pardon of his Sins But you are not to conclude from hence that Pardon from God depends only on your pardoning of others or that it is merited by it but that it is most reasonable that you who request forgiveness of your Offences against God should forgive the Offences of your Brethren whose Offences are less in number and value and not committed perhaps without your provocation Take heed therefore lest by your Malice and want of Charity to others you bring not God's wrath and indignation on your self Deliverance from the power of Sin and all temptations to commit it is the next thing respecting your Soul that you are to seek for at the hands of your Creator Now of your self you are unable to withstand those multitudes of temptations which daily assault you so that you have need continually to have recourse to the Divine assistance and to implore God either wholly to remove all temptations or so to restrain their power and malice that they do not overcome you The former is not to be hop'd and so not to be pray'd for For the World the Flesh and the Devil will never give over soliciting alluring and tempting you to Sin Satan as his name signifies is to the Tempter who being miserable by Sin labours to make all like himself And that he spares none was seen in his hardiness to set upon our Saviour whom he would have tempted to the most horrid iniquity the worship of himself And as this shews that none can escape his temptations so it likewise shews that it is no Sin to be tempted but that all the fault lies in yielding to the temptation and this arises from that great Impostor your own Heart which is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked It ought then to be your earnest and incessant supplication to him who can restrain the powers of darkness and infatuate the mischievous devices of Hell and all its Agents that he would keep you from all evil circumstances and dangerous occasions leading to Sin that he would suppress in you all inclinations to evil and not leave you to your self nor to be tempted and carried away of your own lusts and enticed That he would not unchain and let loose the infernal foes to assail and over-master you by their accursed seducements but that you may resist unto Blood and be crown'd with conquest over them But if your Heavenly Father for great purposes leads you into any signal trials and temptations then do you resign your self to his absolute pleasure humbly beseeching his paternal tenderness to limit and controul the Tempter and to restrain your consent And tho' it ought to be your great grief to be at any time enticed to offend God yet it cannot be any great discomfort so long as God is pleas'd to relieve you from doing the evil to which you are tempted and together with the temptation to make you a way to escape The Jews have a Form which they call the short Prayer which is an Epitome or Abridgment of their longer Prayers and it was a rule among them That he who had a promptness in Prayer was to pray the eighteen Prayers but he who wanted this promptness was to use the short Prayer which was a Recollection out of the other and is as follows OUR Father which art in Heaven be gracious unto us O Lord our God hallowed be thy Name and let the remembrance of thee be Glorified in Heaven above and upon earth here below Let thy Kingdom reign over us now and for ever Remit and forgive unto all whatsoever they have done against us And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil thing For thine is the Kingdom and thou shalt reign in Glory or Power for ever and ever vid. Mr. John Gregory Pag. 168. CHAP. XVI Prayer to be made in the plural number Amen AND both this Summary and the larger Prayer were used by the Jews in the daies of our Saviour who out of them collected the Form which he taught his Disciples and which is now used by all Christians But when our Lord gave this Prayer he did not null or make void the other Prayers used by the Jews nor did he intend that his Followers should use his Prayer and none other but he gave it as an absolute perfect Form by which our imperfect Prayers are to be regulated and to be an abstract of all we are to Pray for So that if any thing be wanting in our Prayers it is to be supplied by adding unto them the Lord's Prayer Which Christ I say gave not to extinguish but to regulate our Prayers and to be added unto them and to render them perfect and consummate For it contains the heads of all things that you can either want or desire to have And our Lord in his Heavenly Wisdom so order'd the composure of his Prayer that it might differ as little as possible from the Jewish Form and that it might likewise be fit to be said by all And I think there is none of what Religion soever who own God to be the Father or Maker of Heaven and Earth who may not pertinently make use of the Lords Prayer and desire every thing that therein is set down It is observable that the Jews appointed all their Prayers to be said in the Plural Number tho' he that said them was alone by himself and they did it for this reason That it might never seem as tho' a man were cut off from the congregation And they have this commendable Canon viz. He that prays ought always when he prays to joyn with the Church Which Canon they do not strictly understand only of Prayers said in the Synagogue but wheresoever they are made in the world And when a Jew is most alone he is to say Prayers in the plural and not in the singular number In which number our Saviour also has taught us
to pray So that when you are in the greatest solitude and separation from company you are to own your union with the Church and Communion with all true Believers for whose happiness you ought to pray as well as for your own The Jewish Church Ordain'd that all their Publick Prayers should be concluded with Amen I say Publick Prayers for in their Private or Phylacterical Prayers it was omitted And it was a sign those Prayers were Publick to which Amen was added and a sign they were otherwise when it was not used And the Christian Church retains the same Custom adding Amen to all her Prayers Which is a word of that weight and moment that it ought never to be omitted For by saying Amen you declare your trust and assurance that God will grant the things you ask according to his Will It being one special branch of your confidence in God that if you ask any thing according to his Will and not your own fancy he heareth you By saying Amen to the Publick Prayers you express your approbation of them that you agree with the Congregation and present but one common vote unto God And when there is a happy harmony and consent of heart and voice in praying for things lawful and expedient you may be assured that he who has promis'd to grant the Requests of two or three gather'd together in his Name will much more incline his ear to a pious multitude to a numerous Congregation met solemnly to beg his Blessings But besides all this your humble hearty and zealous saying Amen shews your attentiveness to the Publick Prayers and that you are neither asleep nor inadvertent when they are made And indeed one way to quicken your attention is to consider that you are to say an hearty Amen to every Prayer and as it were to set your seal unto it by so doing And by saying Amen you also let the Hearer of Prayers know that you hope and believe to have your share in the good things that are desir'd and that on the contrary you do not expect any benefit by the Petitions which you do not sign and confirm by your Amen In which single word all your own Wants are sum'd up and theirs also for whom you pray And we read that the Primitive Christians thought the saying an hearty Amen to be of so great importance that they pronounc'd it with a sort of vociferation and affectionate earnestness which is enough to shame and awaken their negligence who either regard not at all to say Amen or do it with so provoking a drowsiness and indifferency as if it were all one to them whether God would grant or deny their Request whether he did hearken to their Prayers or stop his ears against them which being consider'd will I hope have the happy influence to make you so attentive to Prayer as to close it with such a sensible Amen as that the Lord God may say so too 1 Kings 1.36 CHAP. XVII Of our Lord's Doxology AND having now given you this plain familiar account of the Things you are to desire of God as they are set down in the Divine Summary left us by our Lord give me leave for a conclusion to present you with a short account of the drift and design of the scope and end of Prayer which is none other than God's Glory and your own Benefit That God's Glory ought to be the first and principal end and drift of Prayer is naturally to be concluded from the Doxology wherewith both Jews and Christians have ever closed their Supplications That Doxology was us'd by the Hebrews in David's time is plain from his own practice who praised the Lord before all the People and said Blessed be thou Lord God of Israel our Father for ever and ever Thine O Lord is the Greatness and the Power and the Glory and the Victory and the Majesty for all that is in the Heaven and in the Earth is thine thine is the Kingdom O Lord and thou art exalted as Head above all Both Riches and Honour come from thee and thou Reignest over all and in thy Hand is Power and Might and in thine Hand it is to make Great and to give Strength unto all Now therefore our God we thank thee and praise thy glorious Name Chron. 29 10 11 c. And we find a Doxology added to all the Publick Prayers of the Jews which was follow'd by our Saviour in his Compendious Form And tho' some both in the Greek and Latin Church have look'd upon the Doxology at the end of the Lord's Prayer to be a Spurious Addition put in by some well-meaning man who did not well know what he did yet I see no ground for this saying For since it is granted by all That our Saviour took every Petition of his Prayer out of the Jewish Euchologues it may justly be thought that he thence also took the Doxology and added it to his Prayer as the Jews to theirs Now the Doxology is not only a Form of Praise and Thanksgiving fit and proper to be the closing up of all Devotions in token that they are directed to God's Honor but it also contains the fundamental grounds of making your Addresses unto God For in saying Thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever You acknowledg all those excellencies to be in God which are the true and chief motives of Prayer and which give life and spirit to that Heavenly Duty and to all the Graces therein to be exercis'd And first your Faith is greatly supported in the expectation of the good things you pray for when you maturely revolve that you beg them of him who is the only universal absolute Independent Lord and Sovereign of the World And that he is easily intreated of his Subjects and takes pleasure in their Protection and Happiness Only remember that at the same time you acknowledge God's Kingdom you own your self to be his Subject and that it is your duty to obey his Laws and to submit intirely to his Government and not to countenance any one rebel Lust against him And when Secondly you ascribe Power unto God you profess your belief of his All-sufficiency and that you present your Petition to one who is able and willing to grant it For if he wanted either Will or Power to give what you beg it were enough utterly to discourage your Application But seeing that God has the bowels of a Father and the arm of a King and a Soveraign right to dispose of every thing as he pleases he is in all respects fitly qualified to grant the request you make unto him And although your own unworthiness might justly hinder you from receiving any favour at his hand yet he will not withhold what you rightly sue for That his free Grace may have that Glory from you which he hath from all to whom he has been formerly bountiful There is an excellent Honour arising unto God from his own
infinite perfections and the effects thereof and he expects it should be paid him by all his Creatures both in Heaven and Earth And tho' all solemn Acts of Religion should aim at his honour and be directed to it as their genuine end yet in a more eminent manner this honour is design'd him in Prayer For were it otherwise Our Lord would not have begun his Prayer with Hallowed be thy Name nor have concluded it with Thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory And if the glory of what you have and are be not ascrib'd to that Omnipotent Being from whom you receive them If you sacrifice unto your Net and burn incense unto your Drag if you attribute any acquisition or endowment to your self you rob God of his Honour of which he is most tender and can be truly said neither to Hallow Gods Name nor to give him Glory And here it will be natural for you to consider that the Kingdom Power and Glory of God are not fading and transitory but permanent eternal and for ever and ever For if it were otherwise and that you were to make your Prayers to a mortal mutable God one subject to change of mind and death it would lessen the vigor of your Devotion But seeing the object thereof is the same yesterday to day and for ever and that his Kingdom Power and Glory are from everlasting to everlasting seeing God is a merciful Father and still ready to hear the cry of his Penitent Children and seeing he is for ever a King loving and helpful to his Subjects and for ever one for whose Glory it is to grant your Addresses these considerations give you spirit to call upon him with comfort and assurance and prevent your doubting of his gracious Audience for the things you crave of him for the sake of his Kingdom Power and Glory All communications of Goodness flow from God and it is but just that they should return to him again in Sacrifices of Praise and Adoration And therefore let it be your care to ascribe unto him the honour of all you have and do For this will keep you from that ostentation and vain-glory to which man 's proud nature is not a little inclinable especially in matters of Religion which being observ'd by our Saviour he strictly caution'd all men against it bidding them by all means to avoid Vanity and Pride in the duties of Religion and particularly in Alms and Prayers In Alms he requires such a Secrecy as that if the left hand had eyes and ears yet it should neither see nor hear what the right hand did that by this means the Alms-giver might utterly be freed from all suspicion of Vain-glory. The Scribes indeed gave their Alms with sound of trumpet they call'd the Poor together from every quarter not that they should all partake of their Alms but to have the more Spectators All they aim'd at was the empty rumour and vogue of being Bountiful For which they were so far from deserving any reward from God that they deserv'd a punishment for their Folly Dissimulation and Injustice For their Folly in preferring Humane things to Divine for their Dissimulation in imposing upon the world by their counterfeit Piety and for their Injustice in assuming that Praise to themselves which was due only unto God CHAP. XVIII The End and Drift of Prayer c. AND as our Lord caution'd all men against Vain-glory in giving Alms so he likewise caution'd them against the same in Prayer In which he would have all carefully to eschew the fashion and mode of Hypocrites Personators and Actors in Religion who among the Jews were wont to pray standing in the Synagogues and corners of the streets places of publick concourse where they were sure to have many to see them But instead of affecting any such popularity he would have you studiously to avoid it by going in your closet and shutting the doors and with all possible privacy to pray to your Father which is in secret and your Father which seeth in secret shall reward you openly Not that our Lord condemns Publick Prayer which the Church has practis'd ever since she had a being upon Earth but rather than that you should be thought to pray for Ostentation he would have you retire from all worldly company as Jacob did when he wrestled with the Angel Gen. 32.24 And in your private Prayers of which Christ Jesus speaks S. Matth. 6. to be as private as you can to go into the most secret Apartment and there unbosom your self to God For tho' he himself be invisible yet he sees you how secret soever you are and all that you do in secret And he that is thus the beholder of Private Devotions shall reward you before men and Angels Be content therefore that God looks upon and esteems you that he is a witness of what you do seeing it is from him alone that you expect your reward But if in a duty wherein God's Glory is so nearly concern'd you take in so poor an accession as the praise of men it is but just that that should be your reward and that you receive none other from God to whom nothing can be more displeasing than to see Ostentation interpose in your Devotion and that therein you seek the applause of men more than his Glory Whereas in all your worship of God private or publick your eye should be still on his Honour regarding nothing so much as to have him approve your doings because he only is able to reward them And tho God's Glory is to be the first and principal end of your Prayers yet in subordination to this you may also design your own benefit and that of others For these are very consistent and need not be separate For at the same time that you use Prayer as an Act of Worship solely due unto God you may also use it as a means appointed by him to obtain his Blessings which are either Spiritual or Secular belonging to your Soul or Body The first are Grace Holiness and Pardon of Sins in praying for which you may be peremtory and absolute But in praying for temporal Blessings you are to be conditional and to use resignation and submission and in craving them never to design any thing that is mean and sordid And 1. if you desire and God gives you Secular Power and Authority do not abuse or prostitute it to wicked unmanly purposes such as the gratifying of your spleen and revenge and the oppression of those you hate But imploy your Authority in undoing the heavy burthens in protecting the impetent and him that has no helper in breaking the jaws of the wicked and plucking the Spoil out of their teeth in delivering the poor that cry and the fatherless and him that has none to help In short use the authority God gives you in executing Justice and maintaining Truth in being a Terror to evil doers and a Praise and encouragement to them that do well And