Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	believe_v	hear_v	word_n	5,231	5	4.7330	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45790	Divine contemplations, necessary for these times. By H.I.	Isaacson, Henry, 1581-1654.	1648 (1648)	Wing I1057A; ESTC R222591	27,531	74

unprofitable and hurtfull to us but such as neither stand with the glory of God nor the good of our own souls And in these cases no marvaile if God answer not our petitions We ought therefore to beg such things as are fit for God to give and for us to receive and these are first Spirituall and heavenly And secondly Corporall and temporall 1. The best of Spirituall good things is the Summum bonum the chief good Eternall blessednesse which indeed is the Epitomee of all good things and consists in the fruition of the beatificall vision of God in his glory and kingdom Psal 16.11 There are other spiritualls too that we may lawfully pray for as the knowledge of God of which our Saviour said This is life eternall Jo. 17.3 that they may know thee the onely true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent As also Faith Hope Charity and all other graces of the Holy Spirit These good things we may nay we ought to pray earnestly for 2. Corporall and temporall blessings are health of body deliverance from dangers for food and sustenance peaceable times and many other of this nature and these may be lawfully prayed for yet not without condition For whereas many times they do more harm being obtained then good they must therefore be prayed for with this limitation as farre as they shall conduce to Gods glory and our own salvation But surely we many times ask those things which stand in opposition to both these whereby it falls out that God will not hear us according to our will though he hear us for our good We are like little children many times that will even with tears beg of their fathers things which may do them harm as knives and the like yet their fathers in discretion will not grant them So God who loves us with greater affection then any father loves his children nay more then we love our selves in his divine wisdom consults what is best for our good and denies us those things which we foolishly ask to our own detriment and in his fatherly affection and mercy grants those things which he knows needfull and profitable for us See what Saint Bernard excellently said upon this subject Detriplici modo orois serm 5. in quadrages I beleeve saith he that the Petitions of the heart consists in three things nor do I see what a child of God ought to pray for besides Two of them are temporall the good things of body and soul the third is the blessednesse of life eternall Marveile not neither that I said corporall good things are to be prayed for of God because all corporall are his aswell as spirituall Therefore they are to be expected from him by prayer whereby we may be strengthned in his service Yet we are to pray oftner and more fervently for the wants of the soul that is to obtain Gods grace and the vertues of the soul no lesse are we to do for eternall life where both soul and body will be in perfect blisse Therefore in these three as they are petitions of the heart we are to beware of these things Superfluity in the first Impurity in the second and Pride in the third For many times Temporall things are desired for pleasure vertues and graces for ostentation and some perhaps seek not Eternall life in humility but in confidence of their merits Nor do I speak this but that when a man hath received grace it gives him confidence to pray but yet it becomes him not to place confidence in or by that grace to obtain that he prayes for These graces are so given onely to conferre this upon him to hope for greater things from that hand that bestowed the other Let therefore our prayer for Temporalls be restrained to necessaries Let that prayer which is made for the good of the soul be free from all inpurity and intent onely to the good pleasure of God and let that prayer which is made for Eternall life be in all humility presuming as is said onely upon Gods mercy 2. We may erre also in the manner of Praying many wayes which cause our prayers to become fruitlesse 1. We pray many times coldly and perfunctorily without attending to what we pray for Surely considering that all our safety happinesse and good depends only upon God and that we are to seek for it no where else and that were it not for Gods mercy and goodnesse we should perish for ever We should therefore as as often as we make our addresse to him by prayer cast our selves as it were out of our selves and lay aside all terrene cares and encumbrances which otherwise may hinder and trouble us in performance of that duty But if when we set our selves to Prayer or other Spirituall exercises we become Carnall and suffer evil and foolish thoughts to possesse our mindes suffering our selves to be carried away and our thoughts to wander up and down these prayers are in the sight of God but hypocrisie and abomintion nor can they receive any gracious answer from him for how can we conceive that God will hear us when we hear not our selves Would we have God mindefull of us when we are not mindefull of our selves nor minde that we Pray for And if we Pray thus carelessely is it not expedient that God should shake of this frigidity and extravancie from us by withholding his assistance Qui timide rogat docet senegari A cold and perfunctory Prayer deserves a negative answer 2. What if we Pray without Faith and confidence to be heard doubting of the divine promises so frequently made in Scripture Psal 50.15 Isa 58.9 as Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee And Thou shalt call and the Lord shall answer thou shalt cry and he shall say here I am Mar. 11.24 And What things soever you desire when ye pray beleeve that ye receive them and ye shall have them When our Saviour was importuned by the father of the deaf and dumb childe whom the disciples could not cure Christ told him hearing him say If thou canst do any thing If thou canst beleeve all things are possible to him that beleeveth 9.22.23 That is there 's nothing but Christ can and will do for them that beleeve If I say we doubt of these and the like promises we deprive him of his glory and do what in us lies to detract from his mercy and truth and make God our enemy instead of hearing and granting our petitions Certainly if we beleeve men so often falsifying their words why beleeve we not but distrust God that cannot lie whose promises in Christ are Yea and Amen Heb. 6.18 2. Cor. 1.10 especially considering that his incomprehensible Power and mercy are joyned with his truth It 's the custom among men to confide in those that are willing and able to help us with what sace then can we distrust God so true in his promises so indulgent in