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A36465
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The doctrine of practicall praying together with a learned exposition on the Lords prayer / by George Downam.
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Downame, George, d. 1634.; Downame, George, d. 1634. Godly and fruitfull exposition of the Lords prayer.
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1656
(1656)
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Wing D2060; ESTC R25565
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260,703
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451
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worshipped him idolaters and the Nestorians likewise who supposed the humanitie of Christ to be a distinct person from the Sonne of God III. To leave God who hath commanded us to call upon him and hath promised to heare us and is most willing and onely able to help us and to run to the Saints who neither have commanded us as having no such authoritie nor have promised to heare and help us as having no such power yea are so farre from hearing and helping that they neither know us nor our desires and so farre from commanding us to call upon them as they have forbidden us so to do and alwayes directed us to call upon God Acts 10. 26. and 14. 15. is a thing in religion impious and in reason absurd IV. To call upon Saints is a thing most injurious unto God and Christ our Saviour dâ—…ogatorie from the glory of God as though they were either more ready to heare or more willing or more able to help us or that we had more confidence in theiâ—… love then in the mercies of God and intercession of Christ our Saviour But it is lawfull to intreat the Saints upon earth to pray for us why then may we not desire the Saints in heaven much more to pray to God for us To intreat the Saints living on earth to pray for us hath warrant in the Scriptures as having been a dutie injoyned by God Gen. 20. 7. Job 42. 8. Jam. 5. 14 16. and also practiced by the faithfull Rom. 5. 30. Ephes. 6. 19. But praying to Saints departed hath no warrant in the Scriptures as the Papists themselves are forced to confesse Nay it is directly forbidden and those which do it commit two evils forsaking God the fountain of living waters and digging out to themselves cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water Jer. 2. 13. They worship the creature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 1. 25. praeterito Creatore passing by the Creatour ut Hilarius interpretatur De Trinitate lib. 12. 2. The Saints living with us are acquainted with our persons and our wants and therefore may pray in particular for us and so cannot the Saints departed 3. The request made in this behalf to the faithfull living is a civil intreaty of a Christian duty but as it is made to the Saints departed it is a religious invocation of them to do that for us which is the peculiar office of the Mediatour Neither do they onely intreat the Saints to pray for us and desire God that for the merits intercession of the Saints he would grant their desires which is to give the office of Christ to them But also they desire the Saints themselves to bestow upon them such blessings as they desire both spirituall and temporall and to avert from them such evils as they fear Wherein the Papists have made the Saints to succeed the heathen gods ascribing unto them their severall offices and functions insomuch that there is no countrey citie or town but hath certain Saints to patronize them as the heathen had their tutelares deos no trade or occupation which hath not a peculiar Saint no kind of cattel or tame fowl which have not their patrones no kind of disease but some Saint or other is called upon for the curing thereof as the dii averrunci or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among the heathen So that if there were no other fault in Popery their idolatry were sufficient cause of separation from them But the Saints departed do pray for us therefore we ought to pray unto them It may well be supposed that the Saints departed do pray in common for the faithfull upon the earth as fellow-members of the same bodie But they are not acquainted with particular persons or their particular wants or desires or if they were yet it would not follow that we should pray to them no more then we are bound to invocate religiously the Saints upon earth whom we know according to their dutie do pray for us August contra Faust. Manich lib. 20. c. 21. Colimus martyres eo cultu dilectionis societatis quo in hac vita coluntur sancti homines We worship the martyrs with that worship of love and societie with which even in this life holy men are worshipped Notwithstanding the Papists think this consequence to be so strong as they take it for granted that if the Saints make intercession for us we must pray to them Insomuch that Bellarmine when he would prove against our King That invocation of Saints was taught by the ancient Fathers in stead of that he proveth ridiculously the intercession of Saints for us CHAP. XIII That we must conceive of God in prayer as he hath revealed himself in his word SEeing then the Lord alone is to be called upon religiously it remaineth that we consider how we are to conceive of God when we do call upon him viz. not according to the fansies of our own brain but as he hath revealed himself in his word both in respect of the Divine nature and also the Divine persons In respect of his nature that he is a spirit invisible and incomprehensible omnipotent and infinite most holy wise just and mercifull c. And in regard of the Divine persons that being a God in essence substance one and indivisible he is notwithstanding distinguished into three persons the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost who as they be not in nature disjoyned so are they not to be severed in their worship but the Unitie in Trinitie and Trinitie in Unitie is to be worshipped and adored Whosoever therefore in respect of Gods nature do circumscribe God worshipping him under any form whether outwardly expressed or inwardly conceived as namely in the form of an old man c. in stead of the true God they do worship an idole Such was the erroneous conceit of the Anthropomorphites and such is the superstitious worship of the Papists at this day Likewise in respect of the persons whosoever shall call upon God as not distinguished into three persons howsoever they may professe that they invocate one onely true God maker of heaven and earth yet they do not worship the true God but an idole for the true God is the Father the Sonne and holy Ghost Forasmuch therefore as the Jews and Turks do not worship the Trinity they are not worshippers of the true God but as our Saviour said of the Samaritanes They worship they know not what John 4. not acknowledging the true God nor Jesus Christ whom he hath sent John 5. 23. Hc that honoureth not the Sonne honoureth not the Father and Whosoever denieth the Sonne hath not the Father 1. John 2. 23. Here therefore it may be demanded That seeing we are to worship the holy Trinitie whether it be lawfull to direct our prayers to some one person as to the Father to the Sonne or to the holy Ghost He that acknowledgeth the Trinitie when in his prayers he nameth one onely person he doth not exclude the other persons but rather includeth theÌ„ For in every person or supposite that is named the Divine nature is
XXIX Of Prayer or Petition and what is required unto it HItherto of the generall doctrine of Invocation common to both the sorts Now followeth the speciall Invocation is either prayeâ—… or thanksgiving In the former we ask good things at the hand of God In the latter we return praise and thanksgiving for benefits received The former hath reference to the time to come the latter to the time past For in the former we crave either the gift of such things as we want for the time to come or the continuance and increase of that which we have In the latter we praise Gods goodnesse for his blessings either bestowed already or at the least promised In the former we beg and pray in the latter we give or rather render and repay the praise which is due to his name But howsoever in nature these two sorts of Invocation do differ and so are in doctrine to be severed yet in use and practice they must go together Neither must we be more ready to crave new blessings at the hands of God then to return thanks for benefits already received And therefore the performance of both these duties the holy Ghost in many places hath joyned together as 1. Thess. 5. 17 18. Psal. 50. 14 15. 1. Tim. 2. 1. Col. 3. 17. More plainly Col. 4. 2. Continue in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving Phil. 4. 6. Be distrustfully carefull for nothing but in all things let your requests be manifested unto God in prayer and supplication with giving of thanks Examples of Jacob Gen. 32. 9 10 c. David 1. Chron. 29. 10 18. 2. Sam. 7. 18. Paul Col. 1. 9 12. Phil. 1. 3 4. 1. Thess. 1. 2. Not that by giving of thanks for benefits received we do merit greater and better according to that of the Schoolmen De acceptis beneficiis gratias agentes meremur accipere potiora When we render thanks for benefits received we merit to receive better but that the Lord of his mere bounty is ready to reward our thankfulnesse for former bâ—…nefits with granting new blessings which we crave at his hands and likewise our selves when we are affected with a thankfull remembrance of Gods goodnesse towards us for the time past are the more encouraged with faith and affiance to crave new blessings for the time to come Psal. 4. 1. 1. Kings 3. 6 7 8. Psal. 116. 1 2. But first we are to speak of prayer Prayer is that invocation whereby we effectually crave any thing which we do well that is lawfully and profitably desire at the hands of God Where I say it is invocation I mean that it is a religious speech of the faithfull made unto God in the name of Christ according to the will of God by the help of the holy Ghost concerning good things apperteining to Gods glory and our good and consequently that whatsoever before hath been spoken in generall concerning Invocation is particularly to be applyed to Prayer The proper nature and difference is expressed in the word crave For prayer is that invocation whereby we beg and crave of God But because we speak of that prayer which is right and acceptable and is framed according to the will of God as was said in the generall out of 1. John 5. 14. and it is the will of God that our prayer should be effectuall and our desire good therefore I added whereby we effectually crave any thing which we do well that is lawfully and profitably desire of God That our prayer which shall avail with God must in it self be effectuall S. James teacheth us chap. 5. 16. The prayer of a righteous man availeth much it being effectuall The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of which I have spoken before As therefore that is an effectuall oration wherein nothing is omitted which the oratory art requireth whether the hearers be perswaded or not so that is an effectuall prayer wherein nothing is omitted which in the word of God that teacheth the art and doctrine of prayer is required either in generall or in particular For although the efficacy of prayer doth not properly consist in the observation of the generall points yet they are such as without them it cannot be effectuall As 1. That the party which prayeth be faithfull that is a penitent and believing sinner 2. That the prayer be directed unto God 3. In the name and mediation of Christ 4. By the help of the holy Ghost 5. That it be a prayer of the heart or that the prayer be made in truth for to that the promise is restrained Psal. 145. 18. and therein the life of the prayer consisteth without which it is dead and counterfeit that it be made with knowledge and with faith with humility with reverence and with heartinesse 6. For good things All which are essentiall points required in all invocation But the things wherein more properly the efficacie of prayer consisteth are Fervency and Faith and to prâ—…y effectually is to pray fervently and faithfully For as touching the former whatsoever we do effectually ask that we do fervently desire Quae verò â—…idelis humilis fervens oratio fuerit coelum sine dubio penetrabit unde certum est quòd vacuaredire non poterit The prayer which is faithfull humble and fervent will without doubt pierce the heavens whence we certainly gather that it cannot return vain and empty Now fervency presupposeth a sense and feeling or acknowledgement of our want And both of them in the Scriptures are signified in the phrases of hungring and thirsting Isai. 55. 1. Matth. 5. 6. John 7. 37. For as in hunger and thirst there concurre two things a sense of our want and an appetite to have that want supplyed so in prayer we must hunger and thirst after those graces and blessings which we do crave that is we must have a true sense and acknowledgement of our want and an earnest desire to have it supplyed In which respect David compareth his soul to thirstie lands which gape for the rain Psal. 63. 2. and 143. 6. and to the hart braying for the rivers of waters Psal. 42. 1. Both these are necessary to effectuall prayer For what we ask we desire and what we desire we want Neither can we fervently ask that we do not earnestly desire and we cannot earnestly desire that whereof we feel no want The whole needeth not the Physician as our Saviour saith Luke 5. 31. And as the Philosophers teach Nihil appetit quod habet Nothing affecteth what it hath therefore this I said is presupposed If any want wisdome saith S. James let him ask it For if he find not himself to want it in whole or in part he is not to ask it unlesse he will mock God who will not be mocked Gal. 6. 8. Here therefore they offend I. In respect of temporall things who trusting in their own means and relying upon their own store do