such a manner as he doth the Spouse Cant. 2.10 Rise up my love my fair one and come away Or as 't is Vers 14. Come let me hear thy voice for it is sweet To pray at such a season is to hoise up sail before the wind it is like rowing both with wind and tide Being thus excited by the Spirit you may expect the assistance of it if Prayer be now neglected the Spirit of God is quenched and I 'le pronounce him a novice in Religion or rather a stranger to it altogether that doth not confess it necessary to the lively performance of this Duty that the Spirit of God doth act and quicken him therein Our motions are exceeding dull and heavy in holy Duties when the Spirit of God doth not help our infirmities Whensoever therefore God says by the secret whisperings of his Spirit f Ps 27 6. Seek ye my face our hearts should answer and eccho back as Davids did Thy face O Lord we will seek Yet here I would have it remembred I do not say a Christian should never pray but when he finds the Spirit of God egging him forward this hath been the gross mistake of some who hereupon have discontinued the duty for several days together because they have not perceived the Spirit moving them thereunto No let this be thy practice to wait upon God in his way and it may be the Spirit of God will meet thee therein Know this though the Spirit of God should not put forth his hand to lead thee yet the Word of God holds forth a precept to command thee and set thou about the Duty out of pure obedience to the command of God It may be ere thou art aware thou wilt find Him whom thy soul desires Though the Spirits assistance be never unwelcome to a Child of God yet many times it comes unexpected Abraham saw not the Ram for the sacrifice till he was in the Mount Often in the Mount in the time of Prayer the Spirit of the Lord is seen and felt Mariners have put forth to sea in a calm when they have made but little way and anon they have met with fresh and unexpected gales of wind that have brought them with full sail to their desired haven I leave you to apply it Again I do not deny but the evil spirit who is Gods Ape may sometimes transform himself into the likeness of Gods Spirit and may excite a Christian to this duty but then his motions are irregular and unseasonable they tend to the hindering of him from another and for that time a more seasonable duty suppose it a work of mercy to himself or others or such like Christian exercises must be wisely subordinated one to another whereas the Devil desires to make them interfere and to set them at variance 3. When we find our hearts in a setled and composed frame then also it is a sit season for secret Prayer when g Ps 57.7 as David's our hearts are fixt and not pre-occupied with any secular matters To pray at another time is like playing upon an Instrument that is out of tune what harsh and unpleasing melody doth it make Many when they go to seek God they have their heart to seek Few can say with David that h 2 Sam. 7.27 In the Hebrew t is onely the found to pray they have sound their hearts to pray We render it he found in his heart but it may be read he found his heart to pray a prayer unto God i It was the custome of the Heathens to address themselves in the morning early to their Idols vid. Herod l. 10. The Primitive Christians were wont to be early at their devotions Vid. Pl. ep 57. ad Trajan Tertul Apol. c. 2. See Christs practice Marc. 1.35 Qui mene surgit precandi causa dicit manicare Deum Drus Usually in the morning the mind is most composed then a man meets with least diversions in duty the evenings repose hath in great part discharged the mind of all that did distract it and it were well if we would be with God as soon as we awake if we did offer up to him the first-fruits of every day if as soon as we lift our bodies off our beds we did in Prayer lift up our souls to God This was Davids manner Psal 5.3 Under this Head I will suggest these three cautionary Rules 1. Do not take Prayer in hand when you have any other matter in hand if so you attendance upon God must needs be with distraction and your heart will be stollen from you do what you can Set by all worldly occasions when you set about this duty say to them as k Gen. 22 5 Abraham did to his young men Stay you here while I go aside to worship God 2. Do not ordinarily go to prayer when your anger is stirred and your mind full of perturbations if you do t is ten to one but you will offer up the sacrifice of a fool and speak unadvisedly with your lips The l 1 Tim. 2.8 Apostles advice is that we lifts up to God holy hands without wrath m 1 King 19.11.12 God was not in the Wind nor in the Earthquake nor in the fire that passed by Elijah but in the still small voice And you must be of still and quiet spirits if you will see or find him 3. Do not usually engage in Prayer when you are enclin'd to sleep drowsinesse if so you are like to make but dull and drowsie work of it n Mat. 26.40.41 The rebukes of Christ could not awaken his Disciples to Prayer when there hearts were heavy and asleep You must be wakefull when you pray if you would watch unto Prayer 2. A second Help is this Allot and set out a due proportion of time for this Duty It is not enough to choose a sit time for Prayer but you must allow sufficient time to Prayer No service whether secular or spiritual can be done well unless you allow a due proportion of time for the doing of it How is Prayer huddled and slubbered over many times for want of this you think of making an end as soon as you begin you are straightned in your prayers because you are straightned in your time Qu. If you should ask How much time must a Christian set apart in a day for secret Prayer Ans In my answer I must have respect to the callings and conditions of Christians that time is sufficient for one which is not sufficient for another 'T is observable that under the Law there were different sacrifices for the rich and for the poor God required that mens sacrifices should hold some proportion with their abilities And by parity of reason God looks that the rich and those that have little else to doe should double the time of the poor in Prayer and of those whose callings call for their continuall attendance And yet I must add this too let a mans condition be
ΚΡΥΠΤΕΥΧΟΛΟΓΙΑ Or A Plain ANSWER To this Practical Question What course may a Christian take to have his Heart quickned and enlarged in the Duty of Secret Prayer By RICHARD MAYO late of Kingston upon Thames Psalm 80.18 Quicken us O Lord and we will call upon thy Name LONDON Printed by D. Maxwel for Thomas Parkhurst at the Sign of the Three Crowns at the lower end of Cheapside 1664. To the Reader Reader I Was the more willing to print this Letter though penn'd at first for the closet of a particular friend and not in a fit dress to come abroad because it contains an Answer to a Question that every Christian is ready to ask and none so far as I can learn did ever yet undertake to resolve or if any have obliquely touched it never any did directly handle it A small Structure must not have a great Porch I shall onely suggest these two praeliminary Exhortations 1. Be much in the duty of secret Prayer be as constant at it as at your a Morning evening and noon-daye So David Joachim the father of the Virgin Mary used to say That Prayer was his meat and drink See Daniels practice Dan. 6.10 meals Amongst many motives this is one 'T is a Duty wherein God doth ordinarily make the greatest discoveries of himself Joseph and his brethren were alone when he made himself known to them The secrets of the Lord are usually revealed unto his people when they are seeking him in secret then 't is that he gives them his b O anima sancta sola esto anne nescis verecundum te habere sponsum loves when they fall down upon their knees unto him he falls upon their necks and kisseth them c Nunquam 〈◊〉 solus quam 〈◊〉 solus They are never less alone then when alone 2. Be warm and lively in the Duty A dead Prayer is no more accepted with God then of old the offering up of a beast that was found dead in a ditch The Ass under the Law was not to be offered unto God but his neck must be broke not that God was angry with that creature which was the workmanship of his hands but to shew how distastfull a dull and a dead heart is to him in his service Sometimes Christians go to Prayer as sick persons to their meals because they must eat and 't is dinner-time and the like not that they desire or delight in their food or find any refreshment thereby If it be thus with thee in reference to Prayer thou art greatly distempered thy condition is very dangerous therefore look out speedily for help May this following Letter contribute something thereunto the Lord set in with it for that end A Plain ANSWER To this Practical Question What course may a Christian take to have his heart quickned and enlarged in the Duty of Secret Prayer Christian Friend YOur Question savours of a Spirit truly gracious It supposeth you already convinced of and perswaded to the practice of that necessary though neglected Duty of Secret Prayer It shews you do not take up with a bare performance of Duty as too many do not caring how or in what manner it be performed It argues you would present God with the male of your flock and not put him off with a corrupt thing These are good signs of sincerity I could heartily wish that all Christians would follow your example to propose such profitable questions as may promote piety and to avoid such a 〈…〉 foolish questions as do engender strifes I would not be wanting to you in so pious a request as this is And oh that I could say that b 1 Joh. c. 3. What I here declare unto you I have seen and felt my self that what is here exprest is the same which I my self have experienc'd It is besides your desire and my design to write concerning the duty of secret Prayer at large to open the nature of it to shew the necessity of it to lay down Arguments to move you to it to advise in what manner you should manage it namely with faith with servency with humility with sincerity with constancy with watchfulness in the Spirit and the like this work is done to my hand in many Treatises and those extant some of them c Cobbet his practical discourse of Prayer Philip Goodwin his Family Religion revived from pag. 149 to p â—15 in our own Language I shall therefore strictly keep to the Question propounded which I acknowledge is of greatest concernment God is a living God and they that worship him must worship him with warmth and d Ejusmodi cultum probat Deus qui ejus naturae congruit Cal. in Joh. 4 23. life such supplaints he seeketh after Meet helps then in this case are such as follow 1. Remember to observe the fittest seasons for the performance of this duty Though a Christian is to pray at all times yet at all times he is not alike sit for Prayer This you find by experienceâ— As many a fair Child is lost by an untimely birth so many a good duty is marr'd by an undue timing of it Of many apt seasons I shall mention these three 1. When you meet with any new occurrence of Providence Every fresh dispensation of Providence is a provocation unto Prayer When any affliction befals thee then fall down before God and humble thy self under his afflicting hand e Jam. 5.13 Praesâ—â—tim cuâ—andum est quoties alâ—quá rerum anâ—ustia aut ipsi premimur aut premi alioâ— videmus ut ad Dâ—um citatis non pedibus sed animis recurrâ—mus Dâ—inde ae quam aut nostram aut aliorum prospcritatem praeterire simamus quin laude ac gratiarum actionâ— manum ejus agnoscere nos testemur Cal. Instit lib. 3. Is any amongst you afflicted let him pray says the Apostle that is let him then do it more especially then there is a fit opportunity for it Again when any fresh mercy is conferred upon thee then it is a fit season to go aside and to acknowledge thine unworthiness and to express thy thankfulness See an excellent instance for this in 2 Sam. 7.18 the words are these Then went King David in and sat before the Lord and said Who am I O Lord God and what is my house that thou hast brought me hitherto Mark that particle then Why when was it See the foregoing Verse When God by Nathan had made many promises and that of great mercies to him then he went in and sat before the Lord and said Who am I c. The Reader may dilate his thoughts upon this and the following particulars I intend onely brief hints 2. When you find the Spirit of God moving upon your Soul and exciting you to the duty then it is a fit season for it Now God calls upon you to come and converse with him he invites you now to communion with himself Think at such a time that the Lord bespeaks you in
water from a sountain and partly by the subtilty and malice of Satan he being a Spirit hath ready access to thy spirit and thou never goest aside to pray but he follows thee at the heels and seeing he cannot divert thee from his desire is to distract thee in the duty Sometimes he injects such thoughts as are directly sinfull or if he finds that these affright thee as many times a Christian starts at these as at some ghostly apparition then he casts in such as are at other times allowable and lawfull or if he sees that these are unwelcome then he injects such thoughts as are in themselves good and usefull onely they are impertinent these he steals our of the heart again for the most part before the Prayer is ended though at other times he would oppose them yet now he puts them forward as those that are most likely to find entertainment in thy soul I suppose thy experience will let thee set thy seal to this as true Now if thou wouldest have thy heart enlivened and enlarged in Prayer remember to repel every vain or impertinent thought that comes in to thy disturbance resist it rise upon it call in help from Heaven against it This is one sence we are to put upon the Apostles d Eph. 6.18 watching unto Prayer If at other times then much more in Prayer we must keep our hearts with all keeping or else do what we can they will give us the slip e 'T is Mr. Gurnals comparison in Lib. praedict As you do with your Children so you had need to do with your Childish minds happily they go along with you to Church but when you are set if not awed by your eye they steal sorth and are gone and it may be are playing all Sermon time or a good part of it and you miss them not To prevent this you set them before you and have an eye to them You can apply it Remember this advice whenever you go to Prayer renew your resolution to watch against vain thoughts think how many Prayers they have f Sâ— vâ—geâ—â—â— mens nostra nullâ—m 〈◊〉 preâ—â—â—â—â—s utilâ—tatem â—â—rcipiâ—â—â—s imo potius maâ—â—â—m dam 〈…〉 Vel. Maâ—l marr'd already resolve that through grace they shall not spoil this also 8. Let the guilt of no one sin ly upon thy Conscience that will so clog disquiet and check thy spirit in Prayer that thou wilt never be able to proceed with any life or enlargement Guilt makes a Christian shy of coming into the presence of God as a faulty Child playes least in sight and steals away to bed before the time being loath to come where his Father is So it is with a Christian that is conscious to himself of any fault or sin that he hath knowingly committed against God and as he is listless to come to Prayer so he is lifeless in the duty his sin flies in his face so that he cannot lift it up with any g Tunc eor siduciam in oratione occipit qâ—um sibi vitae nulla pran it as contradiert Greg. in mor. confidence his heart upbraids him and falls a quarrelling with him and says What hast thou to do to take Gods Name into thy mouth c If therefore thou wouldest pray as thou desirest preserve thy Conscience pure and peaceable Take heed of known sins h Psal 18. â—1 of departing wilfully or wickedly as Davids phrase is from God There is i Peccata quotidianae incu simis vastantia conscientiam a sinning weakly or through weakness this doth not ordinarily interrupt a Christians peace and there is a sinning wickedly or through wickedness so k Jude 15. Jude speaks of committing ungodly deeds ungodlily this lays waste the Conscience this destroys a Christians peace and deadens his heart in duty Oh beware of sinning after this manner if thou must abstain from every appearance of evil then much more from every apparent evil Oh fly from it when it comes near thee in a temptation as thou wouldest do from a venemous Serpent shake it off as thou wouldest do an ugly Toad that is cravvling up upon thee Observe l Job 23.22 with 26 27. Eliphaz his advice to Job which is to put iniquity far from him not to come near it and then says he thou shalt lift up thy face to God and make thy prayer unto him Thou shalt make many and mighty Prayers as the m 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 multiplicavit proprie verba fortia in oratione 〈◊〉 multae cogia fudit word there signifies thou shalt not onely use words in Prayer but words cloathed with power thou shalt be able to pray and to pour strong Prayers in abundance unto God Quest But if sin hath already wounded my Conscience and broken my Peace am I now to refrain Prayer till it be healed again Ans No for this is not to mend the matter but to make it worse You cannot heal the wound of one sin by another you must to Christ by Faith and to God by Prayer and though there be a present deadness yet ply the Throne of Grace till the Lord speak peace to thy soul and remember to do this presently the sooner the better let not the Sun go down upon the breach betwixt God and thee New breaches are made up better then long quarrels and green wounds are healed easier than old sores 9. It will not a little help in this case if you are provided beforehand both with matter and a method in Prayer I observe that Christians are streightned in this duty not onely from the naughtiness of their hearts but from the emptiness of their heads as sometimes like Zebedees Children they ask they know not what so at other times they know not what to ask They are often word-bound if I may so speak and at a loss they cannot tell how to go forwards and therefore they go backwards and vent themselves in vain repetitions Now this great evil will be in part prevented if they be stor'd beforehand with matter for Prayer and if they do observe a method in the duty Possibly upon the first reading of this direction you may reject it as that which shuts out the immediate suggestions of the Spirit and tends to formality but weigh it well and you will be of another mind Take it upon the word of one that hath prov'd it it is of admirable use to quicken and enlarge the heart in Prayer because from hence there is a continual supply of fresh matter for want of which your experience tells you that you are exceedingly dulled and straightned T is true sometimes and oh that it were so always we have such abundant assistance such ravishing incomes from the Spirit of God that we stand in no need of any such help as this here offer'd our spirits are so raised our affections are so up we are carryed out so beyond our selves that we cannot be bounded by any premeditated
like expressions are to be admired says the same Author not strained lest our thoughts degenerate into rude blasphemy certainly they are mighty condescensions wherein the Lord would signifie to us the great power and efficacy of Prayer I might bring many Scriptures and arguments to evince the prevalency of Prayer but this is a common argument and therefore I shall decline it Only consult Mat. 21.22 where Christ says that all things whatsoever we aske in Prayer believing we shall receive This one promise is enough of it self to quicken the deadest soul that is in Prayer and Christs manner of speaking here is observable it had been one would have thought enough to have said All things ye ask in Prayer ye shall receive but here he adds all things whatsoever It seems to be a tautology we don't speak in our ordinary discourse I will give you all things whatsoever you ask But this is not without its signification All things Å¿ 'T is Mr Burroughs his glosse in one of his Books sayes one is a promise of generals and whatsoever relaâ—es to particulars 'T is as if he had said Not onely all things in generall but every perticular thing that you ask you shall receive for though it be true that generals include particulars yet such is the unbeliefe of our hearts that though we assent to promises in the generall yet when it comes to particulars we hold off and fear they will not be made good to us Hereto I might add that speech of Christ to the woman of Canaan t It was said of Luther Isâ—e vir apud Deum potuit quod voluit 〈◊〉 Pâ—â—â—se that full Scripture â— John 5. 1 â— 15. Be it unto thee as thou wilt he seemes to give her a blank and bids her write down what she pleaseth But enough of this My advice is That you digest this notion well and carry it along with you all the while you are at prayer and it cannot but quicken you As he must needs pray heartlesly who thinks 't is a bootless exercise who is ready to say in his heart What profit is it that I pray unto God so he must necessarily u 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 5.17 pray in Prayer as 't is said Elias did who thinks that Prayer like Jonathans bow doth w 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Menander never return empty but oftentimes as the Eccho doubleth the voice so doth Gods answer our prayers Rest assured of this That every petition a believer puts up on Earth is read and fil'd in Heaven x So was Solomons 1 Kâ—n 8.59 and so is every believers 'T is nigh God and in his view night and day he gives the thing desired y Nemo parvi pendat onationem suam dico enim vâ—bis quod ipse ad quâ—m oramus non parvi pendit cam Postquâ—m egressa est ab ore nâ—stro ipse scribit eam in libro suo unum in â—uobus indubitanter expectemus aut dabiâ— quod petimus aut quod novit utilius Greg. in Hom. super Evang. or something that is better 6. Be much in the use of ejaculatory Prayer Reader if thou shouldst not understand the word I will suppose thee acquainted with the thing 't is a short yet serious lifting up thy soul in desires unto God upon any occasion whatsoever These ejaculatory Prayers are either vocal or mental onely If you read the Scripture z Gen. 43.14 49.18 Nch 2.4.5 Judg. 16.28 2 Sam. 15.31 Lâ—ke 23.42 Jâ—h 12.26.27 Luke 20.21 23.34 36. 〈◊〉 if this be not intendâ—d by Dâ—vid when he says Psal 119.164 Seven times a day do I praise thâ—e you shall find this way of praying very familiar with the best of men yea with Christ himself I could offer many things to commend it you as thus 1. 'T is very acceptable to God he hath testified his accepting by his answering such ejaculations as these Davids vocal ejaculâ—tion Turn O Lord I pray thee the counsel of Achitophel into foolishness And Nehemiah's mental ejaculation Neh. 2.4 5. had present audience 2. 'T is very easily performed all times and places are alike to it whether you are alone or in company at home or abroad you may in this way make known your requells unto God 3. 'T is an excellent means to keep the heart always in a heavenly frame It helps you also to improve every Ordinance and Providence of God But lastly which makes to our purpose 't is of special use to dispose us for solemn and a Vid. Mr. Gurnalâ— 3 Part of 〈◊〉 Câ—mpleat Christian Armour p. 387. It was a speech of a dying Saint that he was going to change his place but not his company A Christian that is frequent in these ejaculations when he goes to Pray more solemnly he goes from God to God from a more transient view of him to a more fixed c. continued Prayer They that often in the day are thus lifting up their hearts to God have them in tune when they betake themselves to that more solemn service Praying thoughts and desires are with them in a readiness these short breathings do prepare them for a longer race They that are good says one at these running pulls and trips must needs wrestle well with God A candle that is just now put out is soon lighted again whilest the heart still glows and is warm with these short ejaculations 't is readily kindled and quickned in solemn secret Prayer My advice is That you would accustome your self to these holy Apostrophe's to these heavenly ejaculations And yet I would caution you against doing this in a customary way Formality if you have not a care will fly-blow and corrupt this and every other good duty 7. Another Help is this Keep your heart close to the Duty and suffer it not to stray or wander A straying bea rt must needs be a straightned and a dead heart in Prayer How can a Christian have a lively and enlarged heart in a Duty when he hath no heart at all there but that is b Quâ—si nobis 〈◊〉 seâ—mo cum homine â—ulgari inter orandum omisso Deo huc vel illuc transvolamus Calv. Instit l 4. stragling in this and that corner of the earth whilst he is speaking to God his heart is conversing with the world insomuch that he forgets many times in Prayer what he spake last c Magnaâ— injuriam Deo sacio cum precont mtas preces exaudiat quas ego qui fundo non exaudio Deprecor 〈◊〉 ut mi 〈…〉 â—go vero 〈◊〉 mihi nec illi inâ—â—â—do Oh what an indignity is offered unto God and how is he mockt by such praying as this We would have him attend to our prayers when we do not attend to them our selves Vain thoughts in Prayer are occasioned partly by the desperate wickedness and deceitfulness of our own hearts thence they do proceed as Christ shews and that as freely as