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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
duty_n	church_n	good_a	true_a	1,044	5	4.3446	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A54945	A discourse of prayer wherein this great duty is stated, so as to oppose some principles and practices of Papists and fanaticks; as they are contrary to the publick forms of the Church of England, established by her ecclesiastical canons, and confirmed by acts of Parliament. By Thomas Pittis, D.D. one of His Majesties chaplains in ordinary. Wherefore, that way and profession in religion, which gives the best directions for it, (viz. prayer) with the most effectual motives to it, and most aboundeth in its observance, hath therein the advantage of all others. Dr. Owen in his preface to his late discourse of the work of the Holy SPirit in prayer, &c.	Pittis, Thomas, 1636-1687.	1683 (1683)	Wing P2314; ESTC R220541	149,431	404

●hildren kneeled down and pray●● 〈◊〉 though they were upon the shore ●●ct 21.5 And certainly we cannot possibly offend whilst we imitate such holy and primitive examples 'T is true indeed it was a custom amongst the Jews especially towards the period of their Oeconomy to pray standing in the Synagogues and therefore we read that the Pharisees like some among our selves loved to pray standing in their Synagogues as well as in the corners of the streets Math. 6.5 But because these did it that by the elevation of their bodies they might be seen of men you may not perhaps think it fitting to take such for an example But howsoever it is no less but more certain that the primitive Christians did sometimes pray standing on their feet as well as kneeling upon their knees For besides the posture in their devotions on the Lords day it is notoriously known that they did not kneel in their publick worship from Easter to Whitsuntide But then they gave these two reasons in excuse of their posture 1. That they might by some outward gesture and significant ceremony express their joy for the resurrection of our Saviour 2. That it was in token also of their confident expectation of the descent of the Holy Ghost Both these things were lawful and proper whilst Christianity was contemned by the Rulers of the world and such great temptations were given to the proselytes to this religion to apostatize That I may draw then towards the conclusion of this particular since the gestures of the body have been differently used in prayer unto God suitable to the various wayes of signifying respect in divers Countries and the constitutions of those Churches to whose customs men subjected themselves and since all such things are still to be used in subordination to a greater and more lofty end the raising and testifying the affections and faith of mens minds I shall leave you to practise Saint Austins rules That in private prayer ye so frame the gestures of your bodies as may best conduce to the elevation of your minds and the continuance of great devotion in your prayers But in publick that ye conform to the commands and practice of that Christian Church which imposes nothing sinful as a condition of her communion within whose pale you are inclosed that ye may not become factious and schismatical divide from substantials for a ceremony nor rend the Church and make a separation for what is really in it self indifferent Humility and reverence do certainly become such as address themselves to God and he that has lived here among us that upon the view of our usual approaches to our superiours and the custom of the nation in their addresses to one another can find another gesture more aptly and decently expressing these things than bowing the body uncovering the head and bending the knee may if our superiors please who have authority to order indifferent matters use it and recommend it to others Nay obtain a Law to force it upon all Yet this will be but little to their profit since I know none that upon such slender terms will relinquish their own right to make way for others to enter their possessions because they will not make religion to consist in the use or forbearance of things that are indifferent in themselves But howsoever till this time of tryal comes we were in my judgment better fulfill what God once confirmed by an Oath That unto him every knee should bow and every tongue should swear by his name Isai 45.23 Which Saint Paul thought good to express the subjection of mankind to the supream Being by in the New Testament As I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God Rom. 14.11 And truly when any good Christians pretend to express their real and devout subjection to God 't is not so well to forsake the ceremony which God himself the command of the Church and the reason of men using the ceremonies of this Nation especially when it is conjoyned with custom may render not only lawful but expedient But yet I must proceed farther That with the former circumstances supposed kneeling at prayers will become a duty where the formentioned impediments do not plead for a necessary and unavoidable dispensation 'T is true indeed that bodily exercise profiteth little yet something it does if not conjoyned with the devotion of the mind and does not tend to the improvement of the soul in the habits of vertue and true religion But when this accomplishes the ends to which it is most rationally designed it then becomes such a sacrifice with which God is well pleased I beseech you therefore brethren as St. Paul exhorts by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable divine service Rom. 12. 1. Nay we do not worship with the whole man when we neglect Gods service with a part Moreover it seems not to be a reasonable service when the actions of the body do not accompany the affections of the mind when both are joyn'd together in this world We think it to be rational to express the petitions conceived in our hearts by the language of our tongues Why should we not then signifie our humility that must accompany such prayers as God accepts by those gestures that represent and express it 'T is exceeding natural to mankind to make shew of their inward affection by external signs and the kindest demonstrations that the actions of their bodies are able to represent and we put a force and restraint upon our selves when our hearts are full of fervour and devotion and yet we will not manifest it by our actions and deportments But certainly he who has created the bodies of men as well as their souls has an equal right to the service of both and he that made the whole man will not be satisfied with a partial sacrifice we must worship therefore and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker Our redemption also no less calls for the homage of our bodies than it does for the reverence and devotion of our souls The Apostle sayes Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and your spirits which are Gods 1. Cor. 6.20 Nay if we expect the final glorification of both 't is but equal that they should both conspire in all the demonstrations of vertue and religion where both may contribute their several parts That so since their interest is united they may in conjunction work out their salvation with fear and trembling Lastly The humble and decent postures of our bodies when we address our selves to God do not only demonstrate the internal devotion and reverence of our minds but according to the observation of all excepting such as are unwilling to make the experiment they excite and continue our internal affections recall our wandrings and put us in remembrance of what we are about if

we know not what a day may bring forth God therefore who is acquainted with our frame and is able to look through future contingencies such as are so in their natural Causes but foreseen by him who is the God of nature who sees which way the balance will incline because he knows the paths of his own Providence this great God as he many times suspends his favours till we are in a capacity to receive them so like a tender Father he will not give us bread to spoil nor a Serpent to sting us And therefore sometimes when he accepts our prayers he adapts his favours to our necessities now giving us more than we ask and then cutting his answers short of our petitions because he in his infinite wisdom knows that we ask too much He wisely considers what store-house we have and our capacities of receiving what we pray for and changes the seasons and opportunities to bestow his gifts and confers them according to the good pleasure of his will and his most wise contrivance in governing the World and us as members of this great Community And therefore sometimes he gives us one thing more convenient when we most earnestly beg another now changing the means which we desire to obtain an end affording other that may be more effectual sometimes he changes the end it self and orders the means we have petitioned for in order to one design to produce what is better and much more advantageous to us yet in all these things he acts best because he does that which is most convenient for us and most suitable to his Wisdom and Providence Finally we may petition for many things which if granted to us would thwart God's general Government of the World or some particular wise design which we are yet ignorant of and therefore in such cases he accepts our prayer as an acknowledgement to himself though he does not grant the particulars of it Or Lastly we may sometimes beg such things as may prove incentives to our own or others sins and then 't is no wonder that he denies our requests because we ask amiss that we may consume it on our lusts or pleasures James 4.3 And thus I have finished my fifth Enquiry into what things men ought to pray for CHAP. VII I Proceed now to the Sixth Head propounded to be treated of in this discourse To enquire into the latitude of prayer with reference to those who are to perform and joyn in it because I find what is called the Spirit of Prayer confined by some to those only who are endowed with the Spirit of God nay so as if that spake in them And by their selecting and culling members for their religious societies or Churches so called out of the visible professors of Christianity who having been baptized were made members of Christs Church upon earth that they design to have Saints only to partake of publick Ordinances among them as well as they can and to pretermit or else exclude others I shall therefore in this Chapter briefly enquire whether prayer be an universal duty or only concerns good men or true Saints Now though such a question upon a naked proposal a man would think might be on a sudden answered and a return might be made as extemporary as some mens prayers are or the Books of those who only Hem and Spit them forth with little or no consideration yet it must admit of some debate for that the iniquity of times and the perverse wits of some men have rendered it useful and necessary too Because we find some thinking and melancholy men unless they are persons who deserve a more severe denomination even in this lower world endeavouring to make a separation necessary betwixt the Tares and the Wheat though our Saviour sayes Let both grow together until the Harvest Matth. 13.30 But however they give too much occasion to distrust the prayers of mixed Congregations which is a misfortune no way to be provided against in their own unless they were discerners o● hearts and could better distinguish betwixt the Hypocrite and sincere Christian than by those inward and obscure marks by which they describe Saints in the dark But however this I cannot but believe That the neglect inadvertency or wicked disposition of one man cannot hinder the acceptance of the devotion of another if there be any communion in prayer through the world that is publick in a congregated assembly no more than the vain glory of the Pharisee obstructed the Petition of the humble Publican or to come full home to the point than Judas hindered the grateful services of Christs Disciples because he was one of the twelve Nay a contrary notion and in pursuance of it a forbearance of all joint petitions till we were assured that no wicked man were among us would destroy all publick and family prayers Because we cannot have such an assurance and we can in this case at most make only probable conjectures unless those men will pretend to know the hearts of others who if we may believe themselves are ignorant of their own and quote a Text according to their own sense to confirm it That the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it Jer. 17.9 But notwithstanding all this there are some cases in which the great God will not hear though good men intercede and pray As when the most of a community have fallen into and yet continue obstinately enough in the commission of such crying sins that a general calamity is judged by divine wisdom fit to be brought upon it for the utter ruine of the members when an irrevocable sentence is gone forth against them if further consideration does not bring them to repentance and the amendment of their lives Then though Noah Daniel and Job were in it they shall neither deliver Son nor Daughter they shall at most only deliver their own souls by their righteousness Ezek. 14.20 Yet their goodness and prayers may avail even in such a day to the rescue of themselves But to come nearer to the point in hand we find in some other cases where Gods sentence is not absolute but conditional and there yet remains some hopes of repentance that wicked mens prayers have been heard for themselves when they have resolved to amend for the future And this was the case of that great and vast City of Niniveh whose sin was so lofty and aspiring that it pierced the Clouds and ascended before the Throne of God yet when the Prophet had according to his Commission openly declared their intended ruine and by limiting it to a time proclaimed from that power above the Clouds that at the end of forty days their City and the inhabitants should be destroyed when they believed this and proclaimed a Fast and humbled themselves by giving publick testimony of their sorrow and resolution of amendment Jonah 3.6 God saw their works that their resolutions were not only sighing and snivling pretensions

state and condition he devoutly begs what he wants either in relation to himself alone or as a member of some particular society or else as he is within a larger community the whole race of mankind And of this sort of Prayer it is that our Saviour speaks in that never to be parallel'd Sermon on the Mount But thou when thou prayest enter into thy Closet and shut the door and pray unto thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly Matth. 6.6 A sufficient caveat to the Pharisee and the Hypocrite and a distinction betwixt these and the disciples of our Lord. But 2. there is publick Prayer as well as private And that either in and with our families which are indeed smaller congregations when the Master exercises the office of the Priest and in his absence has thus much of his authority to intercede on earth in the behalf of his family and to become the mouth and Orator for the rest that altogether by a conjunction of affections and unity in words may petition those things necessary for them in common with others of humane nature and in those relations they bear to the family and to each other But 2. Prayer that is more publick is such as is made in the Church or other places of Christian Assemblies consigned to these publick offices and by a solemn dedication set apart to Sacred and Divine uses And this I shall have a more special regard to in what I shall recommend to your consideration in this discourse though men may also apply the particulars to their private devotions as frequently as they shall find them rationally suited and in this I would not seem to lay any yoke on the necks of disciples which they in reason may refuse to bear Now publick Prayers in more solemn conventions and among greater numbers assembled together have so apparently been offered from the beginning of the Church both under the Old and New-Testament that the pretension to a proof could not but be deemed vain and foolish this being the result of reason and assembling together for common worship being a duty imprinted on the souls of men to the performance of which the light of nature has been their conduct And if it required any arguments at all from reason we might presently understand that by this Gods honour is exalted when we jointly give a publick testimony of our piety and religion that by this we propagate these things in the world and by our examples provoke and stir up others to joyn in the same duty with our selves That common requests such as in publick we are supposed to make to which every individual may say Amen require a joynt and common consent and when our Prayers are thus connected with the unity of our minds and spirits they gain great degrees of power like a twisted Cord they become more strong and prevalent with God they offer a Sacred violence to Heaven and because God is pleased with such a Sacrifice draw down favours from the Father of mercies Moreover such Prayers are apt to be offered up with greater reverence and devotion when service is performed in a Sacred place in which God is more especially present at least by his dispersed train of Angels where the objects of sense cast a secret awe upon our minds and the mode and circumstances of such publick and Divine worship attended with proper Ceremonies and Solemnity are apt to move us to humility and adoration to excite within us the affections of our minds to fix our intentions that they may be united to their object make our passions such as are Divine and recal those swimming and tossing thoughts which at any time are apt to wander And finally when our most solemn Prayers shall be offer'd by an ordained or consecrated person Sacred or which is all one separated from the world to this imployment and dedicated unto God by resignation and solemnity by his own devotion and our Saviours institution that he may become a secondary intercessor betwixt the people and their Creator he weeping betwixt the Porch and the Altar and crying out to Heaven for pardon and deliverance in that Sacred language Spare us Good Lord Spare thy People It cannot be but such a service must sound as pleasantly in the ears of God as it is acceptable and rapturous to good men And when we are thus gather'd together exercising the most exalted strains of our minds when they are screwed beyond ordinary proportions Christ himself is in the midst of us he joyns in our Intercessions and Prayers the holy Angels spread their wings over us to adorn the solemnity and God himself beholds us from above looks through the Clouds with smiles upon us smells a sweetness from the incense of our Prayers and that he may look farther dissipates all intercepting clouds And this shall suffice to shew what Prayer is CHAP. II. LEt us now in the second place consider what may be the import of some phrases and precepts in Sacred Writ which seem to set forth this duty of prayer as if it were to be continued without interruption The Euchites of old were apt to conclude such precepts and phrases as Pray without ceasing Continuing instant in Prayer and the like to be obligatory in the full latitude of their expressions as if men were to do nothing else but pray yet other duties that are required of us both as Christians and men too abundantly refute such unreasonable interpretations Besides the allotments of all moral or pious actions ought to be proportionate to their ends as the quantity of a dose of Physick is increased or diminished according to the distemper of the Patient varied so to temperaments and seasons as may best expel the venom of the disease resist its violence and recover health to him that wants it Now a great design and end of prayer being to raise fervor and devotion in our souls it ought no longer to continue than we are able to keep up the intention of our thoughts the elevation of our minds and the due order and sallies of our affections Hence is it that we are informed by S. Austin that the Christians in Egypt had frequent prayers being brief ejaculations and short Collects that a tedious continuation might not weary their affections but their minds might be intended suitable to the seriousness and gravity of the duty and they might not prove either flat or stupid lest the prayer it self should in the progress be nothing else but an effusion of words without attention or manifestation of affection From whence also our own Church has ordered her Publick Service so as to consist of various and distinct parts suitable to the variety and diversity of our affections that all may be successively imployed and none at once too long burdened and therefore our prayers are usually brief giving intervalls and respite both to Priest and people that their souls and affections

can reasonably give a check to our devotion or be an argument against invoking the Deity Especially if in the last place we consider that notwithstanding all Objections there are sufficient reasons to determine us in this point and fix prayer as a duty upon us For 1. Admitting that all things were predetermined by their Creator not only in the general but in particular too in what order they should be in the world what regard they should bear to each other nay the minutest circumstances of persons and things Yet since all must be accomplished by a wise and powerful application of actives to passives by invigorating Causes to produce their effects or withdrawing their force Or by new mixtures altering their nature as may best comport with the particular ends of the Eternal Decree Since it is most certain that means are used by the Supreme Governour to bring about the designs of his Providence who knows but prayer may be one Especially since it infallibly operates upon the minds of men beyond any rhetorical exhortation in the world to cause them to change evil resolutions and to submit to the conduct of the most wise Being Although it could not incline him to alter any Decree that is gone out of his mouth nor break any link in the fixed and determined chain of Providence Nay we may with great reason conclude it to be so when 2. We consider that we are commanded to pray by God himself whose infinite wisdom never designed such great solemnity to no purpose nor can he only appoint it in honour to himself when he has declared that it shall be beneficial unto us How can we otherwise understand St. James Chap. 5.13 Is any among you afflicted Let him pray Is any man sick among you Let him call for the Elders of the Church and let them pray over him and the prayer of faith shall save the sick St. Paul had petitioned to no purpose when Sathan stir'd up some potent lust in his own flesh or the malice of his severe adversaries to buffet him if prayer had not been a means to convey relief to him and yet we find him thrice interceding in his own behalf for the removal of this afflicting evil 2 Cor. 12.8 And though he might not obtain the particular thing which he prayed for yet instead of that he gained grace and strength to support him in his misery and in the end to triumph over his infirmities and snares But what matter is it how great and formidable Objections are by which carnal and indevout men quarrel that which they find to be a duty inconsistent with their loose and ungodly temper As long as we find the generality of mankind to have endeavoured from a natural instinct to appease the Deity and render God propitious to them As long as any outward Revelation has been legible to the World we find prayer an ingredient in mens worship It was the practice both of Jews and Gentiles commanded both by Moses and Christ What should we then regard fallacious and ill-grounded arguments for against so solemn and universal a duty When our Saviour himself has taught us to pray and promised that we shall receive what we ask for if we ask not amiss when we read those precepts of the inspired and blessed Apostle St. Paul Pray without ceasing continue instant in prayer and the like when we know that the Apostles and Primitive Christians were constant and zealous in their prayers and from them it has been derived downwards as a duty to us through all the intermediate Ages of the Church Nay unless Finally we could prove that Sacred Text to be Apocryphal Phil. 4.6 In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God And who would willingly if it were in his power cancel such a duty which besides the inward satisfaction men conversant in it receive in the performance being devoutly and orderly acted towards God through the merits of our Saviour it obtains Temporal Spiritual and Eternal blessings Elijah prayed for rain in a time of drought and the Heavens quickly relenting wept 1 Kings 18th Chap. Hannah petitioned God for a Son and then brought forth Samuel For this child says she I prayed and the Lord gave me my petition that I asked of him 1 Sam. 1.27 Ephraim bemoaned himself and prayed that he might be converted from the error of his ways and God soon granted the request For I will surely have mercy on him saith the Lord Jer. 31.20 So reasonable is that exhortation of Saint James Chap. 1.5 If any of you lack wisdom let him ask it of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him David at once acknowledged his sin and beg'd pardon and God forgave him the iniquity of his sin Psal 32.5 And therefore he most justly infer'd a conclusion from it to incourage others to this Sacred duty For this says he shall every one that is godly pray unto God in a time when he may be found Lastly we find the Thief upon the Cross by his short prayer obtaining this answer verily says our Saviour I declare to thee that to day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Luke 23.48 So that supposing that there were no certainty in this case by which we might determine our duty as plainly there is Yet when two probabilities appear 't is most rational to make our choice in things where one must become our Option according to the weight of Arguments to incline us And if this be a fair and equal standard we cannot possibly neglect or recede from the duty of prayer since the objections against it if they could not otherways be solved are neither proportionate for weight or number to the reasons which have been urged for prayer Especially if 3. We consider that in this we offer a resignation of our selves and all our concerns to the God that made us that prayer causes us to put a guard upon our selves by our discovery of those weaknesses and breaches which the enemy of mankind or age in sinning or want of repairs by vertue and Religion have made and enlarged upon us and in this we also discern as in a glass the common infirmities of our own natures and how accidents in the world betray us into misfortunes against all which we pray for aid and petition for relief And thus it becomes an excellent mean to cause us to order our conversation aright that we may at last see the Salvation of God Nay some men though I know not well upon what certain foundation build the great use and advantage of prayer upon this thing But by this they pass it into an exhortation only and seem as it were to transubstantiate it and abate not only from the use of it as distinguished from all other duties that convey knowledge and raise affection but from the advantages we receive by it One observes this difference betwixt Human