be much in Ejaculatory Prayer when you come to the Administration of the Ordinance of Baptisme III. When you come to the Ordinance of the Lords-Supper Then also labour to be much in this Duty of Ejaculatory Prayer Before you come you should be much in Solemn Prayer you should examine your selves and be much in Solemn Prayer to God that so your hearts may be rightly prepared The Preparations of the heart in man are from the Lord. Prov. 16. 1. Take heed therefore that you put not off all to Ejaculatory Prayer then But when you come you must be much in Ejaculatory Prayer Then pray that God would perfect what is lacking in your preparation Be sensible that all you have done in order to the preparing of your hearts is but little in comparison of what ought to be And therefore pray that something may be done for the further perfecting of it That so your hearts may be and continue to be in a right frame sutable to the Ordinance that you may carry your selves so as is sutable unto the awful Presence that is there so as you may manifest thereby that you discern the Lords Body It was the great sin of the Corinthians that they had no more of the aw of God upon their hearts when they came to the Lords-Supper Lift up your hearts therefore by Ejaculatory Prayer unto God and pray earnestly that he would put his fear into your hearts It 's evil to feed without fear at our own Tables Jude 12. much more to feed so at the Lords Table For because of this men eat and drink damnation to themselves not ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not discerning the Lords Body that is not Sanctifying it or using it as becomes so holy a thing Mede Book I. Disc II. Not discerning viz. bearing no greater respect to the Sacrament of the Communion of the Body of Christ than to any other corporal and common kind of food Diodat in loc discerning the Lords Body or not ‖ differencing it as if it were but a common thing Therefore the awfulness of his Presence for the King sits at his Table the holyness of the Mysteries the danger of prophaning them should make us come with greatest Fear and Reverence else we eat and drink unworthily not discerning the Lord's Body Be earnest with God therefore by Ejaculatory Prayer to put his fear into your hearts and to keep it in your hearts while you shall be then before him Say Lord thou hast said thou wilt put thy fear into the hearts of thy people oh put it into mine now Let me have grace whereby I may carry my self acceptably in this Ordinance with Reverence and Godly Fear You should come likewise with greatest humbleness and self-abasement when you come unto this Ordinance For what are we that we should be admitted to the Lord's Table Verily we are altogether unworthy we deserve not so great a priviledge And not only so but we deserve the quite contrary viz. to be rejected and kept off from it And therefore reflecting upon the greatness of the Priviledge your own littleness and nothingness nay the vileness and wretchedness say considering what God hath done for you in bringing you to his Table notwithstanding as Mephibosheth did to David when he invited him to his Table Lord what is thy Servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead Dog as I am Oh how is it that thou hast brought me hitherto That I who deserve not to be set with the Dogs of the Flock should thus have the Childrens bread provided for me Is this after the manner of man Lord There must be also when you come to this Ordinance Brokenness and Contriteness of heart For therein you see Christ dying for sin and for your sins and what an unworthy thing is it for any one to pretend to benefit by the death of Christ which was death for sin and yet live all the while in that sin for which he professeth to believe that Christ dyed Therefore sin must be grievous to you that you may repent of it Therefore cry by Ejaculatory Prayer unto God to affect your hearts for you Say Lord take away the heart of stone that is in me and give me an heart of flesh a soft and sensible heart Lord that while I look upon Him in this Ordinance whom I have pierced by my sins I may mourn and be in bitterness of spirit That I may mourn that ever I should do so much as I have done against such an one that hath shewed such love as to die for me That I should sin so much notwithstanding the death of Christ and so much against the death of Christ That sin should be so sweet to me that was so bitter to Christ Oh that while I see the Body of Christ broken in this Ordinance my heart may break within me at the sight of it Oh that I may not look upon a broken Christ without a broken heart Let my heart now be broken for sin and be broken from sin c. Again when you come to this Ordinance there must be sincerity and uprightness of heart You come to eat and to drink at the Lords Table You must not eat for your selves nor drink for your selves that is for your own ends as they Zech. 7. 5 6. but in singleness or simplicity of heart as they Acts 2. 46. Not in treachery as Judas of whom Christ saith that after he had eaten bread with him he lifted up his heel against him Oh this is vile therefore let us draw neer with a true heart Heb. 10. 22. To play the Hypocrite here is worse than any where else Pray therefore that you may be sincere Say Lord deliver me from the falseness and deceitfulness of my heart Let my heart be sound in thy Statutes I am come to renew my Covenant with thee Oh that I may be fully resolved to keep close unto God! To give goodly words or to make vain shews will not satisfie Thou canst not endure false and loose Christians Oh help me to be sincere May I now be more fully resolved for God and my heart be more firmly engaged to God than ever May I intirely give up my self unto thee O Lord my God even with my whole heart and my whole soul that so from my heart I may say Truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant c. Thus Pray when you be at this Ordinance for sincerity and uprightness of heart You must pray also for the strengthning of your Faith Faith hath a manifold office in this Ordinance As To apprehend and discern what is exhibited and represented To receive and apply what is offered and tendered To go out unto Christ to receive virtue from him To open the heart to let it in c. Those acts of Faith whereby you received Christ at first must now be renewed in receiving him again Therefore say Lord strengthen my Faith Let not my Faith now fail me
Here thou offerest the Body and Blood of thy Son Thou sayest Take ye eat ye drink ye Oh now that there may be an inward act answering to this outward whereby I may receive Christ thus visibly exhibited and tendered to me Oh that I may have Faith as a taking hand to go forth to the offering hand of God! That my taking and eating and drinking may be really significative of my Faith appropriating and applying Christ Thus for the strengthning of your Faith Pray in like manner for the strengthning of your Love You should exercise Love exceedingly abundantly when you come to the Lords-Supper First to Christ considering how lovely he is First in himself If there be any thing lovely in any 't is all in him Secondly in his Love to you He loved you and gave himself to dye for you made his soul an offering for sin endured buffeting spitting Crucifying is gone to prepare a place for you in Heaven appears there for you c. Thirdly in his Love to you manifested in this Ordinance Herein he makes a representation of his Death to you Gives you it as a Pledge to assure you Instituted it that very night he was betrayed Considering all this how should you stir up your selves to love him Pray therefore for grace whereby you may be enabled to let out your affection abundantly to him Say Lord let my eye affect my heart Let the sight of the Love of Christ to me in this Ordinance beget in me answerable Love to Christ Behold how he loved me even so as to give himself to dye for me And shall I not love him then Oh help me help me blessed God Let me Love him dearly even with all my heart with all my soul with all my might Thus Pray that you may express your Love unto Christ You must express it Secondly one to another and to all Saints whatsoever You are all one in Christ Jesus all one in this Ordinance all eat of the same bread and all drink of the same Cup And therefore Pray that you may be all one in Affection Say Lord let our Communion in this Ordinance unite our hearts together more than ever before Herein is Love not that we Loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins 1 John 4. 10 11. O Lord if thou so lovedst us we ought also to love one another Oh fill me with Love therefore to all these and to all others that are thy Servants Let me bear no malice in my heart now If any have injured me Lord I forgive them and desire from my heart that thou would'st forgive them too Forgive me my trespasses as I forgive them that trespass against me And Lord help me to forgive them as I desire thou would'st forgive me Thus pray for the strengthning of your Love Pray earnestly likewise for Desire and a Spiritual Appetite that God would make you sensible of your infinite need of Christ that so the desires of your Souls may be to him and you may hunger and thirst after him And that he would give you good hope of a gratious satisfaction to your desires that so you may be confident and be able confidently to say as Psal 65. 4. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee that he may dwell in thy Courts I shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy House And that he would seal up some Evidence of his special Love and Favour in Christ unto you that might fill you with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory that so you may be able to say My Spirit rejoyceth in God my Saviour If ever we rejoyce it should be when we come to the Lord's Supper †The Superstitious deceive themselves who believe that the Commemoration of His Death consists only in mourning For in the Eucharist Jesus Christ is not simply propounded unto us as dead but as dead for us To the end that as his death is our life so it should be also our joy Nothing is more poper to the Commemoration we make of the Death of Christ therein which is our life Say therefore Lord rejoyce the soul of thy Servant Fill me with all joy peace in believing Lastly Pray that you may be in a Thankful frame that Deshagne Of the Eating of the Body of Christ Sect. 4. c. 5. so you may be able in Truth and Sincerity to say as Psal 103. 1 2. Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits Thus you have the fifth Particular viz. how you should Pray with Ejaculatory Prayer when you come to the Ordinances Another special Season for Ejaculatory Prayer is VI. When you are upon your Sick-beds Then you cannot go to your Solemn Prayers as at other times therefore then is a fit season for Ejaculatory Prayer Pray then That God would shew you wherefore he contends with you That he would open your ear to Discipline and seal Instruction upon your Spirit That the fruit may be the taking away of sin That if it be his good pleasure you may live and keep his word That however you may be willing to die That you may Sanctifie the Name of God in your sickness by a meek quiet humble and submissive behaviour before others That you may be strengthned against the assaults of Sathan That you may have such to come to you as may speak sutably to your condition and that you may profit by it That you may have assurance if the Lord shall see it good for you that so an abundant enterance may be ministred to you whenever you go hence into his Heavenly Kingdome VII In the hour of Temptation Then dart up Prayers as fast as possibly you can Then Pray for Wisdome to discern the evil and danger of the Temptation For Courage and Resolution to resists it For Strength to overcome it And that Sathan may be called off VIII When you come into Vntrodden Paths then Pray that God would guide you by his Counsels IX When you are going a Journey Then Pray that God would be with you and bring you back again if you are to return That he would give his Psal 91. 11 12. Angels Charge over you to keep you in all your ways That he would succeed and Gen. 24. 12. Prosper you X. In time of the Motions of the Spirit See Psal 27. 8. When thou said'st Seek my Face my heart said Thy Face O Lord will I seek Thus be much in this Duty of Ejaculatory Prayer for your selves CHAP. V. Men exhorted to be much in Ejaculatory Prayer for Others It is their Duty to Pray for Others as well as for Themselves It is their Duty to Pray for Others with Ejaculatory Prayer When they should Pray with Ejaculatory Prayer for Others For whom they should Pray when they Pray with Ejaculatory Prayer for Others HAving
of Prayer Isa 26. 16. But Ejaculatory Prayer is but as a drop 3. In this that it is any place any imployment any condition which other Prayer cannot be And thus you have the first Particular what Ejaculatory Prayer is Now in the next place I will shew you 2. That it is a Duty always in every opportunity to be performed For the proof whereof consider that 1. It is Implicatively or Virtually commanded We are required to Pray with all Prayer as in the Text therefore with this We are to Pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5. 17. that is not only at Set-times or occasionally with Set-Prayer but ever and anon all the day long with Ejaculatory Prayer 2. There are many commendable Examples of it recorded in Scripture which therefore ought to be followed Abraham Prayed with Ejaculatory Prayer for his Son Ishmael O that Ishmael might live before thee Gen. 17. 18. David Prayed with Ejaculatory Prayer against the Counsel of Ahithophel O Lord I pray thee let the Counsel of Ahithophel be turned into foolishness 2 Sam. 15. 31. This and the former were Vocal Ejaculatory Prayers Nehemiah while he was waiting on the King as he sate at the Table and was questioning with him Prayed with Ejaculatory Prayer Nehem. 2. 4. The King said unto him For what dost thou make request But before he told the King for what it was he saith he prayed to the God of Heaven By which it is evident that it was with Ejaculatory Prayer that he Prayed and it was Mental Ejaculatory Prayer Christ when he was upon the Cross Prayed with Ejaculatory Prayer for those that Crucified him that they might be forgiven He said Father forgive them for they know not what they do Luke 23. 34. So Saint Stephen for those that Stoned him He kneeled down and cryed with a loud voice Lord lay not this sin to their charge Acts 7. 60. And at the same time he Prayed with Ejaculatory Prayer for himself Lord Jesus receive my Spirit v. 59. St. John telling that Christ saith Surely I come quickly presently adds in Ejaculatory Prayer Amen even so come Lord Jesus And then concludes with another Ejaculatory Prayer The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen Rev. 22. 20. These are some of the many Examples of the practice of this Duty recorded in Scripture by which you may see it is a Duty always in every opportunity to be performed which was the second Particular to be shewn Now in the third place see that Arguments there are to excite to the performance of it which I shall shew in the next Chapter CHAP. II. Arguments to excite to the Practice of Ejaculatory Prayer Some Arguments from the Necessity there is of it The Necessity of Prayer in the general The Necessity of Ejaculatory Prayer in particular Some Arguments from the Advantages there are for it Several Advantages for Ejaculatory Prayer more than for other Prayer Some Arguments from the Advantages there are by it Advantages by it in respect of our good Advantages in respect of God's Glory The Application Some Inferences for Information and Instruction THere be manifold Arguments to excite to the diligent practice of this Duty of Ejaculatory Prayer And they are of three sorts such as may be drawn from The Necessity there is of it The Advantages there are for it The Advantages there are by it 1. From the Necessity there is of it Prayer is necessary 1. Necessitate praecepti by necessity of Precept as an Act of Obedience to God's Command He hath Commanded that we should Pray and Pray continually And the Commands of God puts the greatest necessity upon a Duty that may be There is nothing more necessary than that God should be obeyed St. Paul speaking of his Preaching the Gospel saith Necessity is laid upon me and Wo be to me if I Preach not the Gospel 1 Cor. 9. 16. He means not Necessity of Coaction that he was forced to Preach whether he would or not No If I do this thing willingly saith he I have a reward but if against my Will a dispensation of the Gospel is committed to me He means Necessity of Precept The same may be said of every other Duty there is a Necessity laid upon us by Gods Command for the performance of it and wo be to us if we do it not Some things indeed are indifferent we may do them or not do them but other things are of absolute and indispensable necessity because they come under the Law because they are Commanded And where God hath Commanded we are not to choose 2. Necessitate Medij the necessity of Means because it is a necessary means for the attaining of the End namely God's Glory and our Good First God's Glory For Prayer is an Act of Religion or Religious Worship because of its own Nature it yieldeth to God that sufficiency and efficiency of Knowledge Power and goodness which is proper to him as God and therefore the glory that is due to him as God cannot be given to him without it Secondly Our good For though all good works as flowing from Faith have some power to obtain blessings from God by vertue of those Promises whereby he appointeth a free reward to them yet Prayer hath the force of a means to obtain a special manner not only as it is a cheif part of Obedience and therefore a principal good work but also because it hath in its Nature this End and Use as it is a formal Act of Faith and Hope by which we receive all good things from God and therefore without asking in Prayer we cannot expect to receive any thing you have not saith the Apostle because ye ask not Or if we do that it should be sanctified For every thing is sanctifyed by the Word and Prayer 1 Tim 4. 5. By this then we see there is a necessity of Prayer But it often comes to pass when it is necessary to pray that unless we do with Ejaculatory Prayer there can be no praying at all and therefore there is a necessity of Ejaculatory Prayer Somtimes no other Prayer can be made Somtimes there is an impossibility of praying with other Prayer in respect of the suddainness and frequency of Occasions Other Prayer cannot be made so suddainly as somtimes nor so frequently as most times there is Occasion And there is an impossibility of praying with other Prayer sometimes in respect of unavoidable hindrances such as are from some violent disease forcible restraint and the like Sometimes a man hath not strength sometimes not time to pray with any other Prayer than Ejaculatory Prayer Hezekiah had not strength to pray with any other Prayer when his disease grew strong as he seems to imitate Isa 38. 14. where he saith Like a Crane or a Swallow so did I chatter by which as 't is conceived * Sensus loci vix potui proloqui paucis supplicavi Al. Preces suas citatas breves fuisse signigficat
see that nothing can succeed and prosper without God thine eyes would be upon him thy thoughts thy desires would be ever and anon ascending unto him How is it then that God is so seldome in thy thoughts from morning to evening That thou art busied about other things but God is not in all thy thoughts Thou speakest to one for Counsel to another for Comfort to another for Support but seldome speakest for any thing unto God Whereas if thou didst depend upon God thou wouldst be continually speaking to him thou wouldst be ever and anon speaking to him by Ejaculatory Prayer When thou findest thou lackest Wisdome thou wouldest say Lord give me Wisdome Let me not miscarry in this Affair Bless the Means c. When thou lackest Peace thou wouldest say O Lord speak Peace Create the fruit of the lips viz. of thy Messenger to be Peace And so whatever thou lackest if thou didst depend upon God thou would'st be still seeking to him for it For as much then as thou seldome or never seekest unto God it 's an evidence that thou dost not depend upon God Now what a vile thing is this that thou should'st see more need of any thing than of God! that thou should'st depend upon any thing every thing more than upon God! Read that dreadful Curse denounced against such Jer. 17. 5 6. Fourthly It argues Sinful forgetfulness of God Suppose it doth not argue any distrustfulness of God yet when a man shall go all the day long and never so much as once or but seldome lift up his heart unto God for any thing he stands in need of it must needs argue a very great unmindfulness of him Though usually they go together and the one is the cause of the other As Psal 78. 34 35. When he slew them then they sought him and they returned and enquired early after God And they remembred that God was their Rock and the most high God their Redeemer Why did they not seek God before Why it was because they did not remember that God was their Rock So when men are not frequent in seeking to God by Ejaculatory Prayer it 's a sign they do not remember that God is their Rock Now see what a vile thing this is This forgetfulness of God is virtually all sin whatsoever And therefore they are charged Deut 32. 17 18. to have sacrisiced to Devils and not to God but to Gods that they knew not to new Gods that came newly up whom their Fathers feared not Because of the Rock that begat them they were unmindful and had forgotten the God that formed them See then the evil of neglecting Ejaculatory Prayer in this respect in that it argues a sinful forgetfulness of God Fifthly It argues that the Spirit is much quenched For if it were not quenched it would be stirring up to Ejaculations It would enable us to cry with Sighs and Groans which cannot be uttered The Spirit in Scripture is compared to fire and as the Sparks fly upwards when the fire is blown so do Ejaculatory Prayers when the Graces of the Spirit are stirred up and blown into a flame When therefore there are no Ejaculations no dartings up of Prayer and Supplication unto God though there be never so much occasion it 's a sign the fire of the Spirit is very much quenched And what an Evil that is I have shewn at large * See my Book of Quenching the Spirit elsewhere Lastly It argues a Resting in Set-Prayer that when men have Prayed in the Morning they think they have done enough for all the day As I have read of one that would constantly Pray every Morning and then say Now Devil do thy worst and then never mind God all the day after but as there was ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the opportunity of Temptation Ink◠8. 13. opportunity run to all excess of Riot Oh if men did not rest in their Set-prayers if they did not think them enough they would follow God with their Ejaculatory Prayers As some when they have delivered a Petition to a Great Man thinking it not enough do therefore follow after him speaking to him and soliciting him by reiternated requests to grant it to them The neglecting then to follow God with Ejaculatory Prayer argues a resting in Set-prayer And what an Evil thing is this that the doing of one Duty should be the cause of neglecting another But so it is when men rest in their Duties And thus you see what Evil there is in it Consider farther what Evil there comes by it As much evil is in it so much comes by it As 1. Hereby there grows a strangeness betwixt God and his Soul whereas you should maintain an holy Familiarity with him which is done by often visiting him and by often speaking to him as Acquaintance and Familiarity amongst men is as hath been said The neglect of this therefore loseth your Acquaintance with God And losing your Acquaintance with him it loseth likewise your Peace with him Acquaint now thy self with him saith Eliphaz and be at Peace q. d. Otherwise there will be no Peace Job 22. 21. And also your boldness in approaching to him for when once there grows a strangness there will be a loathness to speak 2. Hereby you expose your selves to manifold Temptations Therefore saith Christ Watch and Pray lest ye enter into Temptation thereby intimaing that if Prayer be neglected viz. Ejaculatory as well as Set-prayer you will enter into Temptation presently And it must needs be so for besides that God may justly let loose Sathan upon you in this Case Corruption will get an advantage so that tho Sathan should not tempt yet you will be in danger of being drawn away of your own Lust and enticed and so carryed into many sins which otherwise might be avoided 3. Hereby you are unawares surprized not only with Sins but Sufferings Hence it is that you meet with so many cross Accidents in the course of your lives 4. Hereby you are deprived of many Blessings Comforts You have not because you ask not with Ejaculatory Prayer 5. It hinders the prevailing of Other Prayers looseth the benefit of your Set-prayers For then we shall know saith the Prophet if we follow on to know the Lord viz. when we have Prayed with Set-prayer if then we follow on with Ejaculatory Prayer Hosea 6. 3. And thus you see the Evil that comes by it Many other Particulars might be mentioned but these may suffice to shew what an Evil the Neglect of Ejaculatory Prayer is Labour therefore to be sensible of it and humbled for it that so you may continue to neglect it no longer Consider Sirs If you could not tell where to find God If he were a God afar off not nigh at hand it were another matter Or if you might not come to him when you find him if you might not speak to him so often Or if there were any thing to hinder you from speaking so
And therefore then lift up your hearts in Ejaculatory Prayer 1. For Wisdome and Discretion to direct you that so you may not lean to your own understandings Say Lord thou hast said that if any man lack Wisdome he should ask it of thee and so do I therefore I come unto thee Be thou Wisdome to me 'T is not in man to direct his steps therefore teach me the way that I should go Order my steps in thy Word Suffer me not to lean to my own understanding My Wisdome is but Folly and will misguide me c. Thus Pray for Wisdome to direct you 2. For Plyableness and Tractableness of Spirit to incline you that so you may not lean to your own wills but follow the Dictates of Wisdome and not fulfil the desires or ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 2. 3. wills of the Flesh and of the mind You shall find such an unruliness of Spirit oft-times if not most times that tho your Convictions tell you you should do so and so according to the rule of the Word yet you cannot bring your minds to it but will do it your own way according to a rule of your own quite contrary to your Convictions Oh then for the preventing of this fly unto God by Ejaculatory Prayer Say Lord not my will but thine be done Deliver me from the unruliness the frowardness and perverseness of my spirit that I may not affect to do what is good in mine own eyes so as to please my self but what is good and acceptable in thine eyes so as to please thee Lord shew me what thy good and acceptable will is and give me an heart to do it Incline my heart unto thy Testimonies and not unto Coveteousness not unto Pride not unto Vain-glory c. Psal 119. 36. 3. For Power and Strength to effect and bring to pass I will cry unto God most high saith the Psalmist unto God that performeth all things for me Psal 57. 2. And so do you Say Lord I have no power to do any thing of my self therefore I seek to thee He that Planteth is nothing and he that Watereth is nothing 't is God that gives the the increase Except the Lord build the House Man laboureth but in vain So unless thou blessest me Lord I shall act but in vain Lord thou art he that giveth power to get wealth therefore do thou succeed me do thou prosper me Prosper thou the work of thy hands Thus in the works of your particular Calling And so likewise in the works of your general Callings when you are entering upon a Duty of Worship Say Lord I have not sufficiency for the least good thought Let me have Grace to help Let me have Grace whereby I may serve thee acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear Let thy Grace de sufficient for me c. Thus in the beginning of a Work III. In the Progress of any work or Business While you are working or acting in any Duty or Employment you should be much in Ejaculatory Prayer For first then you are apt to forget Your hearts are like broken Bows starting aside continually Though you have begun with God and that upon most serious consideration in the enterance upon the Duty yet you will find it difficult to hold on with God in the progress of it Your hearts will be stealing away turning aside going back Therefore that you may continue to be with God in the Duty from the beginning to the end of it be ever and anon seeking to God by Ejaculatory Prayer Again Secondly Corruptions will be stirring so that instead of filling up the work with the actings of Grace there will be danger of filling it up with the Actings of Corruption Oh how little Grace is acted in most Duties Thirdly Sathan will be tempting he will be labouring to joyn his Temptations with your Corruptions And both will have a powerful influence Either First to make you weary Or Secondly to hold you too long at it Or Thirdly to make you do amiss in it either by way of Omission or Commission either by not doing what should be done or by doing what should not be done in the doing of it Therefore be frequently seeking to God by Ejaculatory Prayer And that 1. For Mindfulness Say Lord when I am ready to turn aside then let me hear a voice saying This is the way walk in it Lord let me not forget what I am now about Let not my heart start aside let it not steal away c. 2. For Renewed Strength Lord thou hast said They that wait upon thee shall run and not be weary walk and not faint Answer me therefore and strengthen me with strength in my Soul Let me not be weary and faint in my mind 3. For Self-denyal Lord enable me to withstand these evil workings of my corrupt heart Oh that I may not please my self so as to displease thee in the doing of this work Teach me to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts c. Let me not please my self in doing this work so as to displease thee in not doing the other to which thou dost now call me IV. In the Close of any Duty Then you 'l be apt to overlook God's Assistance and to be attributing to your selves or to means To your selves as Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 4. 30. The King spake and said Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the House of the Kingome by the might of my power and for the honour of my Majesty Hence that Caution Deut. 8. 17. and thou say in thy heart My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth Oh how apt are men to reflect upon themselves when they have done any thing and to ascribe to themselves So likewise to the Means As they Habak 1. 16. That Sacrificed to their own Nets and burnt Incense to their own Draggs Secondly You will be apt to neglect Gods Acceptance only considering whether it be acceptable to your selves or to others either as Self-pleasers or Man-pleasers If you find it satisfies your own Consciences so that there is no clamouring there it is enough Or that Men like of it and applaud it though it be no way pleasing or acceptable to God it matters not Therefore in the Close of every Duty lift up your hearts by Ejaculatory Prayer 1. Acknowledging Gods Assistance Say Not unto us not unto us O Lord but to thy Name be the Glory Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God saith Moses for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth Deut. 8. 18. Say therefore Lord I have nothing but what I have received and received from thee Lord of thy own have I given thee I have laboured yet not I but thy Grace O God that was with me 2. Begging God's Acceptance O that what I have now done might be accepted of thee Lord though men like it and applaud it never so much yet unless thou likest it it is nothing Oh
that I might but find now that God accepteth my Work See Psal 19. 14. 3. If any good hath been done Beg that God would enable you to do so still and to do so more See 1 Thes 4. 10. 4. If any good hath been gotten Beg that it may not be lost Say Lord keep these thoughts these affections c. in the heart of thy Servants for ever 1 Chron. 29. 18. Thus of this fourth Particular V. When you come unto any of the Ordinances As I. When you come to the Hearing of the Word Preached Oh then is a special Season for Ejaculatory Prayer And that 1. For your Ministers that a door of Utterance may be given that a sutable word may be spoken Say Lord now be with thy Servant that he may speak as he ought to speak Let his tongue be touch'd with a coal from the Altar Let him have a double portion of the spirit a fresh anointing that he may speak a word in due season a sutable and seasonable word c. 2. For your selves that a door of Enterance may be given Say Lord not only open his mouth but mine ear Let mine ear now be boared Let my ear be opened that I may not only hear but hearken not only understand but obey And for this end seek unto God by Ejaculatory Prayer both against that that may let and hinder you and for that that may help and further you in the sanctifying of God's Name in Hearing 1. Against that that may let and hinder you As 1. Vain thoughts thinking upon impertinent things Say Lord let not vain thoughts now lodg within me Deliver me from those sinful outgoings and wanderings of heart which I am wont to be subject to in hearing thy word 2 High and lofty thoughts Let the Word be mighty through thee O God to the casting down of imaginations and of every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ 3. The Suggestions of Sathan Let Sathan now be chained up Lord rebuke Sathan Let him not steal away my heart from the word or the word from my heart 2. For that that may help and further you As 1. Real Apprehensions of the presence and Majesty of God whose word it is Say Lord Reason tells me that thou art every where present but thy word tells me that thou art in an especial manner present in the Preaching of thy Word oh help me to believe this Strengthen my Faith now that I may not only set my self to hear the voice of Man but of God that I may hear what the Spirit hath to say to the Churches Rev. 2. 7. 2. Composedness of spirit that your hearts may be composed into an awful frame and temper sutable to the holyness and awfulness of the Presence of God before whom you stand You will find you have vain and distracted minds they ought to be composed therefore lift up your hearts to God by Ejaculatory Prayer pray that he would fix them that so you may attend unto him and upon him without distraction 3. Quickness of Apprehension You are dull of hearing Heb. 5. 11. Beg of God that he would make you of quick understanding Isa 11. 3. that he would destroy the face of the covering cast over you and the vail that is spread upon you Isa 25. 7. 4. Livelyness of Affection that you may not sit like stocks and stones before your Ministers but that you may be easie to be moved and stirred up by the Reproofs and Counsels they dispense unto you And then for all these be earnest with God for the workings and influences of the Spirit 3. As you are hearing all along be lifting up your hearts by Ejaculatory Prayer unto God sutable to the nature of the Matter Preached that as the Minister is Preaching you may be Praying Therefore 1. When any thing is difficult then pray Lord give me to Understand this 2. When any thing is reproved Lord affect my heart to loath this and to leave it 3. When any thing is enjoyned and pressed as a Duty Lord incline my heart that I may practice it Thus when you come to the Preaching of the Word II. When you come to the Administration of the Ordinance of Baptisme See Ford's two Treatises of the Practical use of Infant-Baptism Then likewise is a special season for Ejaculatory Prayer Then Pray that your faith may be strengthned to believe the warrantableness of Administring the Ordinance not only to Believers but to their Seed also their Infant-Seed Say Lord hast thou not taken them into Covenant with thy self Thou hast declared that thou hast And wilt thou then deny them the Seal of it I believe that thou wilt not Hast thou not said That to Believers and to their Children the Promise is Act. 2. 39. And is not the Seal of it to them also Lord may not Saints be Baptized And hast thou not said 1 Cor. 7. 14. that the Children of a Believer are Saints Lord hast thou not made known 1 Cor. 10. 2. they were Baptized under the Old Testament And why should any think then that it should be otherwise under the New Testament Were not the Children of Unbelieving Jews broken off by the unbelief of their Parents and may I not thence infer that the Children of Believing Gentiles are by the faith of their Parents graffed in in their stead to partake of the fatness of the Olive in this Ordinance of Baptism Lord I believe help my unbelief Thus pray that your Faith may be strengthned to believe the warrantableness of Administring Baptism to the Children of Believers Then for the Child that is to be Baptized Pray that the Ordinance may be made effectual to him Say Lord this Child Ezek. 16. 20. that was born unto thee is now brought unto thee Oh take away all iniquity and receive him graciously Lay thy hand upon him and bless him Joyn the inward Baptism of the Spirit to this outward Baptism of Water that it may be indeed a Baptism of Regeneration to him Let his Soul be washed in the bloud of Christ as his flesh shall be washed with this water the sign of it Let him be buryed by Baptism in the likeness of his death that he may be also raised with him in the likeness of his Resurrection Lastly for your selves Pray that you may be humbled for that you have no more improved your Baptism for time past And that you may be quickned and stirred up to make Rom. 11. 19 20. a better improvement of it for time to come And beg earnestly that it may be more and more effectual to you Say Lord have I all the Grace that was sealed to me by Baptism is there no more forth-coming to me Lord is the efficacy of the Ordinance tyed only to the present Administration Thou hast declared that it is not Therefore let it be more and more effectual to me Thus