A DISCOURSE Concerning the Qualifications OF PRAYER By J. BVERDSELL M. A. late Fellow of Brase-nose College Oxon. The Third Edition London Printed for J. Smith on London-Bridge A Discourse concerning the Qualifications of Prayer Ephes Chap. VI. ver 18. Praying always with all Prayer and Suplication in the Spirit AS Religion is the Life of the Soul so is Prayer the vital Spirit of Religion without which it can neither live nor move nor have its Being This is the chief Branch of the worship of God requir'd of all who acknowledge Him to be and most reasonable for all who own the World to be govern'd by his Providence and themselves to stand in need either of his Grace or his Pardon or who hope for his Rewards or fear his Punishments in a future State And as it is thus a very necessary Duty so if exactly practic'd is it a difficult one too For it is a Discoursing with God and for Man who is but of yesterday to correspond with the Almighty who inhabits Eternity must emply the utmost force of all his powers and Faculties For if the Cherubim and Seraphim who were always without Spot or Blemish and in whom was never found any Guile cover their Faces while they are Praising and Adoring the infinite Perfections of God what Gesture can be humble enough for Man who composes himself to Pray to him laden with his Sins and whose Iniquities have gone over his Head If those glorious Spirits are describ'd in Scripture as shifting from place to place while they are worshiping their Creator as conquer'd and over-power'd by the Purity of his Nature with what Confusion must Man appear before Him who was conceiv'd in Sin and born in Iniquity What attention and application of Thought What modesty of Expression What submissiveness of Behaviour What Love and Admiration What warmth of Affection must be us'd to make our Sacrifices acceptable to our Maker And certainly as it had been the highest Presumption to have offer'd to have entertain'd any entercourse with the Almighty had not He Himself encourag'd it so since he has vouchsafed to do it it is our most excellent Glory that we can address our supplications to Him But still the Obligation abides to put them up with all the Devotion and Fervency of Spirit which our Imperfections are capable of to prepare our selves with the nicest diligence that we may Pray always with all Prayer and Suplication in the Spirit By Praying always is not meant a constant or continued exercise of the Act of Prayer so as to be alwas invoking the Name of God For this would be inconsistent with our other relative Duties For there are Virtues to be practic'd which more immediately regard our Neighbour and our selves as well as those which solely respect God and we are oblieg'd to Justice Charity and Humanity as well as to Pray Praise and Adore But by Praying always is to be understood such a Godlike Frame and Temper of Spirit accompany'd with such an Innocence of Life and relish of Heavenly Things that we may be ever dispos'd for this Duty when fit Opportunities shall call for it By Praying in the Spirit whatsoever the Enthusiasts pretend seems to be only imply'd that our Prayers ought to have the Qualifications before-mention'd so that they ought to be put up rather for things Spiritual than Temporal for God's Assistance to enable us to persevere in Goodness for the removal or averting of Temptations for all Graces needful for us and Means for the securing or encreasing of them which are styl'd the Gifts or Privileges of the Holy Spirit And this too falls under the former Head and is a Qualification necessary to make us Pray aright since there can be no better Argument that we are well qualified for Prayer than that we pray for Blessings of the most noble Importance the most momentous Concern So that in the Text are couch'd the Qualifications requir'd to make us successful Petitioners at the Throne of Grace For the reason why so many Prayers are not heard by Heaven after those Promises which are annex'd to the Performance of this Duty is because we are not duly accomplish'd to be Candidates for its Mercies And it is easy for us in this Case to vindicate the Faithfulness of God and to make an Apology for our Maker in our Maker's own Words which are that We ask and receive not because we ask amiss In order therefore to make us fit Supplicants to the God of Glory and to put our Souls into such a Temper that they may be constantly and habitually fitted for the Discharge of this Duty there are several Qualifications needful I shall therefore consider First What Qualifications are necessary to prepare us for Prayer or before we pray and in order to it Secondly What is requir'd in the very time or act of our Praying when our Devotions are on the Wing and our Lips are touch'd with a Coal from the Alter Thirdly What must be done after we have Pray'd to make our attecedent Prayers duly effectual Fourthly What Acts are to be continued and extended through each of these both before in and after our Prayers First therefore what Qualifications are necessary to prepare us for Prayer or before we Pray and in order to it Now the First Qualification necessary to prepare us for Prayer is the Purity of our Hearts or the direction of our Lives by the Commandments of God For if our Affections are impure or our ways unrighteous it is invain to make our Applications to God For we know that God heareth not Sinners but if any Man is a worshiper of God and doth his Will him he heareth For the Eyes of the Lord are over the Righteous and his Ears are open to their Prayers alone For without Godliness what soever Antinomian Schemes some Persons may draw whether it consists in Innocence or sincere Repentance our Prayers can never mount up to the presence of God because the Burden of our Sins will certainly keep them from ascending to that Holy Place where nothing but what is compleatly so can appear And it would be Presumption to hope that our spotless Saviour should present so unacceptable a Sacrifice to his Father as the Petitions of a Supplicant who declares himself to be in a state of Hostility against both of them by an avow'd complying with what they most abhor Nay it is the most unwarrantable Insolence for him who still retains a Love for his Sins and yields to them upon the general returns of Temptation to approach his Maker in any Holy Office For it is only an honouring Him with his Lips while his Heart is far from Him and seems to be what the Apostle calls a Lying to God a professing himself his most devoted most obedient Servant while his own Conscience by a reflection on his Actions will tell him that he is his open and inveterate Enemy 'T is a colluding with him who tries the Heart and the
our Alms We render him if I may so speak our Debtor and pardon the boldness of the Expression we may in some measure according to the promises made to this Duty appeal to his Justice as well as to his Goodness to make suitable Requitals which he will most ceatainly perform though not in kind yet in what will be much more for our Advantage and will consult tho' not our present satisfaction yet our lasting Benefit On Observation therefore of God's returns to our Prayers Thanksgiving for his Grants and Denials a due Value of the privilege of Prayer a correcting our prayers for the future by our past disappointments and lastly Alms-giving are necessary after we have pray'd to make our antecedent Prayers duly effectual So that I shall proceed to enquire into Lastly what Acts are to be continued and extended through each of these both before in and after our prayers And First we ought to be possest with a great sense of our Imperfections in the discharge of this weighty Duty This must run thro' all the parts of it but ought more particularly to be exprest both before and after our Devotions At both these times we ought solemnly to entreat God's pardon for the Errors that we have or may commit for the stragling of our Thoughts which the best of Men can more easily bewail than prevent since the most watchful and steady Mind cannot hinder all the disorders of roving Fancy in the midst of our most serious devotions for our earnest begging of Blessings of a trival nature or for our want of any of the former Qualification in that Measure which is expedient The next Qualification is a very comprehensive one and which takes in all the rest and yet withal a very necessary one too and that is universal Holiness and Sanctity For our praying in a short time will make us leave off our Sins or our Sins our prayers So that this will be an effect as well as a Qualification of our Devotion For tho' the former Qualifications may be sufficient for a new Convert and for one who has but lately had the sense and conviction of Religion upon his mind yet from a proficient in this Duty nothing will be accepted less than a general a compleat and uniform Obedience to all God's Commands For tho' the prayers of one who begins to leave his Sins and yet sometimes upon the prevalency of Custom or the surprize of a violent Temptation relapses into â—em may be heard upon his Repentence yet this state of Sinning and Repenting must not continue long A general piety must be superinduc'd or else it is a sign that his prayers have not had their due efficacy if they do not conquer all sin at least so that it may not reign in us if they do not give us some sort of foretast of the Joys of that place to which they are directed and make our Souls sympathize and conform themselves with the Virtue and Innocence of its blessed Inhabitants So that the summ of all is That Purity a Consideration of our Wants a Trust in God a good Intention are necessary to prepare us for Prayer Humility Attention Fervour Charity Brevity and Perseverance in the time of praying On Observation of God's providence a Vaine of our privilege to pray a Reforming of our prayers by our Disappointments and Alms-giving are requir'd after we have pray'd And a sense of our own Imperfections and an Universal piety are to run through all the periods of this Duty A prayer which is put up to Heaven after this Method is surely more suitable for a reasonable Creature to present before his Almighty Maker than what is utter'd by or rather impress'd upon a Soul cast into a purely passive state or posture into a State of expectation of the Divine Exmanations to enlighten the Mind as that Duty has been model'd by some late Enthusiasts Which is but what had been before advanc'd by Enthusiasts of our own Nation for thus an Author of great Character amongst the most irregular Sect which ever oppos'd this Church allows of no use of our own Intellectual powers of our passions Imaginations or Wills in the exercise of this Duty Because says he God will be serv'd with his own alone and not with any thing in Man which is come in since the fail so the Imaginations Thinkings and Conceivings are shut out And these Qualifications before hinted at seem much more intelligible James Naylor's Love to the Lost pag. 13. more adapted to the Oeconomy of our Devotion that the taking hold of essential Truth nakedly as it is in it self than the applying the Mind to the intelligible World the World of Truth than the addressing to the Ideal World than the Union with God the seeing of all things in God Terms in some measure invented by two refin'd and curious Thinkers the one of our own the other of a Neighbouring Kingdom And here I cannot but See Norris 's Reflections on the Conduct of Hamane life c. Sect 11. reflect on a dangerous Error of a Mystick Writer of note who seems to exclude Vertue from the state of transform'd Souls as he styles them and those wrapt up in the highest Transports of Devotion But that Virtue is not only a preparation for Devotion but also a compleating of it has been shewn in this Discourse and not only so but that it is practic'd by the blessed by whom Devotion is exercis'd in its most exalted flights was made out tho' far below the Majesty of the Subject in another Effay But to close all Furnish'd with the former Qualifications we may be justly said to pray always and in the Spirit Yet such Prayers as were before describ'd will never fail of success till God shall cease from being true and our Almighty's strength from being Merciful Such prayers as these will be acceptable Sacrifices to the Heavenly Altar will procure pardon for Sin and Encrease of Grace and at length Eternal Life and will at last expire into everlasting Thanksgiving When we shall need to pray no more but this Duty as some fancy of Faith and Hope shall cease and we shall have nothing to do for ever but to give Thanks Adore and Praise A Prayer to be used in secret O Lord look down from Heaven with an Eye of Favour and come passion upon me thy poor Creature who in and through Jesus Christ do look up unto thee for Mercy I am a Sinner by Nature and by practice who deserve to be cast into everlasting Fire But do thou deliver me from all my Sins Give me thy grace that I may not harbour any vain or wicked thoughts in my Heart that I may not lye or swear or take thy holy Name in vain or any other way offend thee with my Tongue suffer me not to be guilty of stealing or any deceit but grant that I may be true and faithful and diligent in the place where thou art pleased to set me knowing thine All seeing Eye observes me in the most secret Corner and that my own Conscience is more than a Thousand Witnesses Inable me to flee Youthful Lusts and to follow after Godliness and suffer me not to be a Lover of pleasures more than of God prepare me for Death and Judgment and cause me so to live in thy Fear and favour while I am here that whenever it shall please thee to remove me hence I may be received into a Mansion in Heaven and the full Enjoyment of that Glory which neither Eye hath seen nor Ear heard nor hath ever entred into the Heart of Man to conceive Bless these Nations our King and all that are in Authority Bless all thy Ministers all my Friends and Relations and all thy people Bless this Family and make me a blessing in it Comfort those that mourn and suppyly their wants And now O Lord as thou hast been good unto me this Day or Night past so bless me this Night or Day continue thy Mercies unto my Soul and Body and give me thy Grace that i may be truly thankful for them and careful to make a good use of them Above all i bless thy glorious Name for Jesus Christ Grant that i may imbrace him in a right manner and for his sake do thou accept of me and my poor prayers which I conclude as he himself hath taught me to pray unto thee Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy Will be done on Eatth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread and forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive them that Trespass against us lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from Evil for thine is the Kingdom the power and the Glory for ever and ever FINIS
Reigns and to whose Eyes all things are naked and open as if Omniscience could be impos'd on by Pretences or a Religious Pageantry was tantamount to Solid Virtue and Piety or saying of Lord Lord would excuse for the not doing the Will of our Father which is in Heaven So that tell we are free from all known and wilful Sin 't is no purpose to make any Supplication to God He will not hear will not regard our Prayers They are like unhallowed Fire offer'd to Him and are an abomination in his sight for of him who is not resolv'd to part with his Sins the very Prayers are sinful That Duty which draws other nigher to God cast him at a greater distance from him That Ordinance which sanctifies others serves only to aggravate his deplorable State and to render his Condition more insufferable But neither on the other hand is he less criminal if he does not Pray at all For he is not excus'd from this Duty by being unqualify'd for it but he becomes guilty not only of those Sins which are the hindrances of his Devotion but of that Inability to Devotion which they have caus'd and so hard are his Circumstances that he is likely to suffer not only for making his Duty impossible by sinning but even for not discharging it while it is thus impossible And this justly enough too because this Impossibility was wlfully superinduc'd an act of his own choice and free election and for which he has none to blame besides himself and his own wild Passions So that while his Case continues thus he is on all accounts unqualify'd for Prayer and yet is guilty too if he does not pray till by hearty Repentance he has freed himself from his Sins So indispensibly necessary is Purity from Sin to prepare us for Prayer But as there are different kind of Sins so is there the greatest necessity that we should be innocent of those Sins which are most oppos'd to the Spirit of Prayer for they are not all of them equally destructive of it But these are malice ill will or hatred of our Brother Now as these Vices commence two manner of ways either by Injuring our Brother or by receiving an Injury from him so we may be suppos'd in either Case to be guilty of them and therefore on all Regards unqualify'd for Prayer if we do not contribute our utmost towards the suppressing of them As for Instance If I have injur'd my Brother and given him any umbrage to hate me I am in a great measure guilty of the Sin and therefore am unqualify'd for Prayer if I do not endeavour a speedy Reconcilement with him For if my Gift is before the Altar and I there remember that my Brother has ought against me any just cause of complaining that I have injur'd him I am oblig'd to leave my Gift before the Altar and go and first be reconciled to my Brother So on the other hand when we are injur'd by our Brother we are guilty of the Malicc and the Sin lies at our door and so our Prayers become ineffectual if we express an eager Desire to revenge our selves if we shew an Aversion and Vnwillingness to forgive him if we neglect his Proposals of Peace and Accommodation For how can we expect that God should pardon our Sins of the blackest Character if we will not forgive our Fellow-servant the least Offence And has not our Blessed Lord taught us that we cannot pray to God to forgive us our Trespasses unless we forgive them that trespass against us And as often as we use this sacred Prayer of our Saviour's if we do not forgive those who have offended us from the bottom of our Hearts we desire that God would not forgive us that He would remember and revenge our Sins against Him as we purpose to revenge those which our Brother has committed against us So that in effect we turn the best Prayer that ever was into Sin and use the Words of our Saviour who spake as never man spake to our own Damnation So that Purity from Sin especially from Malice Hatred or Ill-will is the first Qualification in order to prepare us for Prayer The Second preparatory Qulafication for Prayer is a Consideration of the Nature of our own Wants and of the Manner by which God has promis'd to supply them that we may know what to pray for and what Method to take to have our Prayers answer'd And in taking an Estimate of our own Wants we are to consider our selves as Creatures whose chief Interest depends on a future State whose greatest Necessities are those which regard the Soul As to what concerns this Life we are to resign that over to our heavenly Father's good Providence with a Father not my Will but thine be done But as to spiritual Wants concerning these we are to sue with the greatest and most unconditionate Importunity and a pious Violence is to be done to Heaven till we find our selves successful in what we pray for But then Secondly we must reflect on the Terms on which God has undertaken to assist these Wants and to resolve to comply with them are they never so uneasy Thus do we ask for a Pardon for Sins we know the Terms on which this must be granted are provided we repent and forsake them We are therefore to resolve to set our selves about this Repentance and Amendment before we pray for the Pardon Thus because Grace and Virtue cannot be compast without the use of good and wise endeavours we are to resolve on these before we petition for those For the Promises of God tho' infallible in regard to any Grace ought nevertheless to encourage us to travel with more Ardour and Fidelity to merit the Effects of them And if we ask after this manner it shall be given us for every one who asketh in this wise receiveth The Third Qualification prepatory to Prayer is Faith or a Trust in God that he will grant us what we pray for according to our Saviour's Promise All things whatsoever ye ask in Prayer believing ye shall receive Now we may be said to be qualify'd with this Grace when sensible of our own Wants we commend our selves to God by Prayer relying on his Divine Goodness and Power that he will give us what we sue for that is as was before hinted if we are careful of performing the Conditions on which he stipulated to give if we ask for Pardon for Sins in reforming them for virtuous Endowments in industriously seeking after them for the Assistance of God's Spirit in concurring with it and making good use of it for Health or Ease or any other prosperous Turns of Providence and outward things with a due Submission to God's will join'd with the use of lawful Means to attain them For to trust that God will hear us without these is not Faith but an unwarrantable Confidence not Hope but presumption Fourth Qualification preparatory for Prayer is a good Intention to use
what God shall bless us with to excellent Ends and Designs to the glory of God and the Advancement of our own and Brother's Salvation Otherwise if we only ask for God's Blessings to consume them on our Lusts we petition Heaven to contribute to our Undoing and beg of the Almighty materials for our Sins and for Occasions to provoke him God is oblig'd to deny us out of Love and Compassion for should he hear us it would be the greatest Indication that he is displeas'd with us and that he is about to ruin us by so cruel an Indulgence So that Freedom from Sin either by Innocence or sincere Repentance especially from Malice or Ill-will a Resolution to perform the Terms on which Success is promis'd to our Prayers a Trust that God will grant us what we thus ask for and a Good Intention to use what God blesses our Prayers with to his Glory are Qualifications antecedently necessary to Prayer and preparatory for it Without these an Address to the Throne of Grace is to no purpose The most artful and elaborate Petition can meet with no welcome there but like the Dove when she was first sent out of the Ark after it has in vain roam'd about the Heavens without finding any admission must return to it s disappointed owner empty And if these Qualifications are needful for us before we apply our selves to God in Prayer while we are yet at a distance from him what will be sufficient for us to do in the time and act of Praying when we are before the very Presence of the living God and the pure Eyes of the Eternal are fixt upon us how dreadful must that place be which by God's being more immediately resident in it is none other but she House of God and the Gate of Heaven so that we shall enquire Secondly What is required in the very time and act of our Praying while our Devotions are on the Wing and our Lips are touch'd with a Coal from the Altar Now the first Qualification necessary for us in the time of Prayer is Humility because Prayer is a talking with God And this Humility ought to be form'd in as First by the Consideration of the Majesty of that God with whom we have to do That He is the highest far above all who has Heaven for his Throne and the Earth for his Foot-stool Who measures the Sea in the palm of his Hands In whose Hand is the Soul of every living thing and the Breath of all Mankind Hell is naked before him and Destruction hath no covering He streicheth out the North over the empty place and hangeth the Earth upon nothing And Secondly this Humility ought to be rais'd by the sense of our own Vileness First as we are Men and the Creatures of God over whom he has an absolute Power and Authority As we are nothing but a little breathing Dust and Ashes which after a short time but very full of trouble must return to that out of which we were form'd If the most glorious of his Creatures are so despicable before Him that he puts no trust in his Servants and charges even his Angels with Folly how shall they come before Him who dwell in Houses of Clay whose Foundation is in the Dust But Secondly much more ought we to be humble in our Prayers as we are Sinners and worthy if God shou'd reward as after our Sins of Eternal Death We have affronted Infinite Majesty and therefore deserve Infinite Punishment And tho' through the Mercies of God and the Merrits of our Blessed Saviour our severe Repentance may hinder the execution of this Sentance yet we must remember that Humility is a part even of Repentance it self And the consideration that it is the Goodness of God alone which makes our Misery less ought to make our Sin greater and heighten our Humility for having offended so gracious a Creator when we pray for Remission for those Offences The Second Qualification in the time of Praying is a due fixedness and attention of Mind For God is an Object so noble that he demands the utmost Intension of our Thoughts They ought all to be collected and fix'd on him directed as the Faces of the Cherubim in the Ark wholly towards the Mercy-seat And in order to this our Minds ought to be disengag'd from whatsoever may occasion their stragling as from an overviolent love of the World its pleasures and interests and to be possest with whatsoever may raise a just Attention as with an awful sense of the Dignity and Excellence of this Duty the inestimable worth of those Mercies for which we petition the greatness of our wants and necessities Nor is it enough as the Schoolmen loosely determin in this matter that this Attention is purposed and intended tho' it is not executed Nor is it sufficient that we come with a Resolution to be attentive if we do not vigorously practice it For is a Resolution a competent Discharge of any other Duty Or was the Son in the Gospel Justify'd for resolving to go and work in the Vineyard and yet not doing it A Resolution to pray in general might as well absolve us from not praying at all as a Resolution to be attentive from not being so Not tho' God will make abatement for the Imperfection of our Attention resulting from the unavoidable weakness of our Natures or our being disus'd to think or reflect yet will not he dispence with the total want of it And if we are sorry for this Imperfection of our Attention and endeavour effectively to correct it God will concurr with us and by drawing nigher to us and discovering his Perfections with a greater lustre will make our Attention not only easy and natural but even also pleasant and delightful The Third Qualification of Prayer in the act of Praying is a good measure of desire and fervency of affection For a lukewarm Petitioner bespeaks a denial and he himself contributes to his own repulse He seems unconcern'd in making his Suit and so less expect God to be less concern'd to grant it He seems to slight the Mercy while he asks it Can it therefore be imagin'd that he should think himself much oblig'd by it or be thankful for it while a fervent Prayer shews how ardently we desire a Mercy and how thankfully we are like to receive it And this is a strong Inducement for God to bestow it on us for He is so tender and indulgent that He cannot deny us any thing which is fit for us when he sees us wrought up to a due Valuation of it and our Hearts earnestly bent upon it For it is the fervent Prayer of the righteous man which prevaileth much The Fourth Qualification of Prayer in the act of Praying is a general love for Mankind and a concern for their happiness For the compass of our Prayers ought to be as Iarge as that of our Charity and with its open Arms embrace all mankind extended even to those
who are perhaps contriving to lay our Honours and Bodies in the Dust while we are mounting their Souls in our Devotions up to the Heavens For we are oblig'd by our Holy Religion to bless them which curse us and to pray for them which despitefully use us And in persuit of this universal Charity our Saviour according to St. Cyprian's pious Observation has taught us to say Our and not My Father only which art in Heaven that mindful of our divine and common Original and of that glorious dependance on which we stand related to God we might unite our Prayers for all those who bear the same illustrious Character of the Sons of God The Fifth Qualification of Prayer is that our Prayers ought to be short not abounding with an excess of Words For Prayer is the Language of the Heart rather than of the Tongue of the affections more than of the lips and great and rais'd Passions such as make up the most perfect Devotion are seldom attended with a copious fluency of Words For the Soul is too much employ'd within to have leisure to exercise it self about Flourish or tedious Harangue Of this concise Nature are most of the sacred Hymns and Prayers which are extant suitable to the Majesty of God for the most short is also the most solemn and stately method of address and agreeable to Mankind's Infirmities which hinders us from enlivening with a due Spirit a long and tedious Prayer Of this Nature are our Saviour's own Prayers one of the last of which in his Agony is so short and yet so pathetical that it seems according to the History to be accompany'd with more drops of Blood than Words The Last Qualification in the act of praying is perseverance not as the Messallians from the Apostle's Command in the Words of Praying always thought by an unbroken continuation of the acts of Prayer but by a constant Preparation for and exercise of them as opportunities and freedom from other Duties demand For this is the perfection not only of Prayer but of all Virtues Without this they are only faint efforts and attempts to please God which shall never be accepted of nor rewarded by Him But it has a most especial force in Prayer for if the unjust Judge in the Gospel who neither fear'd God nor regarded Man yet granted the Widow's Petition mov'd purely by her resolute Perseverance how much more shall God who is the just Judge of all Mankind and whose Goodness inclines him to be kind and beneficent to his Creatures grant our Requests if we cry day and night to Him I tell you as the Gospel has it He will grant them speedily Humillity therefore Attention Fervour Charity and Perseverance are Qualifications necessary in the time of Prayer But there are Thirdly Qualifications necessary after we have pray'd to make our antecedent Prayers duly effectual As First an observation of God's returns to our Prayers and eyeing the tendency of his Providence whether he does grant our Petitions or not especially as to spiritual concerns And there is an infallible Mark to measure our success by for we may assuredly conclude That God has heard our Prayers as to pardon of sins for instance if we find our selves free from voluntary Transgressions But if after our prayers we are as much sinners as ever this is a sign that God has not heard our Petitions and that our sins are not pardon'd and the fault must be our own because we did not truly repent of them before we pray'd for their Remission So that we must renew our Repentance as well as our prayers and if the former is sincere and the latter duly qualify'd we shall certainly be successful Thus we may know that God has granted our prayers as to spiritual Graces if we find our selves improv'd in Virtue after our prayers otherwise the fault is our own we have not endeavour'd vigorously after Grace So that we must reinforce our Endeavours as well as our prayers and if there is no deficiency on our part it is certain there will be none on God's for He is always more ready to give then we to pray He is prepar'd to prevent with his Blessings even our first Wishes for them and to reward our pious desires even before they have time to cloath themselves with words The second Qualification after prayer is a returning God thanks for his grants and denials that is His denials of temporal Advantages For this is often as great a proof of his Fatherly Goodness and Concern for us as any of His most merciful Indulgences 'T is a Mysterious Method of Kindness which obliges us against our Wills and makes us happy in contradiction to our most passionate desires depriving us of what would prove to us only a more agreeable Ruine a more pleasant and beautiful destruction And how severe so ever disappointments may appear to us at first yet the event and close of Things will shew that we had good reason to be thankful to God for His crossing us in our Wishes and for visibly frustrating us in the success of our prayers and we shall at last find the satisfaction of consigning our choice over to Omniscience and that God to use our Saviour's familiar but expressive Words with some alteration when we pray'd for a Serpent has given us a Fish and when we petition'd for a Stone has blest us with Bread The Third Qualification after prayer is a due value of our great Privilege that we may pray to God For how great is the Perogative of a Christian that he may discourse and converse and prevail with God That there is no difficulty of Access no doubt of Acceptation that thers is no hinderance of his Entercourse with the Almighty but his own Sins which are no longer impediments but as far as they are persisted in and not broken off by true Repentance The Fourth Qualification is a learning by God's denials to make fitter Addresses for the future for if my prayers are not granted there must be some fault in me Till that is amended Heaven will be deaf to my Petitions and neglect my most solemn Address Either I do not pray for what I ought or not after that manner which I ought therefore in the Language of the Psalmist my Words are only like the Chaff before the Wind and the Angel of the Lord will certainly scatter them The Fifth Qualification is Alms-giving For it is meet that we should express our gratitude for God's Mercies by bounty to our Brethren which ask of us and need our relief This is all the return we can make to providence for the innumerable Bounties which it scatters upon us with open hands This is a kind of relieving our Saviour in his suffering Members and he tells us that he will look on it as if done to himself And there can be no greater inducement for God to bestow temporal good things on us than if we consecrate a part of them to him by