Selected quad for the lemma: prayer_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
prayer_n	let_v	pray_v	sick_a	2,056	5	9.3427	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A68105	The way to well-doing. Or A sermon of faith and good vvorkes Preached in the chappell of Buntingford, in the county of Hartford, at the beginning of their publike lecture. By Iohn Gore, rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex.	Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex.; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex, Summer sermon. aut; Gore, John, Rector of Wendenlofts, Essex. Winter sermon. aut	1638 (1638)	STC 12087; ESTC S116024	20,619	38

when a man doth stedfastly resolve by the assistance and grace of God to separate himselfe from every knowne sinne and to sanctifie himselfe in all holy duty and obedience to God striving by a holy desire and an hearty endeavour in nothing willingly to sinne against God but in every thing to please him and approove himselfe unto him if such a man chance to fall by occasion into a fault or be overtaken unawares as the Apostle speakes Gal. 6. 1. besides the purpose of his heart and the intention and desire of his soule that mans sinnes are sinnes of infirmity which by the mercy of God shall never be laid to his charge Contrarily when a man shall hang in equilibrio in an even ballance as it were betwixt wickednesse and goodnesse and shall be equally disposed to sinne or not to sinne as occasion shall offer it selfe or which is worse shall doe like him Psal 36. 4. shall set and settle himselfe in a way that is not good resolving with himselfe that this sinne fits my turne and pleaseth my humour and I will not part with it or which is worst of all when a man shall draw iniquity with cords of vanity as the Prophet speaketh as if the devill were backeward and sinne would not come fast enough upon him of its owne accord shall fish and angle for it and hunt after ill company and draw himselfe and others into sinne as Fish and Fowles are drawne into a net to their ruine and destruction this mans sinnes are farre beyond the sinne of infirmity for they are sinnes of iniquity and sinnes of obstinacy and such as will cost him many a sigh many a groane many a teare before ever he shall attaine to this comfortable perswasion that there is compassion with God and salvation with Christ for his soule 2. A sinne of infirmity is knowne by the consequents of it or that which followes after it it leaves such a sting behind it in the soule that a man can never be at quiet in his owne conscience till he hath made his peace with God by a sound and serious humiliation and reconciled himselfe againe to Iesus Christ Yea it never leaves a man till it hath brought him to that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Indignation which the Apostle speakes of 2 Cor. 7. 11. that a man shall even fret and vexe and fall out with himselfe for offending and provoking so good so gracious a God It will make a man upbraid himselfe for a very beast and a foole as David did Psal 73. So ignorant was I and so foolish even as a beast before thee And it is a sure rule that of Saint Augustine Peccata non nocent si non placent if a mans sinnes doe not please him they will never hurt him Whereas on the contrary when a man can carry away his sinnes as lightly as Sampson carryed the gates of Azza that they are no burthen to his soule or if they doe beginne to trouble him shall doe as Saul did betake himselfe to musicke and sport and merry company to drive it away as if one sinne could drive out another and not rather drive it further in beleeve it this mans sinnes are no sinnes of infirmity but they are sinnes of an higher nature and such as will cost a man deare ere he can be acquitted of them in the sight of God And this I dare confidently affirme that there is no man that sinnes of infirmity but he is afterward the better for his sinne it makes him the more jealous of himselfe the more watchfull over his wayes the more carefull to serve and please God than ever he had beene in former times Whereupon saith Saint Austin upon those words of the Apostle Rom. 8. Omnia cooperantur c. All things worke together for good to them that love God Etiam pecata Domine Even our very sinnes O Lord for by sinne wee have experience of our infirmity our infirmity brings us downe to humility humility brings us home to God and in God every man hath his quietus est a happy discharge from all his sins This being done one thing onely remaines and that is this A man that hath sinned of infirmity will labour to bring forth that same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Iohn Baptist speakes of Mat. 3. 8. The worthy fruites of repentance for you most know that repentance is one thing and the fruit of repentance is another it is not enough to repent and be sorry for what a man hath done so did Iudas so did Ahab but he must honestly and unfainedly endeavour to bring forth the fruit of repentance and that is the reformation and alteration of his life and conversation in the sight of God and men If it be thus with thee take comfort in Gods name from this comfortable Doctrine that thou art no other then Eliah was a man subject to passion It followes Eliah was a man subject to passions yet he prayed Hence we may learne never to be so dejected at the view of our frailties and imperfections as to forbeare our resorting to God in prayer For no man living hath so much neede to pray to God as a man subject to passions It was one part of Solomons request to God 2 Chron. 6. 29. When any one shall perceive and feele his owne sore his owne griefe and the Plague of his owne heart as he termeth a mans owne corruption what shall hee doe Shall he despaire shall hee be driven backe from God as Iordan was driven backe at the presence of the Arke no let him doe this let him downe upon his knees to God and spread forth his hands to Heaven and the Lord which dwelleth in Heaven will heare him and when he heares have mercy It was an amazed and unadvised prayer that of Simon to our Saviour Luke 5. 8. when hee cryed out Lord goe from me for I am a sinfull man as if a Patient should say to the Physitian depart from mee for I am sicke The sicker a man is the more neede he hath of the Physitians presence and the sinfuller he is the more neede to draw neere to his Saviour as a man that shivers of an Ague creepes nearer and nearer to the fire You know our Saviours gracious call Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will ease you Now as Saint Bernard saith every Christian is Animal oneriferum a burden-bearing creature not a Christian upon earth but hath some crosse or other to clogge him some corruption or other to burthen him at times and lies heavy upon his heart what then is to be done Shall hee lye downe like Issachar and couch betweene his burthen Shall hee be disheartened and discouraged from resorting and approaching to God God forbid let him in Gods name come to Iesus Christ that cals him with teares in his eyes with true griefe and godly sorrow in his heart with humble confessions and prayers in his mouth and he

hath promised in verbo servatoris in the word of a Saviour that he will release and ease him of it One thing I must tell thee by the way when thou prayest to Christ for ease thou must promise him obedience and service as the Israelites did to Rhehoboam 1 Reg. 12. Ease us of our burthen and we will be thy servants for ever Thus doe and then let thy burthen be never so great thy corruptions never so many thy passions never so strong Hee that could calme the sea can calme thy sorrowes and speake peace unto thy soule in the midst of all thy troubles and therefore if at any time thy passions be stirred and thy heart disquieted within thee know of a surety that there is some Ionah that hath raised this storme some sinne or other that hath caused this trouble to thy soule then fall to thy prayers as Eliab did and give God no rest till God hath given rest to thy soule Eliah was a man subject to passions and he prayed It followes How did he pray My Text saith he prayed earnestly in the Originall it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In praying he prayed or he prayed a prayer we translate it He prayed earnestly and it is to very good purpose for it implies thus much that no prayer is a prayer indeede but an earnest prayer Cold and carelesse prayers counterfeit and superstitious prayers they be but res nihili in Gods account no prayers at all I will give you an instance Act. 9. 11. When Paul was converted and stricken with blindnesse Almighty God sent Ananias to him to lay his hands upon him and to recover him of his fight now least he should mistake the man and lay his hands upon a wrong party God gives him this private token to know him by forbehold he prayeth Now let mee demand doe you thinke that Saint Paul never prayed to God till that time or doe you imagine that was the first prayer that ever Saint Paul made It is the first wee reade of but doe you thinke hee never prayed before I beleeve he did many a time and oft and I will give you my reason Saint Paul you know was a Pharisee one of the strictest and devoutest of all the Sect as hee testifies of himselfe and the Pharisees you know were altogether given to long praying it was their glory and their gaine too that they could make long prayers in every place in the open streetes in widdowes houses and no doubt but Saint Paul had as excellent a faculty that way and could pray as long and as largely as the best of them all but see the issue Almighty God who stiles himselfe the hearer of prayers gave no eare tooke no notice of all his formall Pharisaicall hypocriticall prayers which he had made in former times till hee came to this humble this earnest this heart-breaking prayer And now saith God Behold he prayeth he never prayed indeed till now for as Philo saith well God doth not numerare but ponderare not number our prayers but weigh them if he finde them cordiall if hee finde them hearty that they have some substance and some weight in them then he records and registers and sets them downe in that booke of remembrance which the Prophet speakes of Mal. 3. 16. If otherwise they be dull and heartlesse lazy and spiritlesse God doth by them as he doth by our sinnes of ignorance Act. 17. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 winke at them passe by and take no notice of them let no man therefore deceive himselfe to thinke that all kinde of praying speedes alike for no prayer is a prayer in Gods account but an earnest prayer Eliah prayed a prayer because he prayed earnestly Furthermore it is worth your noting to see the constant disposition of this holy man Eliah was well knowne to bee a hot spirited man in all his actions exceeding zealous and earnest in all his reprehensions both of the King and of the people Now here you may observe the equability the evennesse of Eliahs zeale as he was earnest in his reprehensions so he was as earnest in his devotions and as zealous in his prayers as he was in his anger There is many a man hot and fiery in his anger but cold and luke-warme in prayers such zeale is never right Gal. 4. 18. It is good to be alwayes earnest in a good thing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word to be hot and fiery and zealously affected in one good thing as well as another in devotion as well as reprehension in prayer as well as in anger When a mans zeale is equable like Eliahs then it is right and pleasing to God As Physitians judge of the state of a mans body Vniversalia salutaria particularia ex mo●bo as thus if a man be hot in one part and cold in another if the palmes of his hands burne and the soles of his feete be key-cold then all is not right but if he be of an indifferent equall heate all over that held a good signe of good health in the body By the like rule judge thou of the state of thy soule if thy zeale be equable and uniforme both in prayer and in anger it is a good signe of grace and sanctification in thy heart but if it vary and differ that there is too much heate in the one too little in the other all is not well within It was the reason which old Father Latimer gave why men in these dayes doe not prevaile with God in their prayers as Eliah and such others had done in former times Deest ignis saith he deest ignis There lackes fire there lackes fire his meaning is our prayers want that zeale that heate that earnestnesse which they put into theirs For as incense without fire yeelds no smell no more doth prayer without zeale and earnestnesse and as Hony is no Hony if it have lost its sweetnesse and Vinegar is no Vinegar if it have lost its sharpenesse so Prayer is no Prayer if it bee voide of earnestnesse Eliah prayed indeede because hee prayed earnestly Now I come to the subject and matter of his Prayer which I told you was first for a judgement and then for a blessing first for a drought and then for raine as it followeth Hee prayed earnestly that it might not raine and it rained not on the earth by the space of three yeares and sixe moneths Here are two weighty points to be considered 1. What should moove Eliah to pray for a judgement 2. Why he made choise to pray for this kinde of judgement of drought and dearth rather then for any other I will tell you my opinion of both 1. Vpon what ground or by what warrant did Eliah pray for a judgement Saint Paul in my conceit seemes to taxe him for it Rom. 11. 2. and he brings it in with a notandum wote ye not i. doe ye not marke and observe what the Scripture saith of Eliah how he made

A SVMMER SERMON VPON ELIAHS PRAYER Preached in the Cathedrall Church of St. Pauls in LONDON on the last Sonday of Trinity Terme in the afternoone being a time of extraordinary heat and drought By John Gore Rector of Wenden-lofts in Essex Printed at London by Thomas Cotes for Themas Alchorn and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the Signe of the Greene-Dragon 1638. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL Mr. VVILLIAM BIRD Doctor of the Civill Law my most Worthy Friend and Benefactor RIGHT WORSHIP WHen I consider the manifold favours and courtesies that I have found at your hands I am ready to say unto my selfe as Ruth said once to Boaz Ruth 2. 10. Quare inveni gratiam Why have I found grace in your eyes that you should take knowledge of me seeing I am a stranger For mine owne part I can impute it to nothing but unto Gods goodnesse and your owne worthinesse And my onely ambition is to make you this acknowledgement that the world may see though I am poore I am thankefull Now as Ioab wisht to David in another case 2 Sam. 24. 3. so wish I to you The Lord God adde unto your estate how much soever it be an hundred fold and that your eyes may see it and your heart may rejoyce in it all the dayes of your life Thus prayes Your poore unworthy Friend JOHN GORE A SVMMER SERMON IAMES 5. 17 18. Elias was a man subject to like passions as wee are and hee prayed earnestly that it might not raine and it rained not on the earth by the space of three yeares and sixe moneths And hee prayed againe and the heavens gave raine and the earth brought forth her fruit THe summe and drift of this Text is to set forth the efficacie or rather omnipotency of earnest and fervent Prayer There be two graces of God in man that may justly be termed Omnipotent or Almighty graces God himselfe being pleased to shew his Almighty power and goodnesse in them and they are Faith and Prayer 1. For the first Mat. 15. 28. O woman great is thy faith bee it unto thee even as thou wilt What a large unlimitted Grant and Patent was this for a poore sinner to aske what she would and have promise of acceptance Mark 9. 23. To him that beleeveth all things are possible Looke what a beleever cannot doe himselfe God himselfe will doe it for him and yet it shal be accounted as his act and deed Phil. 4. 13. I can doe all things through Christ that strengtheneth me Not meaning that hee could doe all things in generall and at large as to walke on the waters flye in the ayre c. but all things that belonged to his calling all things that concerned his Ministery and all things that pertained to the right way of pleasing God and of saving his owne soule He could pray well Preach well live well he could want and he could abound he could conforme and apply himselfe to all estates whatsoever All this hee could doe not by any power or ability of his owne but by the strengthning grace and faith and vertue of Iesus Christ I can doe all things through Christ that strengthneth me As on the contrary our Saviour saith of himselfe Mark 6. 5. that he could doe nothing worth speaking of in his owne Country 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no mighty worke no worke of wonder in respect of what he could have done only because of their unbeleife and marke that it is not said He would do no such workes there but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He could not doe them not that Christ was unable for want of power but hee saw it was unavaileable through their lacke of faith For the power of God and the faith of men are like the spirits and the sinewes in the body the one mooves and stirres and workes within the other if there be no faith in us there can be no expectation of any power or any helpe from God 2. The other omnipotent grace is Prayer and that you may be assured it is so marke but that expression Exod. 32. 10. Let me alone saith God to Moses that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great Nation What a word was this to come from the mouth of Almighty God to bid a poore weake creature let him alone it shewes that Moses by his prayer did even as it were over-power the Lord that the Lord had not the power to revenge himselfe on that provoking people as long as Moses interceded for them Such a powerfull man with God was Eliah here in my text His mouth as a Father saith was Fraenum Coeli the very bridle of Heaven he could even rule the heavens with his prayers as a man rules a horse with a bridle Now least you should thinke he did thus prevaile with God rather by the priviledge of his person than by the vertue of his prayers The Apostle tells us for that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he was a man subject to the same passions that we are and yet his prayer tooke such good effect Eliah was a man subject c. In my text there are two generall points to bee considered 1. The condition and quality of Eliahs person He was a man subject to like passions as wee are 2. The condition and quality of his prayer that like a two-edged sword it cut both wayes and prevailed in both kindes both to bring a judgement and to bring a blessing upon the people His first prayer like a burning feaver entred into the bowels of the earth and scorcht and dryed up the Rivers and Lakes and Springs and left no moisture in them and so brought a judgement of drought and dearth upon the land His second prayer went up into the clouds above and fetcht an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a heaven-dropping dew a happy and a heavenly raine that moystned and fatned and refreshed the earth againe He prayed againe and the heavens gave raine and the earth brought forth her fruit 1. The condition and quality of Eliahs person what manner of man Eliah was My Text saith hee was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A man subject to the same passions to the same frailties and infirmities that we are Hence you may observe that no profession of holinesse no practise of piety no degree of grace and sanctification in this life can exempt or free or priviledge a man from common passions and infirmities Eliah was a man of God a mortified and a sanctified man and one of the greatest favourites in the Court of heaven and yet a man subject to passions What shall I neede to multiply examples to proove this point when wee know the Apostle affirmeth even of our Saviour himselfe That hee was in all things like unto us sinne onely excepted set but sinne aside where of his blessed person was uncapable for as no rust can take hold of burning and flaming iron no more could any sin or corruption take