pofe ourselves into a serious temper, by confidering in whose aweful prefence we appear, when at our devotions.

Fourthly, Our hearts must be poffeffed with a deep fenfe of God's majesty, which is infinite and incomprehen- With a,enje fible: let it be deeply impreffed upon our minds, of God's that we pray to no lefs a person than the fovereign majesty. Lord of heaven and earth, that was from everlasting, and is to everlasting, world without end. And then we ought more particularly, in order to the praying as we should do, to get our hearts poffeffed with a fenfe of his goodness. And goodThis is that, which, above all other things, will ness. put life and vigour into our prayers, will both ftir us up to this duty, and fupport us in the performance thereof. He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently feek him.

Fifthly, We must endeavour to get our minds seriously affected with a fense of our manifold wants: for 0- With a fenfe therwise it is impoffible we should heartily pray for of our redress and supply; therefore if we defire to bring wants. ourfelves to a praying temper, we must often take an account of the state of our fouls, and examine what neceffities we have to be fupplied, what fins to be pardoned, what evil af¬ fections to be mortified, what virtues and graces of the Holy Spirit to be attained for our ftrength and fupport.

Sixthly, All these conditions must be accompanied with great fervour and conftancy; that is, we muft, in With zeal, the most hearty, ferious, and affectionate manner, put up our requests to God for his aid; and likewise, in fo doing, we must persevere to the end.

Seventhly, It is alfo required of us, for the preparing and difpofing us for the putting up of our prayers as With puriwe should do, that we purify our hearts from all ty. actual affection to fin; that we come not to God with any of our wickedneffes about us, but that we do put them away from us, at least in purpose and defire. The neceffity of this requifite is fo great, that there is no praying where it is wanting. For, if I incline unto wickednefs with my heart, the Lord will not hear me. We know that God heareth not finbut if any man be a doer of his will, he will hear him.

ners;

There

Therefore, till we can seriously refolve to quit our evil courfes, to forfake every known, wilful, open fin that we are conícious to ourfelves we live in, let us not think ourfelves prepared and qualified to put up our prayers to God, who will not be mocked.

Lafly, To all which requifites we must also add that worOf bodily hip of the body, which is particularly exhorted by worship. the royal Pfalmift, where he says, O come, let us worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our maker; which neceffarily implies, that the juft and devout meaning of our fouls fhould be expreffed by fuitable, humble, and reverent gestures of the body, in our approaches or prayers to God. And therefore the apoftle, knowing that this also is a tribute due from the body of a man to the Creator, commands us to glorify God in our body and in our fpirit, which are God's, 1 Cor. vi. 20.

ject of our

prayers.

V. By this account we have given of prayer, it appears, not God muß be only that it is a duty that we owe to God, but that the only ob- it is a duty we owe to him alone, and that no being in the world befides himself hath a right to be prayed unto. Becaufe, if prayer be one of the principal inftances of that honour, and an expreffion of that dependence, that we owe to the Creator and Governor of the world; then certainly to be prayed unto is, and for ever will be, one of the rights and prerogatives of his Sovereign Majefty, never to be given to any thing created. Confequently to invoke, or pray to any creature in a religious way, though it be the highest creature in heaven, whether angel or faint, not excepting the bleffed Virgin herself, muft needs be an affront done to God, as giving that honour to one of his creatures, that is only proper to the Creator. For all idolatry naturally leads to other immoralities; and when men like not to retain God in their knowledge, they are very apt to be given over to a reprobate mind. Befides, will-worship, of what kind foever, evidently derogates from the honour of God; diftracting men's devotions; dividing that affection and reliance of mind, which ought to be placed upon God alone; and always leading to fuperftitious equivalents in the ftead of true virtue, which alone can render men acceptable

in the eyes of the all-feeing Judge. Should any one pretend to say that finful men cannot of themselves acceptably approach the fupreme throne of God; we have, by divine appointment, a fufficient mediator and advocate with the Father, Jefus Chrift the righteous: who fitteth continually on the right-hand of God, as our great high-prieft and interceffor, to mediate for us, and to offer up our prayers unto the Father. Through him we have accefs unto the Father. And our Lord's own direction is: Whatsoever ye fhall afk of the Father in my name, he will give it you. Prayer therefore is to be directed to God alone through Christ alone. And as praying to falfe Gods derogates from the honour of the one true God; fo praying by or through the interceffion of falfe and fictitious mediators, derogates in like manner from the honour of Chrift, the only true mediator. For as there is but one God, fo there is alfo but one mediator between God and man, even the man Chrift Jesus.

As an encouragement for us to pray, David fays, The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him in truth: The porwer he will fulfil the defires of thofe that fear him: or efficacy of he alfo will hear their prayers, and will fave them: our prayers. the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers. And our Saviour faith to his apostles, Whatsoever ye fhall afk in my name, that will I do: and again he repeats it, if ye fhall afk any thing in my name, I will do it. Yet, if it fhould be thought that this promife was made to the apostles only, and doth not concern us, let us hear what St. John writes to us: Brethren, if our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God; and whatsoever we afk we receive of him: Afk, faith he, and it fhall be given you; feek and ye shall find, knock and it fhall be opened unto you; for every one that afketh receiveth, and he that feeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened; than which promise nothing can be more gracious, nothing more comfortable: which is ftill inforced moft pathetically, in the following verfe: What man is there among you, whom if his fon afk bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a ferpent? If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts

unto

unto your children; how much more will your heavenly Father give good things unto them that afk him? Befides, the holy fcriptures not only contain many promises and affurances that God will hear our prayers, but afford us many in• ftances of his making good those promises at all times, and to all perfons, and that in a most wonderful manner. For by prayer Mofes quenched the devouring fire. By prayer Elias brought down fire from heaven. By prayer Elisha reftored the dead to life. By prayer Hezekiah flew an hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Affyrians in one night. By Prayer David stopped the avenging angel, when his hand was lifted up to deftroy Jerufalem. And by prayer Jonah was delivered out of the fish's belly. Yet,

prayer.

Notwithstanding this usefulness, advantage, and neceffity Objections of prayer; nay though God has declared abfoluteagainst ly, that we shall not have the good things we stand in need of, except we pray for them; there have been, and doubtlefs are ftill, fome emiffaries of the devil, who pretend to argue against the duty and efficacy of prayer; founding their fophiftry upon the unchangeable decrees of God; and, devil-like, quote fcripture Objection I. to fupport their own impiety. Is it not written, fay they, that with God there is no variableness nor fhadow of turning? This is a mere fallacy. God's hearkenAnswer I. ing to, or being moved by the prayers we put up to him, doth not in the least clash with his unchangeable decrees. Wegrant, when God is pleased to give us thofe things which without our prayers he would not have done, there is a change in him or us; but not in God: for God refolved that if we humbly and heartily beg fuch or fuch things at his hands, we should have them; but if not, we should go with out what we want. Therefore, when upon our prayers we obtain that grace, or that bleffing, which we had not before, it is not he that is changed, but we. We, by performing the conditions he required of us, looking with another aspect to him, do intitle ourselves to quite different treatment from him, than we could claim before we were changed from our wicked courfe of life, by making ourselves capable of receiv ing those benefits, which before we were not capable of.

When

When this objection has failed, then they reft upon GɔD's infinite and effential goodness. We grant that the Objedigoodness of God is infinite, and that he governs on IL the world in the best way that is poffible, and confequently he always will do that which is beft, let us behave Answer II.. ourselves never so badly. Yet doth it from hence follow, that we shall have all fuch things as we ftand in need of, without praying for them? No. Because the fame God, that will do always what is abfolutely beft for his creatures, knows that it is beft for them, that in order to the partaking of his benefits, they should pray for them; if they do not, why then he knows it is beft that they should be denied fuch things. Whence the neceffity of God's acting for the best doth not in the least destroy the neceffity of prayer in order to our obtaining what we ftand in need of. God will do always that which is beft: but we are mistaken if we think it for the best, that we should have our neceffities fupplied without the use of prayer; because it is the means appointed by God to obtain it.

T

VI. To prayer it is neceffary to fubjoin the duty of REPENTANCE: a duty which the apoftle St. Paul Repentance. particularly teftifies to be due to God; because, all fin being forbidden of God, we never tranfgrefs his commands, whether in regard to our neighbour or ourfelves, but we incur his displeasure; and muft dread his juftice, except we repent. Wherefore, fays the church; The grant of repentance is not to be denied to fuch as fall into fin after baptifm. After we have received the Holy Ghoft, we may ' depart from grace given, and fall into fin, and by the grace: ' of God (we may) rife again, and amend our lives. And: therefore they are to be condemned, which fay, they can no more fin as long as they live here, or deny the place of forgiveness to fuch as truly repent.' *This repentance is an intire change of heart and mind, which produces Is a turning the like change in our lives and converfations; fo from fin to that to repent of our fins is to be convinced that God." we have done amifs: whence follows hearty forrow for hav

ing

See the 10th Article of Religion.