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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
word_n	heaven_n	lord_n	praise_v	2,707	5	9.4093	5	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53961	A practical discourse upon prayer by Edward Pelling ...	Pelling, Edward, d. 1718.	1693 (1693)	Wing P1088; ESTC R9437	29,107	80

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

IMPRIM●●●● 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