sweet sence of mercy received encouraging comforting strengthening enlivening enlightening mercy c. Thus David pours out his soul to bless and praise and admire the great God for his loving kindness to such poor vile wretches Psal. 103. 1 2. Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless his holy Name Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits Who forgiveth all thine iniquities who healeth all thy diseases and crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies who redeemeth thy life from destruction who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed as the Eagles And thus is the Prayer of Saints sometimes turned into praise and thanksgiving and yet are Prayers still This is a Mystery God's people pray with their praises as it is written Phil. 4. 6. Be careful for nothing but in every thing by Prayer with supplication and thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God A sensible thanksgiving for mercies received is a mighty Prayer in the sight of God it prevails with him unspeakably 3dly In Prayer there is sometimes in the soul a sence of Mercy to be received This again sets the soul all on a flame Thou O Lord God saith David 2 Sam. 7. 27. hast revealed unto thy Servant saying I will build thee an house therefore hath thy Servant found in his heart to pray unto thee This provoked Jacob David Daniel with others even a sence of Mercies to be received as you may see Gen. 32. 9 10 11 12. Dan. 9. 2 3 4. which caused them not by fits and starts nor yet in a foolish frothy way to babble over a few words written in a paper but mightily fervently and continually to groan out their conditions before the Lord as being sensible sensible I say of their wants their misery and the willingness of God to shew mercy A good sence of sin and the wrath of God with some encouragement from God to come unto him is a better Common Prayer-Book than that which is taken out of the Papistical Mass-Book being the Scraps and Fragments of the devices of some Popes some Friars and I wot not what 3. Prayer is a sincere sensible and an affectionate pouring out of the soul to God O the heat strength life vigor and affection that is in right Prayer As the heart panteth after the Water-brooks so longeth my soul after thee O God Psal. 42. 1. I have longed for thy Precepts I have longed after thy Salvation Psal. 119. 40. My soul longeth yea fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living God Psal. 84. 2. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy Judgements at all times Psal. 119. 20. Mark ye here My soul longeth it longeth it longeth c. Oh what affection is here discovered in Prayer The like you have in Daniel Dan. 9. 19. O Lord hear O Lord forgive O Lord hearken and do defer not for thy Names sake O my God Every syllable carrieth a mighty vehemency in it This is called the fervent or the working Prayer by James Jam. 5. And so again Luke 22. 44. And being in an Agony he prayed more earnestly or had his affections more and more drawn out after God for his helping hand Oh how wide are the most of men with their Prayers from this Prayer that is Prayer in God's account Alas the greatest part of men make no conscience at all of the duty and as for them that do it is to be feared that many of them are very great strangers to a sencere sensible and affectionate pouring out their hearts or souls to God but even content themselves with a little lip-labour bodily exercise mumbling over a few imaginary Prayers When the Affections are indeed engaged in Prayer then then the whole man is engaged and that in such sort that the soul will spend it self to nothing as it were rather than it will go without that good desired even communion and solace with Christ. And hence it is that the Saints have spent their strengths and lost their lives rather than go without the blessing Psal. 69. 3. Psal. 38. 9 10. Gen. 32. 24 25 26. All this is too too evident by the ignorance prophaness and spirit of envy that reigns in the hearts of those men that are so hot for the Forms and not the Power of prayer Scarce one of forty among them know what it is to be born again to have communion with the Father through the Son to feel the power of Grace sanctifying their hearts but for all their prayers they still live cursed drunken whorish and abominable Lives full of Malice Envy Deceit Persecuting of the dear Children of God Oh what a dreadful after-clap is coming upon them which all their hypocritical assembling themselves together with all their prayers shall never be able to help them against or shelter them from Again It is a pouring out of the Heart or Soul There is in Prayer an unbosoming of a man's self an opening of the Heart to God an affectionate pouring out of the Soul in requests sighs and groans All my desires are before thee saith David Psal. 38. 9. my groanings are not hid from thee And again My soul thirsteth for God even for the living God When shall I come and appear before God When I remember these things I pour out my soul in me Psal. 42. 2 3. Mark I pour out my Soul It is an Expression signifying that in Prayer there goeth the very life and whole strength to God As in another place Psal. 62. 8. Trust in him at all times ye people pour out your hearts before him This is the Prayer to which the Promise is made for the delivering of a poor Creature out of captivity and thraldom If from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thou shalt find him if thou seekest him with all thy heart and with all thy soul Deut. 4. 29. Again It is a pouring out of the heart or soul to God This sheweth also the Excellency of the Spirit of prayer it is the great God to which it retires When shall I come and appear before God And it argueth that the Soul that thus prayeth indeed sees an emptiness in all things under heaven That in God alone there is rest and satisfaction for the Soul Now she that is a Widow and desolate trusteth in God 1 Tim. 5. 5. So saith David In thee O Lord do I put my trust let me never be put to confusion deliver me in thy Righteousness and cause me to escape incline thine ear to me and save me be thou my strong habitation whereunto I may continually resort For thou art my rock and my fortress deliver me O God out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man For thou art my hope O Lord my God thou art my trust from my mouth Many in a wording way speak of God but right Prayer makes God
Christ which is sprinkled upon the Mercy-seat stops the course of Justice and opens a flood-gate for the mercy of the Lord to be extended unto thee Thou hast therefore as aforesaid boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus that hath made a new and living way for thee thou shalt not dye Heb. 10. 19 20. Besides Jesus is there not only to sprinkle the Mercy-seat with his blood but he speaks and his blood speaks he hath audience and his blood hath audience Insomuch that God saith when he doth but see the blood he will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you c. Exod. 12. 13. I shall not detain you any longer Be sober and humble Go to the Father in the name of the Son and tell him your case in the assistance of the Spirit and you will then feel the benefit of praying with the Spirit and with Understanding also USE III. A Word of reproof This speaks sadly to you who never pray at all I will pray saith the Apostle and so saith the heart of them that are Christians Thou then art not a Christian that art not a praying person The promise is That every one that is righteous shall pray Psal. 32. 6. Thou then art a wicked wretch that prayest not Jacob got the name of Israel by wrestling with God Gen. 32. And all his Children bare that name with him Gal. 6. But the People that forget prayer that call not on the name of the Lord they have prayer made for them but it is such as this Pour out thy fury upon the heathen O Lord and upon the people that call not upon thy name Jer. 10. 25. How likest thou this O thou that art so far off from pouring out thine heart before God that thou goest to bed like a dog and risest like an hog or a sot and forgettest to call upon God What wilt thou do when thou shalt be damned in Hell because thou couldst not find in thine heart to ask for Heaven Who will grieve for thy sorrow that didst not count mercy worth asking for I tell thee the ravens the dogs c. shall rise up in judgement against thee for they will according to their kind make signs and a noise for something to refresh them when they want it but thou hast not the heart to ask for Heaven though thou must eternally perish in Hell if thou hast it not 2. This rebukes you that make it your business to slight mock at and undervalue the Spirit and praying by that What will you do when God shall come to reckon for these things You count it high Treason to speak but a word against the King Nay you tremble at the thoughts of it and yet in the mean time you will blaspheme the Spirit of the Lord. Is God indeed to be dallied with and will the end be pleasant unto you Did God send his holy Spirit into the hearts of his People to that end that you should taunt at it is this to serve God And doth this demonstrate the Reformation of your Church Nay is it not the mark of implacable Reprobates O fearful can you not be content to be damned for your sins against the Law but you must sin against the Holy Ghost Must the holy harmless and undefiled Spirit of Grace the nature of God the promise of Christ the comforter of his Children that without which no man can do any service acceptable to the Father Must this I say be the burthen of your Song to taunt deride and mock at If God sent Corah and his company headlong to hell for speaking against Moses and Aaron Numb 16. do you that mock at the Spirit of Christ think to escape unpunished Heb. 10. 29. Did you never reade what God did to Ananias and Saphira for telling but one lye against it Acts 5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Also to Simon Magus for but undervaluing of it Acts 8. 18 19 20 21. And will thy sin be a virtue or go unrewarded with vengeance that makest it thy business to rage against and oppose its Office Service and Help that it giveth unto the Children of God It is a fearful thing to do despite unto the Spirit of Grace compare Mat. 12. 31. with Mark 3. 30. 3. As this is the doom of those who do openly blaspheme the holy Ghost in a way of disdain and reproach to its office and service So also it is sad for you who resist this Spirit of Prayer by a Form of man's inventing A very juggle of the Devil that the Traditions of men should be of better esteem and more to be owned than the Spirit of Prayer What is this less than that accursed Abomination of Jeroboam which kept many from going to Jerusalem the place and way of God's Appointment to worship 1 Kings 12. 26 c. And by that means brought such displeasure from God upon them as to this day is not appeased One would think that God's Judgements of old upon the Hypocrites of that day should make them that have heard of such things take heed and fear to do so Yet the Doctors of our day are so far from taking of warning by the punishment of others that they do most desperately rush into the same transgression viz. To set up an Institution of man neither commanded nor commended of God and whosoever will not obey herein they must be driven either out of the Land or the World Hath God required these things at you hands If he hath shew us where If not as I am sure he hath not Then what cursed presumption is it in any Pope Bishop or other to command that in the Worship of God which he hath not required Nay further It is not that part only of the Form which is several Texts of Scripture that we are commanded to say but even all must be confessed as the Divine Worship of God notwithstanding those absurdities contained therein which because they are at large discovered by others I omit the rehearsal of them Again Though a man be willing to live never so peaceably yet because he cannot for Conscience sake own that for one of the most eminent parts of God's Worship which he never commanded therefore must that man be looked upon as factious seditious erroneous heretical a disparagement to the Church a seducer of the people and what not Lord what will be the fruit of these things when for the Doctrine of God there is imposed that is more than taught the Traditions of men Thus is the Spirit of Prayer disowned and the Form imposed the Spirit debased and the Form extolled they that pray with the Spirit though never so humble and holy counted Phanaticks and they that pray with the Form though with that only counted the Vertuous And how will the favourites of such a practice answer that Scripture which commandeth that the Church should turn away from such as have a Form of Goaliness but deny the Power thereof 2 Tim. 3. 5. And if I should say That men that do these things aforesaid do advance a Form of Prayer of other mens making above the Spirit of Prayer it would not take long time to prove it For he that advanceth the Book of Common-Prayer above the Spirit of Prayer he doth advance a Form of mens making above it But this do all those who banish or desire to banish them that pray with the Spirit of Prayer while they hug and imbrace them that pray by that Form onely and that because they do it Therefore they love and advance the Form of their own or others inventing before the Spirit of Prayer which is God's special and gracious Appointment If you desire the clearing of the Minor look into the Goals in England and into the Alehouses of the same and I believe you will find those that plead for the Spirit of Prayer in the Goal and them that look after the Form of mens Inventions only in the Alehouse It is evident also by the silencing of God's dear Ministers though never so powerfully enabled by the Spirit of Prayer if they in conscience cannot admit of that Form of Common-Prayer If this be not an exalting the Common-Prayer-Book above either praying by the Spirit or preaching the Word I have taken my mark amiss It is not pleasant for me to dwell on this the Lord in mercy turn the hearts of the people to seek more after the Spirit of Prayer and in the strength of that to pour out their souls before the Lord. Only let me say It is a sad sign that that which is one of the most eminent parts of the pretended Worship of God is Antichristian when it hath nothing but Tradition of men and the strength of Persecution to uphold or plead for it The Conclusion I shall conclude this Discourse with this Word of Advice to all Gods People I. BElieve that as sure as you are in the Way of God you must meet with Temptations II. The first day therefore that thou dost enter into Christ his Congregation look for them III. When they do come beg of God to carry thee through them IV. Be jealous of thine own heart that it deceive thee not in thy Evidences for Heaven nor in thy walking with God in this world V. Take heed of the flatteries of false Brethren VI. Keep in the Life and Power of Truth VII Look most at the things which are not seen VIII Take heed of little sins IX Keep the Promise warm upon thy heart X. Renew thy acts of Faith in the Blood of Christ. XI Consider the Work of thy Generation XII Count to run with the foremost therein Grace be with thee THE END * See Mr. Fox his citation of the Mass in the last Volumn of the Book of Martyrs * See Mr. Fox's Acts and Monuments Volumn 2.
as any in our generation as is clearly manifested by his word and his works Nevertheless when this good man this Prophet comes into God's Worship then the Lord must help or he can do nothing Lord open thou my lips and then my mouth shall shew forth thy praise He could not speak one right word except the Spirit it self gave utterance For we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit it self helpeth our infirmities But Secondly It must be a praying with the Spirit that is the effectual praying because without that as men are senceless so hypocritical cold and unseemly in their prayers and so they with their prayers are both rendred abominable to God Mat. 23. 14. Mark 12. 40. It is not the excellency of the voice nor the seeming affection and earnestness of him that prayeth that is any thing regarded of God without it Luke 18. 11 12. Isa. 58. 2 3. For man as man is so full of all manner of wickedness that as he cannot keep a word or thought so much less a piece of prayer clean and acceptable to God through Christ. And for this cause the Pharisees with their prayers were rejected No question but they were excellently able to express themselves in words and also for length of time too they were very notable but they had not the Spirit of Jesus Christ to help them and therefore they did what they did with their infirmities or weaknesses only and so fell short of a sincere sensible affectionate pouring out of their souls to God through the strength of the Spirit That is the prayer that goeth to Heaven that is sent thither in the strength of the Spirit For Thirdly Nothing but the Spirit can shew a man clearly his misery by nature and so put a man into a posture of prayer Talk is but talk as we use to say and so it is but mouth-worship if there be not a sence of misery and that effectually too O the cursed hypocrisie that is in most hearts and that accompanieth many thousands of praying men that would be so looked upon in this day and all for want of a sence of their misery But now the Spirit that will sweetly shew the soul its misery where it is and what is like to become of it also the intolerableness of that condition For it is the Spirit that doth effectually convince of sin and misery without the Lord Jesus John 16. 7 8 9. and so puts the soul into a sweet serious sensible affectionate way of praying to God according to his Word Fourthly If men did see their sins yet without the help of the Spirit they would not pray For they would run away from God with Cain and Judas and utterly despair of mercy were it not for the Spirit When a man is indeed sensible of his sin and God's curse then it is an hard thing to perswade him to pray For saith his heart There is no hope It is in vain to seek God Jer. 2. 25. Jer. 18. 12. I am so vile so wretched and so cursed a creature that I shall never be regarded Now here comes the Spirit and stayeth the soul helpeth it to hold up its face to God by letting into the heart some small sence of mercy to encourage it to go to God and hence it is called the Comforter John 14. 26. Fifthly It must be in or with the Spirit For without that no man can know how he should come to God the right way Men may easily say they come to God in his Son but it is the hardest thing of a thousand to come to God aright and in his own way without the Spirit It is the Spirit that searcheth all things yea the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2. 12. It is the Spirit that must shew us the way of coming to God and also what there is in God that makes him desireable I beseech thee saith Moses shew me thy way that I may know thee Exod. 33. 13. And Joh. 16. 14. He shall take of mine and shall shew it unto you Sixthly Because without the Spirit though a man did see his misery and also the way to come to God yet he would never be able to claim a share in either God Christ or Mercy with Gods approbation O how great a task is it for a poor soul that comes sensible of sin and the wrath of God to say in Faith but this one word Father I tell you how ever hypocrites think yet the Christian that is so indeed finds all the difficulty in this very thing it cannot say God is its Father Oh! saith he I dare not call him Father and hence it is that the Spirit must be sent into the hearts of Gods people for this very thing to cry Father Gal. 4. 6. it being too great a work for any man to do knowingly and believingly without it When I say knowingly I mean knowing what it is to be a Child of God and to be born again And when I say believingly I mean for the soul to believe and that from good experience that the work of Grace is wrought in him this is the right calling of God Father and not as many do to say in a babling way the Lords Prayer so called by heart as it lyeth in the words of the Book No here is the life of Prayer when in or with the Spirit a man being made sensible of sin and how to come to the Lord for mercy he comes I say in the strength of the Spirit and cryeth Father ☞ That one word spoken in Faith is better than a thousand prayers as men call them written and read in a formal cold luke-warm way Oh how far short are those people of being sensible of this who count it enough to teach themselves and children to say the Lords Prayer the Creed with other sayings when as Gods knows they are senceless of themselves their misery or what it is to be brought to God through Christ Ah poor souls study your misery and cry to God to shew you your confused blindness and ignorance before you be to rife in calling God your Father or learning your children either so to say And know that to say God is your Father in a way of prayer or conference without an experiment of the work of grace on your souls it is to say you are Jews and are not and so to lie You say Our Father God saith you blaspheme You say you are Jews that is true Christians God saith you lie Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not but do lie And I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not but are the Synagogue of Satan Rev. 3. 9. Rev. 2. 9. And so much the greater the sin is by how much the more the sinner boasts it with a pretended sanctity as the Jews did to Christ in John 8. 41 to 45. which made Christ even in
so to pass on to the next thing Query 1. But what would you have us poor creatures to do that cannot tell how to pray the Lord knows I know not either how to pray or what to pray for Answer Poor heart Thou canst not thou complainest pray Canst thou see thy misery Hath God shewed thee that thou art by nature under the Curse of his Law If so do not mistake I know thou dost groan and that most bitterly I am perswaded thou canst scarcely be found doing any thing in thy calling but Prayer breaks from thy heart Rom. 8. 28. Have not thy groans gone up to Heaven from every corner of thy house I know 't is thus and so also doth thine own sorrowful heart witness thy tears thy forgetfulness of thy calling c Is not thy heart so full of desires after the things of another World that many times thou dost even forget the things of this World Prethee reade this Scripture Job 23. 12. Query 2. Yea but when I go into secret and intend to pour out my soul before God I can scarce say any thing at all Answer Ah sweet soul It is not thy words that God so much regards as that he will not mind thee except thou comest before him with some eloquent Oration His eye is on the brokenness of thine heart and that it is that makes the very bowels of the Lord run over A broken and a contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise Psal. 51. 17. 2. The stopping of thy words may arise from over much trouble in thy heart David was so troubled sometimes that he could not speak Psal. 77. 3 4. But this may comfort all such sorrowful hearts as thou art that though thou canst not through the anguish of thy spirit speak much yet the holy Spirit stirs up in thine heart groans and sighs so much the more vehement when the mouth is hindred yet the Spirit is not Moses as aforesaid made Heaven ring again with his Prayers when that we read of not one word come out of his mouth But. 3. If thou wouldst more fully express thy self before the Lord study First Thy filthy Estate Secondly Gods Promises Thirdly The Heart of Christ. Which thou mayest know or discern 1. By his condescention and bloodshed 2. By the mercy he hath extended to great sinners formerly and plead thine own vileness by way of bemoaning Christs blood by way of expostulation and in thy prayers let the mercy that he hath extended to other great sinners together with his rich promises of grace be much upon thy heart Yet let me counsel thee 1. Take heed that thou content not thy self with words 2. That thou do not think that God looks only at them neither But. 3. However whether thy words be few or many let thine heart go with them And then shalt thou seek him and find him when thou shalt seek him with thy whole heart Jer. 29. 13. Object 1. But though you have seemed to speak against any other way of praying but by the Spirit yet here you your self can give direction how to pray Answ. We ought to prompt one another forward to Prayer though we ought not to make for each other Forms of Prayer To exhort to pray with Christian direction is one thing and to make stinted Formes for the tying up of the Spirit of God to them is another thing The Apostle gives them no form to pray withal yet directs to Prayer Ephes. 6. 18. Rom. 15. 30 31 32. Let no man therefore conclude that because we may with allowance give instructions and directions to pray that therefore it is lawful to make for each other Forms of Prayer Object 2. But if we do not use Forms of Prayer how shall we teach our Children to pray Answ. My judgement is that men go the wrong way to learn their Children to pray in going about so soon to learn them any set company of words as is the common use of poor creatures to do For to me it seems to be a better way for people betimes to tell their Children what cursed creatures they are and how they are under the wrath of God by reason of original and actual sin also to tell them the nature of God's wrath and the duration of the misery which if they conscientiously do they would sooner learn their Children to pray than they do The way that men learn to pray it is by conviction for sin and this is the way to make our sweet babes do so too But the other way namely to be busie in learning Children forms of prayer before they know any thing else it is the next way to make them cursed hypocrites and to puff them up with pride Learn therefore your Children to know their wretched state and condition tell them of hell fire and their sins of damnation and salvation the way to escape the one and to enjoy the other if you know it your selves and this will make tears run down your sweet babes eyes and hearty groans flow from their hearts and then also you may tell them to whom they should pray and through whom they should pray you may tell them also of Gods promises and his former grace extended to sinners according to the word Ah! poor sweet babes the Lord open their eyes and make them holy Christians Saith David Come ye Children hearken unto me and I will teach you the fear of the Lord Psalm 34. 11. He doth not say I will nuzle you up in a form of Prayer but I will teach you the fear of the Lord Which is to see their sad states by nature and to be instructed in the Truth of the Gospel which doth through the Spirit beget Prayer in every one that in Truth learns it And the more you learn them this the more will their hearts run out to God in Prayer God did never account Paul a praying man until he was a convinced and converted man Acts 9. 11. no more will it be with any else Object 3. But we find that the Disciples desired that Christ would teach them to pray as John also taught his Disciples and that thereupon he taught them that form called the Lord's Prayer Answ. First To be taught by Christ is that which not only they but we desire and seeing he is not here in his person to teach us the Lord teach us by his Word and Spirit for the Spirit is it which he hath said he would send to supply in his room when he went away as it is John 14. 16. and 16. 7. Secondly As to that called a Form I cannot think that Christ intended it as a stinted Form of Prayer First Because he himself layeth it down diversly as is to be seen if you compare Matth. 6. with Luke 11. Whereas if he intended it as a set-form it must not have been so laid down for a set-form is so many words and no more Secondly VVe do not find that the Apostles did ever observe
I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the Understanding also OR A DISCOVRSE Touching PRAYER From 1 Cor. 14. 15. Wherein is briefly discovered 1. VVhat PRAYER is 2. What it is to pray with the Spirit 3. What it is to pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding also By JOHN BUNYAN The Second Edition But we know not what we should pray for as we ought onely the Spirit helpeth our infirmities Rom. 8. 26. London Printed for the Author 1663. I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the understanding also PRAYER is an Ordinance of God and that to be used both in Publick and Private yea such an Ordinance as brings those that have the Spirit of Supplication into great familiarity with God and is also so prevalent an action that it getteth of God both for the person that prayeth and for them that are prayed for great things It is the opener of the heart of God and a means by which the soul though empty is filled By Prayer the Christian can open his heart to God as to a Friend and obtain fresh testimony of God's Friendship to him I might spend many words in distinguishing between publick and private Prayer as also between that in the Heart and that with the vocal Voice Something also might be spoken to distinguish between the Gifts and Graces of Prayer but eschewing this method my business shall be at this time only to shew you the very heart of Prayer without which all your lifting up both of hands and eyes and voices will be to no purpose at all I will pray with the Spirit The method that I shall go in at this time shall be First To shew you what true Prayer is Secondly To shew you what it is to pray with the Spirit Thirdly What it is to pray with the Spirit and Understanding also And so fourthly to make some short Use and Application of what shall be spoken I. What Prayer is For the first What Prayer is Prayer is a sincere sensible affectionate pouring out of the heart or soul to God through Christ in the strength and assistance of the holy Spirit for such things as God hath promised or according to the Word for the good of the Church with submission in Faith to the Will of God In this Description are these seven things 1. It is a sincere 2. A sensible 3. An affectionate pouring out of the soul to God through Christ 4. By the strength or assistance of the Spirit 5. For such things as God hath promised or according to his Word 6. For the good of the Church 7. With submission in Faith to the Will of God For the First of these It is a sincere pouring out of the soul to God Sincerity is such a Grace as runs through all the Graces of God in us and through all the actings of a Christian and hath the sway in them too or else their actings are not any thing regarded of God and so of in Prayer of which particularly David speaketh when he mentioneth Prayer Psal. 66. 17 18. I cryed unto the Lord with my mouth he was extolled with my tongue If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear my prayer Psal. 17. 1 2 3 4. Part of the exercise of Prayer is sincerity without which God looks not upon it as Prayer in a good sense Then shall you seek me and find me when you shall search for me with your whole heart Jer. 29. 12 13. The want of this made the Lord reject their prayers in Hos. 7. 14. where he saith They have not cryed unto me with their heart that is in sincerity when they howled upon their beds But for a pretence for a shew in hypocrisie to be seen of men and applauded for the same they pray Sincerity was that which Christ commended in Nathaniel when he was under the fig-tree Behold an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile Probably this good man was pouring out of his soul to God in Prayer under the fig-tree and that in a sincere and unfained spirit before the Lord. The Prayer that hath this in it as one of the principal ingredients is the Prayer that God looks at Thus the Prayer of the Upright is his delight Prov. 15. 8. And why must Sincerity be one of the essentials of Prayer which is accepted of God but because sincerity carries the soul in all simplicity to open its heart to God and to tell him the case plainly without equivocation to condemn it self plainly without dissembling to cry to God heartily without complementing I have surely heard Ephraim bemoning himself thus Thou hast chastized me and I was chastized as a bullock unaccustommed to the yoak Jer. 31. 18. Sincerity is the same in a corner alone as it is before the face of all the world It knows not how to wear two vizards one for an appearance before men and another for a short snatch in a corner but it must have God and be with him in the duty of Prayer It is not a lip-labour that it doth regard for it is the heart that God looks at and that which sincerity looks at and that which Prayer comes from if it be that Prayer which is accompanied with sincerity Secondly It is a sincere and sensible pouring out of the heart or soul. It is not as many take it to be even a few babling prating complementory expressions but a sensible feeling there is in the heart Prayer hath in it a sensibleness of divers things Sometimes sence of sin sometimes of mercy received sometimes of the readiness of God to give mercy c. First a sence of the want of mercy by reason of the danger of sin The soul I say feels and from feeling sighs groans and breaks at the heart For right Prayer bubleth out of the heart when it is over-pressed with grief and bitterness as blood is forced out of the flesh by reason of some heavy burthen that lyeth upon it 1 Sam. 1. 10. David roars cryes weeps faints at the heart fails at the eyes loseth his moisture c. Psal. 69. 3. 38. 8 9 10. Hezekiah mourns like a dove Isa. 38. 14. Ephraim bemoans himself Jer. 31. 18. Peter weeps bitterly Mat. 26. 57. Christ hath Heb. 5. 7. strong cryings and tears and all this from a sence of the justice of God the guilt of sin the pains of Hell and destruction The sorrows of Death compassed me about the pains of Hell got hold upon me and I found trouble and sorrow Then cryed I unto the Lord Psal. 116. 3 4. And in another place Psal. 77. 2. My sore ran in the night Again Psal. 38. 6. I am bowed down greatly I go mourning all the day long In all these instances and in hundreds more that might be named you may see that Prayer carrieth it in a sensible feeling disposition and that first from a sence of sin 2dly Sometimes there is a
art the Lord my God Surely after I was turned I repented and after I was instructed or had a right understanding of my self I smote upon my thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the reproach of my youth These be Ephraim's complaints and bemoanings of himself at which the Lord breaks forth into these heart-melting expressions saying Is Ephraim my dear Son Is he a pleasant Chlld For since I spake unto him I do earnestly remember him still therefore my bowels are troubled for him I will surely have mercy upon him saith the Lord. Thus you see that as it is required to pray with the Spirit so it is to pray with the Understanding also And to illustrate what hath been spoken by a similitude Set the case there should come two a begging to your door the one is a poor lame wounded and almost starved creature the other is a healthful lusty person These two use the same words in their begging the one saith he is almost starved so doth the other but yet the man that is indeed the poor lame or maimed person he speaks with more sence feeling and understanding of the misery that is mentioned in their begging than the other can do and it is discovered more by his affectionate speaking his bemoaning himself His pain and poverty makes him speak more in a spirit of lamentation than the other and he shall be pittied sooner than the other by all those that have the least dram of natural affection or pitty Just thus it is with God There are some who out of custome and formality go and pray there are others who go in the bitterness of their spirit The one he prayes out of bare notion and naked knowledge the other hath his words forced from him by the anguish of his soul. Surely that is the man that God will look at even him that is of a humble and contrite spirit and that trembleth at his word Isa. 66. 2. Sixthly An Understanding well enlightened is of admirable use also both as to the matter and manner of Prayer He that hath his understanding well exercised to discern between good and evil and in it placed a sence either of the misery of man or the mercy of God that soul hath no need of the Writings of other men to teach him by Forms of Prayer For as he that feels the pain needs not to be learned to cry Oh! Even so he that hath his Understanding opened by the Spirit needs not so to be taught of other mens prayers as that he cannot pray without them the present sence feeling and pressure that lyeth upon his spirit provokes him to groan out his requests unto the Lord. When David had the pains of hell catching hold on him and the sorrows of hell compassing him about he needed not a Bishop in a Surplice to learn him to say O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul Psal. 116. 3 4. Or to look into a Book to teach him in a Form to pour out his heart before God It is the nature of the heart of sick men in their pain and sickness to vent it self for ease by dolorous groans and complaints to them that stand by Thus it was with David in Psal. 38. to the 12. vers And thus Blessed be the Lord it is with them that are indued with the Grace of God Seventhly It is necessary that there be an enlightened Understanding to the end that the soul be kept in a continuation of the duty of Prayer The People of God are not ignorant how many wiles tricks and temptations the Devil hath to make a poor soul who is truly willing to have the Lord Jesus Christ and that upon Christ's terms too I say to tempt that soul to be weary of seeking the face of God and to think that God is not willing to have mercy on such a one as him I saith Satan thou mayest pray indeed but thou shalt not prevail Thou seest thine heart is hard cold dull and dead thou dost not pray with the Spirit thou dost not pray in good earnest thy thoughts are running after other things when thou pretendest to pray to God Away hypocrite go no further it is but in vain to strive any longer Here now if the soul be not well informed in its understanding it will presently cry out The Lord hath forsaken me and my God hath forgotten me Isa. 45. 27. Whereas the soul rightly informed and enlightned saith Well I will seek the Lord and wait I will not leave off though the Lord keep silence and speak not one word of comfort Isa. 49. 14. He loved Jacob dearly and yet he made him wrestle before he had the blessing Gen. 32. 25 26 27. Seeming delayes in God are no tokens of his displeasure he may hide his face from his dearest Saints Isa. 8. 17. He loves to keep his People praying and to find them ever knocking at the gate of Heaven It may be sayes the soul the Lord tries me or he loves to hear me groan out my condition before him The woman of Canaan would not take seeming denyals for real ones she knew the Lord was gracious Luke 18. 1 to 6. And the Lord will avenge his People though he bear long with them The Lord hath waited longer upon me than I have waited on him And thus it was with David I waited patiently saith he That is It was long before the Lord answered me though at the last he enclined his ear unto me and heard my cry Psal. 40. 1. And the most excellent remedy for this is an understanding well informed and enlightened Alas how many poor souls are there in the world that truly fear the Lord who because they are not well informed in their understanding are oft ready to give up all for lost upon almost every trick and temptation of Satan The Lord pitty them and help them to pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding also Much of mine own experience could I here discover when I have been in my fits of agonies of spirit I have been strongly perswaded to leave off and to seek the Lord no longer but being made to understand what great sinners the Lord hath had mercy upon and how large his Promises were still to sinners and that it was not the whole but the sick not the righteous but the sinner not the full but the empty that he extended his Grace and Mercy unto This made me through the assistance of his holy Spirit to cleave to him to hang upon him and yet to cry though for the present he made no answer and the Lord help all his poor tempted and afflicted People to do the like and to continue though it be long according to the saying of the Prophet Hab. 2. 3. And to help them to that end to pray not by the inventions of men and their stinted Forms but with the Spirit and with the Understanding also And now to answer a Query or two and
it as such neither did they admonish others so to do Search all their Epistles Yet surely they both for knowledge to discern and faithfulness to practise were as eminent as any He ever since in the World which would impose it But in a word Christ by those words Our Father c. doth instruct his People what Rules they should observe in their Prayers to God 1. That they should pray in Faith 2. To God in the Heavens 3. For such things as are according to his Will c. Pray thus or after this manner Object 4. But Christ bids Pray for the Spirit This implieth that men without the Spirit may notwithstanding pray and be heard See Luke 11. 9 10 11 12 13. Answ. 1. The speech of Christ there is directed to his own vers 1. 2. Christ his telling of them that God would give his holy Spirit to them that ask him is to be understood of giving more of the holy Spirit For still they are the Disciples spoken to which had a measure of the Spirit already for he saith When ye pray say Our Father ver 2. I say unto you vers 8. And I say unto you vers 9. If ye then being evil know how to give good things to your children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that ask him Christians ought to pray for the Spirit that is for more of it though God hath endued them with it already Quest. Then would you have none pray but those that know they are the Disciples of Christ Answ. Yes 1. Let every soul that would be saved pour out it self to God although it cannot through temptation conclude it self a Child of God And 2. I know if the Grace of God be in thee it will be as natural to thee to groan out thy condition as it is for a sucking Childe to cry for the breast Prayer is one of the first things that discovereth a man to be a Christian Acts 9. 12. But yet if it be right it is such Prayer as followeth First To desire God in Christ for Himself for his Holiness Love Wisdom and Glory For right Prayer as it runs onely to God through Christ so it centers in him and in him alone Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none in Earth that I desire long for or seek after besides thee Psal. 73. 25. Secondly That the soul might enjoy continual Communion with him both here and hereafter I shall be satisfied when I awake with thine Image or in thy likeness Psal. 17. 15. For in thee we groan earnestly c. 2 Cor. 5. 2. Thirdly Right Prayer is accompanied with a continual labour after that which is prayed for My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning Psal. 130. 6. I will arise now and seek him whom my soul loveth Cant. 3. 2. For mark I beseech you there is two things that provoke to Prayer One is a detestation to sin and the things of this life The other is a longing desire after Communion with God in an holy and undefiled state and inheritance Compare but this one thing with most of the Prayers that are made by men and you shall finde them but mock-prayers and the breathings of an abominable spirit for even the most of men either not pray at all or else only endeavour to mock God and the world by so doing for do but compare their prayer and the course of their lives together and you may easily see that the thing included in their prayer is the least looked after by their lives Oh sad Hypocrites Thus have I briefly shewed you 1. VVhat Prayer is 2. What it is to pray with the Spirit 3. VVhat it is to pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding also I shall now speak a word or two of Application and so conclude with 1. A word of Information 2. A word of Encouragement 3. A word of Rebuke USE I. A Word of Information For the first to inform you That as Prayer is the duty of every one of the Children of God and carried on by the Spirit of Christ in the soul So every one that doth but offer to take upon him to pray to the Lord had need be very wary and go about that work especially with the Dread of God as well as with hopes of the Mercy of God through Jesus Christ. Prayer is an Ordinance of God in which a man draws very near to God and therefore it calleth for so much the more of the assistance of the Grace of God to help a soul to pray as becomes one that is in the presence of him It is a shame for a man to behave himself irreverently before a King but a sin to do so before God And a a King if wise is not pleased with an Oration made up with unseemly words and gestures So God takes no pleasure in the sacrifice of fools Eccles. 5. 1 4. It is not long discourses nor eloquent tongues that are the things which are pleasing in the ears of the Lord but a humble broken and contrite heart Psal. 51. 17. Isa. 57. 15. that is sweet in the nostrils of the heavenly Majesty Therefore for information know that there are these Five Things that are obstructions to Prayer and even make void the requests of the creature First When men regard iniquity in their hearts at the time of their Prayers before God If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear my Prayer Psal. 66. 18. For the preventing of temptation that by the misunderstanding of this may seize thy heart when there is a secret love to that very thing which thou with thy dissembling lips dost ask for strength against For this is the wickedness of man's heart that it will even love and hold fast that which with the mouth it prayeth against and of this sort are they that honour God with their mouth but their heart is far from him Ezek. 33. 31. O how ugly would it be in our eyes if we should see a beggar ask an alms with intention to throw it to the dogs Or that should say with one breath Pray you bestow this upon me and with the next I beseech you give it me not And yet thus it is with these kind of persons with their mouth they say Thy Will be done and with their hearts nothing less With their mouth say Hallowed be thy Name and with their hearts and lives they delight to dishonour him all the day long These be the prayers that become sin Psal. 109. 7. and though they put them up often yet the Lord will never answer them 2 Sam. 22. 42. Secondly When men pray for a shew to be heard and thought some body in Religion and the like These prayers also fall far short of God's approbation and are never like to be answered in reference unto eternal life There are two sorts of men that pray to this end 1. Your
Trencher-Chaplains that thrust themselves into great mens Families pretending the Worship of God when in truth the great business is their own Bellies which were notably painted out by Ahab's Prophets 1 King 18. 19. and also Nebuchadnezzars wise men Dan. 2. who though they pretended great devotion yet their lusts and their bellies were the great things aimed at by them in all their pieces of devotion 2. Them also that seek repute and applause for their eloquent terms and seek more to tickle the ears and heads of their hearers than any thing else These be they that pray to be heard and seen of men and have all their reward already Mat. 6. 5. These persons are discovered thus 1. They eye only their Auditory in their expressions 2. They look for Commendations when they have done 3. Their hearts either rise or fall according to their praise or enlargement 4. The length of their Prayer pleaseth them and that it might be long they will vainly repeat things over and over Matth. 6. 7. They study for enlargements but look not from what heart they come They look for returns but it is the windy applause oâ— men and therefore they love not to be in a chamber but among company and if at any time conscience thrust them into their closet yet hypocrisâ— will cause them to be heard in the streets and when their mouthes have done going their prayers are ended for they wait not to hearken what the Lord will say Psal. 85. 8. Thirdly A third sort of prayer that will not be accepted of God it is When either they pray for wrong things or if for right things yet that the thing prayed for might be spent upon their lusts and laid out to wrong ends Some have not because they ask not saith James and others ask and have not because they ask amiss that they may consume it upon their lusts James 4. 2 3 4. Ends contrary to God's Will is a great Argument with God to frustrate the Petitions presented before him Hence it is that so many pray for this and that and yet receive it not God answereth them onely with silence they have their words for their labour and that is all Object But God heareth some persons though their hearts be not right with him as he did Israel in giving Quails Psal. 106. 14. though they spent them upon their lusts Answer If he doth it is in Judgment not in Mercy He gave them their desire indeed but they had better have been without it for he sent leanness into their souls Psal. 106. 15. Wo be to that man that God answereth thus Fourthly Another sort of prayers there are that are not answered and those are such as are made by men and presented to God in their own persons only without their appearing in the Lord Jesus For though God hath appointed Prayer and promised to hear the Prayer of the creature yet not the prayer of any creature that comes not in Christ. If you ask any thing in My Name c. John 14. 13. And Whether ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ Col. 3. 17. If you ask any thing in my Name I will do it Joh. 14. 14. Though you be never so devout zealous earnest and constant in prayer yet it is in Christ only that you must be heard and accepted But alas the most of men know not what it is to come to him in the Name of the Lord Jesus which is the reason they either â—ive wicked pray wicked and also â—ie wicked Or else 2. That they attain to nothing else but what a meer natural man may atâ—ain unto as to be exact in word and â—eed betwixt man and man and only with the righteousness of the Law to â—ppear before God Fifthly The last thing that hindreth Prayer is The Form of it without the Power It is an easie thing for men to be very hot for such things as Forms of Prayer as they are written in a Book but yet they are altogether forgetful to enquire with themselves whether they have the Spirit and Power of Prayer These men they are like a painted man and their Prayers are like a false voice they in person appear as Hypocrites and their Prayers are an Abomination Prov. 28. 9. VVhen they say they have been pouring out their souls to God he saith they have been howling like dogs Hos. 7. 14. VVhen therefore thou intendest or art minded to pray to the Lord of Heaven and Earth consider these following Particulars 1. Consider seriously what thou wantest do not as many who in theiâ— words onely beat the air and ask foâ— such things as indeed they do not de sire nor see that they stand in need thereof 2. When thou seest what thou wantest keep to that and take heed thou pray sensibly Object But I have a sence of nothing Then by your Argument I must not pray at all Answer First If thou findest thy self sensless in some sad measure yet thou canst not complain of that senslesness but by being sensible There is a sense of senslesness according to thy sense then that thou hast of the need of any thing so pray Luke 8. 9. and if thou art sensible of thy senslesness pray the Lord to make thee sensible of what-ever thou findest thine heart sensless of This was the usual practice of the holy men of God Lord make me to know mine end saith David Psal. 39. 4. Lord open to us this Parable said the Disciples Luke 8. 9. And to this is annexed the Promise Call upon me and I will hear thee and shew thee great and mighty things that thou knowest not Jer. 33. 3. that thou art not sensible of But Secondly Take heed that thine heart go to God as well as thy mouth let not thy mouth go any further than thou strivest to draw thine heart along with it David would lift his heart and soul to the Lord and good reason for so far as a man's mouth goeth along without his heart so far it is but lip-labour only and though God calleth for and accepteth the calves of the lips yet the lips without the heart argueth not only senslesness but our being without sense of our senslesness and therefore if thou hast a mind to enlarge in Prayer before God see that it be with thy heart Thirdly Take heed of affecting expressions and so to please thy self with the use of them that thou forget not the Life of Prayer I shall conclude this Use with a Caution or two First Take heed thou do not throw off Prayer through sudden perswasions that thou hast not the Spirit neither prayest thereby It is the great work of the Devil to do his best or rather worst against the best prayers He will flatter your false dissembling hypocrites and feed them with a thousand fancies of well-doing when their very duties of Prayer and all other stink in the nostrils of God When
he standeth at a poor Joshua's hand to resist him Isa. 66. 5. Zech. 3. 1. that is to perswade him that neither his person nor performances are accepted of God Take heed therefore of such false conclusions and groundless discouragements And though such perswasions do come in upon thy spirit be so far from being discouraged by them that thou use them to put thee upon further sincerity and restlesness of spirit in thy approaching to God Secondly As such sudden temptations should not stop thee from Prayer and pouring out thy soul to God so neither should thine own hearts corruption hinder thee It may be thou mayest find in thee all those things before-mentioned and that they will be endeavouring to put forth themselves in thy praying to him thy business then is to judge them to pray against them and to lay thy self so much the more at the foot of God in a sence of thy own viseness and rather make an argument from thy vileness and corruption of heart to plead with God for justifying and sanctifying grace than an argument of discouragement and dispair David went this way O Lord saith he pardon mine iniquity for it is great Psal. 25. USE II. A Word of Encouragement Secondly To speak a word by way of Encouragement to the poor tempted and cast-down soul to pray to God through Christ. Though all Prayer that is accepted of God in reference to eternal life must be in the Spirit for that onely maketh intercession for us according to the Will of God Rom. 8. 27. Yet because many poor souls may have the holy Spirit working on them and stirring of them to groan unto the Lord for mercy though through unbelief they do not nor for the present cannot believe that they are the People of God such as he delights in yet forasmuch as the truth of Grace may be in them therefore I shall to encourage them lay down further these few particulars 1. That Scripture in Luke 11. 8. is very encouraging to any poor soul that doth hunger after Christ Jesus In the 5th 6th and 7th verses he speaketh a parable of a man that went to his friend to borrow three loaves who because he was in bed denied him yet for his importunity-sake he did arise and give him clearly signifying that though poor souls through the weakness of their faith cannot see that they are the friends of God yet they should never leave asking seeking and knocking at God's door for mercy Mat. 7. 7 8. Mark saith Christ I say unto you Although he will not arise and give him because he is his friend yet because of his importunity or restless desires he will arise and give him as many as he needeth Poor heart thou cryest out that God will not regard thee thou dosnot find that thou art a friend to him but rather an enemy in thine heart by wicked works Col. 1. 21. and thou ar◠as though thou didst hear the Lord saying to thee Trouble me not I cannot give unto thee as he in the parable Yet I say continue knocking crying moaning and bewailing thy self I tell thee though he will not arise and give thee because thou art his friend yet because of thy importunity he will arise and give thee as many as thou needest The same in effect you have discovered Luke 18. in the parable of the unjust Judge and the poor Widow her importunity prevailed with him And verily mine own experience tells me that there is nothing that doth more prevail with God than importunity Is it not so with you in respect of your beggars that come to your door though you have no heart to give them any thing at their first asking yet if they follow you bemoaning themselves and will take no nay without an alms you will give them for their continual begging overcometh you Are there bowels in you that are wicked and will they be wrought upon by an importuning beggar Go thou and do the like Luke 11. 11. It is a prevailing motive and that by good experience He will arise and give thee as many as thou needest 2. Another Encouragement for a poor trembling convinced soul is To consider the place throne or seat on which the great God hath placed himself to hear the petitions and prayers of poor creatures and that is a Throne of Grace Heb. 4. 16. The Mercy-Seat Exod. 25. 22. Which signifieth that in the dayes of the Gospel God hath taken up his Seat his abiding-place in mercy and forgiveness and from thence he doth intend to hear the sinner and to commune with him as he saith Exod. 25. 22. speaking before of the Mercy-Seat And there will I meet with thee Mark It is upon the Mercy-Seat There will I meet with thee and there will I commune with thee from above the Mercy-seat Poor souls they are very apt to entertain strange thoughts of God and his carriage towards them and suddenly to conclude that God will have no regard unto them when yet he is upon the Mercy-Seat and hath taken up his place on purpose there to the end he may hear and regard the prayers of poor creatures If he had said I will commune with thee from my Throne of Judgement then indeed you might have trembled and fled from the face of the great and glorious Majesty But when he saith he will hear and commune with souls upon the Throne of Grace or from the Mercy-Seat this should encourage thee and cause thee to hope nay to come boldly to the Throne of Grace that thou mayest obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need Heb. 4. 16. 3. There is yet another Encouragement to continue in Prayer with God and that is this As there is a Mercy-Seat from whence God is willing to commune with poor sinners so there is also by this Mercy-seat Jesus Christ who continually besprinkleth it with his blood Hence it is called The Blood of sprinkling Heb. 12. 14. When the High Priest under the Law was to go into the Holiest where the Mercy-seat was he might not go in without blood Heb. 9. 7. Qu. Why so Answ. Because though God was upon the Mercy-Seat yet he was perfectly just as well as merciful The Blood was to stop Justice from running out upon the persons concerned in the Intercession of the High Priest as in Levit. 16. 13 14 15 16. To signifie that all thine unworthiness that thou fearest should not hinder thee from coming to God in Christ for mercy ☞ Thou cryest out that thou art vile and therefore God will not regard thy Prayers 'T is true if thou delight in thy vileness and come to God out of a meer pretence But if from a sence of thy vileness thou dost pour out thy heart to God desiring to be saved from the guilt and cleansed from the filth with all thy heart fear not thy vileness will not cause the Lord to stop his ear from hearing of thee The value of the blood of