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We are to pray against the evil of fin, especially when we are in most danger of falling into it; and against the evil both of fpiritual and temporal punishment; with this caution, to be earneft in our prayers, God would not be angry with us, nor withdraw of punishhis grace, nor punish us with eternal damnation. ment. But in temporal afflictions we must always pray with refignation to his divine will, according to the example of our bleffed Saviour: who, when under the greatest afflictions,` faid, Not my will, but thine be done.

*Interceffion.

A fourth part of prayer is interceffion, or praying for others: therefore the apoftle appoints us to make fupplications for all faints, that all men may be faved by the knowledge of the truth; that he will convince and convert all atheists, deifts, infidels, and all others, who are out of the way of truth, fcoff at his word and ordinances, and difgrace chriftianity by their vice and immorality; that he will not forfake nor forget our nation in time of publick danger and distress; that he will continue among us the gofpel in its purity, and the means of grace according to his own holy ordinance; that he will continue our outward peace and tranquillity, liberty and plenty; that he will profper our trade, and bless the fruits of the earth for our ufe; that he will protect and preferve all those to whom we bear any relation, as our king, all his royal family, our parents, hufbands, wives, children, friends, benefactors, &c. that he will teach our fenators wifdom; and give his fpirit of wisdom, understanding, and justice, to all that are employed in publick affairs, or are appointed to execute juftice, or to inftruct others in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jefus Chrift: that he will blefs all forts and conditions of men, whether young or old; fetting out into the world, or in long poffeffion thereof; whether rich or poor; those that are profperous in this world, or fuch as are under afflictions; thofe that hate, as well as thofe that love us.

In the last place we must also gratefully acknowledge his goodness towards us; which acknowledgment, Praife and though it can add nothing to his glory, he is pleafed bankgiv to accept of, and reckons himself glorified by it, ing.

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if it comes from an heart that is humbly fenfible of its own unworthiness to receive any favour from him; and values the gifts, and loves the giver of them all. We must thank him for all his mercies both fpiritual and temporal to us and all mankind in general, for all his goodnefs and loving-kindnefs to us and to all men ; and in particular for our creation, prefervation, and all the bleffings we have received at his hands; and above all, for his ineftimable love, in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jefus Chrift, for the means of grace, and the hopes of glory in the world to come.

II. Having thus given you the feveral parts of prayer, the next thing to be confidered is, WHERE we ought to pray : and here it will be found our duty to pray both in publick and Of publick private. Thofe prayers are most acceptable to prayers in God, and most neceffary for us, which are offered the church. in publick assemblies; because they have these advantages above private devotions, that God is moft honoured and glorified by fuch addreffes: and a sense of his majesty is maintained in the world, fomewhat fuitable to his moft excellent greatness and goodness, when by outward figns and tokens we publish and declare the inward regard and efteem we have for his divine attributes: because private prayer is only piety confined within our breafts; but publick prayer is piety exemplified and displayed in our outward actions: it is the beauty of holiness made vifible; our light shines out before men, and in the eye of the world; it enlarges the interefts of godlinefs, and keeps up a face and sense of religion among mankind. Our Saviour promifes his fpecial prefence to fuch affemblies, and hath appointed a particular order of men to offer up our prayers in fuch places of worship. Befides, we may expect greater fuccefs, when our petitions are made with the joint and unanimous consent of our fellow-chriftians, and when our devotions receive warmth and heat from the exemplary zeal of pious minifters. Whoever thinks juftly must be fenfible, that private religion never did in fact fubfift, but where fome publick profeffion of it was regularly kept up: he must be fenfible, that, if publick worship were once difcontinued, an univerfal forgetfulness of that God would enfue, whom to remember

Behaviour

is the strongest fenfe and prefervative against vice; and that the bulk of mankind would foon degenerate into mere favages and barbarians, if there were not stated days to call them off from the common bufinefs of life, to attend to what is the most important business of all, their falvation in the next. These confiderations fhould make all good chriftians frequently attend the publick worship in the house of God. Therefore it is to be wifhed, that they who have opportunities, and are not lawfully hindered, should endeavour fo to regulate their time, as to be able conftantly to attend on prayer at church; for, as thofe who have leifure cannot better employ it, fo they must have but little concern for the honour and glory of God, who neglect fuch opportunities of declaring and publishing his praife before men. Inaword, publick worship is the great inftrument of securing a sense of God's providence and of a world to come; and a sense of God's providence and a world to come is the great bafis of all focial and private duties. One thing more I beg leave to mention. Though you should be a regular attendant on the fervice of the church; take care, that afterpublick your deportment out of church be correfpondent prayers. your behaviour in it; otherwife, you will do religion more differvice, than if you were its open and avowed enemy. The next chriftian duty is family prayer. Every mafter of a family is anfwerable to God for the welfare Of family of thofe fouls that are under his care. Nor can I prayer. well understand how a fenfe of religion can be maintained in a family without the exercife of daily devotion in it. Families are but little focieties, as focieties are larger families: and therefore religion, which is confeffedly the best bond and cement of union in ftates and larger communities, is likewife fo in little domeftick governments. It is therefore incumbent upon thofe, who prefide over a family, to impress a fense of religion upon thofe who are beneath them. By this me-. thod we are beft able to confirm and establish children and fervants in the practice of their chriftian obligations. If ever would have your children to be dutiful, and your fervants faithful: If ever you defire your small community here fhould join hereafter with the great congregation of

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men and angels in heaven; be fure to cultivate the spot of ground committed to your care; teach them to look up to God in every step of their conduct; imprefs upon them, and keep alive in them, by repeated prayers, a manly, ferious, and devout frame of mind. From a neglect of doing this, it comes to pass, that our youth, as soon as they launch out into the world, fall an eafy defenceless prey to those profeffors of iniquity, who go about feeking whom they may devour; that they become profelytes, from the best religion the world was ever bleffed with, to no religion at all; and that thofe, who should be the flower of the nation, are too often the very dregs of it. This devotion must be alfo remembered at our meals: for we ought to beg the bleffing of God upon thofe good creatures provided for our ufe; fince it is by the word of God and prayer that they are fanctified to us. Natural religion itself teaches us thankfully to acknowledge the benefits we receive; and this ticular inftance of it hath fufficient ground from the example of Chrift and his holy Apoftles, all the evangelifts declaring that our Saviour bleffed and gave thanks before meat; the fame St. Luke relates of St. Paul; and even St. Paul himself fpeaks of it, as the known practice of the church among chriftians in his time.

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III. But this performance of publick prayer can by no Of private means excufe a man from the other duty of private prayer. prayer, which is that praying to our Father in fecret, commanded by our Saviour; and to which in particular he has promifed a reward. And when a man does thus approach to God in private he ought to be more particular, according to his preffing neceffities, than it may be convenient for him to exprefs himfelf in publick. This duty God hath established as a means, whereby we are to obtain whatever we want in relation to our fouls and bodies; we are to ask before it fhall be given, we must seek before we shall find, we must knock before it will be opened unto us. The mind of man naturally affects independence: To check this temper, God has obliged us to ask for the affiftance of his holy fpirit; our being obliged to afk continually reminds us of (what we are very apt to forget) the dependence we have on him for our

fpiritual

fpiritual as well as natural abilities. Were, indeed, what we receive a matter of ftrict debt, then we might fay, Who is the Lord, that we should pray unto him? But, as our enjoyments are the effects of his undeserved mercy, it becomes us to ask if we would receive. What we could receive without petitioning for it, we fhould look upon as intirely our own acquifition, exclufively of our Maker. This feems to be the moft obvious reafon, why God has annexed the promises of his grace to the performance of this condition: that prayer might be a perpetual memorial of our reliance on him, calling us to fuch a state of humility, that, whenever we do well, we fhould in the words of the Pfalmift acknowledge: Not unto us, not unto us, O Lord; but unto thy name be afcribed the glory. And whenever we do ill, we should in the words of Daniel confefs: To thee, O Lord, belongeth righteoufnefs; but unto us confusion of face: And he hath promised the affistance of his holy Spirit to help us in the performance of our prayers; and hath appointed his Son to intercede by virtue of his merits for their adımiflion. Therefore, it isabfolutely neceffary that we fhould live in the con- of frequenftant exercife of prayer; and in fo doing we cannot in prayer. fail of attaining the end we aim at, our fouls falvation. None can be virtuous that live without praying. Let people boast never fo much of the great effect of a good refolution, they must at last confefs, that there is no getting such a victory over their lufts and corruptions, no living fuch a christian life as the Gospel requires of us, without the practice of earnest and ardent prayer to God, and a conftant attendance to reading and meditation, and other fuch-like devout exercifes. Though we have formed our purposes, as we think, never fo ftrongly, and doubt not but that we fhall be able to refift every temptation; yet if we do not daily apply ourselves to the throne of grace for ftrength and influence and fupport, there can be little hopes that we fhall make any great progrefs or advancement in christianity; but, on the contrary, it is much to be feared that fuch a neglect will bring us infenfibly into a state of carelesness and indifferency to thefe matters, if not intirely to a worldly, fenfual, or vicious life.

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