with Reverence and Godly Fear But withal Remember That in Prayer thou art going to thy Father Displeased indeed at thy Sins but Reconciled in his Son And having so great a Friend and so good an Interest in Heaven tho thou thinkest thy self Unworthy to Look up thither Yet with the Publican cry for Mercy to thee a Sinner And after all the Mischief done thee by thy Sins let them not quite Ruine thy Soul by taking thee off thy Prayers But the more Sensible thou art of Sin cry the more mightily unto God Yea from the very Magnitude of it that makes it look most against thee thou hast a Plea put into thy Mouth Psal 25.11 For thy Name Sake O Lord Pardon my Sin for it is Great He does not go about to Palliate and Excuse his Guilt and cry Lord it is but a Small matter therefore thou maist Easily pass it by He was Wiser and Better than so to Argue But my Case is Bad and Sad My Sin is Heinous and Grievous past all Help and Cure in the World but Thine who art never at a Loss to Effect what we would have Too Great for any but the God infinitely Great and Good to Forgive There is no Good in me to Invite thee to do it for me O do it therefore for thy Glory even to Glorify thy Power and Mercy That where Sin hath Abounded thy Grace may Triumph in Superabounding And then what can Spoil the Freedom of thy Prayers when thy very Sins may be turned into Arguments not only to Hasten thee to the Throne of Grace but also to Prevail for thee there Thus thou hast all the reason in the world to Beg hard for Mercy now in this only Time of Mercy and thou hast all Encouragements too on every side thee upon thy Seeking to find it Whatever thou hast Been and however thou hast Done Yet thy case would not be Desperate didst thou Return upon thy Submission with the Prodigal to thy Father And not only Confess thou hast Sinned but Beg and cry Mightily to be Reincorporate of his Family and numbred among his Servants Then matters would Clear up with thee and Heavenly Hopes would Dawn upon thee and Mercy on every side Embrace thee and our God would Abundantly Pardon For he delights to be so Won with a poor Sinner's Cries and Waits to be Gracious that we may Remember ourselves and let him have the Opportunity to Glorify his Mercy in our Recovery But O Sick and sadly Distemper'd are the Souls and Rueful and Ruinous is their Case to whom Prayers are a Burthen and affliction and who are out of Conceit with all that should do them Good and Prejudiced against the very Means of their Salvation Even ready to be Vndone and yet Listless to seek for Remedy having no Heart nor Tongue to cry to Him that alone is Able to help them To Conclude then Not only Believe and own but take and Vse the Liberty granted and make thy Benefit of it Down with thy Knees up with thy Voice Herb. And do not lie and Perish in thy Sins for want of thy Prayers But being Permitted to Speak for thy self O Prize the Happy Priviledge and with all Thankfulness and gladness catch hold of such an Advantage Let not Prayer as the Poet said of Probity be Prais'd and Starv'd After the manner of such as will cry God forbid we should Neglect our Prayers We must Pray Every where When God knows that in good truth they Pray no where But their Chambers and Families their own Houses and God's too can Testify against them that they are no Lovers of this Exercise nor were ever any Well willers to Prayer But do thou give it a real Commendation as thou dost to the Beloved Fare that pleases thee best by Feeding Heartily upon it And not only Talk of Praying but Do it Nor only in a Fit or on the By But make a Serious and Solemn Business of it And Ply and Follow it like one that is in Love with it and Fond and Greedy of it even as a Miser is of the greatest Lucre or an Epicure of the Choicest Dainties O whither should the Cold and Hungry go but to the Fire and to the Table And whither should the Obnoxious and Guilty repair but to the God that Pardons Iniquity Transgression and Sin with whom is Forgiveness that he may be Feared Whither should they Betake themselves that want Every thing but to Him that is the Possessor of All things And as we count our Meat does us Good when we come to it with a Good Stomach So to have such a good Appetite to our Prayers will make them Salutary and the Savour of Life to our Souls O never think much to Leave all to go unto Him whom thy Soul Loveth But say Welcome Sweet and Dear Prayer Come bring me to my God to Converse with Him to Draw from him and to Receive what he is not only infinitely Full of but as Inclinable to make his poor Creatures Happy with Let it be the most pleasant Entertainment of thy Life which thou need'st not be Spurred on to But set thy Mind upon it have thy Heart in it and make it the Solace of thy Soul to be taken up with thy God Let the God of all Grace hear thee every day at his Gates There Throw thy self and lie and Cry and never leave off thy Prayers till they be turn'd into his Everlasting Praises and thou hast no more to Beg but all thy work will be For ever to Bless His Name For Answering thee in all the Wishes of thy Heart FINIS Advertisement of Books A Philosophical Discourse of the Nature of Rational and Irrational Souls By M. 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hand scatters among all sorts of men That we may be Remembred with the Favour which He bears to his People and Visited with the Joy of his Salvation Little need have we to mind the Stuff here when all the Good of the Promised Land is before us And how well may that be called All which takes in whatever the Largest Soul of man can wish We cannot ask the thing that is not there Blaming the Shallowness of our Request Herb. His is the Power to whom we Pray And his Hand is never Shortned But with the greatest Ease can Effect whatever we would have Let us not then be Streightned in our Prayers when we have so much Liberty given us And we cannot Open our mouths so wide but He whose Gift is Eternal Life has promised to Fill them And to pleasure us not only to the Half but even the Whole of his Kingdom And what more can we Ask or think than All Heaven and Glory everlasting with whatever is Conducing Here to bring us Safe thither Poor Christian who art Humble and Contrite Trembling at Gods Word Be not Modest in thy own Wrong When thou art allowed to Enlarge thy Desires as wide as to what 's Infinite Lose it not for want of Asking Thou mayst think a Crown and Kingdom most Glorious and never failing too Good for thee a Sinful wretch to expect But they are not too Great for the God Infinitely Good to Bestow This is the drift of all thy Prayers No less thou art to beg than Christ and with him All things In this world the Knowledge and Love and Obedience of Gods Truth and in the world to come Life everlasting And that End of thy Faith The Salvation of thy Soul as it must be the Aim so it will be the Consequence of thy Prayers For whosoever shall Call on the Name of the Lord shall be Saved Rom. 10.13 Do but Ask as thou should'st and thou shalt Have what thou Wilt. CHAP. II. The Liberty of Praying as to the Manner THE Liberty of Praying is not so great for the Matter But it is yet greater for the Manner If Men will not go to Tye us up where God hath left us Free For tho' our Lord hath Limited us as to the Particulars to to be asked So that we are to ask nothing but what may be Reduced to some of the Heads which he hath prescribed Yet who could ever think that he tyed us up only to those very Words When as all Supplicants still together with or without those have been accustomed to other Words And yet not feared to transgress the Order of our Saviour But by this Liberty of the Manner of Prayer I understand The Freedom and Boldness of Address Using of the Voice or not Long Prayers or Short Plain or Elegant This Posture or that A Form or none One Form or another Chusing which Part shall go first And Altering Adding or Diminishing according as we shall judge most Agreeable and Beneficial to our selves and others SECT 1. Of the Freedom and Boldness of Address NOtwithstanding the infinite distance between us and the most High God We are encouraged to come Boldly to the Throne of Grace Heb. 4.16 Provided we Remember that we are Creatures We are not to forget that we are Children Children indeed of the most High Yet Behold God is Mighty and Despiseth not any Job 36.5 As we must Manage our priviledge so that the Goodness of God may not cause us to forget his Greatness as the Doctor gives a good Caution Serm. p. 112. So Vice versâ That his Greatness may not cause us to forget his Goodness As it is said of Luther That he prayed Tantâ Reverentiâ ut si Deo Tantâ Confidentiâ ut si Amico So Reverently as to God so Confidently as to his Friend For tho' God be the greatest King Yet he takes not so much State as the Meanest For what King keeps a Court so Open as to give Admittance to All Comers Or tho' they Get in every one must not look to Speed But he that lives never so Obscure on Earth may go when he will and Speak to the King of Heaven Who not only Authorizes our Access but Invites us into his Presence And likes us so much the Better the More we ask And is Kinder and Better to us than all the best and dearest Friends we have in the world God's Children have not received The Spirit of Bondage again to Fear But the Spirit of Adoption whereby they cry Abba Father Rom. 8.15 Not to Fear Why 't is Madness not to Fear Him at whose mercy we lye and who hath the Power of us to do what he will with us No such Hearts-ease as to feel our hearts softned into an Awful regard of the Glorious Majesty of the World To Reverence his Name and to be afraid to Lose and Offend Him Such as Fear him are call'd upon to Praise him Psal 135.20 His filial Fear is not Inconsistent with his cheerful Praises Who do so Fear him have indeed most cause to Praise him That by his Grace he has wrought them to such a Child-like disposition Nay the very representations of God as a Terrible Judge a Consuming Fire may do us the greatest Kindness To Hasten our flight from the Wrath to come As any one would give us cause of many Thanks to Affright us from a deadly Precipice upon which he saw us ready to run and to be Ruined But then the Fear which God's children have of him is not a Slavish tormenting Dread to affright them from Him But such a Caution and Circumspection as drives them out of dangers Home to Him to Shelter under his Wings Still they are to look upon him clad in Garments of Salvation as well as of Majesty Benevolous to his Creatures and especially Good to the Soul that Seeks him Not Hard but only to be Provoked and easie to be Intreated Full of Invitation and all Encouragements and Endearments to raise Hope and enflame our Love Not inviting us to Him for any Ends upon us but only to be Good to us Loving all the occasions to Exert his Bounty and can deny the children of his Family no reasonable Request Yea as much delighting to Give as we to Receive As the Mother is no less pleas'd to have her Breasts Drawn than the Child to Suck Nor does he part with his mercies as one that is with Difficulty drawn to it But only stays till we are Ready to receive the things we ask i. e. indeed till they will do us Good For till we are Ready for them they are not Good for us And our Prayers are not to make him more Willing but to make us more Prepared We must not go to God then Discouraged with a Servile Dread but repair to Him as to a Father Tho' offended yet Willing to be Reconciled And therefore puts us on to Ask our Pardon that we may Receive it And that he 〈◊〉 will
not Clear the Guilty should yet be no Terror to any pious Souls in Christ Jesus Who are Accepted in the Beloved even as if they had not Sinned And Who shall lay any thing to the Charge of Gods Elect When there is nothing in God Against them but all For them He that is of Purer Eyes than to Behold Iniquity Sees none in them but what he has received an Attonement for And so for all the Faults in them Fury is not in Him He is a Friend even to Sinners in Him that hath Satisfi'd for their Sins When they Look unto Jesus That is their Worshipping towards the Temple where God is Propitious And when we are apt to be Astonished at the infinite Greatness and Majesty the Justice and Purity of God Let us Bethink ourselves That yet we have to do with a God Satisfied for our Sins and in the Son of his Love Reconciled to our Souls And thô we have no other Door of Admission into the Divine Presence Yet we have Boldness and access with Confidence thrô the Faith of Him who is The Propitiation for our sins Out of this Angel's Hand the Smoak of the Incense that comes with the Prayers of the Saints ascends up before God with a grateful Perfume Rev. 8.4 And nothing fails that is put into his Hands who Heartens all his members and followers John 15.7 If ye abide in me and my words abide in you You shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you Having therefore Boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus And such a high Priest as is Holy Harmless Vndefiled Separate from â—â—â—ners and made Higher than the Heavens where he Ever lives to make Intercession for us And is Able also to save to the uttermost all that come unto God thrô Him We are to Draw nigh with a true heart in full Assurance of Faith Heb. 7.25 and 6. Ch. 10.19 22. Upon this Satisfaction and Mediation of the Beloved of God's Soul In whom he is Well pleased is grounded all the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Freedom of Speaking used by the Children of God which makes them so Bold with their Heavenly Father And yet no more Bold than Welcome This makes them so Importunate and pressing Yea so Daring as even to Argue and reason the case with their Maker and Judge and as it were to Quarrel with his Mercy as Bishop Hacket expresses it Christian Consol p. 129. To enter the Lists with Omnipotence and Wrestle for the Blessing To Capitulate and Plead with God by Arguments drawn from his Promise his Mercy his Glory his Son's Merits and their own Necessities Experiences Hopes and Dependancies Not thinking so to Change Him But to Excite that Faith in him which their Prayers are to Lean upon As Prayer reciprocally stirs up and Enflames our Faith When we eye the Promises of God and take the Boldness to ask all that he has the Goodness to Promise Remember thy Word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to Hope Psal 119.45 And to put the God of Truth in mind of his Promise To spread before him the Chirographum his own Hand-writing How Powerful must it be to Prevail with him As Melancton said of Luther He over-heard him at his private Prayers as if he had had some body to discourse withal in the Room with him And as S. Chrysostom observes of the woman Mat. 15.27 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The poor woman turn'd Philosopher to Dispute the mercy out of Christ's hands Truth Lord yet the dogs eat the Crumbs that fall from their Masters Table Thus the Violent take the Kingdom of Heaven by Force By such Striving in Prayer and improving all the advantageous seasons of Address Putting on so far till some may count them Rude and Sawcy That they may not fail to Speed for sparing to Speak Tell not the troubled heart of Modesty Christian Consol p. 128. 'T is a Complement it will not be tyed to said the Bishop of ours that was called a second Chrysostom for his Golden sayings The Passions of an Afflicted Spirit are not in good compass till carried beyond ordinary Rule and fashion Vehemence of Zeal will Break out and Transport the devout Soul so far as a cold Heart will think Vnseemly As Gehazi would have thrust away the Mournful Shunamite for her Rudeness 2 Kings 4. When she ran and catch'd the Prophet by the Feet But he excus'd for her verse 27. Let her alone for her Soul is vexed in her When we are upon the Stretch in Prayer As Elias strain'd himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 5.17 This is the Vis Deograta Tertul. Such a Forcible Attempt upon our Lord As he will not Chide us for And so does the Almighty God delight to be Overcome and yield to a Man To the man that is such a Passionate Seeker Intreating his gracious Favour with the whole Heart And this is the Resistance that makes the Devil Fly But he never stirs at the Recital of a few Liveless words of course Nor is at all concerned to Hinder the Prayer that is no Praying in the Holy Ghost Indeed it ill beseems them to make so Bold in Prayer who take all profane Boldness elsewhere But it well becomes the Children of the Kingdom who know whom they have Believed to be Bold in their God and Delight themselves in the Lord. Not to be Dragg'd to Prayer as their Drudgery which they do only because they Must Nor to hang back as afraid to speak to their Father But count it Good for them to Draw nigh to God And go to him as the Center of their Rest and their Exceeding Joy Taking his Service for Perfect Freedom A Labour of Love A sweet Heavenly Imployment and a matter of the chiefest Delight Now that we are not clogg'd with costly Sacrifices and an intolerable Yoke of Ceremonies as of old But somewhat that costs us a great deal Less will be much Better taken And nothing now indeed is asked but what is Cheap to be given Nothing imposed but what we may make Pleasant to be performed Under this Gospel-Dispensation we should have a Gospel Spirit Rejoycing in the Service of our Lord who hath Pleasure in the Prosperity of his Servants While others lye without Estranged from Him And are only Troubled whenever they Remember Him His Children Thirst after him Run to him and find sweet Welcome with him At this Retreat they turn in and under the Shadow of his Wings are Safe and Quiet Easy and Comfortable whatever happens And whoever shuns or objects against the Service All the world shall not put them out of Conceit with that in which they have found such Heavenly Satisfaction They will rather be driven out of the World than out of their Prayers As Daniel would Venture being cast into the Lyons Den rather than forbear to Pray and make Supplication before his God Counting it a more Material point to Secure his
Himself both God and Man I am never more Easy and free from a troublesome Concern about the Words of Prayer than when I am making use of the Lord's-Prayer And they that find fault with it as it is a Form may for the same reason quarrel all the Scriptures for being a Form of Sound words Nay they may as well reject every Conceived Prayer which is indeed as much a Form to the Hearers as if it had been penn'd or printed and then Repeated Yea I may know That to be a real Form composed by my self which some others take for an Extempore Effusion And so it may be only Ignorance in them which makes it Acceptable with them Because they take it not to be Prepared by me but to flow immediately from the Spirit in me But to think that all Set Forms are opposed to Prayer by the Spirit is such an opinion of Praying by the Spirit as I cannot comprehend No Praying indeed is true and right that is not Supplication in the Spirit i. e. Through the Help of the Spirit of God But I see not why it may not be such as well with as without a Form Nor is the Spirit Limited by such Forms Whenas indeed the Enlargement of the Heart stands not so much in the Copiousness and variety of Expressions as in the extent and Elevation of the Affections A Carnal man may have a Fluency of good Words But only the Child of God abounds with holy and heavenly Desires And those desires I may express in Others words or in my own Premeditated or Immediately formed without Stinting of the Spirit either way The one may do as well as the other No matter which I take So that I do it pertinently and affectionately For Words are but the Carkass of Prayer The Soul and Spirit lies within And the Searcher of hearts regards not so much how it is Drest as from what Heart it proceeds and how Earnest and Devout it is My words are not to Move Him but my self Not to pull the Bank to me but to bring my Vessel to the Shore And so I may use such words as I find fittest to Enflame my affections that I may stand rightly disposed to receive his Mercies Whether I pray in a Book or without is the smallest matter to Him So that I Pray at all indeed And when I use the Book am not Lazy and Formal And when I use none am not Rude and Proud but still Humble and Hearty To Pray is a great deal more than Saying of Prayers There may be all the Words without any thing of the Spirit of Prayer Whether I speak out of the Book or out of my Memory I may draw nigh to God only with my Lips Or I may so manage my Prayer as to have it Sincere and Effectual either way But when so little is done by the most at Prayer and such multitudes do live Prayerless not Calling upon the Lord at all Little need to perplex the thing or Affright any from the Throne of Grace Because they deliver not their minds just in our Rote of words To disgrace Book Prayers may be the way to discourage the most from all Prayer If they must have no Forms they could it may be make nothing of it but Ramble and Babble Trusting only to their own Abilities I think we ought rather to Hearten men on if they Own God in any way of serious Worship with Book or without For 't is according to what a man hath that God Accepteth him And he stands not so much upon a poor Christian 's Wording of his Prayers When he sees his Spirit Engaged and that he offers the Best he has doing all Heartily as in the Sight of God We make a mighty matter as to the way of some mens Wording things so much Better than others But alas what a small thing is this in the Esteem of God who Valueth and Judgeth men by somewhat else The most Elaborate and exact Expressions What wretched Barbarisms and hideous Jargon would they be found if severely Criticiz'd upon by Infinite Perfection And wo be to the best Speaker in the World if he should not be Heard and Accepted on any other account but only for the sake of his Words For how can a mouth-full of frail Breath tho Modulated with never such Art and Advantage be the Motive of all God's Mercy and Man's Salvation As much Stress as ever some are pleas'd to lay upon it 'T will not be so much enquirâ—d after in the great Day of Accounts How we used to Express ourselves in our Prayers As how our Hearts stood Affected to the Service And then the Holy Livers shall be found aforehand with the Finest Speakers And such weakness and Indecence as many a man would not Pardon The Father of Mercies will never Mention to them that Follow him and Delight in him as dear Children He equally offends God and Prophanes Prayer who either reads it Carelesly in a Book or tumbles it Rudely out of his Breast But when I find that I can be Devout in the use of a Prayer Book and that I can Exercise as much Devotion when I have no Book that I can join Profitably and Comfortably with the Church Prayers and with other Prayers I am in utramque paratus without Scruple for all Prayer that is offered with Humility and Zeal to God thrô Jesus Christ for such things as in his comprehensive Platform he has directed and encouraged us to pray for I will never believe That an Earthly Father can be Kinder than my Heavenly And if my natural Parent will take it in good part from me when I deliver my self to him as well as I can Thô I do not make a Starched Speech or read all out of a Book can he that knows our Frame and hath Compassion on our Infirmities Pitying them that fear Him as a Father pities his children fall out with me because I have not the Knack of Expressing my self as well as another When he knows I have a Careful Heart to Please him and am for serving him with the Best and do not use my own words for the high Opinion that I have of them above others But because another cannot express my wants and desires so Agreeably as I can my self Who best knowâ— where it pinches most and what I would be most glad to have And because I am afraid of being a Slothful Servant to Bury any Talent in a Napkin that my Lord hath lent me I would serve him with my Understanding and Memory and Utterance and all my faculties as well as with my Affections And if my Understanding cannot vye with some others or their Words be Better than mine Yet I think I am bound also to use my Own and to do according to the Ability that God hath given me Who I am sure will not be Harsh and Stern with the Weakest of his Children that shew their Willingness and Endeavours to please him thô they
cannot do like some of the rest I my self feel more Inclination as I see more Reason sometimes to give to a Beggar that is a sorry Faultering Orator than to another that speaks Exactly in Mood and Figure 'T is not so much his Fine Words and Cadence as his Want and Misery join'd with Simplicity and Humility that makes him an Object of Charity And I know it is not so much for our Speech and the Words of Prayer as for our Hearts and the Spirit of Prayer that He regards us who will be worshipped with our Souls and Spirits We should indeed Chuse words to Reason with him But when we compose somwhat of our Own it speaks our greater Care to be Acceptable And Bishop Hall in his Devout Soul tells us That a Stammering Suppliant may reach to a more eminent Devotion Pag. 11. than he that can deliver himself in the most fluent and Pathetical forms of Elocution 'T is not to rake together a parcel of good Petitions and seek to give them some Life in the Utterance unless we Draw Nigh with a True heart in full Assurance of Faith For it it is Faith in God's Promises that is the Foundation of all our Prayers And Prayer is but Faith putting forth itself in a Flame of Desires God hears no impenitent Sinners that Regard Iniquity in their hearts Let their words be never so fine and Apposite And he rejects no Humble Faithful Supplicant be his Speech never so weak and Imperfect Tho such be not Eloquent they have words sufficient to do their Business Even Broken words will serve the turn when they come from a Broken heart When going to Prayer then I will remember I am going to my Father And tho I know a Son honours his Father and so I will know my Distance and pay a profound Veneration and Exert the best of my Abilities in his Service Yet while I keep off from the Vncreaturely Boldness I will not run upon the Vnchildlike Strangeness To be curb'd with such a Spirit of Bondage that I dare not Speak for my self Nor dejected with a Servile Dread of his lying at catch to Trepan me in my words if I do not place every one Aright As if he were so Inconsiderate of my Frailty or could carry like so Rigid an Enemy to Cast off me and all my Suit if there be but the least word knockt out of Joint At this rate did I listen to the Teachers of such a Ghastly Frightful Religion I should make it a more Dangerous thing to Pray to God than to Keep away and never come before Him But I will never be persuaded that the Father of Mercies has the Spirit of some Rough and Sowre Doctors Who yet can make as bold with God in their Manners as they think others do in their Prayers And are not so Strict in Tutoring their Neighbours Tongues but they can be as Lax in ordering their Own I cannot question in the least But there have been many and gross Abuses of this Way of Praying which if rak'd together may furnish out matter enough for Satyr and make abundance of work for any Doctor or other that has such a Talent And tho Stories seldom lose in the reporting by such as are known to have a strong Byas Yet let Commin's Hypocrisy and Weyer's Villany both pass without Contradiction That the one could so Masquerade it for the Pope and the other Command good words while himself was Commanded by the Evil Spirit And to these Two let Twenty more be added of the same Stuffing 'T will but prove what none denies That there have been Ill men of all Pretentions Satan himself can be Transformed into an Angel of Light And one that was a Devil had yet a Name among the Disciples of Christ But let False Coin and Counterfeit Wares be Detected and Cryâ—d down This is no Prejudice at all to that which is Current right and good Nor does my Undertaking oblige me to answer for all the Cant and Gibberish Jargon and Impertinence flowing from any shatter'd Heads or wild Tongues under pretence of Exercising their Gifts Men may Hurt themselves even with God's Gifts and turn their very Remedy to their Ruin They may be proud of their New Words as of New Cloaths And there may be much more Pride than Devotion in the case When we are ashamed to Appear before the Lord unless it be still in a New Dress But if the Abuses must lay an Embargo on the Use I know not what Prayers then of any sort will be left us Or what will become of the Common Prayer it self but it must cease to be Common or to be at all because many have made as Wretched work with that as ever was made of Free Prayer But I know some would heavily resent it for a most Tyrannical Imposition To be tied up for ever medling with a Bottle of Wine because it has Happened with so many That when the Wine was in the Wit was out This Doctor is not therefore for Renouncing the Doctrine of the Trinity because he takes that for an Adulteration which another Doctor calls a Vindication of it Holy things and Pearls will sometimes light among Dogs and Swine But yet they do not for that lose their Nature The Things themselves are not a jot the Worse tho the Profaners of them are a great deal Let those that are Guilty answer for that But why should the Children of the Kingdom be turn'd out of their Privilege for the sake of some illegitimate Interlopers that have made Invasions upon it Whither should a Child go but to his Father And if he must not speak a Word to him but what he Reads out of a Form Where 's the Ingenuity and Freedom of a Child and the Boldness at the Throne of Grace And what advantage then of the Spirit of Adoption above the Spirit of Bondage Sure we may have Boldness and Assurance without being Sawcy and Malapert And tho it is not for a pitiful Worm to think of being Hail-Fellow with his Glorious Maker Yet I think it is an untowardly way of Honouring my Father to take him for such a one that I Dare not Speak with him or if but a word Amiss to think he would not Hear nor Forgive me Desires are the Wings of the Soul on which it mounts up to Heaven Prayer sets them a working But where are many Appendages they 'll be like but to Cumber and Clog the Motion which the more Natural the more Free and Easy Tho a dexterous Art may help Nature Yet Grace added to both is the best accomplishment and the Crown of all Prayer is God's Breath in man Herb. Nothing to be done in this matter without the Spirit Helping our Infirmities And that I take to be what they call Praying by the Spirit whether with Book or without when the good Spirit of God gives his gracious Guidance and Assistance for the true and zealous performance tho not an
Hearts No good thing will he withhold from them that walk Vprightly Psal 84.11 Still there will be room enough left for his Pardon even when we have done our Best Yet will he not for that stop his Ears but Hear in Heaven and when he Hears Forgive Elias I know was an Extraordinary Person Tho the Apostle tells us he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 James 5.17 Passible as we are and that with Frailty of Mind as well as Body For so the Venerable Bede glosses upon it Et mentis Fragilitate Carnis Yet he Prayed and was Heard in what he Asked Some Inherent Holiness indeed we must have to give us Confidence towards God and to speak our Interest in the Holy prevailing Advocate Whatsoever we ask we receive of Him Because we keep his Commands and do those things that are Pleasing in his Sight 1 Joh. 3.22 Yet we cannot ground our Hopes all upon our own Holiness But must have a better Name and Righteousness than any in ourselves wherewithal to Appear before the Lord and Bow our selves to the most High God And He upon whose Interest and Mediation we go is pleas'd to call to Him the Labouring and Heavy-Laden They that feel themselves Burthened with their Sins are the fitter to make their Prayers The Sense of Sin is both the Weight to Humble them and also the Goad to Quicken them That they may think Ill of themselves and be in good Earnest with God Prayer is the Pillar of Smoak in which the Soul ascends out of this Wilderness to God Above Which tho it be Black as Smoak for manifold Infirmities still adhering Yet having a Principle of Energy and Spirit to carry it upward The Devout Soul ascends therein and by a humble Familiarity Converses and Parlies with God even as Abraham and Moses did Yea when our Sins are felt and Bewailed we may draw even from them a Plea why God should Hear us for his Glory For that he should Hear in Heaven and do and Grant the desires of Sinful Dust and Ashes who can claim nothing as due at his hands That he should Forgive us who have so Provoked him we deserve rather to be Abhorred than Pardoned Reward Vnprofitable Servants Yea Regard Ill-deserving Sinners O how much does this redound to the Honour of his Name and illustrate his Glory And what Encouragement have we even when Discouraged by our own Sinful Vileness to go and Strive and Plead with God in our Prayers by the things which he most Prizes and Loves That is to Move him with his own Glory to take the Motive from Himself and to be Merciful to us Sinners for his Names sake And Arise and Help and Deliver us for his Honour What Mean then the Faint Hands and Feeble Knees when the God so Greatly Offended will be so Easily intreated And expects not that we should come to him without our Sins But only with a Sorrowful Concernment for them and a pious Resolution against them And so even Fools corrected with their own Wickedness are Heard Psal 107.9 And the Wicked whose very Prayer is called Abomination are yet put upon Praying However they want Ability they are not Disengaged from paying the Debt because that Inability is only thro their own Fault And if they are Sinful even in their Prayers To leave them off will not Amend the matter but they would be yet more Sinful without them They may Pray and Escape But if they Pray not they are sure to Perish And therefore St. Peter bid Simon Magus who was in the Gall of bitterness and the Bonds of iniquity Repent and Pray God if perhaps the thoughts of his heart might be Forgiven him Acts 8.22 23. If there be but any Peradventure it is good to be Adventurers here Jehoahaz did Evil in the Sight of the Lord and yet he Sought the Lord and the Lord Hearkened to him 2 King 13.4 And what hath been may be As the Hand of God is not Shortened So neither is his Mercy Abated but still they are the Same as ever they were And Praying being the using of Gods Means In that very Vse both our Persons and our Prayers may be Sanctified But they that are not sensible enough of their Adoption to cry Abba Father must yet repair to God as the Common Father of all for a better Title and beg the Regenerating and Witnessing Spirit of Him as the faithful Creator with whom the Fatherless find Mercy And however Unworthy we are The Lord our Righteousness who is Infinitely Worthy maketh intercession for the Transgressors Isa 53. last v. And his Interceding is not by way of Petition but as an Advocate Pleading for his Client of Justice Because we have no Sins hanging upon us but what he to the full has Satisfied for And so they can be no Bar to our Prayers when we are Interested in his Merits And thus the way to the Throne of Grace is Open to All manner of Persons And Sinners even the Worst are not Excluded if they resolve not to Continue in their Sins but are on the Penitent Key and on the Parting Point He that Confesseth and Forsaketh his Sins shall have Mercy To which I may add He that Fears and Prays shall not Feel what he Fears and Prays against God will never condemn that earnest Supplicant who Deprecates the Evil which he dreads and from a sensible Heart thus pleads for the Life of his poor Soul From thy Wrath and from Everlasting Damnation Good Lord deliver me What profit is there in my Blood The Damned nothing but Blaspheme and Curse thee O let me live that I may Bless and Praise thy Name Let none then Debar himself of the Liberty which our Lord Allows us all But may every one lay hold of the blessed Priviledge and be a Petitioner waiting on the Lord our God till he answer him in the Wishes of his heart And O that we might have that once to say of every Vnconverted Sinner which was given as an Argument of St. Paul's Conversion Act. 9.11 Behold he Prayeth Lord I have Invited all And I shall Still Invite still Call to Thee For it seems but just and right In my sight Where is All there all should be Herb. CHAP. VI. The Liberty of Prayer as to the Persons Prayed for SECT I. The Liberty of Praying For All. OUR Blessed Lord in the first Word of his Prayer teacheth us to Pray in Love as well as in Faith and to take in Others together with ourselves And here we are to go as Wide as before None is Debarred from Praying And we must Leave out None in our Prayers If we do not still Name yet we must Intend them And Make Prayers and Intercessions for All men 1 Tim. 2.1 Not only men of all Orders and Sorts but All the men of every order and sort Our Charity should be as Extensive even as the whole Race of Mankind Like Fellow-Members of the same Body Every Member should have