Selected quad for the lemma: duty_n
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A59765
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The irregularitie of a private prayer in a publick congregation in a letter to a friend.
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Sherlock, R. (Richard), 1612-1689.
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1674
(1674)
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Wing S3241; ESTC R25624
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14,535
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24
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in the margin quotes another to the same purpose Prov. 10.19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin but he that refraineth his lips is wise 3ly From the custome of the Heathen as it follows Vse not vain repetitions as the Heathen do It was the maner of the Heathen saith the ordinarie Gloss out of Cyprian to endeavour rather to be eloquent than devout in their Prayers and to be lowd and clamorous rather than fervent and zealous An example whereof we have 1 Kings 18.27 Where Elijah mocks the Preists of Baal calling upon their Pagan Deities Crie alowd for he is a God either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is in a journey or peradventure he is asleep and must be awaked And accordingly they cried alowd thinking as our Saviour here saith that they should be heard for their much speaking And therefore as it follows v. 18. Be not like unto them It is a shame for Christians in the Worship of the True God to be like the Heathen in the worship of their Fals and feigned Dieties Our Duty is to endeavour more for humility purity and fervency in heart than for glib nimble and voluble tongues to pray not with multitude of words and varietie of phrases but with pertinent and pithy expressions with ardency and godly zeal and the reason follows For Your heavenly Father knoweth what things you stand in need of before you ask him He is every where present and knoweth all things even the secret of all hearts and therefore to court him with long and lowd Prayers implies our ignorance or misbelief of his perfections Against such extravagancy in Prayers our Lord prescribes us a Form with command saying After this manner pray yee vers 9. i. e. as from the context is manifest not after the maner of the Heathen who think to be heard for their much speaking but after this manner i. e. in few words and such as are pithy and to purpose And That 't is the meaning of our Lord in this place That all our Prayers should be short and not much exceeding the length of the Pattern he hath given us is manifest 1. Not only from the Context impartially weigh'd and understood but 2. From the Practice of Christs Church which is undeniably the best and surest Interpreter of Christs meaning in his words And all the Prayers of the Church of Christ are and ever were such in all ages in all places amongst all persons that are called Christians their Liturgies or Publick Prayers are short and pithy called therefore Collects as being so many Collections of much matter in few words 3. Such are all the Prayers of the Holy and True Spirit of God which stand upon record in Holy Writ both for use and imitation viz. the whole Book of Psalms with many more all which though some of them be long as to the whole Psalm or Hymn yet they are divided by Verses into so many shorter Prayers 4. Long Prayers are not only forbidden by our Lord as the custom of the Heathen but also frequently reproved by him as the practice of Hypocrites Matth. 23.14 Mark 12.40 Luke 12.47 5. By long and manifold sad experience 't is well known and hath been often observed That all long conceived Prayers have been guilty of manifold infirmities light vain and unseemly expressions not fitting to be offered up to the All-wise All-glorious Majesty of Heaven yea many falshoods many impieties and profanations have been uttered in such kind of Prayers and what have been contradictory to the Religious Duties we owe to God and men 6. If it be here said How can we be too long in our Prayers since our Lord continued all night in Prayer Luke 6.12 and saith also That we ought alwais to pray and not to faint Luke 18.1 and his Apostle commands Continus in prayers and watch Col. 4.2 and Pray without ceasing 1 Thess 5.17 and how can these Commands be obey'd without long Prayers Answ To this I answer That there is a great difference between long Prayers and praying long The one is unlawful because forbidden and reprov'd by our Lord the other is a Religious Duty because both commanded and practic'd by him and therefore St. Augustin saith Oratio plus gemitibus quam sermonibus agitur plus fletu quam afflatu And 't is thus The Spirit helpeth our infirmities by quickning our Devotions and enflaming our Desires he maketh intercession for us i. e. as the same Father secretly inclining our hearts to intercede for us with groanings that cannot be uttered Rom. 8.26 From which Text it is apparent quite contrary to the Enthusiasts sense thereof That 't is inward groanings not outward bellowings the internal fervent desires of the Soul not multitude of words which is the Proper work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer The Ordinary Gloss out of St. Chrysostom asks the same Question If we must not use many words in our Prayers how shall we pray without ceasing as 't is commanded And answers out of the same Father That both are to be observ'd in our Religious Devotions viz. 1. That our Prayers be short And 2ly Frequent and cominued So Christ hath both commanded and also exemplified in his Personal Prayers And St. Paul also That our Prayers be short but often renewed in few words but with great devotion ending briefly and beginning afresh leaving some intervals or spaces of time for the reinquickning and enkindling the fire of fervor and holy zeal in the Soul And 't is added out of Cassianus The Fathers conceived it most useful to use short but frequent Prayers To be frequent that our Souls may cleave the more stedfastly unto God by often addresses to his Majesty To be short that we may quench the fiery darts of the Devil who is most busie to tempt us to dulness and deadness of heart in our Prayers which he very easily effects when the Prayers we say or hear are long and continued without any intermission 'T is recorded of those Primitive Christians in Egypt who were most famous for their transcendent Devotions and great Austerities in the exercise of Religious Duties That their Prayers were many and often night and day continued and yet That they were short also not only in their solemn Assemblies and publick Offices of Devotion but also That their private Prayers were as so many Raptures and Ejaculations or Desires darted up into Heaven For as the Father saith hereupon Absit ab Oratione multa locutio sed non desit multa precatio si fervens perseveret intentio Let not our Devotions be accompanied with much speaking but much praying so long as we can hold out in attention and fervency FINIS
THE IRREGULARITIE OF A PRIVATE PRAYER IN A PUBLICK CONGREGATION In a Letter to a Friend ANNO DOMINI 1674. THE IRREGULARITIE of a Private Prayer in a Publick Congregation Sir I Have sent you herein my repeated and enlarged Thoughts upon what was once the subject of our serious discourse wherein I would not at all disparage or in the least undervalue the private prayers and devotions of any person whether of the Laity or Clergie whether those prayers be by himself composed or by others whether they be premeditated or sometimes ejaculatorie whether fixed or occasionall orall or mentall for thus and all these waies every truly religious Christian prays and undoubtedly findes the benefit and feels the comfort of such holy breathings-forth of his Soul unto Heaven in his private recesses But that any Person especially such who have entred into holy Orders in this Church of England should presume to use any Prayers in Publick of his own private conception whether premeditate or extemporary before or after his Sermon other than those Prayers which are by publick Authority allowed and published to that end I humbly conceive with submission to my Superiors to be unlawfull in several respects First T is a Disorder and Confusion in the service of God For thus the Publick and Private worship of God are confounded whilst those Private Prayers which our Lord hath consined to the private closet do yet contrary to his express command appear in Publick and usurp the place of his Publick Service in the Congregation The holy duties of Publick and Private Prayers as they are distinct in their own nature and constant use so they are distingushed by our Lord and distinct rules prescribed for the distinct and discreet performance of either Duty First For Private Prayer Matt. 6.6 When thou Prayest enter into thy closet speaking in the singular number to every particular person Secundly For Publick Prayer v. 7. but when yee Pray use not vain repetitions speaking in the plurall number to many assembled together where to avoid the Heathenish practise of much speaking or multitudinous words in Prayer v. 8. a short and most excellent Form is given us v. 9. Thus then publick Prayer being distinguished by our Lord from private we are thereby forbidden to confound them in their use and practise 1. Cor. 14.40 Let all things be done decently and in order not preposterously and disorderly one part of divine worship undermining another and the lesser and more particular Duty usurping upon the greater and more general religious Office Secondly 'T is not only a disorderly but also an unreasonable Service and so not likely to be acceptable to him who is both the God of order and of wisdom And the unreasonableness of this Private Prayer in Publick will appear by considering That all prayers offered up unto God in Publick must be publickly known consented unto and agreed upon which the Private prayer generally is not by all them that joyn therein upon which agreement and not otherwise Christ hath promised his presence viz to hear our Prayers and grant our requests Mat. 18.19 20. Again I say unto you If two of you shall agree upon Earth touching any thing they shall ask it shall be done unto them of my Father which is in Heaven for where two or three are gathered together there am I in the midst of them whereupon saith the Gloss out of Origen This is the cause we are not heard when we pray in that we agree not in all things For as in Musick there must be harmonie and agreement of voices or else it delights not the hearer so in the Church an assent and agreement is necessarie or else God is not pleased neither will he hear the voice of our prayers 'T is this agreement in prayer that denomitates our publick worship of God Common-Prayer because agreed upon by common consent which doth presuppose that 't is known to all that all may joyn therein So it was ever in the Church of Christ the faithful knew what they prayed for and this not at the second hand from the mouth of the Minister but before they joyned with him So Saint Chrysostome Chrys Hom 6. in Tim. You that are faithful know what things are to be desired in prayer because all prayer viz. that is in Publick ought to be common 'T is the Exhortation of Ignatius Ignnat Ep. ad Magn. who lived in the times of the Apostles and saw our Lord in the flesh That we assemble together in one place and use one prayer common to all For if the prayers of a Congregation be not known common and agreed Then First The People cannot joyn therein it being little less than the sacrifice of fools for men to ask of God they know not what but wholly depend upon the Ministers unknown expressions Secondly A Prayer that is unknown before it be offered up is to an English man though spoke in English as a Latine prayer to him who understands no Latine for they are both lame and maimed and cannot stand with common sense except they make use of that Crutch which we so much blame in the Papists viz. an implicite faith to support them and both the one and the other do equally transgress that rule of prayer prescribed by the Apostle 1 Cor. 14.15 I will pray with the spirit and will pray with understanding also Thirdly It is against both the judgment and practice of the Universal Church of Christ no footsteps thereof are to be found in Antiquitie but many Canons of the Church against it whereof some are noted in the Margin (a) Concil Leodic cel Anno. 320. Can. 15.17 nlt. Concil Milevit 2d An. 416. Can. 12. Concil Epaunens celeb An. 509. Concil Gerund celeb An. 516. c. 1. Cocil Tolet. quart Can. 2. Concil Venet. celeb An. 452. Can. 15. Concil Bracor 1. celeb An. Can. 562.19 20. 22. Concil Vasen celeb 442. Can. 5 6 7. Fourthly 'T is a transgression of the Laws and Orders of this particular Church of England and this occompanied with the breach of that solemn promise which every Minister lawfully Ordained hath made no man being admitted into holy Orders until he hath attested the lawfulness of the book of Common Prayer and promised that he himself will use the same and no other in publick subscribing with his own hand this attestation and promise so that the contrary practice in the use of any Private prayer by any Minister of this Church is a breach of Fidelitie to the Church and to the Reverend Bishop that Ordained him Fiftly 'T is also a Transgression of the Common Law of the Land which in the Acts of Parliament for Uniformitie in Common-prayer both old and new enjoyns peremptorily under severe penalties That no man shall use any prayer openly or in publick but such as are set forth in the said book so that both in this and in the former respects 't is an act of