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ENQUIRY

CONCERNING

PRAYER.

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HIS Enquiry is four-fold; first, what prayer is; fecondly, who is the proper object of prayer; thirdly, what are the ends of prayer; and, fourthly, what prayer will be accepted and answered.

First, What prayer is? Prayer, when directed to God, may be confidered in a larger, or in a more reftrained fenfe. When confidered in a larger fenfe, it fignifies the addrefs or application of a dependent being, to his fupreme governour, and original benefactor. And fo it comprehends, or contains all thofe particular acts, which, when distinguished one from another, we call confeffion, petition, thanksgiving, and the like. But, when it is confidered in a more reftrained fenfe, then we confine it to petition only. And in this fenfe, it may refpect the petitioner, or others. If it refpects the petitioner, then it is a petitioning to be deliver'd from fome evil that we feel, or to escape some evil that we fear; or a petitioning for a fupply of thofe good things we want, or for the continuance of thofe we already enjoy. If it refpects others, this may be confider'd in two refpects, viz. imprecation, and interceffion. By imprecation, we mean petitioning for fome evil to be inflicted upon them, or continued to them: and, by interceffion, we mean a petitioning for fome good to be conferr'd upon them, or continued to them, or for the removing, or preventing of fome evil, which they are under, or in danger of falling into. In the prefent enquiry, I fhall confider prayer in a restrained fenfe, as it is confined to petition, and likewife as it refpects the petitioner only. And accordingly, I fay, that prayer is the act of the mind, carried out in defire after fome good not enjoy'd. I fay, prayer is the act of the mind; in which I exclude the act of the tongue, as effential to prayer. And the reason

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of this is evident, because we can put up our defires to God without the use of vocal words to exprefs thofe defires by; and confequently the ufe of the tongue is not effential to prayer. Indeed, when our defires are to be express'd, in order for others to join their defires with them, as in publick prayer, then the use of the tongue is neceffary to that end, but this does not make it neceffary and effential to prayer, confider'd fimply in itself. Again, I say, prayer is the act of the mind, carried out in defire after fome good. By which I mean, that the thing prayed for is always good in itself, at least it is fo in the judgment of the petitioner, or else it is good confider'd as a means, either to continue fome prefent, or procure fome future good, or to remove fome prefent, or avert fome future evil. I fay, the thing prayed for, is always good under one or other of these confiderations; because it is impoffible for a man to defire for himself evil, as fuch; and therefore when men defire death, which is an evil of all evils that mankind generally flee from, they do not defire it as evil, but as good, that is, as a means either to obtain fome good which they expect beyond it, or elfe to remove them from fome great evil. which they esteem worse than death. Again, I fay, that prayer is the act of the mind, carried out in defire after fome good [not enjoyed.] As the thing prayed for is always good under one or other of the foremention'd confiderations, fo it it is always future or at a distance. And the reafon of this is manifest, because defire always fuppofes the absence of the thing defired; and therefore it must be either future and at a distance, or else it cannot be defired by us. Indeed, we may defire, and confequently pray for the continuance of what we already enjoy; but this is not praying for what we have, but for what we have not, viz. for the continuance of what we have, which continuance as yet we have not. Again, I fay, prayer is the act of the mind [carried out. By which I mean, that it is carried out in defire or petition to God, that he will vouchfafe to give us the thing which we defire to have. For as prayer is an act of defire, fo we must not only defire to have what we want, but also we must defire or petition God to give us that thing, or elfe it is not prayer. Defire, in this case, has a two-fold act; first, we defire the having or enjoying of a thing; and, fecondly, we defire or petition God to give us that enjoyment. Now it is the latter of thefe only, which is prayer. If a man is fick of fome disease, and he defires to have health, in this cafe, the bare defiring to have health is not prayer; but when to our defire of having a thing, we add a defire, and direct that defire, as a petition or addrefs to God, that he will vouchsafe to give us health, or the thing defired, this is prayer. Laftly, I fay, prayer is the act of the mind carried out in [defire.] In which I exclude all other acts of the mind, from being prayer; and therefore I fay, that love, hatred, hope, fear, joy, forrow, anger, and the like, tho these are acts of the mind, yet they are not prayer; and tho these may be exercis'd in, or be the occafion of, or be the attendants of prayer, yet they are not prayer itself. And as to thofe other acts of the mind, which are fo united to defire, that it cannot be brought forth into act without them, fuch as thought and reflection, yet even these are not prayer; for tho we cannot de

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fire any thing without thinking upon what we defire, and tho we think and reflect upon a thing never fo much, yet if that thought and reflection does not produce an actual defire, and the putting forth of that defire by petition to God, this is not prayer. So that whatever goes beyond, or falls fhort of the going out of defire to God, is not prayer. Defire, may be weaker or stronger, and the putting forth of that defire, in petition to God, may be more or less earnest, or fervent, or whatever term we exprefs it by, and every degree of defire, whether greater or lefs, put forth as aforefaid, is prayer; because it is that wherein the very effence of prayer confifts, viz. the act of the mind going forth in defire to God; but whatever is lefs or more than this, is not prayer. Thus, when a man would pray to God, it is not enough for him to use praying words, that is, words which are expreffive of defire, neither is it enough for him to employ his mind in thinking upon, and producing of words which are fuitable and proper for the expreffing of fuch defire; for whether we instantly think upon words, or whether we ufe words already prepared to our hands, either by ourselves or others, it makes no alteration in the cafe, any other ways than as either of them is a help or a hindrance to prayer, as perhaps either of them may be a help to fome men in fome cafes, and a hindrance to others; neither is it enough for him to mind what the fenfe and meaning of those words are, which he ufes, because all this may be done, and yet he may not pray. His thinking upon any fubject, and fpeaking in fuch words as are expreffive of defire, and his having a fenfe of what he means by thofe words, is not prayer, except his thoughts fo affect him, as to draw forth his defire in petition to God, for the obtaining of thofe things which he thinks and reflects upon. So, on the other fide, whatever is more than this, is not prayer. If, when a man so thinks and confiders of any subject, as that it draws forth his defire in prayer to God, any other act of the mind accompanies or follows, it, whether it be love or hatred, hope or fear, anger, or the like, none of such acts are prayer. Thus, if a man fhould fo think of his fins, as to be induced thereby to defire God to forgive him; and if this should so affect him, as to cause him to be forry for his faults, and angry with himself that he has done fo foolishly in this cafe, his forrow for his fin, and his anger against himself, is not prayer, tho they are very fuitable companions to it. The cafe is the fame with every other act of the mind, which may be exercis'd in prayer, or may follow upon it.

And as those other acts of the mind are, in their proper places, fuitable companions to prayer; fo when they are exercis'd in a proper and due measure, they as helps to it. Thus, when a man fo reflects upon his fins, as to be deeply humbled with forrow and fhame, and indignation against himself, this has a natural tendency to create in him a strong defire that they may be forgiven him, and to put up that defire very earnestly to God for the obtaining that pardon. But when those other acts of the mind are exercis'd in an undue measure, and exceed the bounds of reafon, then they are fo far from being helps, that on the contrary they are hindrances to prayer. Thus, if a man fhould be fo tranfported with grief and anger, when he reflects upon his fin,

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as that he should wring his hands, and tear his hair, and rend his cloths, and caft duft upon his head, and roll upon the ground, and the like, as fuch a tranfport of forrow and anger would make him more like a brute than a man, fo it would be a hindrance and not a help to prayer; for when men's minds are thus ruffled, and difcompos'd, they are indifpos'd thereby for the regular and proper exercife of any duty whatever. When the mind of man is in a regular and undisturbed ftate, that is, when it is governed by reafon, then it is capable of putting forth any act with ftrength and vigour, then a man is capable of praying with fervency, viz. with a strong and earnest desire to obtain what he prays for; but when a man's mind is thrown into disorder, and is difcompos'd by any ungovern'd act, then he is weakened and indifpos'd for the ftrong and vigorous exercise of this or any other duty.

If it fhould he here objected, that we have the declaration and examples of holy men in fcripture, who have been tranfported, as aforefaid. I answer, many declarations, which we have in fcripture, are delivered in figurative and borrow'd expreffions, and many others are a loftiness of speech, which exprefs much more than the fpeaker intends. And as to the practices of good men of old, they were rather a conformity to the customs and ufages of the times and places in which they liv'd, than the effect of a mind tranfported beyond due measure, that is, beyond the bounds of reafon. David danced before the ark in praifing God; but, I think, with fubmiflion, this dancing was not the effect of a mind discomposed by a tranfport of joy, but was a conformity to the usage and customs of thofe times, which expreffed their joy by dancing. But as cuftoms and ufages change, fo now if a good man fhould, in praifing God, dance as David did, he would make himself ridiculous. Befides, the good men of old were like the good men now, that is, they were of like paffions with other men; and therefore it is not their examples, but the nature and reason of the thing, which ought to determine in this cafe.

If it should be farther objected, that our Saviour, when he was in an agony, pray'd yet more earneftly. I anfwer, The true ftate of that cafe I take to be this: our Saviour's ferious reflections upon that scene of miferies and temptations, which he was just then entering upon, put him into great fear, whether he should be able to ftand the trial. This fear had a two-fold effect upon him; firft, upon his body, in that it caufed him to fweat to that degree, that it fell from him in great drops, like as blood ufeth to drop from a wound; for tho his fweat is ufually called his bloody fweat, yet this is without warrant from the text; the text faith, that he fweat [as it were] great drops of blood, falling down to the ground. Secondly, It had an effect upon his mind; he prayed to his Father more earnestly, with fubmiffion to his will, that he might escape that which was the ground of his fear: Father, if it be poffible, let this cup pass from me. And as he thus prayed with strong crying and tears, to him that was able to fave him from death; fo St. Paul faith, Heb. v. 7. That he was heard in that he feared, that is, his Father gave him ftrength fufficient for his trial; for he had an angel fent from heaven to strengthen and comfort him. Now, as this great fear, which our Saviour was under, made him to fweat to a very Z 2

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great degree, and as this fear, and the effect of it, is called, by the Evangelift, an agony, and as it caufed him to make more earnest fupplications and prayers, with ftrong crying and tears to his Father, for an escape from that which was the ground of it; fo he ftill preferv'd in himself a regular and compos'd mind; a mind which was not distracted, nor over-born by all that burden which lay upon it; a mind which prayed yet more earnestly, which fhews plainly that it was under the government of reafon, and not in agitation or difcompofure. As our Saviour was under great fear, fo that fear, or rather his ferious reflections upon that which was the ground of it, drew from him ftrong defires, and these defires he put up to his Father with great earnestness; but still maintain'd in himfelf a mind regular and undisturbed, when thofe terms are oppos'd to a mind ruffled and difcompos'd by an ungovern'd tranfport, whether of fear, joy, forrow, or the like. And as defire is ftronger or weaker, and as the putting forth that defire is more or less earnest, fo this difference arifes, partly from the different temper and conftitution of the petitioner, partly from the different fubjects it is exercis'd upon, partly from the different manners of our thinking and reflecting upon thofe fubjects, and partly from fome other causes. I say, partly from the different manners of our thinking and reflecting upon those fubjects; for as the fame words have a different effect upon the minds of men, from the different manners of their being exprefs'd, fo our own reflections have a different influence upon our own minds, from the different manner of reflecting. Thus, if a man fhould walk along the streets of a city, in a very flow pace, with his face to the ground, and fhould, with a flow and weak voice, fay fire, fire, and should fhew an unconcernedness at what he said, this would make very little or no impreffion upon the minds of those that heard him. The manner of this addrefs would indifpofe people from being affected with it: whereas if the fame man should haftily walk along the streets of the fame city, and fhould, in a grave and ferious manner, with an audible voice, cry fire, as aforefaid, this would ftrongly affect all who heard him; because both the fubject, and the manner of addrefs, have a natural tendency to produce this effect. So in like manner when we think and reflect upon any fubject, in a flight, careless, and indifferent manner, fuch thoughts and reflections will have little or no effect upon our minds or lives: but when we think seriously, and with concern, upon the fame fubject, and with an earnest application of thought and reflection, this ftrongly affects us, and has a tendency to make a great and lafting impreffion upon us. Further, As prayer confifts in the going out of defire to God, and as this desire may be ftrong, or weak, and the putting forth of this defire may be more or lefs earneft; fo it certainly becomes us to reflect upon the fubject of defire, with fuch seriousness and concern as is fuitable to it, and may be productive of earneft fupplication and prayer, feeing it is fuch as is most acceptable to God, and most effectual to anfwer the ends of prayer. Our Lord reflected fo feriously upon the fufferings he was to undergo, that it produced fupplications and prayers with strong crying and tears. Not but that ftill we ought to keep our reflections within the bounds of reafon; because, when we go beyond this, they distract and so weaken

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