more of him That you may see his Power and his Glory so as you have seen him in the Sanctuary And may perceive still more of the Strengthening and Reviving which you have found upon this way till from such Glimpses you reach at last to the Fulness of this Heavenly Light 3. Remember what a Presence you are entring into when going to your Prayers and drawing nigh to God Though you are never out of his Sight yet then place yourselves as directly under his Eye and surrounded with the Glory of the Lord. As Daniel worshipped Before his God Chap. 6.10 So do it Heartily as to the Lord. Seek the Lord and Seek his Face Psalm 105.4 As if you were speaking to your Sovereign Face to Face Pour not out Words without minding the Majesty with whom you have to do Lest the Lord Capitulate with you as he did with those Zech. 7.5 Did ye at all do it to me Even to me You had some one else in your Eye and other Matters in your Mind And I that was in your Mouths was least Regarded in your Hearts O How Few indeed Draw Nigh to God even when they Seem to do it And how many Prayers are Lost by the way that never Reach to him Because alas They did not so much as Aim at him And even in the midst of all their Prayers God was not in all their Thoughts O take heed that your Prayers be not such Mock-Prayers Which have not God present with you for the Glorious Object to whom they are Presented But Look upon Him as just Before you and on every Side Round about you That your Prayer may be the Ascending of your Hearts and a Dealing and Conversing Immediately with him That you may not take so much Notice of any thing that strikes upon your Sense as of the Great God that Searches your Hearts and overlook all the Company to Lift up your Eyes to him that Dwelleth in the Heavens And as the Eyes of Servants Look to the Hand of their Masters and as the Eyes of a Maiden to the Hand of her Mistress So let your Eyes Wait upon the Lord your God till he have Mercy upon you Psal 123.1 2. Yea Lift up your Hearts together with your Eyes for his Blessing and Direction his Assistance and Acceptance in that great Work you are upon And if in the Beginning of your Worship you do not always make such an Address with your Mouths yet never Forget to do it within your Hearts That you may find Him who is with you Present in such sweet and joyful Effects as shall be like a Beginning of Heaven to you 4. Though I must not Impose it yet I cannot chuse but much Approve and Recommend it That before your Solemn Prayers you would Read and Consider some Portion of the Holy Scriptures To Hear what God says unto you Before you Speak unto God For this is not only a Decent Preface but an Excellent Preparative to Prayer Thus to Gather in your Thoughts and Compose your Minds to Wait and Attend upon the Lord. And those Families that are much Concern'd in the World have the greater Need of this Means To Excite and Engage them to the Worship of God By Hearing of somewhat first from the Word of God He that turneth away his Ear from Hearing the Law even his Prayer shall be Abomination Prov. 28 9. Though I quote not that Text to prove it a Duty still to Use such Reading before our Praying when the Meaning is that an ill Practice will spoil even the best Prayers Yet we seem then to stand the Fairer for a desirable Hearing with the Lord When we are first Inquisitive and Attentive to Hear what he says to our Souls And you can hardly Read a Psalm or a Chapter with Deliberation and Serious Pausing upon it as all Holy Scripture ought to be Read but it will Suggest some Thoughts and Reflections that may prove of mighty Use and Advantage to Quicken and Promote your Prayers 5. I would not only advise but earnestly exhort you to a Profound Riverence in the Worship of God And such an Awful Carriage in his Presence as may shew you to Pray with Understanding and to Know Where you are and to Whom you Address For it is another thing to Negotiate with the God of Heaven than to go and speak to the Greatest Prince upon Earth And if the Glorious Powers Above throw down their Crowns and Shrink up themselves before his Throne O how can despicable Worms here ever Abase themselves Low enough at the Feet of such a Holy Incomprehensible Majesty And they that will Dare to play with this Consuming Fire may Dread to be made Dust and Ashes in the Saddest Acceptation His Name is not only Glorious but Fearful Deut. 28.58 This Glorious and Fearful Name The Lord thy God He makes not only the Earth and the Devils but even his holy Servants and the Pillars of Heaven Tremble So Great and Good a man as David was not asham'd to Confess Psal 119.120 My Flesh Trembles for Fear of Thee and I am Afraid of thy Judgments O the Madness then of Desperate Sinners that can make as Bold as their List with such a King of Unlimited Power and Glory The Lord Open their Eyes For they know not what they do But let the Biggest in the World learn to be Wiser As they are taught Psal 2.11 And Serve the Lord with Reverence and Godly Fear And let me apply that for thy Admonition proud Sinner Psal 114.7 Tremble thou Earth at the presence of the Lord At the presence of the God of Jacob. For Alas What art thou but a Piece of Weak Vile Earth And thou may'st exceedingly Fear and Quake to think how Stiff and Stubborn thou hast been with the Almighty Majesty of Heaven And because nothing so Low abases us as the Sense of Sin The more therefore to Heighten that Sense Be more Free and Full in Confessing of your Sins and Impleading your selves And forbear not to tell even all the Worst For such Doleful Accents issue in Joyful Accounts The plentiful Showers produce fruitful Crops Psalm â—2 5 I said I will Confess my Transgressions to the Lord And thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin And though he Mourn'd in his Complaint and made a Noise Psalm 55.2 Yet he Comforted himself Psalm 6.8 The Lord has heard the Voice of my Weeping q. d. He gave more regard to the Groans and Tears than to the Words and Phrases Be not sparing then to Confess if you would have the Lord abundantly to Pardon Yet here not only your Prudence but Necessity must set Bounds For if you think you must Tell All you will never have done Do then what you can And like poor Debtors that use to pay some one Time and some another And then think you have done it to some purpose when you have but confest enough to Pierce your Hearts and to pull down your Souls But because many
more Base and Despicable to all the Faithful Subjects of Heaven And if thou dost not sooner take Shame to thy self He that is Jealous of his Glory will one day bring it upon thee before all the World Thou Consultest Shame to thy House in keeping off that Serious Religion which would be the Glory of thy Family And till thou dost more wisely bethink thy self and set up better Orders among thy Retinue Thou art Vile and Scandalouâ— thy self and helpest to Spoil their Credit together with thy Own And you all then Live together like a Lawless Rout that Forget your selves and Mistake your Business in the World and are going the way to be Cast out from God for ever in the next World Because you so Live without him in this And you have no way to Recover your Reputation here and to Prevent your Everlasting Confusion hereafter but by Humbling your selves before him from whom you have so Departed and Returning to your Allegiance and giving up your selves to his Service and setting about his Business Even that Worship of the Great God which is the Glorious Employment of Saints and Angels in Heaven and which Honours the Highest Kings and Princes of the Earth more than all their Crowns and Regalia and the Plaudits and Cringings of their Subjects Yea which will Raise even the Poorest of you all to the Dignity of an Equality with them in his Sight and to be Favourites of Heaven and the Beloved of the Lord. For so Daniel was called Chap. 9.23 Greatly Beloved Not so much for his Excellent Parts or his Eminent Station as for his singular Piety and Flaming Devotion How Proud are men of the Service to attend upon their Prince and not only to wait in his Presence but to be happy in the Enjoyment of his Favour And what Bigger Title has the Highest Prince in the World than to be a Servant of the most High God And yet to Serve his Christ will make you such as the King of Heaven will think fit to Honour So saith our Lord Joh. 12.26 If any man Serve me him will my Father Honour Any man even the Meanest man is Capable of this Highest Preferment And for my part as I cannot but Despise and Abhor the Habitations of the Prayerless tho never so Fine and Splendid Pompous and richly Furnish'd For there they are Strangers to God and Out with Heaven And while their Bellies are fill'd with the Hid Treasure Leanness is sent into their Souls and amidst all the Plenty still they are Beggarly because they will not Beg. So I Reverence the Praying Families though never so Poor and Low in the World For God is with them and the most High has a Gracious Respect unto them And such Servants of His you all may be and ought to be Yea thus you may be Royal Favourites and Rise to be Great in the Kingdom of Heaven Not by Carrying it High like the Proud Pharaoh that ask'd Who is the Lord that I should obey his Voice No But by Honouring him with the Profoundest Adoration your selves and also seeing that your Families all do the Like Calling upon them as his Renowned Servant has taught you Psal 34.3 O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his Name together And in thus Exalting Him you will also Exalt your selves For you can never indeed so Exalt him as to make him Higher than he is All that you can do is but to give him what is Due to him and so to raise him in your own Souls and in others apprehensions Yet when you do but thus much he will exalt you Really and raise you even above your selves to an Equality with his Blessed Angels 4. This Family-Worship will make for the Comfort of your Houses To render them Sweet and Peaceable Habitations amiable as the Tabernacles of the Lord lightsome as the Gates of Heaven and filled with the voice of Joy and Salvation as the Presence Chambers of the God of Consolation There 's no such House kept as where God is pleas'd to Dwell And he Dwells in every House where the Inhabitants set themselves to Seek his Face and meet together to Call upon his Name And then the very Heart of them may Rejoice that Seek the Lord Psal 105.3 'T is not a Doleful Service therefore but a Heavenly Entertainment 'T is not only pleasant and comely to Praise the Lord to recount the Richest Favours and to discharge your Debts in making grateful Acknowledgments For that is all the Pay Heaven expects from poor Creatures But even Confession eases the Heavy Heart and Supplication gives the Mind full Vent and pours out all the Grievances of the Soul and then it Returns to its Rest O do not then look upon Prayers as your Drudgery but the sweetest Festivity and go to God as to the Dearest Friend and your Exceeding Joy Though Prayer has its Sighs and Groans yet these are but as the Bass to the Musick and still it is the Joyful Sound Pleasing to the Lord and no less so to all experienced Souls that delight in approaching to their God They are to serve him with Gladness and come before his Presence with Singing Psal 100.2 And he promises to make them not only Welcome but Joyful in his House of Prayer Isa 56.7 So does he use them and so do they use to find it above all that they are able to express it And therefore suffer not the malicious Tempter ever to put you out of conceit with Prayer To make that pass for your Task and Torment which the Gracious God has provided as the poor Souls Song and Hearts-Ease in the House of its Pilgrimage and for a reviving Cordial in every time of Trouble And if your Sins and strangeness to God make it uneasy to any of your Souls 't is not because Prayer is harsh and void of Comfort but because your Souls are diseased and out of Tune And then instead of taking Distaste at the Prayers your business is to get those Souls in better Temper and pray on till you have conquer'd the Difficulty and pray'd down the Sins that destroy the Comforts For be sure the Pleasure is to be Found it is before you and therefore press on still after it till you reach into the Possession of it And as they that have received Grace from the Lord long to propagate the same to others so whoever has tasted the Sweetness of Prayer in secret will desire that all his Friends may partake with him in it that the Harmony may increase with the Consort And then 't is O come let us sing unto the Lord let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our Salvation Psal 95.1 And this is your sweet and comfortable living together when you are for inviting one another to join in the Praises of your Maker and Redeemer and to seek all your Happiness in his unmeasurable Fulness who has enough to supply and pleasure you All and will have never the
left them at Liberty Now this is a heavy Charge could it be made out And I know from what Quarter this Wind uses to blow But 't is well that if is but Wind and that there is so little Reason for it I am not upon a Disputation but an Exhortation And therefore shall not pretend to an ample Demonstration But besides That I have already prevented my self for proving the proposed Duty to be a needful Duty I believe that the Objectors Cavils are not Reasons that satisfy even themselves But they go conscious that their neglect is more for want of Mind to it than of a Command for it When if there were no Express Charge in Particular yet it is so evident That the whole Drift of God's Holy Word is to set us about our Heavenly Father's Business and to engage us to follow it with all our Might all our Days in all our Stations and Relations And to look upon all the little Time we have here but as a preparing Time for the Place and State where we must abide for ever And still to carry ourselves in this Vale of Mortality as the Candidates and Seekers of a better Câ—untry in everlasting Glory 'T is not only the Letter of Scripture and what is expresly said in it but also the Deductions of Scripture and what may naturally be drawn from it that we are to look upon as Scripture and our Rule to go by We must be determined by Thus saith the Lord though not said in Terminis when it is by plain and easy Consequence Else we might not only turn Baptism out of the Church but the Lord's-Day out of the World as well as Prayer out of the House But besides the Command to Pray every where that is fit for the purpose as you must all own your Houses to be unless you will condemn yourselves as unfit to Lave in them if you make them unfit for it And the Command to continue in Prayer Col. 4 2 which was given particularly to Masters of Families And the Duty which our Lord has taught us in his Prayer to do the Will of God on Earth as it is in Heaven which be sure is with the joint unanimous Adoration of all that Glorious Family God has said enough in his Word to Determine the Practice of all his Dâ—vout Servants and Dear Lovers Though not to satisfy the perverse and disafficted Ill-Willers who use to shew the Mettle that they should spend in the Service to Argue themselves out of it and to Condemn the whole Generation of his Children in all Ages and Places of the World for a Company of Mistaken Zealots to accustom themselves still as they have done to this Family-Worship When indeed the general constant Vsage of these may go for one of the most Authentick Comments upon God's Revealed Pleasure in all such common Practical Cases And the usual Opposers of this Service are too well known to be none of the likeliest Persons to be best Acquainted with the Will of God Nor are they so Tender to consult the Divine Pleasure in any thing that makes for their own Pleasure And what suits with their Humour they do not call for a Text to prove it No they can often force their way through a Hundred Texts that Condemn it But what they have no Kindness for they are not willing to believe themselves Bound to If it go against the Stomach they are forward to Fancy it may as well be let alone In that which is to be done for God they Dispute the Obligation And they 'll put him to make a Distress upon them to get his Rights of them He must go to Law with them but they shall find good Law in abundance against them for that Ungodliness which is the Grand Bar to their Prayers Should an Earthly Prince but give them as much Intimation of his Mind that they should be Welcome with him coming as oft as they would for Riches and Honour A Hint should serve the turn And how soon would they Spell out the meaning And not hang long in Suspence whether they were bound to go or not And if the King of Heaven has given sufficient Indication of his Mind that the Morning and Evening Sacrifice of the Family are such a Sacrifice wherewith he is well pleased What if he would not speak out more particularly that he might trust Love and leave somewhat to the Conduct of that Spirit which is to Lead his People into all Truth And to try the Choice of Heavenly Wisdom whether we will not understand ourselves better thâ—n to Wrangle away the Holy Work which is so much out Blessed Privilege You may rest assâ—â—ed then that here you do well and take the safest part And that when your Lord comes you shall never be Blamed but Blessed to be sâ—â—nd so doing 2. Some plead want of Time to Excuse them from the Work They have all of them their Hands so full so much lying upon them such a Hurry of Business such Multiplicity of Affairs this and the other to be done they know not which first Between the Care of their Families the Burdens of their Places the Ailments of their Bodies and the Crosses and Troubles of the World that they cannot have time to Attend these Family-Prayers They are too much call'd upon themselves to lie Calling upon the Lord. They would do it but they have no Room for it And so they put off their Monitors and seem to Content themselves that they cannot Help it and it 's none of their Fault And 't is well in the mean time if they be not more pleas'd than griev'd with the Hindrance Now though it 's true some have much more and better Leisure than others and so more may be expected from them And the heavier Reckoning remains for them if they throw away those precious Opportunities upon their Impertinencies or in the Devil's Service which God gave them wherein to Glorify him and to work out their Salvation And such as are Involved in more Business and Cumber I shall leave to Examine themselves Whether they do Groaâ— under the Burden of their Apostacy that they must Eat their Bread in the Sweat of their Faces And do not rather Rejoyce that they have got an Evasion to Privilege them from being any more concerned in the immediate Attendance upon their God Yet which of you all can pretend You have no Time for doing that which God gave you all your time in the World to do Or do you think it will bring you off at the last for neglecting the One thing needful that you were so cumber'd with many things else When compar'd with that Alas What are your many things but as so many Rattles which the Children stand shaking or the Dirt-pies that they make or any such pitiful Trifles wherewith they Amuse themselves Unworthy ever to be Named as any Apology why the Great Lord of all should not be duly Attended and his Worship and
much Time and yet it is all one as when you had too little that is you find Occasion to Shift off the Work even at all Times And on the Lord's-Day when you cannot have the Business of the World in your Hands then you must have some Bauble in its stead and to Divert yourselves when the Sacred Time lies heavy upon you ye are ready to tun after Butter-Flies to catch hold of any Occasional thing to pluck you from Attendance upon the Lord and glad of any Company or Accident though never so Trifling and Sportive that will but Relieve you here and help to deceive the Work of the Day O see the old Deceiver in this and be not so Fool'd and Cheated out of those precious Hours that you have or might have if you would to Serve your God and to Secure the Salvation of your Souls Consider I beseech you How little a while it is till your Mouths will be Stopt and the Days of Request will be over the Times of Audience and all these Opportunities of Address to the Majesty of Heaven will be past and gone and all the fair advantageous Seasons of Calling upon the God of your Salvation will be quite at an End And you that now complain you have no Time shall ere long find Cause indeed for that Complaint that you have none No all your Time is slipt away and an unchangeable Eternity has swallowed you up Yet a little while and the Door will be Shut and no Hearing though you Cry never so hard Lord Lord Open to us Your Day of Grace will soon go out in an endless Night and your Season of Mercy the accepted Time is now even to Day But you know not what shall be on the Morrow You have no Assâ—â—â—ance but this Day shall be your Last And then are not you infinitely concerned as to Hear his Voice so let him hear Yours to Day According to his Call Isaiah 55.6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found Call upon him while he is near When our Lord says He comes as a Thief and his Day as a Snare and you know not the Day nor the Hour O do not stand complaining you want Time when you have it but use it while you have it and be in Care to Live as you would be Found And take his own Warning and Charge Luke 21.36 Watch ye therefore and Pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all Evils that are coming upon the World and to stand before the Son of Man And while you wait for his Coming wait much upon your Knees in your Prayers And then Blessed is the Servant whom his Lord when he comes shall find so doing 3. Some plead Insufficiency and would be excused from Family-Prayers for want of Ability They have not Heads and Memories Invention and Elocution Though they can make shift to say somewhat for themselves yet they should make nothing of it before others but to Pollute the Office Confound themselves and Offend the Company Therefore as good and better never meddle with it nor offer at it To this I answer If you have Sense and Reason Good Judgment and Voluble Tongues Skill and Readiness to speak well enough of other matters it is your Inexcusable Fault that you are no better provided here For some that have Parts and Boldness sufficient to speak to any Man yet when they should pay the Duty they owe to God all their Wit and Courage fails them and here they can say Nothing If it were to speak for their Bodies and the Concerns of the World they could find their Tongues and who more ready But when it is for the Soul and for Heaven they are at a Stand and Loss and here would have it pass for their good Manners to be Silent Now if such be your Case it speaks rather your Carelesness than your Weakness and that you do not so much want Skill as Will to the Work And then you are to use your Endeavours better to Fit and furnish your selves for it and beg of God to grant the Gift and the Spirit of Prayer that you may Discharge it in an acceptable manner and that you may not be readier to put forth yourselves in any Service else than in his who made you to Serve him and who best deserves all your Best And take head you forbear not to do it at all because you think you cannot do it with a Flourish or as well as the Best Aim not at Neathess and Finery but Plainness and Sincerity No matter how Plain if it be but Pertinent Do but Honestly and Devoutly as you can and Task not yourselves above what you find your Strength to be Yet use yourselves to it and by Practice you will still Learn to do it Better A great Zeal for it will be like Wings to early you through it And if you give your Minds to it you 'll find yourselves even beyond your Expectation enabled to go on with it Or though you are Infirm and Indisposed for it and not so Fervent upon it yet where there is no Keen Appetite in Sickness there must be some Eating or there can be no Living and then even in the Use of your Food you may find a better Stomach When Dullness is the hindrance a Serious Consideration may Warm and Rouze you into Zeal and Devotion And you will carry the best Prayer-Book in your own Breast when you well work upon your Hearts the lively Sense and Apprehension of your Sins and Wants your Maladies and Enemies your Temptations and Dangers the Corruption of your Nature and the Deceitfulness of your Hearts the Shortness of your Time here and the Eternity of your Abode elsewhere the Certainty of Death and the Dreadfulness of Judgment the Joys of Heaven and the Pains of Hell the Miseries of Others and the Mercies of God to You and Yours his Presence with you and his Inspection of you his Power over you and his Justice to give you what belongs to you the Necessity of a Saviour and the Fulness of his Satisfaction his All sufficiency and Inclination to do for you and the Usefulness and Prevalency of Prayer to help you to all that you can Need or Crave These and the like Thoughts set Home and duly pondered in your Minds will raise such a Stock and Supply at hand that you need not be to seek for the Materials of your Prayers But where your own Experience tells you That all this will not do God be thanked you have Variety of other helps in a readiness and you may provide yourselves with Choice of such Books ' of Devotion as you find most proper and agreeable to your Condition And if you do not only Read but Pray over those Forms provided to your Hands and Inform them with a Soul and bring a Spirit to the Book and put Life into the Dead Letter your poor Offering then shall be nevertheless Acceptable and Effectual for using the Words
instead of Adoring the World and Serving our Lusts But now the Time is past and we are lost and have lost All pâ—st Recovery and must bear the Eternal Brand and Smart of our Folly O it is the end that must make appear Who were Wise and Who the Fools And when Launching hence into the World to come Then that Wisdom of the World which is Foolishness with God will shew to be no better even in the Worldlings own sight Then the Prayerless-Families will open their Eyes and see their Error and find that they were quite out and did but Trifle and play the Fool when you threw by the Work of God to find you somewhat else to do and that it was your Ignorance which kept you from your Prayers 2. Another Cause of this Neglect is Pride For 't is the Proud Heart that makes Men so Stiâ—â— in the Knees The Wicked through the Pride of his Countenance will not Seek after God Psalm 10.4 He that is so Full of Himself sees no Need he has to lie Begging at the Throne of Grace When so highly conceited of his own Dignity he takes it for a reproachful Dimiâ—â—tion of himself for such a one as He to be commonly seen in lowly Prostrations to the Majesty of Heaven He counts himself too Good to be God's Humble Servant And Scorns it as Below him to own any in his House Above him fearing it would Lessen and Lose him with his Family if before them he should pay his Great Lord the daily Homage and Fealty That it would be too great a Degrading and Disparagement for him to Worship and bow down and Knâ—â—l with them before the Lord â—is Maker O wretched Worm I cannot forbear Thou pitiful Bit of stiff Dirt How dost thou forget thy self and utterly mistake the way to Honour When thou makest account to keep up thy Port and Grandeur among thy People with Huffing and Swaggering Looking Big and Talking Loud and carrying so High as if it were too great a Blemish to thy Quality to be every Day upon thy Knees in thy Family When alas in the Worship of God all are Equal and no Respect of Persons But as the Hills on the Earth disappear and bear no Proportion at all but the Whole shews to Heaven as a smooth perfect Globe So the Metaphorical Mountains are made Low and the Vallies Raised before the Lord. And all of what Degree soever are on a Level in his Presence Only that the most High has chiefest Respect unto the lowly And the Lower any Stoops in the Humbling himself the Higher does he Rise in the Blessed God's Acceptance 'T is then by Abasing thy self in the Dust of the Earth that thou wilt get nearest to him who Dwells in the Heavens Which is the Wonder the Riddle the Mystery of Humility but the Word of the Lord has establisht it for an undoubted Verity That he whoso Humbleth himself shall be Exalted But when thou art not more Pliable to Bend and too Stubborn to be brought thus Down take heed he do not bring thee down a worse way and yet more against thy Heart to make the Sturdy Enemy his Footstool and dash thee in pieces as a Potters Vessel There are a sort of Independents that Set up for themselves and Live to themselves and make themselves their only End Atheists indeed that Live without God in the World As if he had nothing to do with Them nor they with Him And their Cry to him is like that Jer. 2.31 We are â—ords We will tome no mere unto thee q. d. We Scorn to Wait upon thee Who is Lord over us What is this Lord of Heaven and Earth that we should Obey him The Application may seem too Keen to any among us But I shall leave all Prayerless Masters and Families to Examine themselves whether they be not Ashamed of the Humble Worship of God and for mâ—er Pride will not be Seen in it And at the same time to bethink themselves what a silly idle Attempt it is for any to make account of setting up their own Reputation upon the Râ—â—ns of his Glory And if any may think it pinches too much upon the Privilege of a Gentleman to throw himself down Promiscuously among his Iâ—feriors in the Worship of his Maker that it is for poor Snâ—aks and Abject Spirits so to Câ—eap and Grange and Lick the Dust and Beg and Supplicate not only for their Lives but even for their Daily-Bread If with the Arrogant Lucifer they would not suffer God to be the most High but would be like him and as High as He. If they would have their Dependance upon him and their Submission to him kept as a mighty Secâ—â—t not to be Divulg'd by such Humble Acknowledgment and Self-Abasements If they count this the way to keep up their Pre-eminence and to render themselves the mere Considerable I shall leave 〈◊〉 their Wisdom a little better to Advise upon this Point Whether it would not be more for these Credit and Honour to be less Houghty and Sâ—lly And whether Glittering Worms are ever the less Woâ—ms and Vile because they will so foâ—â—â—â— themselves as to Aspire after an Equality with the Highest And whether we must so Coâ—â—â— them our Betters as to forget that there is an infinitely better than they In siâ—â— whether themselves would not be much Better to be Humbler and by the Low Abasement of themselves in the Sight of God get them a worthier Esteem among all Men whose Judgment is worth the Regarding 3. Sloth is another Cause of this Neglect And O how many Families count the â—â—ily Worship of God too Troublesome to be endured among them Some for Laziness will not do the thing which yet they seem to Approve of and to wish it done if Wishing would do it but they will not be at the Trouble They have catch'd the Spiritual Cold which Benums them to all Holy things And here they are so Listless and Flaggy they will not lay out themselves nor Exercise their Parts to Conceive a Prayer no nor Charge their Memories to bear one Nor lower yet but so much as go over the Forms prepared by others for their Assistance But though they are Brisk and Nimble and Laborious in other Business yet are Heavy and Dead to this Work and cannot find their Hearts nor their Hands nor any Powers to fall about it or to go through with it They are Alive to the World and full of Mettle for their Bodily Concerns and their Fleshly Pleasures At any ones Call for their Temporal Gain and Advantage But when the Lord bids them Seek his Face they are dull of Hearing When his Service is to be Attended their Strength is departed No Delight nor Readiness to do the Will of God No Preparations to Meet him no Caring and Contriving no Labouring and Striving for the Blessed Fellowship with him but all for Slipping the Yoke and Hiding and Stealing from the Irksome Imployment So many
Hours they are at it even from Morning to Night for the Back and Belly but one Quarter of an Hour shall be grudg'd as too much to wait upon the Lord in any Holy Duty They have both Legs ready to run upon the World's Errands but when call'd upon Service to their Master in Heaven they are stark Lame and cannot Stir With what Vigorous Efforts will they bestir themselves to gain their worldly Points And though they meet sometimes with unfeisible things in the way to Bassâ—e their Attempts Yet again and again they are at it to try what they can make of it But when they should be taken up with God yea when it is to win Christ and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven here the Men of Might are as Weak as Water and nothing to be done let who will take all for them And is this do you think a hopeful Preparation for Heaven And like the Taking it even by Force Does it not indeed look more like a Concern and Endeavour all they can to Shun and Escape it Is this the seeking Glory Honour and Immortality by Patient Continuance in well-doing and the Fervency of Spirit in serving the Lord Can such Truants and Triflers in the Worship of God ever think this is the Way to come to him and to Live for ever with him Can they look to be regarded in the number of his Servants that will not so much as put themselves upon his Service And can they promise themselves all the Ease and Rest of his Kingdom and all the Welcome and Pleasures of his House that would never Labour in his Vineyard nor be at any Pains to do their Heavenly Father's Business Alas What 's all their Confidence worth to Reckon of having All when they will do even Nothing To think sure of getting to the Blessed End when they scarce tread a Step in the Way that leads thither Do they applaud themselves in the Negative Goodness and think it enough that they are not mischievous Plagues to their Neighbours and to say They do no Hurt Not to dispute the Truth of that Assertion which they would be hard put to it to make Good Yet Matth. 25.30 you may hear a dreadful Doom past upon a Man To be cast into outer Darkness where shall be Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth Not because he was a Stigmatized notorious Sinner but a Sloathful and Unprofitable Servant It was no part of his Inditement there That he had Murder'd or Robb'd or plaid any Villanous Pranks in the World But that he went and hid his Lord's Talent in the Earth He was Idle and good for nothing at any Holy Duties to Glorify and Serve the Lord. And so his Sloth and Negligence was his Bane and Damnation O Think of this and sadly think of it again all Prayerless-Families that Bury your Parts and Endowments so in the Earth that they are all lost to Heaven And when the God that Gave them should have the Use of them they are out of the way and no such thing to be heard of If you do not do a little more and better than you have done it 's doubt you will hear of another Greeting from the Lord than Well done Good and Faithful Servant 4. Worldliness is the common Cause of this Neglect and the utter Ruin of the Family-Religion Where Mammon is the Mistress God shall not be Owned and Attended as the Master of the House No by that time She is served his Part is gone This is his great Rival that stands in Competition with him for our Hearts and Service And how frequently is the Usurper aforehand with the Blessed Owner And comes and gathers up all the Rents and Dues And then at his Demand nothing's to be had all dispos'd of another way and goâ—le pâ—st the true Proprietor's Retrieving And then though he stretch forth his Hand all day long there 's nothing but Rebelling and and Gain-saying Either downright denying We will not have Him'â—â— Reign over us Or a Fraudulent Put-off When I have a convenient Season I will send for thee We are too Busy now it cannot be And to Morrow shall be as this Day and so the next and the next And this Injurious Invader seldom le ts go the Hold but rather strengthens the Interest by long Possession And no Wedging in Religion here among a Family of Worldlings They are still so Full the Vessel will contain no more They cannot hold their Hands and throw by the Rumble never so little And if any Office of Divine Worship is ever stirring among them they are Patients all the while as under the Ghirurgions Hands they bear it as a heavy Interruption to their more beloved Concerns and long to have it as soon as possible out of the way that they may get into their Element again And what is not quite turned out yet shall be so Run up in the Nurrows that it Dwindles all away into an Empty Formality And no body Gares for it No body gets any Good by it And alas How can the Wings mount up that are so loaded with thick Clay And when is it like to be better with them Though sometimes they may talk of Lessening the Business to Retrench the Encroachment yet how commonly is it but Talk For the Love of Riches is still a Temptation rather to Engulf and Overload themselves with more to lay further Snares for their Souls as if they were not Fast enough in already And then they are Snappish and Cross to be taken off What would you have us Beggars or turn our Houses into Monastries Indeed we would have you to be God's Beggars and to think yourselves more concern'd to lie waiting for his Favour than to Court the Smiles of the World and with such a wise and holy Care to Divide and Order your Time as to make Room still for God's Worship even without your Hindrance for the World Or where you must Pinch upon the one or the other Let it not be on God's Part. But be sure to have him first served and the World only us'd under Him and never to steal away the Service from him Nay we would not have you render your Condition worse than it is not to deprive yourselves of the Happy Benefits that you might have nor thus to Dispute yourselves out of the highest Privilege in the World As to cry you Serve God in your Ordinary Calling and that may suffice for you And let such Discharge the other Services here pleaded for that have fitter Opportunities for them And you shall not Envy them the Preferment I grant that you Serve God as well as yourselves and the Publick one way by serving your Generation in faithfully and usefully Discharging your several Places And let them be never so Mean and Servile you shall be as acceptable to God in them as if you were in the most Honourable Posts and the Highest Stations But yet sure you would not think that thâ—se poor Hindes which are
Drudging and Moyling abroad would argue very wisely for themselves when their Lord should Send and Invite them to come to him in his Parlour at certain times and there do some of the Better Offices of Waiters upon him yea and Embolden them to Sit down and Talk and Eat and Drink with him if they should Decline and Refuse it saying They serv'd him in the Field and therefore he could not blame them for not doing him any Service But as to the immediate Attendance and Favour offered they had rather be Excused and let who would take the Office The Queen of Sheba had a better Opinion of such Service when she so applauded the Advantage of Solomon's Attendants 1 Kings 10.8 Happy are thy Men happy are these thy Servants which stand continually before thee And if the Least of you may be so Taken up with a Greater than Solomon and are not only Permitted but Invited to come so Near him and to be so Free with him and yet you Pray him to have you Excused because you are Serving him in your Particular Callings I think your Refusal will not commend your Piety so to decline the Opportunities of drawing Nigh to your God nor yet commend your Wisdom to care no more for that Honour and Favour than which the Kings of the Earth and the Angels in Heaven cannot have a greater Whatever be your several ways of Subsisting in the World which are all designed but for the Support of your Bodies in the mean while till you have secur'd the Salvation of your Souls O remember That there is one great Profession which equally Concerns you and me and every one as the Common Trade of us all And that is to provide so well for our Eternal Subsistence that we may live Blessedly for ever in the World to come And then be not so Intent upon it to Rise and get up in this World to throw yourselves down and be utterly undone in the next But take more Notice of your Danger and be more with God in Prayer to Preserve you from that common Slaughter David prayed to be Delivered from Men of the World that have their Portion in this Life Psalm 17.14 O beg of God That you may not be put off with that wretched Portion that the Lord may not turn you over at last for your Reward to the Mammon which you served and say Take that which you Chose You would not come to me that you might have Lâ—se You might have hall it if you would have come for it But you preferred the Pelf and Dung of the Earthy before all the Treasures and Pleasurds of Heaven You made light of my Invitation and went your ways one to his Eâ—rmâ— another to his Merchandize where you thought you could make better Marketâ— You had rathâ—r be the World 's bored Slaves than the Lord's Freemen and Followers of God as dear Children And now all is gone and that World in which you Trustâ—â— and Delighted has shaken you off And what will you do World without end You thought nothing too much to do for the Friend that in your Wo Need Will do Nothing Can. do Nothing for you O Sirs did you look more out beyond this World sure you would be more looking Up and have your Eyes ever towards the Lord. Did you sâ—e the World passing away as a Shedow no more to be for ever 〈◊〉 Sure you would not Stick so unrâ—â—sonably to it not enduring but so much as for Prayer whiles to be parted from it But when you find the World so Rude and Impertinent to Rush in upon the Sacred Offices and Mingleâ— with your Holy Things either to put you beside them or to Interrupt and Spoil you in them Never abide the Intruder so to Damnify your poor Souls and Defraud your Glorious Maker Let it not here stick so hard with you that Christ shall not have you Like the Customer Matth. 19.22 that went away in his Dumps because he could not have the Saviour but he must be Weaned from his Wealth Shall the World fill your Heads and your Mouths your Hands and your Hearts as if you had nothing at all to do in it but only to make your utmost Benefit of it Will you be so wholly for Back and Beâ—â—y as to Forget and Slight God and Eternity O Bethink your selves Better and then the Lord shall Hear of you Oftner And then you 'll make the World stand Aside till he has his Attendance paid And not Run your selves out of Breath in Pursuit of Mammon â—ill you have no Breath to lay out in Calling upon God nor let that Pluck you from his Gates which can never Save you from his Wrath nor make you any amends for the Loss of your Souls Let those Alarms still sound in your Ears 1 John 2.15 Love not the World nor the things of the World If any man love the World the Love of the Father is not in him And Jam. 4.4 Ye Adulterers and Adulteresses Know ye not that the Friendship of the World is Enmity with God Whosoever therefore will be the Friend of the World is the Enemy of God If you cannot be so In with it but you must be Out with Him and you 'll turn him not only from you but all against you Take heed lest in Reckoning to Get all you Lose all And instead of suffering the Prayers thus to be Cashier'd and Routed let them be set up as the Barriers and Fences to keep off the Encroachment That you be not seized by the Enemy and carried away into an Unredeemable Captivity 5. There is the Enmity against God which Hinders this Praying to him The Wicked are all to pieces with Heaven and then these Offices of Friendship are not to be expected from them They are by Nature the Children of Wrath They brought the Seeds of Enmity with them into the World and the old Grudge and Core was never yet Healed No Still the Quarrel goes on and the Breach grows but Wider Still they are Enemies in their Minds through Evil Works Col. 1.21 And the Enemies in Mind are the Bitterest Enemies of all That have the Masice there Rooted at the Bottom And till they be Reconciled and made better Friends They will keep off and have as Little as may be to do with One whom they take for their Enemy God's Enemies would not have him to be the Head of the Family No They have not so much Honour for him For tho we cannot bear the Contempt and Affronts cast upon our Friends yet we care not how much our Encmies are Vilified and Despis'd We Grudge to pay them any Honour our selves and we are not well pleas'd to have them Admir'd and Magnified by others Yea further We Delight in the Company and Conversation of our Dear Friends We Love to go to them and never think it Long to be with them And if your Hearts be Join'd to the Lord you will not think the Daily Prayers come too
kickest against the Pricks and breakest throw all the Restraints of Conscience to run out after thy Pleasures and Extravagancies thy Idols and thy Harlots a Whoring from the Lord When thou livest Dishonestly or Idly carriest on Base Designs and scornest all Holy Rules When thou liest weltring in Lust swollen with Pride fir'd with Malice eaten up with Covetousness And all thy Sins are in their Power upon thee And nothing but what is Hateful to God is Dear to thee Does he not see thy Ways and count all thy Steps Dost thou not know he is aware of thee And then with what Face canst thou go into his Presence and take on thee to do any thing at Prayer In this Case thou art liker to make a Scoff at it thin to have any Serious Concern in it And thy Companions that know thee would but Laugh at thee to hear of such a one as thee ever offering so to Imploy thy self Thou couldst scarce have the Patience but to Kneel so many Minutes at thy Prayers as thou couldst sit Hours at the Cards or the Drink And when thou so hardenest thy self against the Cries of the Poor How canst thou expect to find any Mercy that wilt shew none When thou canst not Forgive but goest full of Vengeance thou'lt be afraid of Cursing thy self to go over the Blessed Form Forgive us our Trespasses as we Forgive them c. When thou hast been stretching forth thy Hands to Iniquity and Stealing or Cheating sticks to thy Fingers what Hands are those to lift up in Prayer And what a Tongue is that to Bless God that so commonly breaks out to Blaspheme him How canst thou pretend any Adoration to the God of Heaven when thou knowest that thy God is thy Belly Yea how canst thou expect to be ever the better for that Praying which thou canst make the Subject of thy Mocking and Jeering 'T is no Imployment for such a Prophane Wretch No thy very Praying is even as much a Taking of God's Name in Vain as thy Swearing There 's that Abomination in thy Heart which Cramps and Damps every Petition that comes out of thy Mouth Thy Trade of Life alas it stops the Breath and Kills the very Heart of thy Prayers And this is the Reason that many have so soon enough of their Prayers as not finding the Exercise to agree with their Constitution nor with the drift of their Conversation They will not be at the Pains to Cleanse themselves and then they know as good not meddle with the Prayers Nay the Enemies of God which they Reset in their Hearts will never abide it When it brings the Sins to Sight and is a kind of Arraigning themselves at the Bar of Heaven therefore they Abstain from it or are so very Sparing in it not only for Shame that the Holy things may not Confound them but for dread also lest they should Raise the Evil Spirit to Torment them But will this serve the turn And shall they who go on thus perversely in their ways so Guard and Defend themselves in the Pessession of their Sins O silly idle Attempt of Desperate Creatures For all must come out And the Conscience which they now so Strangle and Provoke will one day Return but with the greater Force and Fury upon them 'T is Vain then to Cover your Transgression and think to hide Iniquity in your Bosom or with a high Hand to get the Mastery of your Convictions and make a League and Peace with your Sins that shall hold Inviolable For be sure they will find you out And for all these things God will bring you into Judgment And there is no way for you to Escape the Danger of them but roundly to Judge yourselves for them And if you Seek the Lord to let these go their way And as ever you would see lin with Comfort Cast out the Cursed Things that set him against you And down with those Walls of Separation that keep you and your Prayers from him And away with the Bosom Lusts and Darling Sins that spoil all the Dearness with Heaven and that cut off your fair Correspondence Above O see the desperate Straits into which you run yourselves by continuing under the Love and Power of your Sins For if so you Hold to Iniquity it will certainly be your Ruin And you cannot come out of it without the Help of your Prayers And yet alas what Hearty Prayers can you make against the Sins which you love in your Hearts And let even this turn your Hearts for ever against those Sins that they blast all the Joy and Comfort of your Lives and turn you out of the best Refuge in the World and make that mighty Help of poor Sinners Insignificant and Helpless unto you by keeping you from it or destroying all the Advantage you might get by it and making that Blessed God the Terror of your Souls who should be the only Joy of your Hearts These things considered I hope you will not forsake your Prayers to cleave to your Sins But Fly from your Sins to get such a worthy Peace in your Minds that you may go sweetly on with your Prayers And now before I offer any Advice for the Management of this Duty let me settle some Preliminaries to make the Way for these Family-Prayers And I will propose but these Two Things The fixing of some Stated Times for Prayer And also the Frequent Returns of your Prayers That you may make Sure of them and that you may be as Osten as is needful in them 1. Make Sure of some Stated Times for Prayer Though I tie up none to Canonical Hours or to any other Certain Hours in particular yet I would have you to Fix upon some yourselves After you have each consulted your several Conveniencies for the fittest Seasons which you find to be most Proper and Advantageous for the Purpose Determine the Time with yourselves and let your People know that then you Expect their Attendance with you before the Lord. That so all may cast to be Ready and to get all that Hinders as much as they are able out of the way For the Corrupt Flesh will be apt to frame many Evasions to carry you off your Byass with other Matters when you are under no such Rules but only for Praying when the Spirit moves And if you do not fix upon your Times Nam'd and Appointed the thing will be in Danger often to be Forgotten and Thrust out and to slip and drop to the Ground Thus tie yourselves up then where you have not already and keep as near as you can to the Set Times that nothing under such unavoidable Impediments as you could not Prevent or Foresee may put you beside them And that none through their Fault nor unless upon any Just and Needful Account may be Wanting but Ready at Call for the Service Though I deny not but Prayer may sometimes give Place to a less Work than it self when it is a Fit and
Necessary Work and such that cannot be done another Time as the Prayer may Then you may step aside somewhat out of your Way to let the Carriage go by But use not willingly and upon Frivolous Occasions to Break your settled Measures And when you do let it be so That they who know you may perceive that the Interruption is none of your Pleasure but rather Pain and Grief to you But here I would take upon me so far as to recommend to you the Morning and Evening 〈◊〉 the Beginning and the Close of the Day as very Inviting Seasons for your Prayers And such as all the Faithful Servants of God generally every where throughout the World have been us'd to make Choice of And that not without very weighty Reasons Some of which let me here Suggest as Motives encouraging you to be with so much Good Company 1. For the Morning Prayers It may well be called the best Beginning to Begin with him who is the Best of all Beings To have your First Business with God is such a Tincturing of the Vessel as may make it carry a Sweet Savour all the Day After you have been so piously Taken up with the Lord you 'll be the more Meet for an Innocent and Useful Conversation with Men. When first you have been Seeking Directions from Above you 'll better know how to Carry yourselves in all your Concerns First Fruits were of old God's Part. And still we are to Seek his Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof in the first place And this is one way of Seeking the Lord Early when you Resolve with that Great and Holy Man Psal 5.3 My Voice shalt thou Hear in the Morning O Lord. In the Morning will I direct my Prayer to thee and will look up And before you break your Fast or pour down your Morning's Draught it is fit you should break open your Minds and pour out you Sâ—uls to God in your Prayers And this you are to take the more heed of that the World Rush not in to be served before your God and that Bodily Occasions do not get the Start of your Religion so that it never Recover all the Day Some Men are Early up but is only the World or their Fleshly Pleasure that Rouzes them They are in Hosta to be Bustling out and gone before they have asked God's Leave or taken Him along with them Instead of Calling upon the Lord and first of all Securing the Service of God As soon as up they are Calling upon their People and Spurring them on to the Service of Mammon to make Haste and do this and that besure But not a word of the thing that is most Needful of all to be done O what Preposterous Doing is here The Attendance on the Vile Body to exclude all Care of the Precious Soul Earth to be set above Heaven And any paltry Trifles and perishing Trash to take Place of Immortal Glory and the God Blessed for ever To run away with all Speed in the Morning without Him that has brought you to it as if you had no Dependance upon him nor he any Title to you Again I would engage you to your Morning Devotions even for the Decency of the thing And to make some handsome grateful Returns to your Great Preserver who has brought you out of your Sleep as out of the Hands of Death and rais'd you from your Beds as from your Graves and let you see a New Light like a Resurrection to another Life O can you chuse but say with his approved Servant Psalm 139.18 When I awake I am still with thee As soon as I Open my Eyes I cannot but Lift them up to the Lord from whom comes all my Safety and my continual Supply For that I laid me down and Slept and Awaked again What was it but because the Lord sustained me Psalm 3.5 Who did keep you in your Sleep when you were in no Capacity to Look to your selves Who securâ—d you from Dangers and Refresh'd you with a comfortable Rest And is it not worth your Notice and Acknowledgment And will you give him no Thanks and Praise for it O let even common Ingenuity extort from you the Morning Sacrifice And lannch not forth into the Business of another Day Before you have paid your humble Devotions for the Protection and the Repose of the last Night Yet further Let me urge the Necessity as well as Decency of this Duty If ever you would be safe and Do Well Do not Vonture out in the Morning without this Guard and Defence of your Prayers about you For your Souls to go thus Undress'd and Unbless'd into the world 't is worse than for your Bodies to set out Naked in the Sharpest Season You know not what you do So to Expose your selves You know not what Temptations and Perils you shall meet with nor what is near you or just hanging over you In such an Evil Dangerous World wherein you Live Beset with such a Mighty and Deadly Enemy that is still watching and plotting for your Mischief and Ruin And when you are so weak and Insufficient to maintain either your Integrity or your Safety and 't is as much as you can do with all your Prayers to secure your selves O what will become of you then if you get not under the Shelter of the Almighty If you Engage not his Aid in your Defence You are never out of Harms way when out with God However you may Fancy your selves safe and well enough even under the Devil's Power For so he will seek to Humour you into your own Undoing All your Security and Prosperity then Alas it is but a Dream and Imagination when you are out of God's Hands and will not by Prayer commit your selves to his Tuition That which looks for your Welfare then will prove but a Trap And even the things in which you Applaud your selves as Best for you will turn to your Downfall and Ruin Once more You have as much Need of your Morning-Prayers as you have of the Blessing of God upon all your Designs and Labours of the Day For how Vain is it To Rise Early and Sit up Late and Eat the Bread of Carefulness and Sorrow Psal 127.2 If the Lord do not give Success and make your Endeavours Prosperous The best Contrivance and the greatest Pains will never do without his Favour and gracious Influence All your Planting and Watering will signify nothing If he do not give the Increase 1 Cor. 3.7 You may Plough and Sow and Reap the Wind If the kindly Blessing of Heaven do not Rear up and Ripen and Perfect the Fruits of the Earth You may Reckon all Sure and Fear nothing to hinder the Success and yet somewhat be Latent out of your reach to Discern that shall Blast and Spoil all So that you have not only need every Morning To ask your Daily Bread But a Daily Blessing upon that Bread to make it Bread indeed Fit to Nourish and do