Selected quad for the lemma: woman_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
woman_n	child_n	conceive_v	womb_n	1,568	5	9.6606	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A85887	A treatise of prayer and of divine providence as relating to it. With an application of the general doctrine thereof unto the present time, and state of things in the land, so far as prayer is concerned in them. Written for the instruction, admonition, and comfort of those that give themselves unto prayer, and stand in need of it in the said respects. By Edvvard Gee, minister of the gospel at Eccleston in Lancashire.	Gee, Edward, 1613-1660.	1653 (1653)	Wing G451; Thomason E1430_1; ESTC R209520	284,427	526

of perseverance i Acts 1.14.2.42.6.4.12.5 Rom. 22.12 Eph. 6.18 Col. 4.2 so often by the Holy Ghost annexed to prayer Interpreters observe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 haec duo involuit vehementem quandam animi intentionem quasi pugnum dum versatur in actu orandi assiduam frequentationem orationis Epis Davenant in Colos 4.2 Vide Cr. Sacra in voc 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie to persevere with strength or force or to hold on with importunity Some apprehend in these terms a Metaphor taken from hunting-dogs that pursue the game with a full cry and with all the might in them and give not over till they have gotten it and though they be sometimes at a loss yet they retrive or cast about till they get again the sight or scent of their prey and so prosecute it unto seizure l Mr Leigh his Crit. Sacr. and Mr Trap on Cant. 5.6 1. There must be a continuance in respect of time and frequency of acts The Lord foretelling the recovery of his people from their Babylonian ruines and captivity or that deliverance of the same people yet to come from the Roman desolations and dispersions he saith They shall come with weeping Jer. 31.19 and with supplication will I lead them And again in another place The children of Israel shall come they and the children of Judah together going and weeping Jer. 50.4 they shall go and seek the Lord their God In both these places the peoples advance and progress towards their Country and former state is to be accompanyed and carryed on with a constant tract or course of prayer they must travel to home in a posture and march of prayer that they may arrive there they must be always advancing in it as well as in their way and in this course of prayer the Lord doth lead or train them on by slow and successive paces with supplications will I lead them Here methinks God is resembled unto a Father that hires his young child to go with some alluring reward in his hand so as whilest the child comes on towards him he goes backward still until he hath drawn his little one on as far as he thinks fit and then he delivers him the reward Thus the Lord by delays tilleth on his people to trace out their full course of prayer ere he give them a return and whilest they are thus prosecuting the mercies they desire going and weeping they go and seek the Lord that is all along as they go they weep and pray their journey and their prayers are pursued with equal steps their acts of weeping and praying they reiterate as often as they do their paces or the stages of their journey Again Prayer is compared to a Husbandmans sowing Psa 126.5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy He that will sow that he may have a harvest and an answerable crop he must not think that to go into the field and there cast down his seed all at once on a heap will serve for a seeding but he must be content as it is in the next words to bear his precious seed or as the words are interpreted to bear draw-seed * See Divines Annot in loc Edit 1. that is seed drawn forth out of the basket by handfuls he must carry his seed over all the field and every land or butt step by step scattering it orderly and by little and little as he goeth Suitably thereto must prayers be sown as it were with a diligent hand and a successive pouring forth in number and weight unto a due proportion Again Prayer is likened unto a womans going with child as in that of the Revelation Rev. 12.1 There appeared a woman clothed with the Sun c. and she being with child cryed travelling in birth and pained to be delivered This is understood of the Churches laboring in prayer to obtain of God a Christian Emperor which might cease their persecutions and establish the Christian Religion Now in Nature a woman that brings forth a child doth not only conceive it but ripen it certain moneths in her womb and when she hath gone her full time she must undergo sharp labour and bitter birth-pains ere she embrace her child In like manner that our prayers may bring forth the man-child begged there must be not only a first conception but a dayly forming and an increasing of them and a prosecuting them to the full time and a sustaining the burden and sorrows of their maturation and bringing forth Again The prayers of the Saints are represented by golden viols full of odours Rev. 5.8 They must not only be for their quality odours or incense that is pure fragrant and delightsom unto God but for the quantity they must be viols full as we read elsewhere of a bottle for the tears of Gods servants so here we have viols for their prayers and they must be content to stay for the return of their prayers and to renew them until they have filled up these viols with them when these are full then the Lamb openeth the seven seals then doth God manifest himself in his Providences answerable to them Mr Trap on Gen. 25.21 I will but add this Prayer is resembled to those arrows which Elisha lying sick on his death-bed ordered King Joash to take and with them to smite upon the ground As the blows given with them so the use of prayer must be often reiterated that the mercy may be throughly obtained we must repeat and renew it and that often enough if we do it not to the full count we may impe our selves in the benefit sought of God 2. In prayer we must 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is we must not only continue our prayers and multiply them in number but reinforce them we must renew and intend our instancy and vigor in them For this purpose prayer is called an agony strife or combate The Apostle Paul desires the Romans to strive together with him in their prayers to God for him Ro. 15.30 Now they that undertook those exercises in the Grecian games to which the phrase alludeth it did not suffice them to hold out the time and keep up the action but they were to put to their utmost strength and follow it with might and main that they might overcome and get the Crown So the Lord would have us to do in prayer This is the meaning of that Parable of one friends coming to another at midnight to borrow of him three leaves Luk. 11.5 c. which motion the friend requested at first excusing himself from as having his doors shut and being in bed with his children and indisposed then to rise but being further pressed with importunity he cannot but grant it The reddition hereof is the near relation and dear affection which a servant of God standeth in with

Prayers and that really totally finally and in highest disfavor to them but it cannot be said that he hides himself from any prayer of theirs grounded upon his promises for the truth is their prayers are never so grounded The matter of their prayers may be indeed the matter of the promises but the quality of their prayers is never correspondent to the conditions of the Promises The Promises of grace are offered propounded and conditionally made to all the externally called all that pass under the pastoral Rod of the Ordinances of Christ * The Covenant is actually made with Believers only but it is offered to all Mr Leigh Treat of Promises B. 1. chap. 5. Romans 9.3 Acts 2.39 Romans 3.2 Therefore it is said To them appertain or theirs are the Covenants and the Promises The Promise is to them and to their children that is to them they are commited as another place hath it they are delivered to them to make use of and improve to themselves but for want of faith they do not receive them to any benefit no nor to any sound property for lack of faith in them the promises to them are as Christ was to the Jews Joh. 1.11 He came to his own and his own received him not And as in particular to them of Nazareth Mark 6.5 He could there do no mighty works because of their unbelief So the promises to them are suspended in their efficacy they are no ground to them Faith is that which uniteth cementeth and incorporateth the person to the promises as the structure is coupled to the foundation and so they become profitable Heb. 4.2 The Scripture saith The Word of the Gospel preached did not profit them being not mixed or incorporated by faith in them that heard The faithless hypocrite doth not agglatinate immix or immerse his heart by faith in or to the promises only they that are sincerely internally and in the truth and life of grace the people of God do so close with them 2 Cor. 7.1 Hence it is said of them that they have the promises that is as usufructuaries in actual tenure and fruition Rom. 9.8 Heb. 6.17 11.9 13 Eph. 3.6 2.20 They are the children of the Promise they are the heirs of Promise they see are perswaded of and embrace the Promises they are partakers of the Promise in Christ they are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets which is the promises 2. For the inwardly called the grace-obtaining and effectually renewed people of God God may hide himself from some prayers of theirs in some sort but then observe either it is not wholly really and perpetually but for a time only or in shew and appearance only or in respect of some one way of appearance only or else it is from such of their prayers as are not regularly grounded on the promises it is when there is some disproportion betwixt their prayers and the divine promises Such prayers may come from them and it ought to be remembered that it is not enough to the certain success of their prayers that they be agreeable in some or in many points to the promises but there is to be a suitableness in all particulars though not in full degree yet in truth and substance and from their prayers that are so compleatly grounded I dare be bold to say God doth never hide himself or leave them really finally and every way answerless They may suffer some intermission in their issue or interposition in the evidence of their hearing they may receive the answer which they did not eye or directly expect but an utter desertion they do not fall under For this look into that one firm and gracious promise of God purposely fitted to his people in such a case as this is Zech. 10 6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah and I will save the house of Joseph and I will bring them again to place them for I have mercy upon them and they shal be as though I had not cast them off for I am the Lord their God and will hear them When ever then the people of God pray and cannot discern Gods appearing to their prayers let them not peremptorily conclude against themselves until they have first narrowly considered the congruity or disagreement of their prayers with the promises and if in that there be no substantial defect they may resolve the hiding of God which they apprehend from their prayers to be but either imaginary not real or dilatory not simply negative That which the Apostle answereth unto that Query concerning Gods rejection of his people in respect of grace in general I say then hath God cast away his people God forbid God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for but the Election hath obtained it That may I answer unto this Query concerning Gods rejection of his people from this grace in particular of audience in prayer God hath not doth not cast away his people which he foreknew nor their prayers Israel the Titular people of God hath not obtained that which they seek for by prayer but the Election the chosen people of God the internally called and spiritually adopted people of God do certainly obtain their prayers What though they for lack of a discerning eye think they are not heard this must not carry the conclusion nor ought to be the rule of their judgment The Lord himself doth very strongly and sweetly confute and take away this inference in that affectionate delivery of himself to his people in the Prophet Isaiah But Zion said Isai 49 14 15 16 the Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me Can a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget yet will not I forget thee Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands thy walls are continually before me The Lord did not say that he had forsaken Zion but Zion said so the Lord did not so but Zion spake so Zion said the Lord hath forsaken me but the Lord denyeth it yea averreth the contrary and attesteth it to wit his mindfulness of and faithfulness to her by the most pregnant instances affirming his remembrance of her to be more tender and tenacious then is that of a mother to her child her sucking child her son not her foster-son but the son of her womb if possibly she may forget yet God doth not will not forget and the reason of this more dear and durable regard in him then in her is a woman may forget because her child may sometimes be out of her hands out of her sight but Zion is not so to him he hath her graven upon the palms of his hands and her walls the whole dimension and circuit of her state is continually before him Though she be sometime removed far from her own wals and gates present

see how it should stand with his holiness so to do He saith I have long time holden my peace I have been still Isai 42.14 and refrained my self now will I cry like a travelling woman c. The Lord there compareth himself enduring the dayly increasing provocations of his enemies unto a woman that goes for divers moneths with child while it biggens in her womb and is her dayly load 6. As God makes us to wait upon him so he himself waits upon us Therefore will the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you Isai 30.18 Besides the infinite disparity which there is between the persons waiting him and us Gods waiting is for far longer time and with more sufferance then is ours He waits for us long before we come in to seek him and he waits after we seek him for our fitting to be answered He in waiting on us not only bears our delay but many indignities and offences which we offer him all along deserving his refusal to wait on us any longer and that he should not only defer us but flatly and finally deny us all our requests 7. The issue and answer of our prayers is coming on and approaching towards us though we discern not its coming Our prayers are ne'r the further off for our not discerning their progress or nearness to effect A Ship is sailing on toward its Harbor in the darkest night or blackest weather when the Mariners cannot tell whether they be going backward or forward The seed in the Winter lying under ground is taking root in order to a Spring and Harvest though it appear not above ground but seem dead and lost So it is with our prayers 8. Most Christians as it is to be doubted bear delays of their prayers in greater matters then those or the most of those things which the case in hand respecteth and do content themselves indifferent well to wait under those delays Consider your inward estate Do not you dayly pray against divers special corruptions and temptations within and for many precious graces with consummation in glory and do not those suits yet in a great measure depend still in the Court of Heaven and you satisfie your selves in an expectation and hope of them referred to Gods own time There is no reason why we should be more impatient about Externals whether private or publique or about Ecclesiasticals or Spirituals that are not essential or constituent no not so much as integral but only subservient unto the estate of grace then we are about the Substantials of our Souls If we were more intent upon and touched with the deferring of these we would endure the necessary delay of those more composedly 9. Consider lastly If we be unfit for the receiving and enjoying of those publique benefits we are put to wait for it is better for us as yet to want then to have them We think the necessity and worth of the things prayed for is so great that there is no place for any stay every hours delay is our undoing or great detriment but see whether we be ready or no for the mercies sought and waited for If the things be of high worth and weight the more pity it is they should and the more care will God take that they may not miscarry and miscarry they will in our hand if they come before we be prepared for them Whether we be fit for the return of those prayers that now stick in the birth our selves may easily judg If we had Religion a Church and State setled in regard of Rule Platform or Order enacted and agreed to by the undoubted square of the Word of God with all ease and security from Arms and War what could we do with such a fabrick are there hands and heads and hearts among us capable to bear and carry it on Can we furnish out a sufficient number of persons prudently faithfully and unitedly to manage the same Of our suitableness for such a condition we have given some taste if not a large testimony in the attempts and transactions hitherto and I do not see that generally men are now grown wiser holyer or honester by all the even●s and experiences that have been Jehosaphat the King was one that prepared his heart to seek God and was a diligent Reformer of the Church and Commonwealth and there was power and peace enough in his and the peoples hands to accomplish a Reformation and Laws they had infallibly good and sufficient Where was the defect then Why as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers 2 Chro. 20.33 This was it and therefore notwithstanding all the aforesaid advantages the high places were not taken away We now look at impediments among or about us as not having all those furtherances which Judah then had of Reformation but I dare say the great bar is our own incapacity He that maketh a way in the Sea and a path in the mighty waters Isai 43.16 17 that maketh the Chariot and Horse the Army and the Power to lie down together so that they are extinct they are quenched as tow can and would make his way through all obstacles were we in a receptiveness or readiness for his mercies But thus much of the fourth Duty there is yet one more 5. The people of God must learn and labour to bring their minds in things not absolutely necessary for them to those terms and conditions wherewith the promises of those things are compounded and qualified They must take heed of being too positive illimited or peremptory in standing upon the having and enjoying of such things Who knows how far particulars of such a nature may now be good for the Church of God or consistible with other greater benefits and ends The Apostle doth fitly conjoyn with the precept for prayer in every thing his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 4.6 Verse 5. or a rule for the exercise of moderation or modesty for in most things it is very necessary and suitable that moderation should hold the reins of our aff●ctions and drifts in prayer as well as zeal should carry them on It appears the Apostle Paul had a very earnest desire to see the Roman Church and it was for a very holy end viz. the establishment and edification thereof but yet where he mentions his prayers in reference to it as he doth twice in his Epistle to them he in both places taketh in the Will or good pleasure of God as the modification of his prayers Rom. 1.10 15.32 The form in which he prayeth is worth observing Making request if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the Will of God to come unto you See how many iffs he puts in If by any means if now at length or if at any time at length a Beza or if at one time or other b Elvathan par if prosperously if God will This last saith