Treasury of warm and tender Devotion that ever was conceived, and most of them by the devouteft, mere Man, that ever lived ; I mean, the royal Prophet, holy David. He took occafion

from almost every Circumftance of his Life to ftrike out fudden Flashes of Devotion, which kept his Heart continually warm. When he was in Distress, we find him comforting himself after this manner; Why art thou caft down, O my Soul, put thy Trust in God. Upon the Receipt of an unexpected Mercy he would fay, Blefs the Lord, O my Soul, and forget not all his Benefits. When he was in Heaviness, he would think upon God; when his Heart was vexed, he would complain, in fome fuch fhort Addrefs as this; The Sorrows of my Heart, O God, are inlarged, O bring thou me out of my Troubles. As foon as he was freed from his Trouble, he would cry out, Turn again then unto thy reft, for the Lord bath fustained thee. Every thing that prefented itself to his View raised his Affections, and discovered the Breathings of his Soul towards God and Goodnefs: The Ground bringing forth its Fruit in due Season put him upon praising the Wisdom and Goodness of God; O Lord how manifold are thy Works, in Wisdom haft thou made them all, the Earth is full of thy Riches, fo is the great and wide Sea alfo. The Heavens, the Structure of his own Body, the Difpenfations of Providence; every Obfervation that occured to his Mind, upon God, upon Nature, upon his own Condition, made him break forth into pathetick Starts of Devotion: His habitual Piety generated thefe rapturous Exclamations, and the habitual Exer

cife

1

cife of them made his Piety ftill more ardent, and blaze out the more ftrongly. Let us imi tate this good Man with Sincerity, and we shall daily grow more and more like him.-Neither are there wanting Inftances of this Sort of Prayer in the New Teftament: The Publican, in a deep Senfe of his Guilt and Unworthinefs, fmote upon his Breast and said, God be merciful to me a Sinner: In the like compendious Manner, St. Stephen, under the Hands of his Murderers, prays, Lord Jefus receive my Spirit, lay not this Sin to their charge: Likewise our Saviour in his Agony, and, upon the Crofs, expreffed himself in Petitions short and ejaculatory, making confiderable Stops and Intermiffions between them; Father, if thou be willing, remove this Cup from me, &c. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do; my God, my God, why haft thou forfaken me, &c. Such Inftances, as thefe, fhould inflame our Hearts, and make us ready, as Occafions offer, to fhoot forth our Addreffes to Heaven. Such fhort and fervent Ejaculations must needs be very prevalent with God, and have a strong Influence upon the Mind; it is not the Length of the Prayer, but the Temper of the Soul which God chiefly regards: The fhort Ejaculation of the Publican was more acceptable than the long Prayer of the Pharifee: Such fudden Ejaculations must needs be full of Ardor and Fervency, being darted from the Heart with great Quicknefs and Vehemence. I fpeak what every pious Breaft has felt, and earneftly recommend this Practice to every one who fincerely defires to

grow

grow in Piety and Goodness. But it is not neceffary, that, in these ejaculatory Addreffes, we fhould ufe Words. Prayer, as I have obferved, confifts in lifting up our Souls to God: The Conceptions of our Mind may be too sudden, and too big for Utterance; but the Mind at the fame Time may be addressed, or directed, to God in the fame manner as when our Thoughts are clothed with Language. This kind of Prayer, for the Excellency of it, exceeds the Power of Words, and is beyond all Expreffion. And this kind of Prayer it is in our Power to make use of in all Places, and at all Times; wherever we are we may sometimes think upon God, and his Providence; in whatever manner we are employed, or engaged; in Business, in Recreations, upon the Road, or in our private Walks, we may now and then put up an ejaculatory Prayer to God; when we cannot lift up our Hands, we may lift up our Hearts to Heaven; and by thus intermingling our Prayers with our worldly Concerns, we may not only exercise and increase our Piety, but bring down a Bleffing upon our honeft Industry, and preferve our Innocence in the midst of Bufinefs, or Amusements: By this means we may almoft, in a literal Senfe, pray without ceafing; and, by thus often looking up to Heaven, make our whole Life, as it were, one continued Act of Devotion. To qualify ourfelves for this holy Exercife, and by this Exercife for Heaven, we fhould be daily converfant with the Bible, especially the Pfalms: This will not only beget in us a pious Difpofition, which

7

will

will gradually improve into a Habit, but furnish us with proper Sentiments and Expreffions, for fuch Ejaculations as I have been recommending.

And thus having confidered the fcriptural Acceptation of the Word Prayer, or praying; the Nature of Prayer, or wherein it confifts; the proper Object of our Prayers; our Obligations, both from Reafon and Revelation, to pray; the advantageous Effects of Prayer upon our Minds; the diftinct Advantages peculiar to private and publick Prayer; the Place where God may most acceptably be worshipped; the Times, or Frequency of Prayer; there is but one Head left, and that is, to confider the right Manner of performing the Duty.

CHA P. X.

The right Manner of performing the Duty of Prayer.

T

HE Success of every Thing depends upon

the right Manner of performing it; and if it be not performed in fuch a Manner as to answer its proper Ends, an Action, tending in its natural Confequences, to produce the most beneficial Effects, may be attended with the most pernicious ones: This is the Cafe in all the common Affairs of Life: We may not only be fruftrated in our Purposes, but do ourselves great Mischief by an Application of unfit Measures, or a wrong Application of right ones: If we ftand in need of the Affiftance of others we may use

fuch

upon

fuch unfit Meafures for the obtaining their Friendship, as may procure their Enmity. If we addrefs ourfelves to them under the Notion of paying them Refpect, we may do it in fuch an unmannerly Way as implies Difrefpect, rather than Efleem; and, inftead of paying Them a Compliment, it may carry an Affront, and for Favour procure the highest Marks of Displeasure. And the more excellent the Perfon to whom we make our Addreffes, the more exalted his Station and Character, the greater our Dependance him for Succefs and Happiness, the greater Care is required in our Deportment to him, because if we misbehave ourselves the Affront rifes in proportion to thofe Circumftances. God Almighty, the most excellent in Perfections, to whom we owe ourselves, all our Enjoyments in this Life, and all our Expectations in a better this great, this awful and tremendous Being, the High and Holy One that inhabiteth Eternity, this is the Object of our Prayers. What great Reason, therefore, have we to use our utmost Caution, in all our Addreffes, what we fay to him, how we express ourselves, and how we behave whenever we approach his Prefence. I know no Writer that has expreffed himself more fignificantly and handfomely on this Head, than

;

the celebrated Dr. Watts in his Treatife of Prayer. What I have to offer, will fall under the following Heads:

1. The Prayers themselves.

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