â—hildren kneeled down and prayâ—◠〈◊〉 though they were upon the shore â—â—ct 21.5 And certainly we cannot possibly offend whilst we imitate such holy and primitive examples 'T is true indeed it was a custom amongst the Jews especially towards the period of their Oeconomy to pray standing in the Synagogues and therefore we read that the Pharisees like some among our selves loved to pray standing in their Synagogues as well as in the corners of the streets Math. 6.5 But because these did it that by the elevation of their bodies they might be seen of men you may not perhaps think it fitting to take such for an example But howsoever it is no less but more certain that the primitive Christians did sometimes pray standing on their feet as well as kneeling upon their knees For besides the posture in their devotions on the Lords day it is notoriously known that they did not kneel in their publick worship from Easter to Whitsuntide But then they gave these two reasons in excuse of their posture 1. That they might by some outward gesture and significant ceremony express their joy for the resurrection of our Saviour 2. That it was in token also of their confident expectation of the descent of the Holy Ghost Both these things were lawful and proper whilst Christianity was contemned by the Rulers of the world and such great temptations were given to the proselytes to this religion to apostatize That I may draw then towards the conclusion of this particular since the gestures of the body have been differently used in prayer unto God suitable to the various wayes of signifying respect in divers Countries and the constitutions of those Churches to whose customs men subjected themselves and since all such things are still to be used in subordination to a greater and more lofty end the raising and testifying the affections and faith of mens minds I shall leave you to practise Saint Austins rules That in private prayer ye so frame the gestures of your bodies as may best conduce to the elevation of your minds and the continuance of great devotion in your prayers But in publick that ye conform to the commands and practice of that Christian Church which imposes nothing sinful as a condition of her communion within whose pale you are inclosed that ye may not become factious and schismatical divide from substantials for a ceremony nor rend the Church and make a separation for what is really in it self indifferent Humility and reverence do certainly become such as address themselves to God and he that has lived here among us that upon the view of our usual approaches to our superiours and the custom of the nation in their addresses to one another can find another gesture more aptly and decently expressing these things than bowing the body uncovering the head and bending the knee may if our superiors please who have authority to order indifferent matters use it and recommend it to others Nay obtain a Law to force it upon all Yet this will be but little to their profit since I know none that upon such slender terms will relinquish their own right to make way for others to enter their possessions because they will not make religion to consist in the use or forbearance of things that are indifferent in themselves But howsoever till this time of tryal comes we were in my judgment better fulfill what God once confirmed by an Oath That unto him every knee should bow and every tongue should swear by his name Isai 45.23 Which Saint Paul thought good to express the subjection of mankind to the supream Being by in the New Testament As I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God Rom. 14.11 And truly when any good Christians pretend to express their real and devout subjection to God 't is not so well to forsake the ceremony which God himself the command of the Church and the reason of men using the ceremonies of this Nation especially when it is conjoyned with custom may render not only lawful but expedient But yet I must proceed farther That with the former circumstances supposed kneeling at prayers will become a duty where the formentioned impediments do not plead for a necessary and unavoidable dispensation 'T is true indeed that bodily exercise profiteth little yet something it does if not conjoyned with the devotion of the mind and does not tend to the improvement of the soul in the habits of vertue and true religion But when this accomplishes the ends to which it is most rationally designed it then becomes such a sacrifice with which God is well pleased I beseech you therefore brethren as St. Paul exhorts by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable divine service Rom. 12. 1. Nay we do not worship with the whole man when we neglect Gods service with a part Moreover it seems not to be a reasonable service when the actions of the body do not accompany the affections of the mind when both are joyn'd together in this world We think it to be rational to express the petitions conceived in our hearts by the language of our tongues Why should we not then signifie our humility that must accompany such prayers as God accepts by those gestures that represent and express it 'T is exceeding natural to mankind to make shew of their inward affection by external signs and the kindest demonstrations that the actions of their bodies are able to represent and we put a force and restraint upon our selves when our hearts are full of fervour and devotion and yet we will not manifest it by our actions and deportments But certainly he who has created the bodies of men as well as their souls has an equal right to the service of both and he that made the whole man will not be satisfied with a partial sacrifice we must worship therefore and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker Our redemption also no less calls for the homage of our bodies than it does for the reverence and devotion of our souls The Apostle sayes Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your bodies and your spirits which are Gods 1. Cor. 6.20 Nay if we expect the final glorification of both 't is but equal that they should both conspire in all the demonstrations of vertue and religion where both may contribute their several parts That so since their interest is united they may in conjunction work out their salvation with fear and trembling Lastly The humble and decent postures of our bodies when we address our selves to God do not only demonstrate the internal devotion and reverence of our minds but according to the observation of all excepting such as are unwilling to make the experiment they excite and continue our internal affections recall our wandrings and put us in remembrance of what we are about if
may not pray to a wrong object or to none at all Now in this I fear many may fail and in their prayers make an Idol in their fancies when yet they abhor one that is sensible or material represented to their bodily eyes For we are apt to frame to our selves especially men who are not used to abstraction a representation of God by something which has been exposed to our senses or at least by a confused joyning of many of these objects together But this is worshipping by a false similitude which we justly accuse and condemn others for And yet the difference seems not to be so great whether the similitude of our God in prayer be represented to our external senses or in the Idea and Image of our minds when we frame such an uncouth Picture there and turn our eyes inward to behold it For the fault seems not to be much alleviated when we refuse to frame a carved Image to represent him to whom we pray if in the mean time we create one in our own imagination and then prostrate our selves before it and pray with the direction of our intentions to it Were we capable indeed of framing an Idea of him that is conceiving an exact similitude of God no doubt but it would become our duty as well as our priviledge to make this representation of him to our selves and it might become an excellent mean to keep our souls and minds intent But there are two reasons among others why this is impossible to be done 1. Because God is a Spirit something that is void of all matter not capable of parts or such quantitative extension as bodies have and consequently we cannot frame any positive and proportionate notion of him all together as we can of those things which we have seen but we know his being only by his Attributes which we cannot consider all at once as we can the figure and proportion of a man together with the Being to which these Attributes belong That God is may easily be demonstrated but what manner of Being he is to which these Attributes are fixed will I think be difficult to be apprehended by men to whom the bare essences of things far inferior are so latent and abstruse So that they must be forced to acknowledge God to be incomprehensible For we find that when we retire within our selves and shut up our souls never so much from any communication with exterior objects though we can frame propositions and discourses concerning spirits yet we can have no representations of them or figures of proportion as we can make of other things which have been the objects of our senses though they are at present at a distance from us or shut out from our view by the darkness of the night or a closure of our eyes And to say truth could a spirit be drawn by us under a similitude it must put off its nature and become material whilst we draw an Image of it it must be subject to our external senses Hence was it that our Saviour confuted the worship of the Samaritans who as Mr. Mede has evidenced worshipped God under the similitude of a Dove and plainly told the woman he convers'd with that they worshipped they knew not what because the object to whom they directed their intentions was confined to this resemblance whilst they were at their devotions When all this while God was a spirit and such as pretended to his service ought to address themselves to him under that notion in spirit and in truth and not by any corporal representation And indeed it seems to be very unreasonable to draw lineaments and proportions of God by our own fancies and imaginations when he has no such things in himself nor as Christ sayes has any man seen the Father 2. 'T is impossible for us to frame a positive Idea or any adequate representation of God in our minds because he is an infinite Being and our souls are but of finite capacities And what is finite cannot frame or receive an Idea that is infinite For what is so can no more be limited or circumscribed than an infinite space can be measured or drawn into the number of proportions and this can never be because whatever a thing is measured by must either singly be commensurate to it or else by the reduplication of a shorter measure we must at last sum up its parts and proportions into one intire dimension in breadth depth and length But what infinite measure can we find out that shall stretch it self parallel to what is altogether infinite since what is so has no ends Or what number of measures can possibly reach it If it could be run over it had an end and then how could it be called infinite If it could be supposed that one infinite could be the measure of another and no penetration yet admitted then one must be where the other is not and then neither could be accounted infinite because one bounds and limits the other If a penetration through the whole should be supposed and granted both infinites would be but one and consequently the thoughts of a measure must perish So that for a finite Being to endeavour to comprehend an infinite essence or to frame an Idea or an adequate representation of him is more impossible than for a man to grasp the Globe of Earth in the hollow of his hand to carry the greatest Mountain upon his shoulder when he has torn it from the rest of the earth to drink up the Ocean at one draught or any thing else that is more difficult there being some proportion betwixt things that are finite but between a finite and an infinite none at all When we can contain the Sea and Rivers in an empty-eggshel shoot the fixed Stars down from heaven take a leap from the Earth to the Moon make the least Vessel to hold all the contents of the greatest or do any thing else that is more impossible then may we attempt though we shall not accomplish it to frame a notion and representation of the Deity that may be equal to his infinite being But in the mean time let us beware of a notional Idol whilst we endeavour to avoid a substantial one Yet since the nature and constitution of man is such that we are apt in our invocations of God to frame similitudes and representations of that Being to whom we make our religious addresses It may not be amiss if I here endeavour briefly to inform you what as I conceive ought to be the apprehensions and sentiments of mens minds with reference to the great and supream God to whom they pray that the intentions of their souls may be rationally and also piously directed in this important and necessary duty of their lives To effect this it must be remark'd that the God whom we pretend to worship contains within himself all manner of perfection and consequently he must include all those things which his own declarations have
we find after an excursion of our thoughts that we are yet in the posture of prayer when otherwise we might by the inadvertency or diversion of our souls or an unusual heaviness and oppression in our bodies forget the duty which we are conversant about But especially in our publick devotions the devout gestures of others about us mind us of what we should do our selves and we cannot remain cold and stupid when we see others express the affection and ardour of their minds by those actions in which we commonly represent them when by the gestures of their bodies they seem to pour out their very souls in prayer How do we see the eyes of men sparkle with zeal when void of all passion or Hypocrifie How does humility and some mens low conceits of themselves cause their bodies to stoop and their knees to bend How does faith and hope again lift up the most feeble hands at once to beg and receive Gods favours And such devout actions if they are not hypocritical will raise and evidence our own affections however must certainly inflame others To conclude this particular then I cannot but speak of the external gestures of our bodies and the inward intention and fervour of our minds what the Poets said of Castor and Pollux That when they are only single they portend mischief and are the fore-runners of a Storm But when they appear both together they presage a fortunate passage to the Church declaring piety in whom they shine and a solid and well grounded devotion And thus I have done with the second particular referring to the manner of our prayer which relates to the deportment and gesture of our bodies The third and last enquiry about the manner of our prayers is to make a search into our words and expressions and to determine what is fitting to be done in this matter when we speak to so great and glorious a God especially in our joynt and common petitions There are not more frequent extravagancies among men exposed to the cognisance of others than what usually proceed from the slipps or designed actions of our tongues These are so nimble when the body becomes heated and chafed as if all our spirits flew thither that 't is difficult for some warm constitutions to afford them any rest at all they are so talkative when we are awak'd that they are tatling too whilst we are asleep Therefore the skilful and prudent Government of the tongue is the most difficult task of the Empire within our selves and needs the prescription of a multitude of Laws and a great and wary caution to be given us that we may be very vigilant to stop the sallies of it that our words may be guided with discretion The tongue saies St. James is a little member but boasteth great things and he compares it to fire a spark of which often turns Cities into ashes such is this among our members that it defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature when it self is kindled by the flames of Hell And therefore if any man offend not in word saies the Apostle the same is a perfect man and able to bridle the whole body James 3.2 5 6. Now as this is so peccant in our conversation with men so is it apt to err in our converses with God when it assumes too much familiarity with him becoming pert and rude in our prayers and devotions As some men whom a Prince honours with his daily converses are so sensibly blown up with the reception of his breath that their former Acquaintance must not know them so oftentimes they become saucy to him that has advanced them and blow his breath back upon himself when they have first poysoned it in their own bodies And thus is it with many men in reference to the great God that made them uttering such language in their addresses to him as would cause men to scorn and reject their petitions and all for want of due consideration and impressing themselves with a just aw from the distance and disproportion betwixt their Maker and themselves 'T is true indeed we are exhorted to come with an humble boldness to the Throne of grace since we have an acceptable person to intercede for us Heb. 4.16 But who can think that such a Text gives incouragement to dust and ashes to fly against the face of their great Creator and advance their priviledge into a confident rudeness Rather surely the same Apostles sober advice must give a check to extravagant presumptions and cause us to serve God in an acceptable manner with profound reverence and a godly fear because he is a consuming fire Heb. 12.28 29. To manage therefore our prayers unto God in such language as may be suitable to our Maker and our selves we may take if we are willing these following directions 1. That our words must be plain and intelligible 2. They ought to be grave and serious 3. They must be expressive and full 4. They ought to be as brief and short as may consist with perspicuity And therefore Lastly they must be premeditated and fix'd First our words and expressions in our solemn prayers must be plain and intelligible Because it is impossible that a man should mind however be affected with that which he does not understand or if he is 't is without reason and he does not act like a man We have indeed too melancholy and woful experience of some that being taken with musical stroaks and any thing which makes curious and grateful percussions upon their ears are extreamly delighted with such sounds of words as are void of sense But 't is a great mistake if we think that the gratification of our senses becomes a reasonable service unto God Prayer requires that our apprehensions and wishes keep a parallel with our words in which we utter our wants and necessities we may otherwise beg a Serpent when we intend a Fish and ask for a stone instead of bread If in publick we understand not the language of him that offers service in our behalf he may curse us in the name of the Devil when we think he blesses us in the name of God It cannot at the bare mention of it but appear to be a strange and ridiculous service when we offer to God we know not what And if we could trust any man with his bundle of infirmities in a business of so great importance as our prayers so as to leave him either to his quick or dull invention as his body or his mind is either vigorous or disturbed so that we might with any tolerable knowledge or due consideration say Amen to what is uttered or composed for us by some men to be delivered by our selves yet sure I am we can never proportion our affections or the intention of out minds suitable to those expressions which we do not understand Prayer especially what is publick should be a plain thing and worded so as to be understood by all
the more we employ our bodies in decent expressions of gravity humility and apt affection to declare the inward intention of our minds which are full of all vigor and fervent desire and the most awful thoughts of that great Majesty whom we adore For this deportment gives to God a whole Sacrifice when others who in their prayers only hide their minds in their bodies as if they were confined as the Heathen Gods to an immovable and stiff Statue separating the inward actions of their souls from any correspondent gestures of their bodies if they worship God at all which they seem not very fond to declare Yet they devote only half of themselves and honor him in such a manner as other men can neither see nor know unless men had Casements in their Breasts that being opened others might look into them But that the worship of mens bodies ought to accompany the devotions of their minds is so apparent from Gods Injunctions under the Law that it cannot admit of any contradiction And if we argue for it under the establishment in the Gospel from those Commands we sind in the Law we have nothing returned but that the Jews were a dull and stupid people in comparison to our selves and men thus boast instead of having much cause of triumph For notwithstanding all the Invectives we have heard against the pitiful carnality and dulness of the Jews it appears too often to our great loss that they are as witty and more cunning than our selves We indeed having received helps and advantages by the Gospel and a greater proportion of the Spirit of Christ in whom they refused to believe are better instructed in the methods of a more spiritual Religion than they could be under the Law But yet what was then established which reason inforced being agreeable to the natures of mankind that was never yet repeated under the Gospel nor ever can I may confidently affirm may remain still without any check or controll for using it And therefore I cannot come to any damage in affirming that the worship of mens bodies in all their publick addresses unto God ought to accompany that of their minds till better arguments are brought against it than any which I have yet heard or seen 'T is true indeed our Saviour acquaints the woman of Samaria that the hour cometh and now is when those who are of the true Christian Church shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth because he seeks such to worship him John 4.23 Yet all this though when 't is interpreted according to the opinions of some men makes others stagger that are so weak as to desert their reason that they may become wise and go out of themselves to possess their souls and forsake the conduct of their own understandings guided by the rules of Gods Word that they may be frighted into the follies of others All this I say may when justly enlarged on rebuke Schism or Idolatry or false worship But this Text cannot authorize any detraction from external decency in the service of God nor abate from those orderly Rites and Ceremonies that promote Uniformity in the worship of him or tend to the sixation and establishment of true Religion under the Gospel nor such circumstances of devotion which are not in particular and directly abolished by the Messiah having been before Types and Prefigurations of him to come If any of that external worship of our bodies were of this kind which is injoyned by our Christian Superiors our practice would contradict our faith and deny Christ to be come in the flesh and justifie the Jews in the expectation of a Messiah But the truth is the conference betwixt our Saviour and the woman of Samaria is so far from prohibiting publick places of worship or external gestures of our bodies in devotion adapted to the inward reverence of our minds that it establishes a spiritual rational and Evangelical worship in opposition to the Mosaick Constitutions and the Samaritan Schism and Idolatry too and briefly declares that the Christian Religion was now to be established to abolish all other that were in the world that mankind being united in one faith and hope and consenting in one common principle and worshipping God through the mediation of their Redeemer having lived in this world with true devotion to the God that made them and in charity and peace among themselves might at last dye with comfort within their own breasts and then enter into the joy of their Lord. But if all this were largely controverted to a victory what shall we think of that Text of Solomon when he delivers points of a moral and perpetual establishment and of an universal concernment to mankind Eccles 5.1 Keep thy foot when thou comest into the Sanctuary of the Lord c. It was an usual custom amongst the Jews according to the fashion of those Eastern Countreys to signifie their reverence in a sacred place by putting off their Sandals before they entered that they might not prophane or which is all one render common by a defilement an holy place or what was separated from vulgar use to such as was sacred and related unto God From whence with reference to the reason of the thing was that Injunction more ancient than this Text Pull off thy shoos from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground Exod. 3.5 The place being before mean and inconsiderable a toft of ground on which bushes grew yet because God consecrated it by his own presence making it holy for Divine Offices to give Moses his Commission and to declare his Law therefore the signs of reverence were to be used there and external demonstrations of devotion to be exhibited Now this particular action of making bare the feet being an outward testimony of respect in those Countreys where this was commanded it sufficiently instructs all subsequent posterities of men that external signs of humility and submission must be given in the service of the Deity especially such in which we pretend to converse with him and in those places that are devoted to his honour And since divers Countreys use distinct modes of reverence and respect according to their customary signification and acceptance as the inhabitants of Japan salute by pulling off the Shoo when we do the same by pulling off our Hats and uncovering our Heads we may therefore fairly conclude that if Solomon in the forecited Text had spoken to persons used to our Customs and subject to the Constitutions of our Nation he would have said Pull off thy Hat when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools for they consider not that they do evil And then the inference from this will be That we ought in all places dedicated to God on which his Name and Honour are inscribed where we pretend to offer our Christian Sacrifice to testifie the inward devotion of our minds by the outward
A DISCOURSE OF PRAYER WHEREIN This great Duty is stated so as to oppose some Principles and Practices of Papists and Fanaticks As they are contrary to the Publick Forms of the Church of England established by her Ecclesiastical Canons and confirmed by ACTS of PARLIAMENT By THOMAS PITTIS D. D. one of His Majesties Chaplains in Ordinary Wherefore that way and profession in Religion which gives the best directions for it viz. Prayer with the most effectual motives to it and most aboundeth in its observance hath therein the advantage of all others Dr. Owen in his Preface to his late Discourse of the Work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer c. London Printed by B. W. for Edw. Vize next Shop but one to Popes-head-Alley over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1683. To my loving Parishioners of the Parish of S. Botolph without Bishopsgate And also to the Inhabitants of the Parish of Christ-Church together with those of S. Leonard Foster-Lane in London by the late Act of Parliament united my very kind constant and Gentile Benefactors Gentlemen THough I have a Patron who is your Bishop and mine too to whom I acknowledge the utmost of what I can perform to be due next God and the King Yet this Discourse consisting of that which has been lately Preached to you in the same order in which for fashion sake it is here published in a small Treatise I hope I may more effectually serve you at this time by presenting those things to your perusal which the most of you have with kindness heard from the Pulpit By our Honourable and Right Reverend Bishops Patronage and your favour I have had the credit and advantage too of Preaching on the Lords daies at both ends of your City And what influence by Gods blessing Christian and Loyal Discourses have had upon many of you your publick actions have eminently discovered And therefore without any farther complement I adventure to dedicate this Discourse to you who am Gentlemen Your most humble Servant Tho. Pittis There are some faults which have escap'd amendment either by my own or others oversight The Principal of which the Reader may correct in this following Order PAge 1. line 16. for one read own p. 12. l. 28. for altogether r. all together p. 34. l. ult for of r. for p. 36. l. 20. place a comma at here p. 52. l. 19. for might r. miâ—d p. 65. l. 6. r. who sustains c. p. 71. place the comma at Religion or it alters the sense p. 114. l. 8. for matter r. manner p. 115. l. 10. for form r. from p. 119. place things l. 20. after those l. 19. p. 157. l. 22. r. And when c. l. ult for Disciple r. Disciples p. 183. for their r. her p. 211. for Sess 22. r. Sess 6. p. 243. l. 10 11. r. at the close of several of his Controversies p. 243. at Essence blot out comma p. 252. l. 21. for nature r. natures p. 253. l. 12. for Omnipotent r. glorious p. 280. l. 16. blot out not p. 285. l. 15 for repeated r. repealed p. 315. l. 15. for nough r. enough p. 356. l. 12. for io r. to p. 358. l. 22. for Spirts r. Spirits The Preface Introduction and Method of this Discourse THE nature and composition of mankind like that Voice which was heard in the Temple at Jerusalem being a warning to its Officers and a Prognostick of its ruine cryes aloud that we must depart hence and since our abode in this World is a state of Pilgrimage and our life here is in order to another since we are a sufficient demonstration to our selves that we were not so wonderfully made to have our beings expire with our breath but the frame and actions of the reasonable soul loudly proclaim its one immortality and that death proves a change only not annihilation 'T is rational for men to employ their thoughts how to be secured of an happy state when they shall be remov'd from their station here to abandon this World which endures but for a moment and to make provision for a future which shall last as long as Eternity can measure it Now since there is nothing more likely to interest us in the happiness of the Regions above than obedience to him who has them in his disposal it is suitable to the reason and inference of men to put themselves into his service and be guided by the declarations of his will since he has exhibited his Laws to the World This puts us upon the exercise of vertue and brings us under the conduct of his government And because miserably dangerous is a miscarriage in this affair admitting no reverse after death nor can the thread of our lives be new spun when our common fate has snapp'd it asunder our fear of error cautions us to be wary that we may chuse well and neither incline to the temptations of the flesh nor be led aside by the allurements of the World or the secret insinuations of evil Spirits which like roaring Lions walk up and down seeking whom they may devour from hence we see the necessity of diligence as well to understand the Laws of our Maker as to avoid their violation which though sometimes it grows peccant by being over-curious when the passion of fear conquers reason and inclines men to superstition yet more mistakes are frequently committed when we relax our diligence from misapprehensions of the revelation of Gods will and on a sudden grow confident and presume inferring from our uncertain notions of Gods decrees that duty and devotion are not absolutely necessary for the obtainment of the end of our hope the salvation of our souls since Gods decrees are unalterable and the predestinate shall be saved let them do what they will and the reprobates shall be damned let them do what they can I shall not now endeavour to shew how inconsistent such positions are with the nature of God the liberty of men or the good government of the community But this will appear most reasonable that the Being of a God once granted and that he contains all possible perfection his worship and adoration will be a natural inference and if he be our Maker and Benefactor there is reason that we should petition and give him thanks For not to be grateful is inhumane and not to begg his favour on whom we depend is foolish and irrational nay worse than so for the Beasts themselves will condemn this whose actions are to us discourse and their sence of obligation arguments to convince us The devouring Lion is obsequious to his keeper the dull Ox knoweth his owner and the sluggish Ass that untractable creature his Masters crib It would be strange then if reasonable men should not both know their obligations and consider their duty Goodness is usually so attractive to the will especially that which is diffusive in courtesies that from bad natures it frequently commands both acknowledgement and returns Where this
therefore has shone bright warming a Chaos into an orderly Creation and brought us forth to be subordinate Governours over the works of Gods hands 'T is no wonder that it enlightens us to a sense of duty and heats our zeal to worship and adore since we cannot chuse but pay our esteem unless injustice checks ingenuity to men amongst our selves suitable to the excellencies inherent in them Thus far I suppose mankind are agreed and I may modestly challenge the universal vogue to vouch the assertion But now the thoughts of men will differ and temperament or interest will sway their minds with reference to the modes of address For the discourses of men being oftentimes as different as their complexions and the sentiments and dispositions of the mind being very servile in attending upon the temperament of the body besides the power of custom and education it is very difficult to disentangle the soul from those fetters in which prejudice has chained it that it may be free in its inferences and conclusions Hence is it that though we all agree upon the Being of a God and that adoration and worship are due to him Yet the acts compounding and the ceremonies attending it have raised so many Schisms and Contentions among men that they seem to agree in nothing but resolutions always to differ That we may say therefore to these winds be still and rebuke the storms which disturb the world that some serenity may at last appear when the clouds are scattered I have taken the subject of Prayer to discourse on it being a duty that ought to attend the course of our lives to which our own necessities prompt us our dependance upon God reasonably requires and his command renders it indispensible But yet because the variety of mens apprehensions and interests which controvert every thing have perplexed this I would willingly be as instrumental as I can in setling your minds in a point of such universal concernment especally at this separated time of Lent in which our publick devotions are more frequent and with a greater solemnity injoyned and praictis'd accompanied with fasting and Alms-giving those mighty resignations of our selves and estates as sacrifices well pleasing unto God And therefore I shall endeavour 1. to explain this duty 2. draw some inferences from the discourse In the explication I shall shew you these seven things First What it is to Pray Secondly What may be the import of some Precepts and Phrases in Sacred Writ which seem to set forth this duty of Prayer as if it were to be continued without interruption Thirdly What is the object of our Prayers or to whom we ought to make this religious address Fourthly In what manner we ought to pray And this 1. in relation to the intentions of our minds 2. with reference to the gesture of our bodies 3. in relation to words and expressions Fifthly For what we may lawfully and ought to pray and this particular will involve persons and things Sixthly Whether this duty of Prayer is injoyned so that it is expected from all men or only such as are good and vertuous And Lastly I shall consider whether it be so necessary or no since God already knows our wants and we cannot break the links that chain causes to effects nor alter the Almighties decrees or providence by any of our wishes or Prayers From the stating and resolution of which particulars I shall at last infer three things First That the service or prayers of our own Church are so framed and performed that God does accept them and are a proper method of addressing to him Secondly That the Church of Rome is most irrational and abominably peccant in hers Lastly That such as live among our selves and yet separate from us under the pretence of greater Reformation and a more Pure and Evangelical worship do not perform their services to God in such manner as is suitable to his Attributes mans dependence and the infinite distance 'twixt their Creator and themselves CHAP. I. HAving thus exhibited my designed method I address my self to the first particular to shew what it is to pray And because many may conjecture that my labour may be excus'd in this since common practice will justly supersede this scruple I shall be very brief in the resolution Prayer then is no more than the offering up our desires unto God In which the Soul has the honour and advantage too of breathing forth its wishes to our Maker lodging them in the bosom and heart of our Intercessor and through him petitioning relief to supply all its necessities and wants Now although this when compleat is joyned with confession and thanksgiving yet I shall not exceed the bounds of prayer those being duties distinct from this and each requires a different explication Various men conceive divers definitions of prayer but yet they are distingished by words and phrases more than sence One tells us 't is a discourse or a converse with God Another an ascending of the Soul to him and men exemplifie this duty by a multitude of Metaphors that rather obscure than explain the thing Nay some set up Jacobs Ladder in this case for Angels to make their descent from Heaven that they may obtain again a sensible and direct passage upwards mount into the Regions above carrying mens Petitions under their wings and then convey the blessings of God down to them This may indeed be allowed for Rhetorick but it neither explains or argues the thing We may better guess at our Prayer unto God by reflecting on our petitions to men in which we always signifie our desires which we earnestly wish for and humbly beg the grant of And this I think to be the common notion we have of Prayer which noâ—man that at all considers can refuse to give his assent to Now this is made when directed unto God either in the inflamed and ardent desires of our minds when devoutly fixing our intentions upon him we secretly wish what we do not express with our tongues And we may easily suppose this method available when the actions of our Souls are performed to him who as well understands the affections of our minds as the language of our mouths and discerns our hearts as well as hears our words But our Prayers to God are also express'd by those instruments of speech which he has framed as well for his service as our own When we put the wishes and desires of our souls into suitable and expressive language rehearsing this with the due and humble intention of our minds and affection correspondent to our petitions And this is of two sorts either private or publick 1. Private and this either of Husband and Wife who being in a sence but one flesh have some necessities betwixt themselves but yet being distinct from others require different and more secret petitions 2. There is a private praying most properly so which every man does or ought to perform singly by himself when first examining his
that have been duly educated in the Christian religion and therefore it must be stripped of all the gaudy luxuriances of an Orator not welted with Metaphors nor darkned by any figurative allusions but it ought to be as naked as truth as clear as the light and as plain and open as innocence it self This must not be spoken like the answers of the Oracles in words that may beguile and deceive the simple but it ought to be as plain as the questions of the inquirers were otherwise let the language be what it will 't is but like a prayer in an unknown tongue amusing only but not edifying the Church nor can any person who does not apprehend it rationally pronounce Amen to it because he sets his seal to a blank which men will not do in other cases nay for all that he knows to that which binds him to his own ruin And such prayers S. Paul both redargues and condemns 1 Cor. 14. Secondly our words in prayer must be grave and serious not intermixed with the levities of a Stage as if our words and actions were to be theatrical in prayer and a man were to make a raree shew in religion we must not turn our devotions into a canting burlesque nor cause the weighty conceptions of our souls to be breathed forth in air and fancy as if we were courting a Mistress or a common Hall But our prayers must be wise and grave the business of thought and careful premeditation and our words must be suited to the weight and grandeur of the matter of our petitions What a strange thing is it to hear a man beg by a Romance and to adorn his rags with joques or flowers This better proclaims his madness than his wants What an odd thing is it when a person comes to beg an alms and yet rants aâ— and tears his benefactor who should be stow it This may be expected at Bethlem only but not in a Church Certainly therefore it must startle and amaze us to see and hear bold men thuâ— acting towards God Almighty himselâ— To find persons raving in their prayerâ— as if they would hector the greâ—â— Maker of heaven and earth and scaâ—â— him into a compliance with their dâ—sires by a loud noise bold words 〈◊〉 too confident importunities woulâ— make a rational and wise man woâ—der where they had learned the Trade Or to hear a man ridiculouâ—ly groaning and yelping out his prayers in tones unbecoming solemnity making grimaces and wry faces as he had the gripes in his belly 〈◊〉 would think he walked the fields oâ—ten and had taken notes from the very Cripples Nay to a stranger that had seen and heard both it would admit of some consideration to guess which was the inventor of the faculty and he would conclude both to be artificial but neither to be fitting in the publick service of God Almighty Nay though we pray upon the foundations of promises and Jesus Christ has died for us yet to urge Gods gracious and free promises in such daring and strange language as if it had not been his kindness to make them or our obedience were so compleat that he could not suspend the favours that we petition for destroys that free grace which at other times we magnifie and extol in such a manner as to leave our selves little or no duty to perform As if God must presently be unjust to us if he does not when we please answer our petitions and give us our reward Strange that men in their addresses unto God should no better consider their distance and dependance but assume to themselves such familiarity with their Maker as if they were either his equals or superiors thus robbing him of his glory that they may the better cloath themselves with shame But shall the potsherd fly at the Potters head or dust and ashes endeavour to cloud and obscure heaven shall we do thus who are formed out of the clay whom one word from him to whom we thus rudely address can sentence to an everlasting silence and make the shades below our habitations Nay shall he that can cast our bodies into a grave and our souls into most horrid darkness in the twinkling of an eye and both at last into everlasting burnings who has the disposal of all the blessings and miseries of this life and the eternal rewards and punishments of the next shall he be addressed to in such a manner as if we were his familiar acquaintance Certainly the most high and lofty one the great God of heaven and earth is not so small and inconsiderable a thing as some mens prayers seem to make him Let us hear himself arguing with such rude and careless men Mal. 1.6 A son sayes he honoureth his Father and a servant his Master If I be then a Father where is mine honour And if I be a Master where is my fear saith the Lord of Hosts unto you O Priests That despise my name and yet say wherein have we despised it The Psalmist gives excelent advice in such a case as this Serve the Lord with fear nay our very rejoycing must be with reverence Psal 2.11 And if the great Kings and Judges of the earth to whom David there speaks must thus perform their duty and service to him who is higher than the highest much more ought those who are of a meaner allay to be admonished not to be malepert with their Maker lest instead of favour they receive vengeance and he gives no other answer to their prayers but a speech of Hailstones and coals of fire Let men therefore use such expressions in their addresses to God as may evidence some dread and awe upon their minds and declare such humility and reverence as become those that draw nigh to God Saint Paul justified himself to the Ephesian Bishops by his deportment among them at all seasons but more especially in that he had served the Lord with all humility of mind which they could no otherways discern but by the outward agreement of his words and actions Act. 20.19 And since our words in prayer are only to express our inward sentiments the thoughts and desires of our souls 't is as requisite that they should be grave and serious as they ought to be modest and humble and as necessary too as that our minds should be qualified and adorned with such vertues when we come to speak or present our selves before the great Majesty of the whole world Nay one is so natural a sign of the other that when gravity and humility are planted in the soul they will sprout forth and spread their branches in the words of mens mouths and deportment of their bodies so that where these last things are wanting we have just cause to suspect nay conclude the profession or affirmation that men have the other to be nothing else but a sham and a pretence Thirdly Our words in prayer must be expressive and full because otherwise they answer not the end for which
and Divine Prayer ' That prayer among men is supposed to be a mean to change the person to whom I we pray But prayer to God does not change him but only fits us for receiving the things prayed for Yet this cannot possibly be wholsom Doctrine unless we allow it some grains of salt by distinguishing betwixt Gods Essence and his Will his Essence indeed cannot be changed by our prayers but his Will may Again before the former Assertion can be accounted true Gods Decrees must be distinguished into absolute and conditional His absolute Decrees cannot be altered but his conditional may as I have proved before However we must conclude that one end of prayer and therefore one design of Gods commanding it though this cannot be all next to a profession of our dependance on him and that natural subjection we owe to him seems to be the influence it has upon our selves to produce the growth and actions of piety and vertue and the purifying our Souls and Bodies too for the reception of those favours for which we make our humble petitions And when we shall with some thoughtfulness consider what a direct influence our prayers have to the accomplishing such glorious designs we cannot deny even this argument to conclude our duty For how effectually do our prayers move us to those vertues for the accomplishment of which we implore Gods grace and assistance if we are at all hearty in our addresses And how directly do they check those vices which we both lament a former and pray against a future commission of Our confessions bring our sins to remembrance and those expressions by which we aggravate them with truth cause us to abominate those miscarriages which we thus with horror most dreadfully decipher Our petitions mind us of our own infirmities and the person from whom we obtain relief and our very thanksgivings for blessings received impress our minds with a sense of his goodness and power from whom comes every good and perfect gift And the frequent repetitions of such a duty cannot but inform us of our great obligations to so good a benefactor fill our hearts with awe and reverence and cause returns in the obedience of our lives to him on whom we are made sensible of such a large dependance and from whom as often as we say our prayers we acknowledge to have renewed obligations So that were this great and solemn duty of prayer frequently practised with due humility and intention of mind it would be impossible for men to act those sins with industry and delight which they do and must confess with sorrow and beg the pardon of with seriousness and repentance And I may with confidence give men assurance that if they would more frequently pray they would sin less and the rational and humble management of their addresses to Almighty God would have great influence upon their dispositions and actions far beyond what those can expect by another method who do not frequently and seriously adventure the experiment For as according to Plato's Philosophy the Sovereign good and welfare of the Soul is the possession of the likeness of God when the mind having the knowledge of him is transformed into him So by often admiring and adoring his Attributes we earnestly desire that which we adore and endeavour to resemble what we admire it being natural to rational men to imitate in themselves that which they commend and praise in another Now this Image of God which in us consists in the habitual possession of his most glorious and as far as they are capable of being called communicable perfections is that which best distinguishes us from beasts and our souls themselves when they are immers'd in matter and converse only with sensual objects do as it were lose their nature and tincture themselves by their conversation and so much the less rational they become by how much the less they are virtuous and religious And therefore Grillus in Plutarch Phaed. reasons and asserts well when he affirms that if Religion be once taken from men they are not only nothing better than Brutes but more miserable For that being subject to many evils their troubles are accented and their disquietments enlarged beyond the perception of other Creatures of a meaner and more insensible nature 'T is Religion therefore that perfects and consummates the beings of men that causes them to aspire to Glory through all the crosses and afflictions of this world and prepares them for an endless immortality And in this it renders them far superiour to the lower Brutes who live some time and then die and perish Now such being the fruits which grow with and are born upon our prayers to which Religion has so natural a tendency that whenever it is genuine and sincere 't is blessed with the production of such a glorious off-spring and prayer and devotion rising up at last into the possession of eternal life this consideration cannot but convince us that prayer is both our priviledge and our duty if we either regard God or our selves the honour of our Maker or our uninterrupted and eternal wellfare The great God has appointed prayer to be the means through the intercession of our Saviour to procure to us Grace here and Glory hereafter and we invert the methods of Divine Providence when we expect the conveyance in another way For though he that is Omniscient knows our wants and what is not present to make us happy Although he is acquainted with his own resolutions nor can we prescribe methods to him or with modest devotion desire more than he has promised and intends to grant Yet in prayers directed by his most holy word he commands us to ask in order to our obtainment of what he vouchsafes to give nor will he be inclined to bestow his blessings without the signification of our desires Vuit Deus rogavi vult cogi vult quâdam importunitate vinci sayes St. Austin bona est haec violentia c. God will be intreated he will be compell'd he will be overcome by a certain importunity this is a good violence when in prayer we wrestle with Almighty God and like Jacob we will not let him go till he has left his blessing behind him He loves in our devotions that we should thus with due humility importune him with demonstration of kindness and affection at the same time when without fainting we express our wants He will neither withhold grace nor glory nor any other good thing from these And certainly if prayer be necessary to obtain such things without which we must be miserable both in this world and in that which is to come I have sufficiently evidenced prayer to be a duty incumbent upon all who resolve not to renounce their own happiness by missing those graces that are both gained and exercised in it who love communion with God here respect their eternal glory hereafter and are not so regardless of themselves as for ever to abandon the