1 thee shall all flesh come. xciv. 9. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? cxxxix. 7, &c. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there also. Kings, viii. 29, 30, &c. That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day; even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and, when thou hearest, forgive. d Matt. vi. 8. Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him. * Matt. vii. 7. Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. xxi. 22. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Luke, xi. 9. And Ì say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. John, xvi. 24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. Jam. i. 6. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. 4. Q. What do you mean by calling upon God? A. I understand thereby the elevation of the mind to God, by what way soever it be made: whether we utter our requests to him with our mouths; or only lift up the thoughts of our hearts to him, both which are to God alike. 5. Q. Upon what is the necessity of our praying to God founded? A. Besides that it is a part of that religious worship which it behoves us to pay to him, and being publicly performed, is one of the highest acts of outward honour that we are capable of giving to him; it is necessarily established upon these two principles: 'first, a due sense of our own weakness and wants: and, secondly, a firm belief that God is both able and willing to relieve us. PROOFS SUBJOINED.-Psalm v. 2. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God: for unto thee will I cry. xliv. 20, 21. If we have forgotten the name of God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god, shall not God search it out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart. 1. 23. Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me. Isa. xlv. 20. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a God that cannot save. *1 Kings, viii. 28, 31. Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry, and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee to-day. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him, to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar, in this house; then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. Psalın iv. 1, 3. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer; know that the Lord hath set apart› him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto him. 1. 15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. xci. 15. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him. lxxxvi. 5, 6, 7. For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give: ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee; for thou wilt answer me. cxlv. 18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. Joel, ii. 32. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. Matt. vii. 7, 8. Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. John. xiv. 13. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. XV. 7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. xvi. 23. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. James, i. 5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 1 John, iii. 22. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. v. 15. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 6. Q. What are the wants which we chiefly need to have supplied by God? b A. There is nothing wherein we do not stand in need of his support. Our life, health, food, and raiment, all that we have, or hope to enjoy in our present estate proceeds from him; and we do in all these entirely depend upon his Providence. But that for which we ought to be more especially concerned, and have yet more need to beg the Divine assistance, is for the supply of our spiritual wants: that God would enable us to fulfil our duty towards him; and thereby would both qualify us for his favour at the present, and for his pardon and acceptance when we come to die. PROOFS SUBJOINED.-Acts, xvii. 25, 28. Neither is God worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things. For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Matt. vi. 32, 33. Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. с Luke, xi. 9. And I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. John, xvi. 24. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. James, i. 6. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. 7. Q. Are we not able of ourselves to fulfil our duty towards God as we ought to do? A. So far from it, that we cannot have so much as any saving knowledge of it, or desire after it, without the concurrence of his grace, to open our understanding, to purify our affections, to regulate our wills, and to enable us both to believe and do, according to his good pleasure. PROOFS SUBJOINED.-Yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day. Luke, xxiv. 45. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. Isaiah, lxiii. 17. O Lord, why hast thou made us to cry from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? John, vi. 44, 65. No man can come to me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come to me, except it were given him of my Father. Acts, xiii. 48. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. xvi. 14. And a certain woman, named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. 1 Cor. iii. 6. I have planted: Apollos watered: but God gave the increase. Eph. ii. 8. For by grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Phil. ii. 13. For it is God, which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 2 Cor. iii. 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency |