Where let it be remarked, our whole duty is made up but of three things; that a man live foberly, with reIts neceffity. spect to himself; righteously, with respect to his neighbour; and piously, with respect to God. Suppofing now, that a man takes care of doing his duty to himfelf and his neighbour; yet, if he makes no confcience of piety towards God; in what fenfe can this man be faid to have done his duty, or to live virtuously; truly in no fenfe. Because, as to one third part of his duty, he is a notorious offender. For, though he be not unjust, though he be not debauched; yet, wanting piety towards God, he is impious; and this will as certainly damn him, as either of the other fins. Therefore, either one of these two things must be made appear, that is to say, that there may be fuch virtue as will recommend us to God without piety; or that there may be piety without ever praying to or worshipping God: neither of which I believe was ever imagined: or, it will follow, that where there is no praying, there is no virtue, and confequently no falvation for fuch as neglect that duty. Devotion is as neceffary a means to preferve the union between the foul and God, in which our fpiritual life confifts, as meat and drink is to preferve the union between our fouls and bodies, by which our natural lifeis fupported. So we may every whit as reasonably expect to keep our bodies alive without the conftant and daily ufe of When to be eating and drinking, as we can expect to keep our ujed. fouls alive to God, without the conftant and daily exercife of prayer. But as to the proper time in which this duty ought to be more particularly performed, that must be regulated according to the leifure every one can find from the duty of his neceffary business or calling; yet this duty muft never be neglected in morning and evening, and we may all lift up our hearts to God in fome pious ejaculation every work throughout the whole day.

in

tages of

Such as make a confcience of faying their prayers freThe advan- quently and heartily, and continue foto do, though they be not good at the prefent, yet it is impoffible prayer. for them long to continue in bad habits; they will at laft certainly get the victory over all their lufts, and attain to the favour of God, and their own falvation. And the

benefits and advantages that do accrue to us from it are innumerable. It is the moft proper means to enno- Honour. ble and refine, and fpiritualife our natures in the new birth. If our daily converse with material objects are not balanced by prayer, it would make us wholly fenfual, and flesh would destroy the works of the fpirit; the conftant exercife of prayer is the best method to get the mastery of our evil inclinations, and to overcome our vicious customs: By this we preserve a lively fenfe of our duty upon our minds, and are fortified against many temptations that The benefits continually affault our fouls and bodies: By this of prayer. our fouls are raised above this world, and fpiritual objects are made familiar to us: By this our affections are fanctified, and we are supported under the calamities and croffes of this life: And by this we are led gradually to the perfection of christian piety, and preferved in a strict union between God and our fouls; in which confifts our fpiritual life. Every vice is checked and every virtue kept alive by a fixed awakened fense of the Deity, by a due regard for, and fear of him. In fine, without this we in vain pretend to discharge those duties that are incumbent upon us as chriftians, or to profper in our temporal affairs; which must have God's bleffing to crown them with advantage to us. Prayer fecures the bleffing of God, both upon our perfons and upon our labours ; upon our basket and store; upon our families; upon our employments; and upon all that we do, have, or delire: it turns all the actions of our natural or civil life, however indifferent they be, into actions of religious worship. By that every thing that we have, or comes to us, is made a bleffing from God, which without it, perhaps, might have been an affliction and cross. It is true, God will grant us what is fit ; but then it is as true, that it is not fit he should prostitute his favours upon thofe, who will not pray for them with an humble sense of their dependence, and receive them with a grateful fenfe of his goodness. Prayer is that by which every thing and every action is fanctified to believers.

This duty requires no labour; the feebleft and most dif pirited body that can but lift up an heart to heaven, and direct wishes thither, doth it as effectually as

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Its cafe.

the

the moft vigorous. This duty doth not go against the grain of any natural inclination; nor put the body to any pain or inconveniency. This duty puts us to no charge or expence in the world, fave that of our thoughts, which are hereby fixed on things in heaven. This duty in no wife confumes our time, for we may attend this work, when we are doing the business of our calling. So that there is no objection against it; it is one of the most eafy, natural, and inoffensive duties that God injoins his creatures.

Befides, it is the most pleasant and delightful exercife of all

Pleafant

the pleasures of the foul. We may talk of pleasures

ness. and enjoyments; but no man ever truly found them, till he became acquainted with God, and was made fenfible of his love, and partaker of his fpiritual favours, and lived in an intire friendship and communion with him; which is chiefly, if not only, both expreffed and maintained by prayer and other exercises of a devout and spiritual life. There can be therefore no better reafon affigned for the neglect of this duty, than either a lustful heart, which confines its defires and hopes within the narrow bounds of carnal pleasures, and the dross of a perishable world; or a want of practifing it, or ufing thereof; for there are many things which feem uneafy at the first trial, which upon custom become delightful.

The reafons of its jeem

ing otherwife.

The requi

fites of prayer.

SUNDAY VII. PART II.

great

;

IV. Let our prayers be ever fo frequent and fervent, they muftberightly qualified: and these requifites or conditions of prayer are either fuch as concern the matter of our prayers, or the things we are to pray for or fuch as concern the manner of our prayers, or the qualifications with which they are to be attended. And, First, the things, which weafk, muft be fuch as are lawful and agreeable to the will of God. Now, whatfoever is not juft is not agreeable to the will of God, lawful. and confequently ought not to be prayed for; as for example, to pray for revenge upon our enemies, to defire God to profper us in our wicked courfes, and the like, is not lawful. Again, things may be very juft in themselves, but

To ask no

thing un

yet

173 yet it will be very unjuft in us to ask them; namely, when we afk good things, but to evil purposes, then we afk and receive not, because we afk amifs: and why fo? we afk, that we may consume them upon our lufts. Again the matter of our prayers may be lawful in itself, and we may afk with honeft and innocent defigns, and yet the things we afk may not be according to God's will; because God perhaps fees they are not convenient for us, or he fees that fome other things will better fuit our circumstances of body or foul: This is the cafe of all thofe worldly bleffings, commonly fo called. Secondly, we must afk in faith. This is a condition ordered byour Saviour to his apoftles; All things (faith he) To ask in whatsoever ye fhall afk in prayer, believing, ye faith. shall receive; which implies no more than the praying with a hearty belief both that God is able to grant the requests I put up to him, and that, for the fake of Jefus Chrift, he will do it, fuppofing that it will be for his glory and my good and alfo fuppofing that I perform all the conditions that are required on my part towards the obtaining thereof: fo that to pray in faith is to pray to God with a full purpose of heart (let what will come) to believe and to live like a chriftian, not to ufe any indirect means, or to depart from the fincerity of my chriftian profeffion, for the gaining even of the whole world. Thefe conditions must be accompanied with conftancy and perfeverance.

Thirdly, our prayers fhould be always offered up in an humble acknowledgment ofourown unworthiness. With bumiFor the proud, and those that are full of them- lity. felves, are the most unfit for prayer, and the most offenfive to God. When they make addreffes to him in any manner, he resisteth them, he beholdeth them afar off, as the fcrip. ture expreffeth it, with an eye of fcorn: but he giveth grace to the humble; nor will he defpife the broken and the contrite heart. We may put up our requests for any lawful thing, but then it must conftantly be with this condition, if God fees it fit for us, and it be agreeable to the will of his divine majefty. Though we may peremptorily afk all fpiritual bleffings in particular, and be affured, if the other requifites of our prayer do concur, we shall obtain them: And, at all times,

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times, our great care fhould be to endeavour to difpoffefs all With atten- wandering thoughts at the time of devotion; for tion. this is drawing near to God with our lips, when our hearts are far from him; and they that thus flight and defpife the dreadful majefty of God they come before, will more likely bring a curfe than a bleffing upon themselves. But if this cannot be perfectly done, let not a few interruptions damp a truly devout prayer; for, confidering the frame and conftitution of our natures, and the clofe connection between foul and body, when we are at our prayers, our thoughts may be diverted, and our intentions interrupted by the impreffions of study or business of this world. This I thought neceffary to obferve, because fome weak men of a fanguine complexion are apt to be elated upon the account of those fhort-lived raptures and tranfient gleams of joy, which they feel within themselves; and others of a phlegmatick conftitution to defpond, because they cannot work themselves to fuch a degree of fervour. Whereas nothing is more precarious and uncertain than that affection, which depends upon the ferment of the blood; it naturally ceafes, as soon as the fpirits flag, and are exhaufted. Men of this make fometimes draw near to God with great fervency; and at other times are quite eftranged from him. A fteady, regular, confiftent piety is more acceptable to that Being, with whom there is no variablenefs, neither fhadow of change; than all the paflionate fallies, and fhort intermitting fits, of an unequal. devotion. Therefore, all we can do is to watch and ftrive Watchful against thefe diftractions, to bewail this weakness, nefs. and to compofe our thoughts to all that seriousness our temper and circumftances will permit; to recall our minds as foon as we perceive they run out upon other objects, and immediately to throw away all fuch thoughts as are foreign to our devotions, and to beg God's pardon and affiftDiftracti- ance; remembering always, that what makes thefe ons, when diftractions criminal is when we willingly entertain them and indulge ourfelves in thinking upon other objects without reftraint; when we keep our unreafonable paffions under no government, and take no care to com

criminal.

pofo