signifying the Spiritual Cleanness which is requisite in all that prepare themselves to speak unto the God of Purity And so the Psalmist explains it Psal 26. 6. I will wash my hands in Innocency and so will I compass thine Altar O Lord. These places of Scripture do not mean that we must not Pray if we have committed Sin or if we have the sense of any guilt upon us No we must Pray the rather that God may forgive and pardon the Sins we have committed But the meaning is that we are not to go to our Prayers with the love of Sin about us or with purposes to Sin on still Our Souls must be clean and pure from wicked Resolutions and Affections we must appear before the Lord empty in this sense void of all sinful Habits and Intentions The Heart is the Censer and it must be Holy and the Incense must be Holy which comes out of it If any Lusts of Uncleanness be burning there it is as abominable as the offering up of Unhallowed fire If there be Envy or Hatred Malice Bitterness or designs of Revenge it is as if we lifted up hands defiled with Blood For in the construction of the Gospel he that hateth his Brother is a murderer 1 Jo. 3. 15. If there be that which the Scripture calls Filthiness of Spirit it is like the offering of Swines-Flesh If there be a Ravenous or Quarrelsome temper it is like the presenting of a Dog's Neck If there be an insatiable or inordinate love of the World it is like Sacrificing to an Idol We should be sure therefore at our Devotion to have Penitent and Honest Hearts pure Affections and gracious Lips It is the Holy Person that makes the Prayer Holy that Sanctifies the Altar and the Sacrifice upon it so as to make the savour thereof sweet in God's Nostrils Where Sin lyeth at the Door it stops the passage of Prayer and hinders it from being successful Such a one hath no benefit either by his own Prayers or other Mens Witness the Story of Achan Jos 7. Achan had kept some of the spoil of Jericho which was consecrated unto the Lord this Sin was imputed to the whole Congregation and God refused to hear Joshua's Prayer for them The Lord said unto Joshua get thee up wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face Israel hath sinned for they have even taken of the accursed Thing that is the thing which was devoted unto me and which hath now brought a Curse upon them Jos 7. 10 11. Sin unrepented of hinders the Power and Efficacy of Prayer II. Besides Innocence of Heart there is required in a devout Person Constancy and Perservance Pray without ceasing 1 Thess 5. 17. Continuing instant in Prayer Rom. 12. 12. Praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance Ephes 6. 18. Continue in Prayer and watch in the same with Thanksgiving Col. 4. 2. All which commands are pursuant to that of our Blessed Saviour that Men ought always to Pray and not to faint Luk. 18. 1. These places of Scripture are not to be understood in such a strict sense as if we were to employ our whole time at Prayer without doing any thing else for that is inconsistent with the business of our Calings and impossible for humane Nature to do But the meaning is that our minds must always be devoutly disposed that some portions of every day should be set aside for Prayer that we should be diligent and frequent at it addicted to it and intent upon it and that we should not let slip any set or convenient hours of Devotions but observe them constantly as oft as they return As Saint Chrysostom hath rightly noted in Col. 4. 2. the Devil throughly knows what a good thing Prayer is and therefore he mightily endeavours to keep People from it He draws them into his own Snares by drawing them away from God by tempting them first to Pray seldom and so by degrees to give it quite over By this wile of the Devil there is a great strangeness between them and God which at last endeth in direct Enmity and then it falls out as it happens usually in differences between Man and Man that the offender is the hardest to be Reconciled It is therefore our Wisdom to Renew our Prayers and to draw nigh unto God often to repair to him as frequently at least as the Holy Psalmist speaks of Evening and Morning and at Noonday will I pray and cry aloud Ps 55. 17. By this means our Hearts will be kept up at a high Key our acquaintance with God will not only be preserved but increase too the Duty it self will become easie and delightful our Life will resemble in some measure the Heavenly state and we shall prepare our selves by it for the services of Eternity the Joys above will be our portion here our Conversation will be every day in Heaven together with our Hearts our Temptations unto Sin will lessen our irregular Affections will be the better conquered and the sooner transformed into a Divine Love and if there could be a Sinless state on Earth this would be the ready way to it because it would keep the minds of Men under a continual Awe and Dread of offending that Holy Just and Omniscient Being in whose Presence they must appear and to whose Majesty they must speak the next hour Besides we must not always expect to be heard for once or twice speaking God doth many times suspend the answering our desires to Try and Exercise our Faith to envigorate our Zeal to make our Devotion the more fervent and our Addresses to him the more and more importunate like the crys of the restless Widow in the Parable which our Saviour used as an argument to shew that Men ought always to pray and not to faint Luke 18. If therefore our wants are not supplied as we would have them the fault is in our selves because we are not so Constant so Frequent so Importunate at our Prayers as we should be It is a set and stated Course of Devotion that God is pleased with and this is one reason why we reap so little profit by all our Labours under the Sun because we squander away a great part of our time upon Vanity or upon Vice which should be devoted unto God to maintain a continual intercourse and communion with him and to fetch down his Blessings upon us Such an intercourse as was between God and Jacob when the Angels were Ascending and Descending on the Ladder III. Prayer must be accompanied with Faith If any of you lack Wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him But let him ask in Faith or with Faith nothing wavering c. James 1. 5 6. The meaning is not that we must always confidently believe that we shall most certainly receive every particular thing we pray for We cannot confidently expect what
employ them with such seriousness and united consideration as if we were going to die The custom of the Lord Jesus was to go up to some Mountain to pray thereby teaching all his followers to take their leave of the World for the due performance of their Devotion and during the time of it to retire as near as may be to Heaven and to have their minds there and there only To draw nigh unto God with our Lips and at the same time to let our thoughts rove and ramble and run away at a great distance from him is in effect to tell God that we are willing to pay him some outward Civility but care not for the business we come to him about and how then can we expect that God will attend to it 'T is necessary therefore to recollect our selves to fix our minds when we fall down on our Knees before him and in order thereunto we should consider how infinitely great that Being is to whom we make our Addresses and of what vast importance the thing is which we are transacting with him no less than the Eternal Welfare of our Soul and Body which we should pray for with the greater attention because we are not sure of another Opportunity to sollicite God about it At the Publick Service of the Church it is an excellent means to keep our thoughts at Home to give great heed to what is uttered by him that ministreth that is our Mouth and Intercessour not to lose a word but to keep an even pace with him in our Meditations and as he goes along to mind ponder and weigh the things spoken because the Soul lodgeth so near unto the Ear that if the door be open to let in the voice the Inhabitant within cannot but listen and be attentive VI. If we carefully observe this it will help to carry us on to that which is another Qualification of Prayer I mean Affection and Fervency When we apprehend and mind the matter of our Prayers and add to it an Earnestness and Vehemence of desire then is our Devotion truly said to be Fervent and Affectionate And this is one sense of that Phrase which we meet with thrice in the Epistles Praying with the Spirit 1 Cor. 14. 15. Supplication in the Spirit Ephes 6. 18. and Praying in the Holy Spirit Jude 20. In the strict sense it signifies Praying by the Extraordinary Assistance and Gift of the third Person in the Holy Trinity For in those first times of Christianity there was among many other Extraordinary Gifts a Miraculous Gift of Prayer wherewith some of the Church were Divinely and immediately inspired so that they were able on a sudden to conceive and utter Prayers which were apt and suitable to the Christian Religion the old Jewish Forms being then some of them useless and all of them imperfect because the condition of Church-affairs was now changed Upon this account there was then great need of an exttaordinary Gift of Prayer to supply the wants of the Christian Assemblies But this extraordinary Gift ceased in a little time stated Forms of Divine Service being provided for the Churches use Forms which had been Originally conceived by inspired Men and which were afterward preserved and used See Dr. Hammond an Jude the 20th and his Vindication of the Liturgy by those who had benefited so much by them There is no such thing as Praying by the Spirit in a strict sense or Praying by the extraordinary Gift of the Holy Ghost nor in truth is there any need of it now when there is a sufficiency of Useful Ancient and excellent Forms And yet we must in some sense pray in or by the Spirit or else our Prayers will do us no good We must pray with that Zeal which is kindled in the Heart by the ordinary operation of the Holy Spirit We must Pray with Spiritual Affection with ardency of Desire with Fervency of Spirit and with Hearts lifted up and Inflamed Our Prayers must not be Spiritless nor must we be Cold or Lukewarm at them God heareth not Prayers which are offered up by People that do not stir up their Affections nor chafe their Desires nor move their Minds into a Warmth but Pray carelesly as if they were indifferent whether God heard them or no. Such Prayers can never reach the Heavens they are lost by the way they drop down presently to the ground for want of Affection and Fervency which should have been their Wings In short when we call upon God we should imploy all the powers and faculties of our Souls and lay out our whole Man upon the business before us and because the consideration of God's Attributes gives life and vigour to the whole body of Religion we should possess our minds with the sense of those perfections and especially with the sense of his great Goodness For as the Notion of his Greatness Power Justice and Omnipresence is naturally apt to create in us attention of mind to what we say so the consideration of his Mercy and Benignity is enough to Charm our Affections In order therefore to Fervency in Prayer let us think of the wonderful kindness and goodness of God and carry the thoughts of it along with us throughout the whole tenor of our Devotion how good he is in his own Nature how Communicative and Beneficent to his poor Creatures how Gracious to Mankind how Merciful to Sinners how easie to be intreated upon our Repentance and how ready he is to pardon Iniquity Transgression and Sin 2. We should cast our selves down under an humble sense of our own Unworthiness and Vileness and with a thankful acknowledgment of the Happiness we have that Worms Dust and Ashes Nothings Creatures that by our Sins are worse than nothing have the favour and freedom to speak before him and to him These Considerations are good inward means to raise our Hearts and Affections into a warmth when we lift up our voice in Prayer To which I shall add 3. but one direction more touching outward help and it is in all your Devotions to use some wholesome and affecting Forms of Prayer Whatever hath been objected against them they are all Pious and Unprejudiced Spirits of great advantage For thereby the Soul is rid of a great variety of thoughts which bring Distractions The Mind is not at a loss for Words nor the Invention to seek for Matter nor is there that fear upon us which otherwise must needs be upon all humble men of speaking irreverently or unbecomingly to God Every thing else being prepared we have no more to do but to prepare our Hearts and stir our Affections The Wood and the Sacrifice being ready at hand our only business is to bring Fire to the Altar and to keep it burning And here let me recommend unto your special use those Forms of Prayer which our Church useth in her Publick Liturgy Forms that carry with them the true Spirit of Primitive Christianity and are agreeable to those
which were used in the Primitive Ages and some of them the very same Forms that were throughly digested and put together by the great Men at the time of Reformation Great for their Learning Great for their Wisdom Great for their eminent Zeal and Piety and Love of Truth and the Greater still because afterwards they suffered for this Work by the hands and fury of the Romanists and some of them settled it at the stake with their last Blood In Composing that Book they did not consider how they might gratifie particular Fancies but how they might answer the necessities and provide for the real good of the whole Church And accordingly such Prayers were after much deliberation pitched upon as were most Profitable most significant and most moving And 't is observable of them that as they are generally short and therefore easie to be Learned and Remembred so they are very full too and so comprehensive for matter and signification that there is nothing needful for Soul or Body but what there are Petitions for and those too rellishing of such a Spirit of Piety as is enough to affect and move the dullest Hearts if our Minds do but go along with them and without that all the Prayers in the World will not work upon us VII In all our Prayers we must be sure to be Charitable When our Saviour gave his Church a Prayer of his own Composing he directed us to pray in the Plural number even at our private Devotion When thou Prayest enter into thy Closet and when thou hast shut thy door pray to thy Father which is in secret And after this manner pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread Forgive us our trespasses And lead us not into temptation Matth. 6. 6 9 11 12 13. Next to our serving God all our business in this World is to do our selves and others all the good we can and because the condition of our nature is so scanty and weak that it is not in our power to do all that is needful with our own hands therefore we must apply our selves to him from whom every good and perfect gift cometh that he may supply all Mens wants out of his own infinite and inexhaustible treasures Every one therefore must have a share in our Prayers because every one of us is in some want or other I exhort therefore that first of all Supplications Prayers Intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men saith St. Paul in 1 Tim. 2. 1. For Kings and for all that are in Authority for one another saith St. James Jam. 5. 16. For them that despitefully use you and persecute you saith our Blessed Saviour himself Matth. 5. 44. Indeed this last direction about praying for ones Enemies is commonly look'd upon as a hard saying but the only reason is because there is so much ill nature in the World The Lord Jesus and his first Martyr St. Stephen did both go out of the World praying for their barbarous and blood-thirsty Enemies the very worst of Men. And that our Prayers may be as theirs were Holy and Efficacious they must proceed from sedate Minds from Hearts full of Gentleness Goodness and Compassion There are two things especially which infect all Prayer and turn it into Abomination The first is unreasonable Anger when Mens Passions are suffered either to start without just and sufficient cause ot to rise unto an immoderate Height or to last an undue time Such Heats are sinful and consequently as noisom Fuel in the Heart as the fire and brimstone of Hell Therefore St. Paul requires us to lift up holy hands without wrath 1 Tim. 2. 9. And this is one reason of that other command Ephes 4. 26. Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath because the Evening was wont to be a constant time for solemn Devotion Anger at best is a weak Passion in us an Argument of great infirmity in our Nature that shews how near of kin we are to the Beasts that perish Therefore amidst all Resentments we should govern our selves by God's Example whose Wrath moves with a very slow pace and endureth but the twinkling of an Eye Psal 30. 5. But when we approach to God we must be sure to keep out the Brutal part from mingling with our Devotion to bring our Minds to a right Christian temper and to speak unto the Author of Love and Peace without Coals in our Bosom and without any Warmth but that of Zeal and Charity 2. The other thing which corrupts all Prayer is Malice when that which ought to be a transient Passion settleth and fixeth into a wicked Habit so that the Mind becomes Implacable Irreconcilable and Revengeful This is utterly inconsistent with the Spirit of Christ's Religion which commands us to forgive a Brother that sinneth even till seventy times seven Math. 18. 22. That is as often as he sinneth and repents of it All that God himself requires at our hands is Prayer and Repentance And if this be the price of his favour surely we sinful wretched Men should think it enough to purchase each others Charity What Man is he that liveth and sinneth not And how can any of us expect Mercy if we shew none How can we hope with our crys and importunities to move the Bowels of God as long as we have no Bowels our selves Or which is the same thing none but what we shut up from our fellow Creatures It is a peremptory Sentence Matth. 6. 15. If ye forgive not Men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses It is observable that our Saviour took hold of frequent occasions to inculcate the necessity of mutual Charity and Mercifulness as one great Characteristical note of a Christian indeed And that we might continually remember it and be afraid to neglect it He inserted it into that Prayer which we are to use as daily as we need our Bread Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And with what confidence can an uncompassionate and uncharitable Man look up to the Father of Mercies with that or any other Prayer in his Mouth What is this but to bring a Curse upon himself instead of a Blessing What is this but a ready way to have all his Prayers flung back upon his face with Indignation and Scorn since it is the rule of God's proceedings that he shall have judgment without mercy who hath shewed no mercy Jam. 2. 13. VIII To all these necessary Qualifications of Prayer I must add in the last place that we must Pray with Reverence For though this be the least considerable thing because it is an external bodily gesture which bears no proportion to the necessary dispositions of the Soul yet it is of such moment that if we pray not in an humble manner it looks as if we did not consider or know what a weighty business we are about A cover'd Head a heavy Eye a stiff Neck
IMPRIMâ—â—â—â— October 24. 1692. A Practical Discourse UPON PRAYER By EDWARD PELLING D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to Their Majesties and Rector of Petworth in Sussex LONDON Printed by Edw. Jones for William Crooke at the Green-Dragon without Temple-Bar 1693. A Practical Discourse UPON PRAYER THere is not any one act of Religion which carries with it a more beautiful Lustre or which is of greater use to us in all manner of of respects or which is more strictly required by the Laws of God or better recommended to us by the practise of God's Saints especially by the most holy Example of our Blessed Saviour himself than that of Prayer And for this reason I think I cannot do a more becoming or better office than to discourse upon this Subject after a plain practical manner as fully and yet as briefly as I can By Prayer I mean now not only Supplication to God or the Asking and Begging at his hands all such things as we want both for our Souls and Bodies but in the largest sense of the word the Praising and Blessing of his Holy Name also and the giving him thanks for all those Benefits which we have already received from him And in discoursing upon this subject I shall proceed after this easie instructive method I. First I shall consider the Motives which serve to kindle and increase in us a Spirit of Devotion II. And then Secondly For the due performance of this great thing I shall shew the way and manner after which it is to be done Now there are several Motives unto Prayer which may be taken 1. Partly from the Consideration of God's Nature and Works and 2. Partly too from the Consideration of Prayer it self I. First The Greatness and Majesty of God is so infinite and he is so infinitely exalted above all things else that he deserves and is highly worthy of all manner of Adoration by reason of the Perfections and Glories of his Nature All worship is founded upon the real or at least supposed Dignity of the Object and the very blindest People in every Nation pay it because they believe that there is something above them and that the Being they worship is better and Greater than themselves We therefore to whom the true and ever-blessed God hath been pleased to reveal himself so plainly from Heaven should never fail in this part of our Duty to him because we know him to be the most Excellent Being in the World Higher than all that are in the Earth exalted far above all Gods or above the Highest Dignities Psal 97. 9. God hath so manifested himself in times past by his Prophets and in the last days by the Eternal Son of his Bosom that if People would but look upon him by Faith and with attentive Minds contemplate those admirable Glories wherewith he shines it would naturally move them to prostrate themselves before him and to offer up the affections of their Souls to him For the Reasons of our Devotions are in his own most perfect Nature and those perfections which we discover there do cast such a powerful infiueuce upon our Minds that they set the Faculties of the Soul presently on work and after a most kindly manner excite us to such acts of Adoration as are suitable to those apprehensions we have of the Divine Being As for instance The Notions we have of God are that he is Eternal Self-existent absolutely Perfect infinitely Happy full of Majesty Glorious in Holiness and that Heaven is his Throne and the Earth is his Footstool And if we would rightly consider this and consider withal what our own condition is what needy frail despicable and wretched things we are this alone would powerfully move us to fall down upon our Knees before him to praise and magnifie his Name to extol his Greatness and to worship him with all suitable Awe and Reverence Again We have this notion of God that he is about our Paths and about our Beds and understandeth all our ways that he seeth in Secret that he maketh manifest the Counsels of the Heart and that where two or three are gathered together in his Name there he is in the midst of them And how naturally doth the consideration of God's Omnipresence and Omniscience move us to pray every where unto him To pour out our Hearts before him in all our necessities and circumstances to call upon him and to speak to him with that sincerity of Heart with that attention of Mind with that fervency of Affection and with that modest humble and reverent Behaviour which becomes those who are under the Eye and in the presence and hearing of that infinite Being who searcheth the very Heart and Reins This Notion we have of God too that whatsoever he pleaseth that he doeth in Heaven and in Earth that he ordereth all things according to the Counsel of his own will and that he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy So that if any Man be more excellent than his Neighbour whether it be in Spiritual or in Temporal and Worldly respects it is God that makes the difference of his own good pleasure And doth not this lay very strict obligations upon us to seek his face evermore To be constant Supplicants at the Throne of Grace And to give the Lord most humble and hearty thanks for the Benefits and Blessings he is pleased to bestow upon us Again The notion of God signifies a Being infinitely wise that knows all our wants and what is best and most convenient for us infinitely Powerful that is able to answer all our necessities and infinitely Good that extendeth his mercies to all his Works and is particularly gracious to all that call upon him to all that call upon him faithfully And if we seriously consider that we depend upon his good Providence every moment of our Lives it would powerfully move us to have recourse unto him continually to open our hearts to him to lay our necessities before him importunately beseeching him to take us under his care and to supply us with all things needful both for Soul and Body Above all it would charm us into Devotion did we but consider how God loves every Soul which he hath created that as he is happy in himself so he desires that we too may be perfectly happy in him that all his Dipensations are in order to this great end that the very Duties he exacteth at our hands are intended to fit and prepare us for it that the very afflictions he lays upon us are to discipline us for Heaven and that all things work together for good to them that love him These considerations are enough to kindle in our hearts the most ardent affections towards him And where affection is there will be all chearful Obedience and there our Love of God will make us with readiness and zeal and pleasure of Mind express the sense we have of his great Goodness by the most devout Adorations It is for want of
things carry their own light with them and it must needs be the greatest stupidity to be wanting to our selves in a case where there are so many strict and weighty obligations 3. Besides these Works of Providence which relate mostly to this Life we are to consider the stupendious Work of Redemption whereby the great Lover of Souls hath done all that was on his part to do to prepare us for a Life Eternal And one would think this to be work enough for us all our days to Bless and Praise and Adore God for his unspeakable and infinite Love to lost Mankind in sending the Son of his Love the Lord Jesus into the World that whosoever believeth in him should not Perish The exemplary Holiness of Christ's Life his Death and Sufferings his Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven his sending the Apostles to preach the Gospel unto all Nations and the wonderful effusion of the Holy Spirit to render their Ministry successful and to be with the Church to the Worlds end these were glorious Methods whereby God carried on the great work of Redemption And as we ought with the most Devout Hearts to offer unto God daily our Sacrifices of Praise for these inestimable Blessings so should we Beg the continual Assistance and Increment of his Grace that we may make a due use of them lest the Death of Christ and the Preaching of his Gospel be all in vain to us and lest we make our selves Reprobates and Sons of Perdition at the last In the next Life there will be an end of Christ's Oeconomy He will deliver up this his Kingdom to the Father and then the state of every Man whether it be in Bliss or in Misery will be unalterable And how can we think of another World and not Pray unto God to Deliver us in the hour of Death and in the day of Judgment We cannot be such Fools as to think we shall live here for ever All of us must dye in our turns though Men are apt to put the Day of their Dissolution far from them yet sooner or later it will certainly come for it is appointed unto Man once to die and after that to be judged Heb. 9. 27. And how can we expect any happiness another day if either we do not think there is such a thing or do not think it worth our Prayers It will be most just for God to deny us that which we would not so much as ask for That certainly is the easiest and least thing we can do and if our Salvation be of such vast concernment that we must work it out with fear and trembling it must needs be the greatest folly in the World to expect it if we will not take no not such little pains for it as the Lifting up of the Heart and the labour of ones Lips amounts to 2. Having thus considered those Motives unto Prayer which are taken from God's Perfections and Works let us now proceed to those which may be drawn from the thing it self Prayer is a necessary and due acknowledgment of God's Sovereignty over all He knoweth all our Necessities whether we ask him or no He is privy to the very secrets of our Hearts though we pour not out our Complaints before him He understandeth our thoughts afar off and therefore he doth not stand in any need of our Supplications He hath appointed us to Pray to him that thereby we may admire him the Lord Paramount and that we may testifie our inward sense that our whole dependence is upon him that whatever we have we receive at his hands that he hath the supreme Propriety in all that we enjoy that the whole Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof and for that Reason we are bound to do him Homage all people must fall down before him and all Nations must pay him service Prayer is the greatest Priviledge we poor Creatures have in this World That Dust and Ashes can speak freely to the God of Comfort that we can repair to him in all our Straits and most melancholy Circumstances that we can with confidence and safety open our very Hearts to him and acquaint him with our Condition that we can come with boldness to the Throne of Grace and that we can beg of God with a full assurance that we shall receive of him what we would have or that which is much better Prayer is a direct Instrument of Virtue and Holiness When we are at our Prayers we are or ought to be very serious and when we are so many serious thoughts are apt to fall in touching Death and Judgment touching Heaven and Hell touching the Purity and Omniscience of that Infinite Being we are speaking to and touching the vain and uncertain Condition of this World By this means our Hearts by degres come to be weaned from this World and to long for a Better our Minds are kept in continual Awe lest we offend God whose mercy and goodness is to bring us to it our Lusts cool and we are led to Repentance the Remembrance of our Sins and Follies becomes bitter Humility Charity and Meekness take possession of our Souls and we learn to be Patient to resign our selves up into the hands of God and to submit to his Heavenly will in all cases But nothing can be a greater Motive unto Prayer than the Power and Usefulness of it in the returns it makes us The effectual fervent Prayer of a righteous Man availeth much Jam. 5. 16. It hath wrought Miracles and though Miracles are ceased long ago yet God heareth still and never do we go away from the Throne of Grace empty if we pray as we should Many times God hears our Prayers and we are not sensible of it because we do not presently receive the very thing we desire But the request is Granted though it may not be actually Fulfilled at our own time and in our own way For wise and good reasons God doth defer the bestowing of the matter we crave for and sometimes exchangeth it and gives us a Better thing in lieu of it No Prayers miscarry if they be rightly Qualified or if they who offer them be rightly Disposed II And this brings me to that which we are to consider in the next place viz. After what way and manner this great and soâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 of Religion ought to be perâ—â—â—â—â—â— I. And First When we are going to our Prayers we must be very careful to go with Souls purified from Sin by sincere Repentance For God heareth not Sinners John 9. 31. If I regard Iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me Psal 66. 18. He that turneth away his Ear from hearing the Law even his Prayer shall be abomination Prov. 28. 9. I will that men pray every where lifting up holy hands 1 Tim. 2. 8. where the Apostle alludes to a custom among the Jews instituted by God himself and observed anciently by most Nations of washing before Prayer Exod. 40. 32. A Mystical Rite
God hath not some way or other and in some measure or other promised And tho' he hath absolutely promised us all things which pertain to Eternal Life and Godliness yet there are other things which appertain to this present Life which he hath promised with some limitations that is if such and such things be Necessary or Profitable or Convenient for us Seeing then all the promises of God are not of equal Extent and seeing ones Faith can go no farther than the promise goes we cannot firmly believe that we shall have every particular thing granted us because we cannot certainly tell whether this or that in particular will be Beneficial or Proper for us Whatever we may imagine or conceive in our own thoughts it is God alone that knows that infallibly and therefore we cannot be assured that God will give it us We are to understand the matter thus then that when we Pray we must be firmly persuaded in our minds that God knoweth how to grant the thing we beg of him and that he is able and ready to do it if he sees it Necessary or good for us There must be no doubt of God's Power and Goodness nor of his Care for us He that cometh to him must believe not only that he is but also that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him Heb. 11. 6. When therefore we are preparing our selves for Prayer that we may prepare our Hearts aright we should entertain our Minds with the serious consideration of God's Attributes and Perfections that his Mercy reacheth over all his Works that he is the faithful God that he cannot Lie that with him there is no variableness or shadow of Change that his promises are Yea and Amen that he is nigh unto all who call upon him faithfully and that he will one way or other fulfill the desires of them that fear him Such Considerations as these will enliven and envigorate our Prayers with an active Faith and in the strength thereof we may draw near and fall low in full assurance that his Ear is open and his Hand ready to give us the very things we long for or something else which in his infinite Wisdom he knoweth to be better for us IV. In our Prayers we must with all humbleness of Mind evermore submit our selves to God's Will and Pleasure Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven is a part of that Prayer which our Blessed Lord himself formed for our Daily use And tho' those words do primarily mean such an active chearful and universal Obedience ro God's Commands as the Angels of Heaven express Yet in a Secondary sense they signifie too such Patience and Submission to God's Providence as was so eminent in the Lord of Life and Glory who in his last Agonies resigned up himself into his Fathers hands with this holy request Not my Will but thy Will be done Because we are so ignorant of those things which are really for our good it is very reasonable we should leave it unto God to determine for us and it is for good reasons that he doth sometimes deny even his faithful Servants the request of their Lips Though the matter of their Prayers or the thing they desire to have may be Lawful enough in it self yet accidentally and in the consequence it may be hurtful or very dangerous tho' they do not think it and in such a case it is a Favour and Kindness if God gives them such a denial as the Lord Jesus gave James and John when they put their Mother upon asking that they might sit the one on his Right Hand and the other on his Left in his Kingdom Ye know not what ye ask saith our Saviour Matth. 20. 22. Or perhaps the thing they pray against may be indeed for their good tho' they be not sensible of it for the present and then God is their Friend in suffering them to labour under it especially if he grants their desires another way as he never faileth to do in such cases you know St. Paul complaind of a Thorn in his Flesh a Messenger of Satan sent to Buffet him 2 Cor. 12. 7. Divines cannot certainly tell what the particular thing was which he compared to a Thorn whether it was some acute Disease in his Body or some persecution outwardly Questionless it was some sharp Affliction or other which touched him to the quick and St. Chrysostom's opinion is very probable that it was some very harsh usage he received from some opposers of the Truth who were the Devils Instruments to imprison beat and scourge the Apostle Whatever that Thorn in his Flesh was notwithstanding all his prayers it was not drawn out He besought the Lord thrice that is often saith St. Chrysostom that it might depart from him But his Prayers could not prevail because whatever the Devils Instruments intended God intended it in Mercy to him that he might not be exalted above measure through the abundance of his Revelations However his Prayers did not return empty instead of Deliverance from Pain he received Divine assistance and support from above My Grace said God is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness and that was far better than if he had had his Prayers answered in kind And from this single instance we learn whatever our Condition and whatever our own desires may be still to submit to the will and pleasure of God who best knows what is fit for us Tho' we have not the very thing we pray for yet God will give us that which will do us more good if we be but mindful of our Duty to him And tho' he lets us go about with Thorns in our Flesh yet his Grace is as sufficient for us as it was for St. Paul and as long as we receive a sufficient measure of Humility Patience and Meekness together with a Mortified Temper and a Christian frame of Heart we have reason to bless God for such a plentiful and rich return of our Prayers and to adore his Goodness that we have much more than we deserve and much better things than we desire V. Prayer must be accompanied with great attention I mean a settled and composed Temper a staid Mind with our Thoughts gathered together into a Centre and all of them fix'd upon the solemn business we are about Men cannot expect that God will mind those Prayers which they do not mind themselves or that he will open his Ears to those who are not serious before him and with him The Text bears a farther Construction 1 Cor. 14. 15. But yet in this sense we are to pray with the Understanding to consider and mind well what is uttered in time of Prayer not to offer the Sacrifice of Fools who run by rote and at all adventures but with recollected thoughts to ponder and attend to what we say unto the Majesty of Heaven When we are at Prayer we should call home our Fugitive Thoughts and
and an unbended Knee are far from being expressions of that great sense we ought to have of God's Majesty and of our own Vileness and infinite distance from him And besides the Decency of this matter it is to be considered that Bowings and Prostrations and such outward acts of Religious Worship are God's proper and peculiar right or else the second Commandment would not have it unlawful to give them away to other things Indeed as to actions of this nature Men should be careful not to fly out into Vanity Fantasticalness or Superstition but contain themselves within the bounds of an Humble and Reasonable service When Decency and Prudence are observed Reverent gestures are of great use to heighten the Devotion of the Heart and at the Publick Service of the Church they are Exemplary too and by consequence good means in their kind to provoke assist and raise the Devotion of all I have now done these two things which I was desirous to discourse of in their due order to form in your Hearts a Devout temper and to instruct you in the way how you are to offer unto God your Daily Sacrifice so that it may be Holy and Acceptable to him If we intend to be wise for our selves and to order our Life so that it may be well with us nothing can be of greater concernment excellence or advantage to us than a Spirit of Devotion Hereby we become conformable to the Image of our Blessed Saviour whose custom was not only to repair to the Temple and Synagogues there to joyn with the rest of the Jews in the Publick Worship of God but to retire also into Solitudes and Desarts for Private Commerce with his Father and sometimes to continue whole Nights in Prayer Nor is it possible for us to walk as we should but by treading in some fair measure in those steps of his and by leading as he did a life of Piety Hereby we resemble too those first Disciples of his on whose Hearts the Blood of Christ was so warm and in whose Spirits there was such a constant Fervor and Zeal that they were daily in the Temple praising and blessing God and divided their hours between the publick Sanctuary and that private House or Oratory by it whither they were constrained to go for those solemn offices which were peculiar to Christianity By a Spirit of Devotion we have our Hearts daily there where our only true treasure is we are taking every hour a new step out of this vexatious and vain World we exercise the Faith Patience and Humility of Saints we learn to be Meek Charitable and Holy We are full of the joys and comforts of the Holy Ghost even amidst those Thistles and Brambles which we are to go through towards God's Kingdom we lye down with Pleasure sleep in Peace and rise again under the covert of the Divine Protection we have God always in our thoughts and live daily upon the sense of his present Goodness and upon the Credit of his Power Faithfulness and Truth for the future replenished with those hopes which will never make us ashamed we think every day of our latter end and prepare for it and lay up before hand an inestimable Treasure against it which is the only thing that can stand us in stead on our Death-Beds when the satisfactions of this life will slip out of our hands like Sands and slide away from us like a Shadow This and much more comes by a Spirit of Devotion and therefore let me beseech you to be ever mindful of that that which will return you your last and richest Crop when you have done with all your Corn Wine and Oyl Now for the kindling and cherishing of a Spirit of Devotion in the Hearts give me leave to propose these following means I. That we never neglect Private Prayer Our Blessed Saviour sends us into our Closets there to shut our Doors after us Matth. 6. And the reason is because every man hath some Particular Sins to beg God's forgiveness for some particular Mercies to be implored some particular wants to be supplied some particular Graces to be desired God hath no where required nor is it proper for us to proclaim all our necessities from the House-top and therefore we are to go to him who is in secret and to whom we may unbosom our selves with freedom and safety This will not only breed an awe upon our Minds with an hearty affection to that Divine Beiug we familiarly speak to in Private but it will also make us in Love with that which is the means of this familiarity so that by Praying often we shall be the more willing and ready to pray still nor will it be an easie matter for us to venture either to begin any business without begging God's assistance and protection over us or to close up the Day without giving him thanks and praise for the Mercies of it II. Where Men have the care of Families committed to them they should teach them to be of a devout temper too by their own Example Remember the pious resolution of Josuah Jo. 24. 15. As for me and my house we will serve the Lord. When a Spirit of Devotion influenceth a whole Houshold every ones Zeal is kept warm and increased by it and the Blessing of God is upon them all To this end we should teach our Children and Servants to pray as our Lord taught his Family And by his giving them a Form he hath shewed us which is an Effectual way of breeding up our respective charges in the fear and nurture of the Lord viz. by putting some short and wholesome Prayers into their Mouths and Memories And this advantage every private Family might easily get by our publick Service Books if people would but apply their minds in Diligence to use it as they should There is in it great variety and store of choice Forms which may be digested and remembred with the more facility because they are concise Nor is there any condition of Life but we may pick out some Forms which are one way or other suitable to our circumstances especially as to our spiritual wants and if people would be careful to learn them and imprint them in their hearts they would not only be devoutly disposed in the midst of their secular affairs but be furnished too with matter to offer continually up to God at lost in their minds and thoughts For even at the works of their Callings men may meditate They may think often upon God and of things pertaining to Godliness without any loss of time or hindrance to their worldly Employments By the very lifting up of the Eye a thought of Heaven may fall in and of the way to get thither Any the least work of Nature is enough to put us in mind of the Divine Power and Wisdom Nay the very Works of our own hands may help us to consider how necessary it is to work out our Salvation above all things If