Sect, 7. and of our unwillingness to accept it, his goodnefs and our graceletnefs, his infinite condefcenfion and our carelefnefs and folly, than by rewarding so easy a duty with fo great bleffings.

Motives to Prayer.

I cannot fay any thing beyond this very confide ration and its appendages to invite Chriftian people to pray often. But we may confider that, 1. It is a duty commanded by God and his holy Son. 2. It is an act of grace and highest honour, that we duft and afhes are admitted to fpeak to the eternal God, to run to him as to a Father, to lay open our wants, to complain of our burthens, to explicate our feru ples, to beg remedy and eafe, fupport and counfel, health and fafety, deliverance and falvation. And, 3. God hath invited us to it by many gracious promises of hearing us. 4. He hath appointed his moft glorious Son to be the precedent of Prayer, and to make continual interceffion for us to the throne of Grace. 5. He h 5. He hath appointed an Angel to prefent the Prayers of his Servants. And, 6. Chrift unites them to his own, and fanctifies them, and makes them effective and prevalent; and, 7. Hath put it into the hands of Men to refcind or alter all the decrees of God, which are of one kind, (that is, conditional, and concerning ourselves and our final eftate, and many Inftances of our intermedial or temporal) by the power of Prayers. 8. And the Prayers of Men have faved Cities and Kingdoms from ruine: Prayer hath raifed dead Men to life, hath ftopped the violence of fire, fhut the mouths of wild Beasts, hath altered the courfe of nature, caufed rain in Egypt, and drought in the fea; it made the Sun to go from Weft to Eaft, and the Moon to ftand ftill, and Rocks and Mountains to walk; and it cures Difeafes without phyfick, and makes phyfick to do the work of Nature, and Nature to do the work of Grace, and Grace to do the work of God, and it does Miracles of accident and event; and yet Prayer that does

all

all this, is of itself nothing but an afcent of the mind to God, a defiring Things fit to be defired, and an expreffion of this defire to God as we can, and as becomes us. And our unwillingness to pray is nothing else but a not defiring what we ought paffionately to long for; or if we do defire it, it is a chufing rather to mifs our fatisfaction and felicity, than to ask for it.

There is more to be faid in this affair, but that we reduce it to practice according to the following Rules.

Rules for the Practice of Prayer.

1. We must be careful that we never ask any thing of God that is finful, or that directly minifters to fin: for that is to ask of God to difhononr himself, and to undo us. We had need confider what we pray for before it returns in bleffing it must be joined with Chrift's interceffion, and prefented to God. Let us principally ask of God power and affiftances to do our duty, to glorifie God, to do good Works, to live a good Life, to die in the fear and favour of God, and eternal Life: thefe Things God delights to give, and commands that we fhall ask, and we may with confidence expect to be answered gracioufly: for thefe Things are promifed without any refervation of a fecret condition; if we ask them and do our duty towards the obtaining them, we are fure never to miss them.

2. We may lawfully pray to God for the Gifts of the Spirit that minifter to holy ends, fuch as are the gift of Preaching, the fpirit of Prayer, good Expreffion, a ready and unloofed Tongue, good Understanding, Learning, Opportunities to publifh them, &c. with thefe only reftraints. 1. That we cannot be fo confident of the event of thofe Prayers as of the former. 2. That we must be curious to fecure our intention in these defires, that we may not ask them to ferve our own ends, but only for God's glory; and then we fhall have them, or a bleffing for defiring them. In

Q3

order

Sec. 7. order to fuch purposes our intentions in the firft defires cannot be amifs because they are able to fanctifie other things, and therefore cannot be unhallowed themfelves. 3. We must fubmit to God's Will, defiring him to chufe our employment, and to furnish our Perfons as he shall fee expedient.

3. Whatfoever we may lawfully defire of temporal things, we may lawfully ask of God in Prayer, and we may expect them as they are promifed. 1. Whatfoever is neceffary to our life and being is promifed to us and therefore we may with certainty expect food and raiment; food to keep us alive, cloathing to keep us from nakedness and fhame: fo long as our life is permitted to us, fo long all Things neceffary to our life shall be miniftred. We may be fecure of maintenance, but not fecure of our life; for that is promi fed, not this; only concerning food and raiment we are not to make accounts by the meafure of our defires, but by the measure of our needs. 2. Whatsoever is convenient for us, pleafant, and modeftly delectable, we may pray for: fo we do it, 1. with fubmif fion to God's Will; 2. without impatient de fires; 3. that it be not a trifle and inconfiderable, but a matter fo grave and concerning, as to be a fit matter to be treated on between God and our Souls ; 4. that we ask it not to fpend upon our lufts, but for ends of juftice, or charity, or religion, and that they be employed with fobriety.

's John 3. 22. 4. He that would pray with effect, muft live with John . 31. care and piety. For although God gives to Sinners fa. 1. 15. & and evil Perfons the common bleffings of life and chance; yet either they want the comfort and bleffing 1 Tim. 2. 8. of thofe bleffings, or they become occafions of fadder Pfal. 4.6. & accidents to them, or ferve to upbraid them in their

58.9.

Mal 3. 10.

J66. 8.

ingratitude or irreligion: and in all cafes, they are not the effects of Prayer, or the fruits of promife, or inftances of a Father's love; for they cannot be expected with confidence, or received without danger, or ufed without a curfe and mifchief, in their com pany. *But as all Sin is an impediment to Prayer, fo fome have a fpecial indifpofition towards accepta

tion; fuch are Uncharitablenefs and Wrath; Hypocrifie in the prefent action, Pride and Luft: because thefe, by defiling the body or the fpirit, or by contradicting fome neceffary ingredient in Prayer, fuch (as) are Mercy, Humility, Purity and Sincerity) do defile the Prayer, and make it a direct fin in the circumftances or formality of the action.

5. All Prayer must be made with Faith and Hope: Mark 11. 24. that is, we must certainly believe we fhall receive the Jam. 1. 6, 7. Grace which God hath commanded us to ask; and we must hope for fuch things which he hath permitted us to ask; and our Hope' fhall not be in vain, though we miss what is not abfolutely promised, becaufe we shall at least have an equal bleffing in the denial as in the grant. And therefore the former conditions must first be fecured; that is, that we ask things neceffary, or at leaft good, and innocent and profitable, and that our Perfons be gracious in the eyes of God or elfe what God hath promised to our natural needs, he may in many degrees deny to our perfonal incapacity: but the thing being fecured, and the perfon difpofed, there can be no fault at all; for whatfoever elfe remains is on God's part, and that cannot poffibly fail. But because the things which are not commanded cannot poffibly be fecured, for (we are not fure they are good in all circumstances) we can but hope for fuch things even after we have fecured our good intentions. We are fure of a bleffing, but in what inftance we are not yet affured.

:

Col. 4.12.

6. Our Prayers must be fervent, intenfe, earnest and Rom. 12. 12. importunate, when we pray for Things of high con- & 15.30. cernment and neceflity. [Continuing inftant in Prayer: Thef. 3.10. Striving in prayer: labouring fervently in prayer: night Ephef. 6: 18. and day praying exceedingly: praying always with all Pet. 4. 7. prayer] fo St. Paul calls it: [watching unto prayer] fo St. Jam. s. 16 Peter: [praying earnestly] fo St. James. And this is not all to be abated in matters fpiritual and of duty, for according as our defires are, fo are our prayers; and as our prayers are, fo fhall be the grace; and as that is, fo fhall be the measure of glory. But this admits of degrees according to the perfection or im

perfection of our ftate of life: but it hath no other mea fures, but ought to be as great as it can; the bigger the better; we must make no pofitive reftraints upon ourselves. In other things we are to ufe a bridle and as we muft limit our defires with fubmif fion to God's will, fo alfo we must limit the importunity of our Prayers by the moderation and term of our defires. Pray for it as earnestly as you may defire it.

7. Our defires must be lafting, and our prayers frequent, affiduous and continual: not asking for a Bleffing once, and then leaving it: but daily renewing our fruits, and exercifing our hope, and faith, and patience, and long-fuffering, and religion, and refignation, and felf-denial in all the degrees we shall be put to. This circumftance of duty our bleffed Saviour taught, Luke 18. . faying, [that Men ought always to pray, and not to faint] 21.36. Always to pray fignifies the frequent doing of the duty in general: but because we cannot always ask feveral Things, and we alfo have frequent need of the fame thing, and those are fuch as concern our great interest, the precept comes home to this very circumftance, Thef.5.17. and St. Paul calls it [praying without ceafing.] and himfelf in his own cafe gave a precedent, [For this caufe 1 befought the Lord thrice.] And fo did our bleffed Lord, he went thrice to God on the fame errand, with the fame words, in a fhort space, about half a night; for his time to follicit his fuit was but fhort. And the Philippians were remembred by the Apostle, Pal, 4. their fpiritual Father, always in every prayer of his. And thus we must always pray for the pardon of our Sins, for the affiftance of God's Grace, for Charity, for Life eternal, never giving over till we die: and thus alfo we pray for fupply of great temporal needs in their feveral proportions; in all cafes being curious we do not give over out of wearinefs or impatience. For God oftentimes defers to grant our fuit, because he loves to hear us beg it, and hath a defign to give us more than we ask, even a fatisfaction of our defires, and a bleffing for the very importunity.