which though it be very true and to be pray'd for yet it is not the sense of those Expressions The sense of the Churches of Judea which were in Christ Galat. 1. Verse 22. And salute Andronicus and Junia c. which were in Christ before me Rom. 16. 7. is those that were Christians So also if we pray that Christ may be in us that he may dwell in us that we may put on Christ or the Lord Jesus add we by way of Paraphrase and more known Expressions that we may firmly believe Jesus to be the Holy One of God and his Holy Doctrine to be true that our selves may be deeply and constantly endued with those most excellent qualities of such Knowledge and Holiness Wisdom and Goodness which are the proper Effects of or according to the Doctrine and Example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ which is the sense of Galat. 3. Verse 27. As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ that is at least have believed his Doctrine And of Rom. 13. Verse 14. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Hereby also besides the Sentences the true sense of those Sentences of Scripture may be conveyed at the same time which was most-what well enough known to whom it was written but is not yet among us as it seems So also when we make our Acknowledgments of the Divine Attributes in Scripture Sentences in Prayer let us choose rather such as are most plain and therefore most proper or as little figurative as may be As Thou that knowest the hearts of all men Acts 2. the searcher of hearts and tryer of reins Thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth c. Acts 4. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable That the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him That the Lord is gracious full of compassion slow to anger and of great mercy good to all and his tender mercies over all his works Psalm 145. That he is our heavenly Father the only true God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ When we use those Expressions that are spoken of God A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 after the likeness of men it may be best to add at least sometimes some proper word or phrase for explication and prevention of mistake especially in vulgar apprehension For Example if we should say Thy Throne O Lord is in Heaven thy eyes behold thy eye-lids try the children of men Psalm 11. Verse 4. it may follow In Heaven are the most excellent manifestations of thy presence of thy greatness and goodness yet thou most exactly knowest all things here upon Earth and whatsoever is in man If we should say Thou Lord lookest from Heaven and beholdest all the sons of men from the place of thy habitation thou lookest upon all the Inhabitants of the Earth Psalm 33. Verse 13. we may add these or other more fit Expressions according to the Auditory Thy Power and Knowledge thy Providence is extended from Heaven to Earth that is every where To thee the effects of whose power wisdom and goodness are the most perfect and great in the heavenly Regions is also perfectly known whatsoever is here upon this Earth When we say God is angry with the wicked and loveth the righteous we may add punisheth the one and willeth and doth good to the other The Expressions of The Lord is full of compassion and slow to anger may be followed with The Lord doth plentifully and frequently relieve the miserable distressed afflicted and delayeth or forbeareth to punish sinners It is a very true and useful Rule in Divinity that those Expressions in Scripture which properly signifie Humane Passions applied to God they signifie only the Effects of such Passions I do not think but that the learned unlearned but especially the last often grosly enough and falsly conceive God with Humane Passions place and other imperfections Besides the frequent use of such proper Expressions will make it more easie to conceive the true spiritual and perfect Nature of God SECT XVIII 2. I Advise those who are capable thereof to Contemplation Consideration Examination that they may find out and observe particularly what may be fit and proper matter for each of the parts of Prayer before mentioned that they may judge and be satisfied concerning the truth and usefulness of each thing when it is useful and when it is most so or its seasonableness that they might also often reflect upon and observe the intention purpose and end they have in their Prayers purifie their hearts from all insincerity and hypocrisie that they may quicken and stir up in themselves those affections or inclinations which are fit and proper according as they see the truth and usefulness of things upbraiding and reproaching themselves with an unreasonable dulness and insensibleness of those things which they ought to be and are capable of being more affected withal If any of us have time or ability use we it to meditate upon God his Nature his Attributes his Actions as long and as particularly as we can to consider to judge to examine what he truly and really is and doth and accordingly to stir up our affections and inclinations of Admiration Honour Love Desire Fear Faith and Hope Obedience Submission and Self-resignation In Confession Thanksgiving and Petition the thing is yet more easie and in some measure may be done by the ignorantest and weakest For who cannot if he would take some time to look back upon his life upon what he hath done in his Youth in his riper age when in this or that or t'other place Condition Calling or Employment what was well what was ill done by him where he was innocent and sincere where not what he hath been or done the last year or week or day who cannot enter into account and call to mind the common Blessings that he and others do constantly receive from God and moreover particularly many favours spiritual of good Instructions wise pious wholesome Counsel and Advise good Example from his Minister or his Friends Relations and Neighbours many good suggestions and motions of Conscience that have kept him from wickedness or put him on to what was good temporal ones also of prosperity health deliverance plenty or competency or at least some degree of Necessities of this Life who is there that cannot reflect upon God's goodness in forbearance when he hath reflected upon his sins and the gracious offers and assurances of his pardon and forgiveness for Christ's sake upon his true repentance and inward habitual change and amendment of temper and life and consequently of Heaven and a happier Life after we here expire and leave this earthly body And so in like manner for Petition the meanest person surely may in a very little time learn to know much of what he would have and what he ought to have If any one should give the meanest and ignorantest person notice to let him know what he wanted and
extraordinary delightful and only satisfactory to the soul of Man And if we leave out God we can no where find comparably the like God hath made us capable of the most intense and ravishing Pleasure in this enjoyment of himself that is in the employment of the operations of our Minds about him than which together with imitation of him we know nothing better or greater A whole Universe without God or infinite Perfection is nothing comparatively And if we give our Minds leave to enquire and be at lâ—isure long enough to think 〈◊〉 Minds can find satisfaction or repose no whâ—re elâ—e The reason oâ— which is that there is nothing besides infinite which is so great but thâ—â— we can conceive and câ—nsequently desire somâ—thing greater And this among others is one chief reason 〈◊〉 the Exercise of Prayer is so pleasant anâ— sweet to a Mind disposed to this Conversatiâ—n and Communion with God to make up which compleat on God's part he may at the same time have particular Influence upon our Souls Further This express Acknowledgment of and Conversation consequently of our minds with God spiritualizes our Minds makes them by Use and Exercise more capable of apprehending and being affected with all Spiritual things as God himself and his Perfections our own Souls and what belongs to them Virtue and Vice Holiness and Sin the Rewards and Punishments of Heaven and Hell the future States Again This also enlarges and widens our Minds makes us to be capable of and desire and breath after the most excellent and perfect Objects it makes us have an Opinion of the smalness and meanness of all other things below God and therefore of all things that are temporary and proper to this Life to despise them comparatively to aspire and breath after the greatest Perfection of Life and State we are capable of things every way as near infinite as we can And therefore a soul that hath been able to be much or long thus employ'd converseth with worldly things with a kind of condescension and more out of necessity of this humane life chearfully notwithstanding acquiescing in it as the divine Will than out of choice But of this more particularly hereafter Again It begets in us Humility and maintains it whilst we cannot avoid sometimes reflecting upon and comparing our selves with God to whom what a nothing are we when we are cloathed with our best qualities and adorned with our most beautiful Plumes for which we are so apt to be immoderately taken with and to have too great an opinion of our selves Whilst also we take notice we have nothing from our selves but are fain to be Beggars and Alms-people for all we have God the Almighty and All-good is the great Father and Housholder of all the World his Family And neither we nor any thing else have the least Crum of Bread but what is by his Provision and Appointment And lastly To name no more all this Conversation of our Minds with God disposeth us certainly to an universal Imitation and Obedience and consequently to universal Hâ—liness and Righteousness to all manner of Virtue and Goodness in the greatest sincerity generosity and constancy for so he is and so he hath commanded and consequently to our own Perfection and Happiness by procuring of and being instrumental to according to our own Measure and Proportion the greatest good of the whole the last end of all Being and Action And these are the Reasons of this part of Prayer of some of which again and more in another general Head Of this first thing in Prayer we have every where Examples in the Scriptures In the Lord's Prayer our Address is made to God by the name of Father which is to put us in mind of the tender goodness of God in producing us sustaining us providing for us constantly educating and bringing us up providing Portions for us hereafter And the first Petition is That his Name may be hallowed that is that we might have a due Opinion of and a just and therefore a peculiar Honour for him whereby he is separated from all other things But especially that which is called the Doxology For thine is the Kingdom c. is nothing but this solâ—â—n acknowledgment of God's Excellencies and it is set down as a Reason of the preceding Petition Deliver us from Evil For thine is the Kingdom c. that is Thou indeed art King emphatically thou hast right and power to grant these things And thine is the Power Thou indeed art powerful to thee eminently belongs Power for in thee it is infinite supream uncontroulable nay all Power is thine Thine is the Glory that is All glorious things for which one is to be praised extolled honoured glorified an ordinary Hebrew Metonymy are in thee and appertain to thee and therefore we ought to pray unto thee So when the Apostles and Disciples were to choose either Barsabas or Matthias by Lot into the place of Judas they prayed and said Thou Lord which knowest the Hearts of all Men shew whether of these two thou hast chosen To their Petition they premise an Acknowledgment of God's Omniscience very proper to that Petition they desired that God would choose and that because he knew certainly which was fittest to be chosen Acts 1. Verse 24. Another Instance of a pretty long Prayer of the Disciples we have Acts 4. Verse 24. When Peter and John were commanded by the Rulers the Elders Scribes and High Priest that they should not speak nor preach in the Name of Jesus but threatned them probably with Death or very severe Punishment if they did their Prayer or Petition was That God would behold their Threatnings and grant to them that notwithstanding they might with all boldness speak God's Word to which they premise God's infinite Power and Wisdom in the creating of all things and his Providence in foreseeing them that therefore he knew what was then done or designed and was powerful to secure them from all their malicious and severe threats and to bear up their courage against them yea and against the Execution of them too Ver. 24. Lord thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that in them is In the Old Testament read Hezekiah's Prayer when Sennacherib King of Assyria sent that blasphemous and vaunting insolent Letter to him Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee c. Kings 2. 19. 10. and Verse 15. c. He prays O Lord God of Israel who dwellest between the Cherubims thou art the God even thou alone of all the Kingdoms of the Earth Lord bow down thine ear and hear open thine eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib which hath sent him to reproach the living God in opposition to the dead Idols whether the Images themselves or inanimate things or dead persons represented by them And Verse 19. Now therefore O Lord our God I beseech thee save-thou us out of his hands that all the Kingdoms
in external and bodily actions with their mouths or other parts of their body yet the internal actions of their Souls such as I have above mentioned are very slight weak and slender Persons approach to God with their Lips and their Bodys when their Hearts are far from him and it may be after their Covetousness or any other Lusts Or they are there with him and conversant about him and other matter of their Prayers as men use to be in the company of those persons and in doing those things they do not much care for or have no great value for It is really a thing of which men are to be ashamed that they are conversant about lesser matters with great attention and affection and about infinitely greater such as are in this part of the Worship of God with little or none it is certainly a sign of their pitiful ignorance and errour degeneracy baseness and meanness that they are like Children and School-boys who are attentive and eager about their Sports and Pastimes but not at all concerned in the Cares of their Parents for them and the rest of their Families Is it not a shame to see men honour and admire mortal men a potent Prince a profound Statesman of great capacity for business one that administers Affairs with much prudence and dispatch or a great Scholar one of large Revenues splendid Train and Attendants and perhaps sometimes but more rarely a virtuous just pious holy and very spiritual minded person I say to honour some of these with the Titles of Incomparable Prodigious and other significations of astonishment and yet to have very little of these in their Souls to God from whom all these and the Subjects of them came and who is the Authour of all these and all other never so great and never so little things in the World to whose Infinite Perfection all those and all other compared are not so much as one Atome to the content of the starry Heaven and whose is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever and this even when they make their most solemn Addresses and pretend to Worship him And so likewise it is a sign of pitiable ignorance or folly in men to be more confident and secure to put their trust more in the savour and power of an ordinary Relation or Friend possibly in a man's self in his own Power Wit Prudence Riches Strength than in the All-mighty All-wise and All-good God for which indeed sometimes there may be reason if their designs or hopes be unjust Who would not be moved to contempt or pity to hear men protest with the greatest zeal and earnestness to one some very little their superiour how much they are their servants and with all the gestures that may be signifie it but when they profess their Universal Obedience to God the King of Kings and Lord of Lords the only Potentate the Supreme Monarch of Heaven and Earth in saying thy Kingdom come thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven or in any other words to do it so remissly coldly and indifferently that if they should do in like manner to any one little their betters they would think themselves so unjustly neglected as to bid them or to be content they should keep their service to themselves Who could like to see men with great reality and submission to confess their Offences against those they fear can punish them but to confess to God their Offences against his Laws as if they were afraid they should do so again and were very loth and unwilling to prevent it To see men with a great deal of earnestness and humility and mouthful of blessing render thanks to their Brother for a satisfying meals meat when hungry or a refreshing draught when thirsty or a scrap of silver to buy them necessaries when destitute but to thank God both in their publick and private Devotion for his innumerable Benefits even all good things that ever we have had in our lives and especially for spiritual ones as if it were a meer Compliment or Ceremony and they would gladly have done with it as soon as may be And lastly How great a senselesness and sottisness is it in men to beg with so much importunity of those in whose power it is to punishness them a little in temporary good things forgiveness and pardon or of others their favour countenance assistance direction counsel their Alms or Charity or in poor Prisoners guilty and ready to be condemned to mulcts banishment or corporal pain or death to Cry out with the most pitiful Voice for Mercy or Pardon but to ask of God Grace to Repent strength to be better and then pardon for innumerable lesser and many greater and more heinous Sins That God who can make them miserable here and hereafter who can throw both Body and Soul into Hell would forgive us our Trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us to ask of him to take care of them and provide for them to counsel and direct them I say to ask these and all other things of God as if they were unwilling he should grant them or very indifferent and little concerned whether he did or no or as if God were obliged to them that they would ask and receive any thing from him What can be more absurd more unreasonable more shameful than this This is not Superstition but Truth and Reason And this slackness streightness perfunctoriness in the Worship of God comes from Sensuality or Immorality or both Either men are dull and carnal and cannot take notice of and be affected much with God who is a spirit or they are unwilling to do it they care not how little because they know they do such things and live in such courses as do not please him and which he doth not allow of Of this their Duty they may do a little it may be to appease some remainder of the natural appetite that all men have to Worship God and for Credit or Reputation sake and that 's enough Contray to the excellent Examples and Precepts which we have in the Holy Scriptures There can hardly be given any more certain signs of the greatest strength and fervour of all those Operations of the Soul in Prayer than what we meet withal in the Psalms every where Read for an Example of the most sensible acknowledgment the 145 Psalm in Verse 1. is a general acknowledgment and admiration I will extol thee my God O King and I will bless thy Name for ever and ever c. And Verse 3. to Verse 6. is a magnificent acknowledgment of God's Power Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable c. and Verse 11 12 13. again in Verse 8 9 10 15 16. is an acknowledgment of the general Divine Goodness and Verse 17. of his Holiness and Verse 14 18 19 20. of his mercy or goodness to persons in misery and distress especially who
that I do not see it is any where to be used where the other can as I have before said Nor is it to be permitted to all even when there is no opportunity of using a Form or Premeditation but only to persons who have been and are of great consideration and judgment concerning such things as are to be the matter of our Prayers and have well exercised themselves therein and consequently are of copious and quick Invention and Memory of true just useful things and of convenient Speech to signifie oâ— express them All Conveniencies considered possibly a mixture of Publick and Private Forms and of Premeditated Prayers may be best whereby the Inconveniencies in all may be corrected or remedied by each other and the peculiar Conveniencies of all obtained especially if there be some discreet and pious Superiours frequently to take an account of to hear and direct those who may be less sufficient when they perform this Duty in publick SECT XVII II. I Am now to propound some of the Second sort of Directions viz. How to obtain these due Qualifications of Prayer of which I have been discoursing and they be these six or seven among others 1. Read we much and understand well the Holy Scriptures that we may apply them truly and usefully to our own Cases The least useful to this end though there are many other excellent uses are those Parts which are Controversial or Historical except those which deliver the Actions but especially the Speeches of Holy Persons such as our Saviour's Discourses amongst which are some Prayers as our Saviour's and of some of the Apostles The most useful are those which are Devotional such as the Book of Psalms out of which there are many truly excellent Examples of all the Parts or Ingredients of a Prayer the circumstances being rightly understood of which I have still successively made use Also those Parts which are Preceptive which contain Instructions for our Duty what our Temper and Spirit ouâ— Actions and Conversations ought to be as the Book of Proverbs our Saviour's Discourses many Chapters of the Epistles I say these are more useful for this end than those which are controversial as most part of the Epistle to the Romans and to the Corinthians and Galatians c. though out of these too much may be had It were to be wished that with the Scripture there was always some short and plain Paraphrase to be read with it for the better understanding of its sense and that the Sentences thereof which are not plain might not be used ignorantly confusedly falsly and erroneously It is very well known we may think we pray in Scripture when we do not we may pray with the words of Scripture but not with the sense As if praying that we might not be conformed to this World we should mean all other Christians of different perswasions from our selves and not the corrupt and sinful manners of all men whatsoever which was then and is now generally the condition of Mankind in this World Or Confessing our very best doings are polluted rags we should mean the best of the best man's actions and particularly his sincerest and ardentest love to God that he can at that time exert which surely may be in one action were a sin and not understand it of a Nation generally even in their religious performances or the best of their actions formal hypocritical insincere c. which was the sense of those words when spoken and therefore in such case to be used or such like instances Wherefore we should be careful rightly to understand and to have the true sense of Scripture and not through vain imagination rashness confidence self-conceit abuse the Language thereof And where the sense is doubtful and pious holy and wise men differ rather to abstain therefrom We may find elsewhere expressions enough besides for our sense and meaning There are abundance of Scripture-Expressions very plain and clear in their sense and need no Paraphrase or other words for their better understanding As that we may live soberly righteously godly in this present world that we may love the Lord our God with all our heart and our Neighbour as our selves that we might do God's will here on Earth as it is in Heaven that he would cause us to be loving without dissimulation merciful with chearfulness to abhor that which is evil cleave to that which is good to be kindly affectioned in honour to prefer one another fervent in Spirit serving the Lord those especially whose Office it is to instruct in the Knowledge of the Doctrine and Design of the Lord Jesus to be rejoycing in hope patient in tribulation continuing instant in Prayer especially when in the like condition with the persecuted Christians given to hospitality to bless them that persecute c. as that most deliciously honest Chapter of Romans the 12th goes on and Rom. 13. And likewise Coloss 3. and Gall. 5. Further that God would give us repentance unto life that God would give us forgiveness of our Sins for his Name 's sake who is the Propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world and scores the like But if we use any Scripture-Phrases obscure and doubtful it is best as short and clear as may be at the same time to Paraphrase them or express them in our most known and therefore plain Language as hath been before briefly advised Thus by using our selves to Read much and rightly understand the Scriptures we shall furnish our selves with good store of true just useful and important matter for our Prayers though we ought if we can to judge what even Scripture matter is most important and useful for us in particular for there is great difference Moreover Scripture-Phrase thus used is such as doth invite to attend to the sense of what is said by the authority thereof because spoken by Authors for whom we have worthily a great veneration and we judge at least directed and overseen by God himself in their sense and expression Scripture-Phrases likewise which are plain are like to be so much the more clear and quickly understood as they are more common and used which is much more than any other I said just now where Scripture-Phrases are obscure there it will be best as shortly and as clearly as we can to Paraphrase them in other Phrases most used and therefore best known what they signifie As for Example if we should pray in Scripture-Language that we might be found in Christ that we may be in Christ that we may obtain Christ c. we may add that we may be sincere firm and constant believers or Christians who may give our selves to obey the will of God sent by the Lord Jesus Christ by believing all the Doctrine that he hath taught and practising accordingly not that we may be in a state of favour with God for Christ's sake or that by his effectual procurement God would pardon our Sins acquit us from Punishment