Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	holy_a	lord_n	spirit_n	8,095	5	5.0560	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A30158	I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also, or, A discourse touching prayer, from I Cor. 14.15 wherein is briefly discovered 1. What prayer is, 2. What it is to pray with the spirit, 3. What it is to pray with the spirit and with the understanding also / by John Bunyan.	Bunyan, John, 1628-1688.	1663 (1663)	Wing B5541; ESTC R33259	38,056	122

so to pass on to the next thing Query 1. But what would you have us poor creatures to do that cannot tell how to pray the Lord knows I know not either how to pray or what to pray for Answer Poor heart Thou canst not thou complainest pray Canst thou see thy misery Hath God shewed thee that thou art by nature under the Curse of his Law If so do not mistake I know thou dost groan and that most bitterly I am perswaded thou canst scarcely be found doing any thing in thy calling but Prayer breaks from thy heart Rom. 8. 28. Have not thy groans gone up to Heaven from every corner of thy house I know 't is thus and so also doth thine own sorrowful heart witness thy tears thy forgetfulness of thy calling c Is not thy heart so full of desires after the things of another World that many times thou dost even forget the things of this World Prethee reade this Scripture Job 23. 12. Query 2. Yea but when I go into secret and intend to pour out my soul before God I can scarce say any thing at all Answer Ah sweet soul It is not thy words that God so much regards as that he will not mind thee except thou comest before him with some eloquent Oration His eye is on the brokenness of thine heart and that it is that makes the very bowels of the Lord run over A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Psal. 51. 17. 2. The stopping of thy words may arise from over much trouble in thy heart David was so troubled sometimes that he could not speak Psal. 77. 3 4. But this may comfort all such sorrowful hearts as thou art that though thou canst not through the anguish of thy spirit speak much yet the holy Spirit stirs up in thine heart groans and sighs so much the more vehement when the mouth is hindred yet the Spirit is not Moses as aforesaid made Heaven ring again with his Prayers when that we read of not one word come out of his mouth But. 3. If thou wouldst more fully express thy self before the Lord study First Thy filthy Estate Secondly Gods Promises Thirdly The Heart of Christ. Which thou mayest know or discern 1. By his condescention and bloodshed 2. By the mercy he hath extended to great sinners formerly and plead thine own vileness by way of bemoaning Christs blood by way of expostulation and in thy prayers let the mercy that he hath extended to other great sinners together with his rich promises of grace be much upon thy heart Yet let me counsel thee 1. Take heed that thou content not thy self with words 2. That thou do not think that God looks only at them neither But. 3. However whether thy words be few or many let thine heart go with them And then shalt thou seek him and find him when thou shalt seek him with thy whole heart Jer. 29. 13. Object 1. But though you have seemed to speak against any other way of praying but by the Spirit yet here you your self can give direction how to pray Answ. We ought to prompt one another forward to Prayer though we ought not to make for each other Forms of Prayer To exhort to pray with Christian direction is one thing and to make stinted Formes for the tying up of the Spirit of God to them is another thing The Apostle gives them no form to pray withal yet directs to Prayer Ephes. 6. 18. Rom. 15. 30 31 32. Let no man therefore conclude that because we may with allowance give instructions and directions to pray that therefore it is lawful to make for each other Forms of Prayer Object 2. But if we do not use Forms of Prayer how shall we teach our Children to pray Answ. My judgement is that men go the wrong way to learn their Children to pray in going about so soon to learn them any set company of words as is the common use of poor creatures to do For to me it seems to be a better way for people betimes to tell their Children what cursed creatures they are and how they are under the wrath of God by reason of original and actual sin also to tell them the nature of God's wrath and the duration of the misery which if they conscientiously do they would sooner learn their Children to pray than they do The way that men learn to pray it is by conviction for sin and this is the way to make our sweet babes do so too But the other way namely to be busie in learning Children forms of prayer before they know any thing else it is the next way to make them cursed hypocrites and to puff them up with pride Learn therefore your Children to know their wretched state and condition tell them of hell fire and their sins of damnation and salvation the way to escape the one and to enjoy the other if you know it your selves and this will make tears run down your sweet babes eyes and hearty groans flow from their hearts and then also you may tell them to whom they should pray and through whom they should pray you may tell them also of Gods promises and his former grace extended to sinners according to the word Ah! poor sweet babes the Lord open their eyes and make them holy Christians Saith David Come ye Children hearken unto me and I will teach you the fear of the Lord Psalm 34. 11. He doth not say I will nuzle you up in a form of Prayer but I will teach you the fear of the Lord Which is to see their sad states by nature and to be instructed in the Truth of the Gospel which doth through the Spirit beget Prayer in every one that in Truth learns it And the more you learn them this the more will their hearts run out to God in Prayer God did never account Paul a praying man until he was a convinced and converted man Acts 9. 11. no more will it be with any else Object 3. But we find that the Disciples desired that Christ would teach them to pray as John also taught his Disciples and that thereupon he taught them that form called the Lord's Prayer Answ. First To be taught by Christ is that which not only they but we desire and seeing he is not here in his person to teach us the Lord teach us by his Word and Spirit for the Spirit is it which he hath said he would send to supply in his room when he went away as it is John 14. 16. and 16. 7. Secondly As to that called a Form I cannot think that Christ intended it as a stinted Form of Prayer First Because he himself layeth it down diversly as is to be seen if you compare Matth. 6. with Luke 11. Whereas if he intended it as a set-form it must not have been so laid down for a set-form is so many words and no more Secondly VVe do not find that the Apostles did ever observe

he standeth at a poor Joshua's hand to resist him Isa. 66. 5. Zech. 3. 1. that is to perswade him that neither his person nor performances are accepted of God Take heed therefore of such false conclusions and groundless discouragements And though such perswasions do come in upon thy spirit be so far from being discouraged by them that thou use them to put thee upon further sincerity and restlesness of spirit in thy approaching to God Secondly As such sudden temptations should not stop thee from Prayer and pouring out thy soul to God so neither should thine own hearts corruption hinder thee It may be thou mayest find in thee all those things before-mentioned and that they will be endeavouring to put forth themselves in thy praying to him thy business then is to judge them to pray against them and to lay thy self so much the more at the foot of God in a sence of thy own viseness and rather make an argument from thy vileness and corruption of heart to plead with God for justifying and sanctifying grace than an argument of discouragement and dispair David went this way O Lord saith he pardon mine iniquity for it is great Psal. 25. USE II. A Word of Encouragement Secondly To speak a word by way of Encouragement to the poor tempted and cast-down soul to pray to God through Christ. Though all Prayer that is accepted of God in reference to eternal life must be in the Spirit for that onely maketh intercession for us according to the Will of God Rom. 8. 27. Yet because many poor souls may have the holy Spirit working on them and stirring of them to groan unto the Lord for mercy though through unbelief they do not nor for the present cannot believe that they are the People of God such as he delights in yet forasmuch as the truth of Grace may be in them therefore I shall to encourage them lay down further these few particulars 1. That Scripture in Luke 11. 8. is very encouraging to any poor soul that doth hunger after Christ Jesus In the 5th 6th and 7th verses he speaketh a parable of a man that went to his friend to borrow three loaves who because he was in bed denied him yet for his importunity-sake he did arise and give him clearly signifying that though poor souls through the weakness of their faith cannot see that they are the friends of God yet they should never leave asking seeking and knocking at God's door for mercy Mat. 7. 7 8. Mark saith Christ I say unto you Although he will not arise and give him because he is his friend yet because of his importunity or restless desires he will arise and give him as many as he needeth Poor heart thou cryest out that God will not regard thee thou dosnot find that thou art a friend to him but rather an enemy in thine heart by wicked works Col. 1. 21. and thou ar● as though thou didst hear the Lord saying to thee Trouble me not I cannot give unto thee as he in the parable Yet I say continue knocking crying moaning and bewailing thy self I tell thee though he will not arise and give thee because thou art his friend yet because of thy importunity he will arise and give thee as many as thou needest The same in effect you have discovered Luke 18. in the parable of the unjust Judge and the poor Widow her importunity prevailed with him And verily mine own experience tells me that there is nothing that doth more prevail with God than importunity Is it not so with you in respect of your beggars that come to your door though you have no heart to give them any thing at their first asking yet if they follow you bemoaning themselves and will take no nay without an alms you will give them for their continual begging overcometh you Are there bowels in you that are wicked and will they be wrought upon by an importuning beggar Go thou and do the like Luke 11. 11. It is a prevailing motive and that by good experience He will arise and give thee as many as thou needest 2. Another Encouragement for a poor trembling convinced soul is To consider the place throne or seat on which the great God hath placed himself to hear the petitions and prayers of poor creatures and that is a Throne of Grace Heb. 4. 16. The Mercy-Seat Exod. 25. 22. Which signifieth that in the dayes of the Gospel God hath taken up his Seat his abiding-place in mercy and forgiveness and from thence he doth intend to hear the sinner and to commune with him as he saith Exod. 25. 22. speaking before of the Mercy-Seat And there will I meet with thee Mark It is upon the Mercy-Seat There will I meet with thee and there will I commune with thee from above the Mercy-seat Poor souls they are very apt to entertain strange thoughts of God and his carriage towards them and suddenly to conclude that God will have no regard unto them when yet he is upon the Mercy-Seat and hath taken up his place on purpose there to the end he may hear and regard the prayers of poor creatures If he had said I will commune with thee from my Throne of Judgement then indeed you might have trembled and fled from the face of the great and glorious Majesty But when he saith he will hear and commune with souls upon the Throne of Grace or from the Mercy-Seat this should encourage thee and cause thee to hope nay to come boldly to the Throne of Grace that thou mayest obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need Heb. 4. 16. 3. There is yet another Encouragement to continue in Prayer with God and that is this As there is a Mercy-Seat from whence God is willing to commune with poor sinners so there is also by this Mercy-seat Jesus Christ who continually besprinkleth it with his blood Hence it is called The Blood of sprinkling Heb. 12. 14. When the High Priest under the Law was to go into the Holiest where the Mercy-seat was he might not go in without blood Heb. 9. 7. Qu. Why so Answ. Because though God was upon the Mercy-Seat yet he was perfectly just as well as merciful The Blood was to stop Justice from running out upon the persons concerned in the Intercession of the High Priest as in Levit. 16. 13 14 15 16. To signifie that all thine unworthiness that thou fearest should not hinder thee from coming to God in Christ for mercy ☞ Thou cryest out that thou art vile and therefore God will not regard thy Prayers 'T is true if thou delight in thy vileness and come to God out of a meer pretence But if from a sence of thy vileness thou dost pour out thy heart to God desiring to be saved from the guilt and cleansed from the filth with all thy heart fear not thy vileness will not cause the Lord to stop his ear from hearing of thee The value of the blood of