Selected quad for the lemma: prayer_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
prayer_n	pray_v	spirit_n	supplication_n	6,826	5	11.2274	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12996	A treatise on the First Psalme. By Mathew Stonham. Minister and preacher in the cittie of Norwich	Stoneham, Mathew.	1610 (1610)	STC 23289; ESTC S117850	168,319	238

Prou. 27. 17. as a Floud to the ouer-whelming of our soule as that grand and terrible Floud of Waters drowned all Flesh Gen. 7. 21. CHRIST was offered a Sacrifice which is Infinite vnto GOD his Father a Maiestie which is Infinite to purge vs from all Sinne which is also Infinite 1. Ioh. 1. 7. Quot crimina to● d●monia how many Euills there bee so many Deuills there bee as Deuills therefore are assembled in Legions so bee Euills There is but one Soule but a whole army of Lusts Luke 8. 30. which ●ight against it Quemadmodum si quis cla●dere voluerit aquae currenti● meatu●● c. saith Saint Chrysostome 1 Pet. 2. 11. Chr●●est oper in per● in Matth. As if a Man will goe about to stop the passage of a running Screame if he shal exclude it in one place it with greater violence breaketh forth in another euen so it fareth with Sinne. If it bee not such a sinne as concerne the councell of the wicked yet may it belong to the way of sinners if it bee neither yet may it appertaine to the seate of the scornefull As the broode of Sinne is manifolde so ought our care to be much to with-stand it The Mariner if hee knoweth his Shippe beset with many Pyrates will be the more Carefull the Shepheard if hee perceiueth his Flocke to bee assailed with many Wolues will be the more Diligent the Gardener if hee seeth his Ground surcharged with ouer many Weedes will bee the more Painefull the Souldier if hee vnderstandeth his Forte to bee inuironed with many and mighty troopes of his mortall and blood-thirsty enemies will be more Vigilant Oh these sinnes of ours are not onely Pyrates Wolues Weedes Enemies which doe Be-set Assaile Sur-charge Inuiron our Soules and Spirits to the vtter wrack and confusion of them but they be also many yea almost infinite in number Oh it standeth vs in hand therefore with the Marriner Shepheard Gardiner Souldier to become Carefull Diligent Painfull and Vigilant and so much the rather because the moment of the matter we striue for is farre more great then of a Shipp a Flocke a Ground a Forte beeing that pretious soule for which Christ hath suffered his most pretious bloud to be shed Let vs therefore be Carefull least we be ouer-growne with Securitie and then it fareth with vs as with the Crocodile who securely suffereth ● Pet. 1. 19. the little Birde Trochilus to picke his teeth while his enemy the 〈◊〉 getteth into his mouth and belly and killeth him Let vs be Diligent least we be intercepted by delay and faile of that answer which Cyprian made to Aspasius Paternus the Proconsull of Affrica Cyprian In rebus sacris nulla sit deliberatio About holy matters let all delaye bee absent Let vs bee Painefull least Idlenesse surprise vs and so as a Father speaketh wee become as the Diuells shopp wherein hee forgeth a new spawne of vices Let vs be vigilant least beeing a sleep with Adoniah the multitude of our sinnes deale with vs as Baanah and Rechah dealt with him who tooke 2 Sam. 4. 7 away his life from him Let vs to conclude as Christian Knights stand vppon our guard against al the infernall troupes and as I may so say Blacke Guard of hell Let vs bee strong in the Lord and power of his might putting on the whole armour of God as wee which wrastle not against a Principallity or a power or against a Prince of darknesse of this world or against a spirituall wickednesse as of one but against all Principallities and Power and the prince of darkenesse of this world and spirituall wickednesse as of many It standeth vs in hand therfore not to take vnto our selues a part of it but the whole armour of God that we may be able to make resistance Ephes 6. 10. 11. 12. and stand fast ver 13. hauing our loines gird about with verity and hauing on the brest plate of righteousnesse and our feete shodde with the preparation of the Gospell of peace taking aboue all thinges the sheild of faith wherewith we may quench all the fiery dartes of the wicked taking also the helmet of saluation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God praying alwaies with all manner of prayers and supplications in the spirit Ephes 6. and watching there-vnto That so we may not only take Councel against the Councell of the wicked but stop the Way against the Way of Sinners and as Christ in the Temple ouerthr●w the seates of those prophaners therof Iohn 2. So wee may ouerthrow the seates of the scornfull Ioh 2. The second gene●all point that I will speake of before I come to the particulars of this Text is the Groweth and Increase of Sinne It beginneth in a doubtful walking wandering as it were vp and downe as vncertaine what to doe after proceedeth to a determination whereby vncertainty commeth to a certaintie and wandering vppe and downe endeth in a Period or full point of standing still but concludeth and endeth in obstinacy and obfirmation of minde that what-soeuer may be said to the contrary it wil an easelesse ease and a restlesse repose set downe Sinne creepeth like a Canker which groweth not to ripenesse but by degrees the custome of it causeth it to growe from strength to strength Psalme 84. 17. Augustine openeth this point The Diuel first August lib. Confess 8. by concupiscence suggesteth euill thoughts euill thoughts egg on delight delight toulleth on consent consent groweth to necessitie and necessity in sinning is the fore-runner of death This increasing of sin from Walking to Standing from Standing to setting downe It holdeth the course both in that sinne which con●rneth the corruption of doctrine by heresy as also that which respecteth the corruption of manners by impiety First it increaseth in the corruption of doctrine by heresie which howsoeuer it at the first may seeme of small Reckoning or of no importance as that which neuer then sheweth it selfe in the right coull●rs Yet crescit eundo it creepes on and gathers strength like the clowd which Elias Seruant saw 1. Reg. 18. 44. at the first nothing could bee seene then began it to rise as bigge as a mans hand in the end it darkened the whole skie and fell forth-with in a great Storme So Heresie is a sparke which not sodainely and all at once but by little and little and degrees breaketh forth into a flame in which is v●rified that saying of Gregory Nazianzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nothing is sodainly made Greg. Nazi great This may appeare vnto vs by an Introduction of al Nicephor Eccl●s hist lib. 8. cap 5. Sleid● in● commenta Mast Knolles gene hist of Turkes heresies which haue pesterd the Church from Time to time more especially of that of Arius in y● ancient times of the Church of the Anabaptists in the late times therof as likewise that Sect of Mahomet in the midle

hauing the Starrs to bee the roofe thereof abone whereof the vpper roome is the Church Triumphant in Heauen hauing the Starres to be as the Pauement therof below shal we I say be so dull eared coldly affected wandering-minded in the hearing of those matters and that but one howre alone whose inspiration is from God aboue which concerne matters spirituall and a better life to come and not so much belonging to others as dearely and neerly appertaining to our selues The second Delinquent in hearing the Word the Law of the Lord heere spoken off is he that hath a slumbring eye vsing his seate in the Church as a seat if not of scorners fore-mentioned yet of sleepers and the voice of the Preacher as a pleasant song to sing him asleepe A singing indeed Ezech. 33. 32. it is which may proue vnto such without Gods speciall preuenting grace as the stinging of the Adder which bringeth a man first into a pleasant sleepe and into death immediatly after it This sleeping while Gods labourers are sowing that so the Enemy Satan may sow his Tares among the Wheat it is alasse and againe I say alasse ouervsuall Wherin the subtile mallice of the old-Serpent may appeare vnto vs who being not able to keepe the Word from vs as in the time of Ignorance keepeth vs from the Word by this sleepy Negligence It is Morbus pandemicus a Pandemicall disease common ouer-spread ordinary vsuall and that not in some but a thing to bee vttered with griefe well nigh in all congregations as the practise almost of all men proueth it their consciences witnesseth it the Pastors of God from the places of their function to their griefe haue too often obserued it and God himselfe who is present Euer and in all places sleepeth neuer and in no place knoweth it and will without our amendment preuenteth it no doubt punish vs for it If we look in a glasse and see but a spotte in our countenance we wil not suffer it to remayne there but forth-with remooue it behold wee haue at this time by the glasse of the Word discouered vnto vs a most grosse and vnseemly blemish and that as it were in our Faces because as the Face is most in sight so is this done in the Face of the Church in the publike view of the whole Congregation Oh let vs therefore speedily labour to wash and wipe it away that so it may bee redressed If it commeth of Infirmity lett vs pray against it yea let vs fast against it also that so Fasting may make vs lesse heauy and our Prayer may make vs more liuely If it commeth of willingnesse either because we resist it faintly or else because we admit it gladly what then can bee said of such but that they are as Idol-hearers as the Prophet speaketh of Idoll sheapheards such Hebr. 4. 1● as deserue A Woe not onely to bee denounced against them but also to bee imposed vppon them It is said that the word of God is liuely and shall we bee in a dead sleepe at the hearing of it Mighty in operation and shall it shew no might in vs to hold vs waking Sharper then a two edged sword and shall we be duller then the earth it selfe in receiuing of it which entereth euen to the deuiding a sunder of the soule and the spirit of the ●oynts and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts ●nd intents of the heart shal we be more hard then an ●stamant in with-standing it Oh let that bee farre from 〈◊〉 vnlesse peraduenture we delight to haue God to bee farre from vs as wee in sleeping while hee is speaking are farre from him Lette vs remember that we are The children of the light and of the day and not of the night and of darkenesse 1 Thess 5. 9. 1 Thess 5. 5. and therefore are wee not to sleepe as the Children of the Night and Darkenesse vse to doe but to awake as the Children of the Day and of the light ought to doe The second thing is the Paines that the Godly man taketh about the Law of the Lord after his Pleasure in this Law to be handled And in his Law doth hee meditate day and night Wherein I may obserue foure points Whereof the first is the practise of his paines He doth Meditate The second is the subiect of his paines In his Lawe The third perseuerance Day and Night The fourth vigilancy in that he is said so to doe not onely in the day which GOD hath ordained for Man to worke in but also in the Night which GOD hath appoynted Man to rest in First am I then to speake of the Practise of the paines of the Godly-One in that hee doth Meditate VVithout this Meditation the Law of the Lord either in time wil be forgotten whereby wee shall become vnmindfull of it or else wil proue as a tallent wrapped vpp in a napkin and buryed in the earth Vtterly vnfruitfull vnto vs beeing as the fire in the flint without smiting or as the sent in the Pomander without chaffing both of them fruitlesse and vselesse also This Meditation it is the third steppe of a truly conuerted and rightly informed Christian Whereof the first steppe is to heare the Word of GOD readily the second to Remember it dilligently the third to meditate on it seriously This Meditation or calling our selues to remembrance is like that rumination or chewing of the cudde to bee found in the cleane beastes whereas They Deut. 14. 6. 7. 8. which chewed not the cudde were vncleane This Meditation it is as a Looking-glasse or rather the very Eye of the soule whereby shee seeeth her selfe and looketh into her whole estate her riches her pouerty her giftes her defects her safety her danger her way her iourney in the way and the place where-vnto shee iournyeth It is the Key which vnlocketh the very doore of our heart where all our bookes of accompts doe lye It fareth with the VVord of GOD as with the Wombe of a woman where there is first Hearing this may bee likened to Conception secondly Remembrance this answer●●h to Retention Thirdly Meditating this agreeth with Quickning VVithout al which together Conception Retention Quickning the Child must needs come liuelesse into the World So also without this Hearing Remembring Meditating the Word must needes bee fruitlesse vnto vs. This Meditation of it bee rightly vsed will not onely become as As a bridle of temperance to restraine our mis-doings but euen a●● As the clubbe of Hercules to beate and beare downe all the monstrous brood of awlesse transgressions as that is said to quell and subdue the Monsters of the World It would first beate and beare downe the Monster of Couetousnesse by a Meditation that the possessions of this life are sickle that the liues of the possessors are brittle that the transitory thinges o● his World may bee eyther taken from vs as they were from Iob or else that wee may bee taken from them