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try-is not our consecration to the sanctuary, a state entirely consecrated to prayer? We are the mediators between God and men-the public intercessors, either to turn away his wrath, which their sins perpetually provoke, or to suspend the scourge, and avert the calamities, which those sins prepare. They call for our ministry and our intercessions; they suppose us to have an interest with God, and access to him; but what interest, what access can we have, if the use of prayer have never united us to him? How shall we intercede for them, if we have not been accustomed to intercede for ourselves? How shall we be mediators between God and our flocks, if God knows us not; if the neglect of prayer has disqualified us from representing to him, the wants of his creatures— prayer, which possesses the power of softening his wrath, and, of moving him to compassion, at the very moment when his punishments are hanging over the souls entrusted to us?

Although, in the general course of Providence, and in the ordinary distribution of his grace, God attaches the salvation of the flock to unremitted vigilance in the Pastor: the blessing awaiting his labours, is dependant on his prayers. They are the means to be employed, to obtain for men those holy dispositions, which render the ordinances of the Gospel efficacious: not one of the functions which we exercise, ought to be performed without previous prayer, and a secret address to the Author and Source of all the gifts and graces,

which the Minister distributes in his name. Does he administer the Sacrament of Baptism, at the font? He should supplicate the Almighty, that. that child, being born again and made regenerate, should die unto sin, and live unto righteousness? Does he attend his flock to the Lord's Table, and distribute the sacred elements, representing the body and blood of their Redeemer; how ought his prayers to go up before God, that not one, by an unworthy receiving, may forfeit the efficacy of that heavenly Ordinance? Is he called to visit the sick, or attend the dying? Upon such affecting occasions, let him pour out his soul in the most fervent supplications, that he may disarm the severity of his awful Judge, in whose presence that soul may soon appear, and may prevail with the God of all mercy, to receive him into his heavenly habitations. Go through the several' functions of the ministry, and see what good can be expected to result from them in the hands of a Minister, who does not accompany them with a spirit of prayer.

Having shewn the necessity, I now proceed to the advantages, arising from the practice of it.

Our calling subjects us to the danger of living habitually, in the transgression of many duties, we may consider as not essential, and of neglecting to have recourse to prayer-the only support which Religion offers-to awaken us from that stupefaction. Thus we become liable, either to profane

holy things, or to use them in a way displeasing to God, who, by consequence, alienates from us his grace, and increases our weakness: for the conscientious observance of our several obligations, either strengthens our faith and piety, or aggravates our corruption and wretchedness.

In the second place, the pastoral duties, when we would discharge them with fidelity, are sometimes attended with trouble and vexation. Would we fulfil them with edification to our flock, and satisfaction to our Judge, our time must not be at our own disposal; the engagement into which we have entered, is sacred; it leaves us no longer our own, but dedicated to the service of our res. pective parishes. We labour, indeed, not infrequently for men insensible of our kindness: we, sometimes, excite the aversion, and provoke the hatred, of the very persons, for whose salvation, we are so solicitous. We then grow weary, seeing neither the end, nor the advantage, of our vocation; we no longer exert ourselves with the same zeal; self-love, not being encouraged by success, secretly insinuates, that fatiguing and useless cares never can be duties. Now, how can zeal withstand this suggestion, if we do not derive new powers from the frequent exercise of prayer; prayer; if we have not the consolation of committing our cares and sorrows, to the great Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, whose place we fill, and whose representatives we are? In his presence we shall be overwhelmed with shame, at reckoning upon light

afflictions in the discharge of our duty; at comparing ourselves with those who yielded up their lives for his doctrine: in his presence we shall blush to be tempted to lay down our arms, before we have begun the combat; to be deterred and discouraged, in our perseverance in the holy warfare, by such easy exertions, whilst those righteous Ministers set at nought tribulations, hunger, thirst, persecutions, and all the fury of tyrants, which were designed to "separate them from the love of "Christ:" from his presence, we shall depart, with a greater delight in our ministerial calling, with an additional zeal for the salvation of our flocks. No! my Brethren, let us not deceive ourselves: without prayer, we feel all the disgust and chagrin attendant upon our sacred vocation; we bear a yoke which overpowers us: with prayer every thing is made easy; the yoke is no longer grievous; our labours increase, but the troubles accompanying them vanish. You, sometimes, complain of the weight, with which the difficulty of your situation oppresses you, and of your feebleness to sustain it: address yourself often to him, who changes our weakness into strength; continue instant in prayer; these difficulties will disappear; these mountains will be made plain; you will feel yourself a new man; and you will no longer complain of having too much to do, and too much to suffer, for "the furtherance of the Gospel."

But if prayer, alone, can remove the troubles attached to our calling, it, alone, can likewise prevent the dangers to which we are exposed. It is but too true that the inward man, when we neglect the duty and the exercise of private prayer, insensibly becomes weak and feeble, even whilst we are engaged in our professional avocations. In directing our thoughts, and devoting our time, to the salvation of other men, we lose that secret and hidden life of faith, which is the vigour and the energy of piety. In expressing our solicitude for others, and never for ourselves, the powers of the soul wear out, and we "no longer delight ourselves in the Lord." In the eyes of men, we are holy and pious, but not so in the sight of God. The Almighty, whose support we

* "A Christian Temper consists of various Parts: but the first Impression, which a genuine Faith in the Gospel makes on the Soul, and the ruling Principle, which it fixes there, is a deep Sense of Love to God and our Fellow-creatures, producing an earnest Desire that we and they may be for ever happy in his presence. Whoever, therefore, is destitute of this Feeling, ought not, though free from gross vice, to become a Clergyman; and without obtaining it from the Giver of all good Things by fervent prayer, no man is qualified to fill the place of one. For, notwithstanding that he may preserve some Form of Godliness, without which he would be mischievous and shocking in the highest degree, yet, not having the reality and power thereof, he must profess, and seemingly attempt, to make others what he is far from being himself. Consequently his endeavours out of the pulpit will be infrequent, reluctant, faint: and in it they will at best be unnatural and ungraceful, whatever pains he may take in his compositions, or whatever vehemence he may affect in his delivery.

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