unsatiable and inordinate Love of the World must possess your Soul when you lift it up to God For you can never perform aright the great Duty of Prayer unless your Heart be Penitent and your Affections Pure The Holiness of your Person makes the Prayer Holy and the savour of your Sacrifice sweet in God's Nostrils But if any wilful Sin lyes at the Door it stops the passage of Prayer and hinders it from being graciously heard Put away then the evil of your Doings and remove your inward Impurity and be wholly Consecrated to God's Service And then shall your Prayer be set forth in his sight as the incense and the lifting up of your hands shall be as the Evening sacrifice Psal 141.1.2 For though you should outwardly appear never so Pure and so carry your self that no Spot can be seen upon the Surface of your Actions Yet if you regard iniquity in your heart the Lord will not hear you Psal 66.18 So that in short your Preparation to Prayer consists in your Repentance for all the Sins whereof upon the most diligent Scrutiny you find your self to be Guilty for every Sin whereof you do not Repent will hinder the Power and Efficacy of your Prayer And it will be with you as it was with Joshua whose Prayer for Israel God utterly refus'd Because they had taken of the thing which was devoted unto him and which had brought a curse upon them Josh 7.10.11 CHAP. VIII Graces necessary to Prayer AND when you have thus swept the House and cast all the Filth and Rubbish out of Doors your next business is to see it Decently Furnish'd For you are not only to Cleanse your Heart from noysom Lusts and Passions but get it Replenish't with such Graces and Vertues Qualities and Dispositions as are requir'd to Prayer Now Faith is the first of these Graces and the Foundation of all the rest Of the use of Faith in Prayer Worship you have heard is that Great Duty which you owe to God and by which in an especial manner you acknowledg his Godhead And this Worship you are to perform both in Soul and Body For both are his and in both he will be Glorified and Worshipt Now Prayer is the Soul's part of this Worship and is to be made in Faith or otherwise it will not please God He that comes or prays to God must believe that he is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him Which Text implies That you are not only to acknowledge the Essence of God which is done by the Infernal Fiends but also to believe that he will give what you duly beg of him and bountifully recompence your diligence in the Search and Performance of his Will And believing this you can find nothing fit to Tempt you to neglect God's Service And altho' your Sincerity and Faithfulness therein should cost you dear yet you are assured that whatsoever Pains or Expences you bestow in his Service it will be abundantly rewarded by your Gracious Master And your Belief of this is the Ground of your Entrance on God's Worship and Perseverance in it And as you may best shew your Faith by your observance of Prayer so you may be thought to have little or no Faith if you are seldom or never at your Devotion But if once your come stedfastly to believe the Power Wisdom Justice and Goodness of the Almighty you can want no motives to Pray to him There is no Promise annext to any Prayer but what is made in Faith and for this you have the Authority of our Great Master who told his Disciples That they should receive all things whatsoever they ask'd in Prayer if they believ'd Matth. 21 22. Not that Christ by those words gave you Toleration to ask whatsoever shall come in your fancy for Prayer must be regulated by Faith and Faith must not go beyond the bounds of the Word But our Lord forbids you to trust and confide in your Self and to rely on your own Strength and Abilities for the getting of what you want he would have you by Prayer to apply your self to God the Father in the Name of God the Son and firmly to believe that what you beg in Christ's Name will be granted you according to his Word in S. Mark 11.24 I say unto you what things soever ye desire when ye Pray believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them Believing in this place has respect to the Promise Christ made to all who call upon God in his Name And it signifies your being throughly perswaded that God will grant the thing you beg of him in the Name of Christ through whom alone your Prayers are Effectual and Prevailing If any of you lack wisdom let himask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him but let him ask in faith nothing wavering Jam. 1.5 6. If any man pray let him pray with Confidence to be heard and with a Mind resolv'd to stick fast to God and stedfastly to adhere to the Doctrine and Practice to Christianity And doing thus he has no reason to be Doubtful of the Divine Care and Protection The Prayer of Faith shall save the sick and the Lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him Jam. 5.15 Here are Display'd two wonderful Effects of those Prayers which proceed from Faith in Christ First they prevail with God for the Recovery and Restoring of the Sick to his former Health unless God has purpos'd to dispose of it otherwise for the Good of the Infirm and his own Glory Next they shall prevail for the Pardon of the Sins for which he is chastised of God with Sickness if upon his Recovery he amend his Life But still in granting your Prayers God has respect to his own Glory and your Benefit And when the Granting what you Pray for is Inconsistent with either of these he mercifully withholds his Hand from giving it And seeing this Faith whereof we now speak is the Gift of God humbly beseech him to pour this most Excellent Gift into your Heart and to work in you such a Faith as may be as an Hand to receive all his Favours Be careful not to acquiesce in a dead ineffectual effectual Faith but in such a Faith as shews its self in good Works and which inables you to overcome the World and to conform to his Will in whom you believe To the end that you may Pray aright take care when you enter upon this Service to entertain your Mind with the serious Thoughts of God's Excellencies and Perfections That his Mercy is over all his Works and endureth for ever That he is Faithful and without all Variableness or shadow of Change That his Promises are Yea and Amen That he is nigh to all that call upon him faithfully and that he will one way or other fulfil the Desires of them that Fear him With these and the
none can be thought worthy to live or to enjoy the breath of life who does not chearfully exercise himself in praying to and praising the Almighty Which shews the Universality as well as Necessity of Prayer and that it is the Duty not only of this or that sort of men but of all For if any should vainly pretend to be excus'd from paying this homage to God it must be either because they are too holy or too great either they are so good as not to need to pray or so great that it is below them But no man by reason of his holiness can be free from this duty for those who have been most eminent for this divine quality have been also most eminent for Devotion And of this you have an unquestionable instance in our Saviour who was superlatively eminent for all heavenly perfections and immaculate both by nature and conversation For he was both born and liv'd without sin And yet it is recorded of this most heavenly divine person That in the days of his flesh whilst he was yet in the world in the course of his obedience and humiliation and not arriv'd to the glorious and spiritual state of the celestial life Heb. 5.7 He did offer up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he fear'd or as it is in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for his piety Here the Eternal Son becoming Man made his submissive Petition to his Eternal Father either to free him from that direful passage to death or to strengthen and bear him up in the horrible terrors conflicts and agonies that therein he met with and that being dead he would restore him to life and not to let him continue in the grave but to raise him thence and send back his spirit into his body And God heard and granted his desire For the third day after his burial Christ rose from the dead and God gave him back that spirit which on the Cross he so affectionately recommended into his hands Luke 23.46 And as by this plain example of Christ's praying you may clearly see that no mans sanctity can excuse him from doing doing the like so in the next place no man is freed from praying upon the score of his grandeur or secular Greatness This was evident in David who at the same time he wore the Royal Diadem did not neglect the hallowed Censor but constantly offer'd unto God the Incense of Prayer And for his diligence and assiduity in this sacred office he gain'd as some think the glorious character of being a Man after God's own heart 1 Sam. 13.14 And indeed all good men have ever thought it their duty and made it their practice to worship God by Prayer And even bad men too have been of the same judgment For they likewise have own'd it to be their obligation thus to serve God And whenever they perform'd Prayer as a Duty to him without doubt they were accepted of him Saul pray'd for a decision by lots and God granted his request but it had like to have cost him the life of his Son and the revolt of his Subjects 1 Sam. 14.41 42. Which shows That God do's sometimes hear the prayers of the wicked but then it is in justice and not in mercy as will appear in due place And now seeing Prayer is a special and principal part of God's worship you must own it to be indispensibly requir'd of you so long as you think it your duty to worship God He commands and you must discharge it your obedience herein is above all things most acceptable to God and will be best rewarded by him CHAP. III. The necessity of Prayer as it is made to be the means of obtaining what we want and of conveying a blessing on what we enjoy WAnt is commonly said to be the Mother of Prayer so that if you want nothing you need use prayer no otherwise than as it is an expression of your Duty and a discharge of the worship you owe to God But if you stand in need of any thing you can never solidly hope to receive it but by the mediation of Prayer For God has appointed it as the proper means to obtain his blessings And all those Texts which require Prayer as a Duty and homage belonging to God do at the same time propound it as a means to gain his favour in the relief of your wants and blessing what you have But here I expect to find you objecting That tho' Prayer be undeniably a part of religious Worship which none ought to neglect yet you think it needless to the obtaining a supply of your necessities because God needs not your prayers to inform him of your wants nor to move him to relieve them 'T is true God needs not your prayers to inform him of your wants For according to our Saviour Matth. 6.8 He knows what things you have need of before you ask him which words shew that Prayer is not needful in order to inform God who by reason of his infinite knowledge can be ignorant of nothing but they respect those who at our Saviour's being upon Earth were wont to lengthen out their Prayers with vain repetitions and idle Tautologies thinking they should have their petitions the sooner granted for the sake of the multitude of words used therein whereas Our Lord assures them that our heavenly Father was not to be wrought upon by their long prayers and their much speaking and that such were altogether useless in order to inform him of mens minds and wants as fully knowing them without being told Christ was so far from abolishing that he establishes the use of prayer when he taught his Disciples how they might pray aright To which end he gave them a most absolute comprehensive Form of Prayer which he enjoyn'd them both to use and imitate Which form bears his Name and from him is call'd the Lord's-Prayer Whereof I shall have occasion to mind you in another place As to the other branch of your Objection which makes Prayers unnecessary to move God to relieve your wants because of his being ready to do it without them there needs no more to be said to it but only to desire you to consider That tho' God is naturally inclin'd to be gracious and ready to give more than either you desire or deserve yet he has been pleas'd to declare That he will not give without asking And it sufficiently demonstrates his goodness and bounty to give to them that ask and to open to them that knock And tho' goodness is essential to God and that it is his nature and property to open his hand and fill his creatures yet still he expects you should address your requests to him if not to move his goodness to relieve your wants yet to shew you are sensible of them and that you believe he alone is able to give supply Besides in every prayer
you acknowledge your dependence on God that you are his Beads-man live upon his alms and expect to receive nothing at his hands but what you seek for by humble and diligent prayer But then again suppose Want as hath been already observ'd is the Mother of Prayer and prayer the means to have our wants supply'd suppose at the same time you had no want to be supply'd and that you could truly say I am rich and increas'd with goods and have need of nothing Rev. 3.17 suppose you were able to stretch your fancy as far as to imagine an All-sufficiency in your self and that you were set above the reach of indigence yet still you have need to pray that God would sanctify the things you possess For every creature of God is sanctified by the word and prayer 1 Tim 4.5 These two are requir'd to make all the creatures lawful for your use and to render you happy in their enjoyment For first the Word permits you a freedom in the use of all the Creatures God therein having remov'd the distinction and taken down the old partition-wall which stood between clean and unclean beasts and repeal'd the Law concerning forbidden meats To the repeal of which Law Christ had an eye when he said That which goes into the man that which is eaten and drunk is not that which defiles a man And in S. Peter's Vision Christians are taught to call nothing Common or unclean And as the Word allows you an unrestrain'd use of all the creatures so Prayer sanctifies them to your use by obtaining the divine Blessing upon them For whatsoever by the means of prayer you receive from the bountiful hand of heaven by the same means you receive Grace rightly to imploy them which is that I call a blessing But Prayer do's not only obtain a blessing upon your dayly food and the things of this present life but likewise on the things relating to the life to come For the Divine Ordinances which are the means of salvation will never answer their end unless God water them from above and make them prosperous and successful And yet you have no reason to expect this blessing unless you seek it by prayer from him who alone has power to give it You must seek this blessing I say only from God exclusively of all others which to make out because the practice of some is very much to the contrary shall be the Subject of the next Chapter CHAP. IV. Prayer is to be made only unto God YOU are not ignorant who they are that mantain and practise the worship of Saints and pretend to excuse it by saying That the worship they give the Saints is of another kind than that which they give unto God But since the Apostle forbids us to call upon any in whom we do not believe Rom. 10.14 that is not to pray to any who is not fit to be the object of our Faith and Trust and God alone being fit for this to him alone you ought to make your prayers But if you will give that honour to another which belongs only to God you transfer his worship to the Creature which is a most aggravating Sacrilege and Injustice It is a general received doctrine That no sensible or material sacrifices such as were under the Law are now to be offer'd unto God under the Gospel yet all grant that the spiritual sacrifice of Praise and Thanks-giving is still to be offer'd to him and that to offer this to any other is a derogation from his Glory and quite contrary to his doctrine who said Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Indeed some of the Fathers are thought to have favour'd the Worship and Invocation of Saints because they desir'd the Holy Men whose memories they celebrated to joyn with them in their prayers Yet the expressions used by them on such occasions may by any impartial Reader be plainly found to be rather flights of fancy and Wishes than Prayers and savour more of luxuriancy of Style and Harangue than Devotion It is notorious that the Church of Rome requires her Members to make Vows and offer Incense to the Saints To worship their Reliques and Images To believe that through their help and assistance God's benefits are obtain'd and that for the sake of their Intercession Grace and Merit he bestows many favours on mankind But grant that this were true and that by reason of the benefits you receive by the Saints you ought to pray to them yet before you do this you ought to be well assur'd that those are really and infallibly Saints to whom you are to pray and that they already enjoy the presence of God both which are necessary even according to the Romanists themselves to warrant your Invocation of them Before you invoke the Saints you are likewise to be well assur'd that they can and will hear you that they know the Wants and State of men upon earth and are mindful of them and at leisure to obtain the things that are pray'd for Now to say the Saints know all mens Necessities and are ready in all places and at all times to supply them is to equal them with God and to make them as Almighty Omniscient Omnipresent c. as himself Which is a Conclusion the Papists would be loth to grant tho' they hold Premises naturally tending to it But let the Papist's Opinions be in this case what they please it is your happiness to be of that Communion which teaches you to direct your Prayers only to God who you are well ascertain'd knows all your Wants and is willing and able to relieve them The Scripture saith expresly that Christ is the only mediator with God and that he gave himself a ransom for all 1 Tim. 2.5.6 The office of Saviour and Mediator are two things which must necessarily be joyn'd together so that he who is the one is the other also Now seeing there is but one Saviour there is also but one Mediator and that is Christ There is but one God and he is the Creator of all and wills and designs the good of all and there is but one Peace-maker God and Man namely Christ who has taken upon him our Common Nature and in it dyed for all whose Nature he took He laid down his Life and pour'd out his Blood to rescue Mankind out of an evil State and commands all that communicate with him in humane Nature to come unto God only through him God having no where appointed any other intercessors besides him Which consideration moved the Church ever since it was call'd Christian to offer up her Prayers only in the name of Christ and to conclude them in this Form Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Keep therefore to the Doctrine of the Church to which you belong and which obliges you to pray only to God and in her 22d Article censures all praying to any else To be a foolish thing vainly invented and grounded upon
Vouchsafement whereof a Mortal can be capable When Gods Wrath was so incens'd against Israel that he resolved to consume them he could not do it whilst Moses Pray'd for them and therefore he bad him give over his Praying and to let him alone that he might execute the Displeasure he had against that stiffnecked People which by Moses's intercession was restrain'd And though Moses grants that there were great Reasons and Causes for God to destroy them yet he shews also that there were greater for God to spare them By their Sins they deserv'd Destruction but yet God's Glory was concern'd in their Preservation lest otherwise the Egyptians should say For mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the Mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth Exod. 32.12.14 And Moses's intercession for Israel was so prevailing that God repented of the Evil which he thought to do unto his People Not that there could be in God a proper Repentance as it signifies a sorrow for a Fault committed and an alteration of his Mind toward the same subject but by this word repenting taken from Men is signified an alienation of God's will and liking towards a thing which of Good is become Evil. But that which is chiefly here to be remark'd is the force Prayer has with the Alwise Creator in that by it Moses moved God to avert his Judgements and to appease the Anger he had justly conceiv'd against his People It was Prayer that hinder'd Israel's Ruin and it is still the best Instrument to fetch down the greatest Blessings for it pierces the clouds saith Ben-Sirach and will not turn away till the highest regard it Ecclus. 35.17 You would think your self an happy Man if you could get one certain means of helping you to whatever you wanted tho' it cost you never so much pains and labour to get it Prayer is this certain means which never fails of bringing you if not all that you think you want yet all that you really want or all that God sees fit for you And considering in what continual want you are of receiving something or other from that bountiful hand which only is able to supply all Wants it were an unaccountable carriage to neglect that which alone can procure it Nor is there any such uneasiness in the exercise of Prayer as may dishearten you from its performance For if there be any uneasiness therein it arises not from the nature of the Duty but the untowardness of your own Heart If you would refine and purge that from all Earthly and Carnal Thoughts and endeavour to put it into an Heavenly Spiritual frame and accustom it to Prayer all uneasiness therein would wear off and for Pain you would find a singular Delight and Pleasure For not only your best Faculties are employ'd about the noblest of their proper Objects in Prayer as was said but it also brings you near to him who is the Source and Spring of all Felicity which must needs yield a great Delight to Hearts which are not distemper'd and like a sick Palate cannot relish the most pleasant Food But Prayer being a Spiritual Duty is not to be tasted by a Mind that is Carnal therefore if your Affections be set either on the Delights of the Flesh or the Dross of the World no wonder if the divine Pleasures of Devotion are insipid and that like Israel you prefer Flesh-pots before Milk and Honey and leave the Quails and Manna for Onions and Garlick You will not I hope account these things unworthy of your Thoughts nor wilfully make your self comfortless by suffering either Employments or Pleasures to thrust them out of your Mind But rather make use of them to season your Delights and sweeten your Troubles and interpose themselves betwixt you and the World that so your Life may be happy and your Death welcome I know you have better Monitors and carry the best about you in your bosom And if what I write be needless yet it argues my Affection and discharges the Duty of Friendship My Prayers are better than my Counsels and both are hearty and unfained for your good God prosper your perusal and make you happy in the practice of what you now receive O Lord we beseech thee mercifully to hear us and grant that we to whom thou hast given an hearty desire to Pray may by thy Mighty Aid be Defended and Comforted in all Dangers and Adversities through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen CHAP. VI. Of Preparation to Prayer HAving giving you an account of the Nature of Prayer I come next to shew what is requir'd to render your Prayers acceptable and so prevent the praying amiss And the first thing requifite to this end is the Preparing and Fitting of your self for so excellent a Performance That there is such Preparation expected at your hands you may learn both from Reason and Scripture from whence all that is Solid and truly Argumentative is to be had for the proof of any Position And First Reason or the Light which is Natural and Common to all Men clearly shews you That matters of moment and importance ought not to be undertaken till they be throughly weigh'd and it be consider'd how they may be best manag'd and effected He that intends to build a house or to make war ought first to sit down and consider whether he has sufficient to carry on the work before he begins it lest having begun and wanting abilities to finish he be forc'd to give it over with shame and reproach Luke 14.28 29 30 31 c Few things succeed well which are not first well considered Every thing you undertake requires a Preparation sutable to the Undertaking And in the business of Prayer you may fetch Arguments enough from within your self for an humble Preparation to discharge it For when you seriously reflect upon your own Vileness the dreadful Majesty of Heaven to which you are to Pray and the fearful effects of not Praying aright you must be far gone in stupidity and senselesness if you apprehend not the necessity of preparing your self for this Duty No man will solicit a favour at the hands of one of like Passion with himself without using the due forms of Application Would you not esteem it a piece of egregious rudeness to address an Earthly Potentate in a Style and Mode which is contrary to the Custom and not done with that Grace as is usual on such occasions Common Sense directs you to approach those who are your Superiours either in Condition or Power or both in such a sort as becomes their Station and yours Reason is a Law against Indecency as well as against grosser Immoralities So that you need no clearer Light then that within to shew you with what careful preparedness you are to speak unto God by Prayer and hold an holy Converse with him in that best of Religious Duties Will any man of either Modesty or Discretion venture to utter himself extempore
now recommend as an excellent help against the wandring of your thoughts in Prayer Which is a fault whereof you can not be guilty when you pray with spiritual Affection with ardent Desire with a fervent Mind and with a Heart inflam'd with that Zeal which the Holy Ghost kindles in it God regards not the Prayers which you offer when you do not stir up your Affections and chafe your desires and move your mind into a warmth The Great Ruler of the world will not listen to cold luke-warm Devotions Such Prayers can never reach Heaven which want Zeal and Love the only Wings that should carry them thither Be careful then when you approach God to raise up your Soul to the highest pitch of Zeal and Earnestness that you are able And because that of your self you are not able to do this beseech the Divine Omnipotence to inflame your Heart with the heavenly fire of Devotion and when it is obtain'd beware of quenching it with wilful sin or letting it go out again for want of fuel or stirring up and imploying it And there want no Motives to beget in you this Fervency in Prayer when you consider God's wonderful kindness and carry the thoughts thereof through your whole Devotion For to think that he is not only good by Nature but also in communicating his Benefits That he is ready upon your Repentance to blot out your transgressions and to be merciful to your Sins Such Thoughts as these are good inward motives to raise your heart into Zeal When you lift up your voice and call upon the Lord either in his house or your own And First when you come to the Lord's house to joyn in publick Prayers you have a good opportunity to shew your Earnestness and Zeal God has Promis'd a special blessing to the joynt Requests which the Faithful make in his House and that He will be in the midst of them and bestow his Mercies and set marks of Favour on them when they meet together in the unity of the spirit and in the bond of peace And your absence from the Publick Prayers cannot be excus'd without an important occasion for if it be wilful and deliberate you cut your self off from the Church and from the partaking of those Prayers wherein all are in common concern'd And by this means you inflict a punishment upon your self even a sort of Excommunication which is never inflicted by the Church but in case of the most heinous offences The same Zeal and Attention are also requisite in the Prayers made in your Family which are a sort of Common-Prayers because all the Members of the Houshold joyn therein And it belongs to the Master of the Family carefully to provide for this office and to see nothing be wanting for the welfare of their Souls who are under his Government For the Family is Heathenish where God is not worshipt and where the Master does not resolve with Joshua That he and his house will serve the Lord. Josh 24.15 And as to the Prayers you make apart when you are solus cum solo and have no witness of what you do but only God and your Conscience yet because that even here you are subject to Wandring and Distraction as well as you are in company you have need of the same Zeal and Attention to correct it In your private Devotions you may be more particular according to your personal Necessities and you may use therein a greater freedom both in words and gestures than you can in publick But still the Devotion of the Heart is therein requir'd as being that which God principally regards And as it is your duty to perform all these sorts of Prayers so it is likewise your duty to be Zealous and Attentive at them all Prayer in your Family and Closet will not excuse your Prayer at Church all are requir'd all are necessary and one must not be taken in exchange for the other And whosoever is diligent in publick Prayer and yet negligent in private it is to be fear'd he rather seeks to approve himself to men than to God Which is contrary to the mind of our Saviour who commands you to Pray to God in secret and from him alone to expect your Reward and not from the vain praises of Men. You have been often told That Prayer is that part of divine worship which the Soul is to pay unto the Lord and you have also been told with what Circumspection it ought to be perform'd Give me leave to conclude this particular with observing that tho' Prayer be a spiritual duty and the proper business of the Soul yet the Body has its share and part therein For both being God's workmanship and purchase both ought to give him homage and observance Now the observance the Body ought to pay unto God in Prayer consists in such lowly decent and reverent gestures as may testify the humility and reverence of the Soul Bowing prostration and the like external acts of Religious Worship are a particular right belonging to God before whom you are to fall down and kneel for he is your maker your shepherd your protector The Royal Author of the 95. Psalm does affectionately call upon every one joyntly to adore worship and pray unto God and to make the members of the Body the partners and witnesses of the real devotion of the Heart and to joyn inward and outward reverence together That the submissive and lowly gestures of the Body may serve to express and signifie the sincere humility of the Soul For tho' the humblest external bodily gestures are the least considerable thing in Prayer as having little or no proportion to the necessary dispositions of the Soul yet they are of such moment that if you pray without them it looks as if you did not consider or know what a weighty business you are about nor had a sense of God's Dignity or of your own Vileness But in these bodily Gestures you are carefully to avoid whatsoever is vain fantastical and superstitious and to keep within the bounds of decency and prudence And your gestures being thus conducted they will help to heighten inward Devotion in your self and be an happy means to raise the Devotion of others But I leave the farther prosecution of this particular to consider of the Frequency you ought to use in Prayer CHAP. XII Of Frequency in Prayer THough Prayer be a Duty which you are never to neglect yet there is not any Text in Scripture that determines how often you are to use it The Inspired Word positively commands you to call upon God but it has left it to your Conscience how frequently you are to do it The Scripture that is most peremptory in this particular is 1 Thes 5.17 where S. Paul exhorts to Pray without ceasing By which Text you are certainly obliged to these two things viz. 1. Not to grow restive in Prayer but therein to be constant and persevering it being an homage you are to pay
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
for worldly Riches do not desire them for such low regards as the maintaining of Pride Pomp Luxury or the like but that you may have wherewith to maintain good Works and to be in your prosperity what Job was in his Eyes to the blind and feet to the lame That the blessing of him who is ready to perish may come upon you and that by your means the heart of the needy may sing for joy Job 29. 2. Let your Prayers and Endeavours go hand in hand for the former without the latter is trifling and mockery and the latter without the former vanity and presumption you can never rightly desire what you do not by all good means labour to obtain To pray for that which you do not endeavour after is to be the moral of the Clown in the Apologue who call'd to Hercules to help him out with his mir'd Cart without setting his own shoulder to the wheel The eye to Heaven and the hand to the Helm is the old rule Supplications and Endeavours are never to be disjoyn'd no good is to be expected from either of them when alone 3. Observe what answer God makes and what returns you receive to your Prayers And in particular consider that his gracious Providence may often deny you some temporal Blessings as seeing them less fit for you to receive But then he gives you others in their stead which his infinite Goodness and Wisdom sees are more for your advantage And tho' God has promis'd to give to them that ask yet it is with these limitations viz. That he sees it good for you and that he has not by some particular Decree determin'd the contrary As for example If God has determin'd to destroy an impenitent Nation it is not all the Prayers of the holiest men on Earth can prevail with God to preserve it And of this you have a dreadful instance in Ezekiel 14. where it is evident that when God has resolv'd to punish a Land with any kind of Scourge he will not forbear to do it for any manner of intercession Finally whether God grants or denies your requests it is your duty to resign your will to his and to affect your mind with a profound sense of his infinit goodness in that without difficulty of Access he admits you to pray unto him and that you need not doubt of acceptance if you pray as you ought And to shew how you are to do this has been my care in what I now present you God prosper what has been said and make it to be for his own Glory and your eternal Happiness through Jesus Christ To whom with God the Father and God the Holy Ghost be Praise Glory Adoration and Thanksgiving for ever and for evermore Amen FINIS Books Written by the Reverend L.A. D. D. Dean of Lichfield WEst Barbary or an Account of the Customs and Revolutions of that Countrey The Present State of the Jews in Barbary The First State of Mahomedism The Primitive Institution or a Discourse of Catechising A Modest Plea for the Clergy An Introduction of the Sacrament The Catechumen An Account of the Millennium The Genuine use of the two Sacraments viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper with the Christians Obligation frequently to receive the Latter The History of the Heresie denying the Divinity of Christ The Christians daily Sacrifice duly offer'd being a practical Discourse of the right Performance of Prayer An Account of Tangier during the Earl of Tiviot 's Government in a Letter to a Person of Quality
and erroneous choice of their God they were still truly Orthodox in concluding it was their duty to worship whatever they esteem'd to be so They were perswaded there was in that to which they ascrib'd Divinity all the Attributes that render'd it fit for their Adoration namely such as Power Wisdom Goodness and All-sufficiency For they must needs think it unreasonable to seek to that for help which could not be suppos'd was able to give it And this they knew must be the case of every thing that was destitute of Power Wisdom c. And tho' the gods of the Heathens were of this sort yet whilst they believed them to be Gods they believ'd also that they were bound to worship them Of which Worship Prayer or Invocation was ever thought so eminent a branch that it was wont to be put for the whole system of Divine Adoration But if the Common light of Nature should not clearly enough discover That Prayer is a chief and Principal part of that worship and homage which is indispensibly due to the All-wise Creator of the World yet the Scriptures make it undoubtably evident And the many Texts wherein God promises to hear your Prayers plainly imply a Command to make them Call upon me saith the Lord and I will answer thee Jer. 33.3 Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be deliver'd Joel 3.32 Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name saith our Saviour he shall give it you ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full S. John 16.23 24. Ask and it shall be given you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be open'd unto you For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeks finds and to him that knocks it shall be opened S. Matth. 7.7 8 9. In all which and the like passages of Holy Writ there is imply'd both a command to pray and promise to be heard Psal 65.2 Thou that hearest the prayer unto thee saith the Psalmist shall all flesh come meaning That every man ought to betake himself to God's service and that none who has any care of Piety or sense of Religion will be negligent and remiss in imploring the divine goodness and making his requests known unto God If you seriously consider God's dealings with men you will see that they are made up of abundant Mercy Compassion and Bounty All which you devoutly acknowledge and praise when you rightly address him with your Prayers And by if a steady obedience you keep fast to his Law patiently waiting his good time and pleasure persevering in sincere applications to him relying solely upon him without resorting to any other or using any Indirect means for your support he then will seasonably grant your petitions succour you in your greatest necessities and deliver you in the most imminent dangers Psal 145.17 18 19. For the Lord is nigh unto all that call upon him faithfully He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him he will hear their cry and will save them He is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works Holiness and Veracity are his two great inseparable Attributes His Holiness is visible in all his actions and works of Providence in which he is so far from being the least occasion of men's sinning that he does all that can be done to rational and free Agents to keep them from it He enlightens their minds and sanctifies their hearts intending by this means either to preserve their innocence or as far as possible to restore it after they have lost it But if you or any one be so unhappy as not to be wrought upon by this method then he lets such know that he means to punish them according to their works And next as to God's Veracity this is apparent in all his words for he never affirms what is not most true nor promises what he does not fully intend to perform And therefore seeing he has said Call upon me and I will answer thee and Ask and ye shall receive Since he is nigh to all that call upon him that is willing and ready to grant their requests he will not fail of his word And tho you find your self wavering light and unconstant and apt to be turn'd with every blast diverted by every allurement and to deal with your best and chiefest vows as Sampson with his new cords which he broke at the naming of a Philistin yet with God there is no unfaithfulness He is the Lord and changeth not he is the same yesterday to day and for ever whatsoever then he has said shall certainly come to pass For he is righteous in all his ways and never fails of making good his Title of being the Hearer of Prayers When Rebecka was childless Isaac entreated the Lord for her and she conceiv'd Moses besought the Lord to remove the Plague he had brought upon Egypt and his Prayer was granted Hannah labouring under the reproach of barrenness pour'd out her soul unto God and he gave her a son Ezra and his Country-men pray'd that God would safely guard them home out of their Babylonian bondage and he was intreated by them and his hand was upon them for good When the Israelites in the first battle with the Philistins were defeated their Judges slain and the Ark of God taken Prisoner yet Samuel cry'd to the Lord to give them better success the Lord heard him and fought from heaven in their behalf discomfiting the enemy with thunder and lightning And when ever the Jews were in affliction they no sooner made their unfeign'd supplications unto God but he sent them relief he deliver'd them from their oppressors and by his all-wise and gracious Providence directed them to some auspicious successful means of redressing their grievances and either restored them to their former condition or gave them one that was better I mention these Examples of God's granting the Prayers of his Servants with no other intent but to confirm your assurance of his never failing to fulfil his promise of hearing those who duly call upon him And he seems so ready to do this that he will rather work miracles than faithful prayers shall return empty as it hapned in the case of Joshua at whose request God made the Sun stand still upon Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Ajalon Josh 10.12 And when many have been brought to the lowest ebb of misery and want even then has God been ready at hand to hear the groanings of the Prisoners and to loose those who were appointed to die Psal 86. signally displaying his power and providence in ordering the affairs of this lower World hearing the prayers of the Poor in misery being merciful to those who call daily upon him rejoycing the souls of his Servants and saving all such as put their trust in him And David perhaps having an eye to this concludes his Psalter with this affectionate Exhortation let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord And
Pray and go not thither full of thy Sins unrepented of And be not as Fools who offer Sacrifices for their Sins and yet turn not from them Only Penitents then are fit to come to the House of Prayer and to be Suppliants at the Throne of Grace Every one is to put off his Shooes to abandon his Sins when he comes unto God to take heed to his Feet and approach him with all possible Reverence Under the Law no man had liberty to come into the Congregation who had touch'd any Unclean thing till he was sprinkl'd with Water by the Priest And under the Gospel there is no coming unto God without having your heart sprinkl'd from an evil Conscience and your body wash't with pure water Heb. 10.22 2. The Masters forbad any to enter the Temple with Dust on their Feet meaning thereby That all Earthly and Worldly Affections Thoughts and Passions were to be shaken off and discharged by them who come to offer Spiritual Holy Services unto God The Jews were also injoyn'd not to bring with them into the Sanctuary any of those Tools and Instruments used by them in their Civil Trades and Imployments by which they were also minded to leave behind them whatsoever might in the least suggest any Earthly Concern Worldly Notion or Incumbrance whilst they were at God's House lest they should be disturb'd or diverted in Devotion Nor were the Jews singular in this particular or the only People that were careful thus to Prepare themselves for Prayer For the Mahumedans who took many of their Rites from the Jews are very precise in Preparing themselves for the Moschs or Giamma's the places of their Publick Worship For they never repair to these till they have first Wash't at home nor do they enter those Solemn Places with their Shooes on And they are of Opinion That if they come Unprepared to Prayers or behave themselves Indecently at them that they lose the benefit of their coming Cleanliness according to Mahumed is the Key of Prayer and that it is not regarded without it Under the name of Cleanliness all the Preparatives to Prayer are understood And by Prayer is meant the whole System of Religious Worship Now this Cleanliness does not only respect the Body but also regards the Mind and Conversation and it implies the putting away of all unlawful Actions the purging of the Heart from all vicious and unworthy Thoughts and Affections And they hold that Filthiness in these is a thing most offensive to God who according to their Alcoran as well as our Bible is of Purer Eyes than to behold the least Defilement And it may well be suppos'd that Christians will not come behind Jews and Mahumedans in this particular Nor boldly and inconsiderately rush upon those holy Duties which these Infidels approach with so great Preparedness The Apostle advises all of his Religion to lift up holy and pure hands in Prayer 1 Tim. 2.8 By his Apostolical Authority he appointed that not only at the Temple at Jerusalem but every where else Christians should Pray with that Ceremony of holding up the hands joyn'd with Purity of Conscience and Good Works And that they should take care that no doubts or irresolutions of Mind should hinder the exercise or benefit of Prayer You do but burn Incense to Vanity and lift up your hands to Heaven to no purpose whilst you regard Iniquity in your Heart and your Actions are unjust God will cast back your Prayers like dung upon your face and reject both them and your Person when you tread his Courts and at the same time hate to be reform'd God hears not sinners but if any man be his worshipper him he heareth S. John 9.31 His eyes are over the righteous and his ears are open to their Prayers but his face is against them that do evil Psal 34.15 1 Pet. 3.12 God looks kindly on his obedient servants but he sets himself as an enemy against the obstinately wicked He is nigh to good men and hears their Prayers but their Prayer is an abomination unto him who turn their ears from hearing the Law Prov. 28.9.15.29 The humble dutiful Soul imploring God's assistance is sure to receive it in kind or in equivalence But the Texts of Scripture declaring the Prayers of Sinners to be ineffectual are to be understood of none but Impenitent sinners who stubbornly walk in the Ways of their own Hearts and do that which is Right in their own Eyes who either wilfully continue in their Impieties or retain a kindness for them It is not then your having committed Sin and your sense of some Guilt being upon you that ought to hinder your Praying For you must Pray the rather that God may remit and pardon the sins you have commited For if you are humbly minded and sincerely chang'd from Bad to Good if you loath and forsake your evil Ways and with a broken and contrite Heart grieve for your Offences you then are one whose cry God will hear and whose tears he will put into his bottle and not suffer a Drop falling from the eye of a Penitent to be as Water spilt upon the ground He will hear your cry and deliver your soul from death He will recover your feet from falling that you may walk before him in the light of the living Psal 116.8 9.13 He will give you space and opportunity to live and acceptably to serve him He will hear your Prayers when you come unto him without the love of your Sins about you or purposes to continue in them When Noah came out of the Ark in which saith one he had long been Buried not Dead his first Care was to Build an Altar unto the Lord and to take of every Clean Beast and of every Clean Fowl to offer in Burnt-Offerings And the Lord smelt a sweet Savour he took notice of the Purity of Noah's heart and accepted of his Actions and shew'd himself pleas'd with his Holy Intentions But that which herein seems to be most observable and to our purpose was Noah's great Industry and Care for the right offering of this Sacrifice And this was seen in his Building an Altar and making Choice of such Beasts and Birds as were fit thereon to be Offered Now Prayer is your best Sacrifice which in Imitation of Noah you are to offer unto the Lord with great Preparedness For the want of this will betray in you a Prophane temper of Spirit and a lack of a just Esteem and Reverence for God and his Service And therefore according to Siracides Before thou prayest prepare thy self and be not as one that tempteth the Lord Ecclus 18.23 Let the Clean Beasts and Birds offer'd by Noah mind you of keeping your Soul Clean and Pure from all wicked Resolutions and Affections and to appear before the Lord empty of all Sinful Habits and Intentions And let no Envy Hatred Malice or any Uncharitableness lodge in your Heart For no Lusts of Carnal Uncleanness no Filthiness of Spirit no