thou asham'd to pray but hast thou not a great deal more cause to be ashamed of thy not praying Know for a certain that is a sinful modesty which doth unfit and indispose thee for any part of thy duty Do not say thou art not able to do it thou are not furnished with gifts for such a work But let me ask thee whose fault is that whom wilt thou blame for that God for not giving them or thy self for not getting them not to be able to pray is both thy 〈◊〉 and thy shame and therefore thy shame because thy sin Dost thou know how to beg thy bread and dost thou not know how to beg thy life dost thou know how to ask a kindness of Man and not how to ask mercy of God thou mayst blush to say so thou wouldest be counted a wise man but in this thou dost charge thy self with egregious folly But I desire thee to begin I fear thou hast nottried be persuaded to try now We have a Proverb amongst us pertinent to the case in hand Vse legs and have legs Praying is the ready way to get the gift of Prayer practising is the most effectual way of learning Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord. Hosea 6. 3. and then shall we seek if we follow on to seek the Lord then shall we pray if we follow on to pray thou didst not know how to go at first when thou wast an infant couldst not set one foot before another but by thy frequent trying thou couldst do it in time yea knowledge and strength comingâ—on thou couldst go and run and leap too by doing thy duty thou wilt attain to an ability and fitness to do it Eighthly Make a wise choice of the time when thou wilt set about this Secret Prayer Let it be done as in a right manner so in the proper season It is true whensoever the wind bloweth we should set up our Sails open when Christ knocks and answer when he calls and go about that which he sets thee to we should be very observant of the Spirit 's motions and comply with them just as it was with the living Creatures and the wheels Ezek. 1. 20. Whithersoever the spirit was to go the living creatures went thither was their spirit to go and the wheels were lifted up over against them for the spirit of the living creatures or of life was in the wheels The spirit of God is to be the Spring and all our Wheels should move as that Spring draws Therefore when he puts thee upon Prayer do not consult with this nor that but apply to it immediately but withal know the Spirit of God is a Spirit of wisdom and knows how to order motions regularly and seasonably Eccl. 3. 1. To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the Heaven a time to plant and a time to pluck up a time to kill and a time to heal a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance c. but man knoweth not his time Eccles. 9. 12. Often he doth not therefore he doth often meet with troubles snares and losses Now the Spirit of God knows these times exactly and moves accordingly therefore if there be any unseasonable impulses and motions reject them as those that are not of God nor his Spirit Always take a fit time make it thy business to nick it God hath in his mercy given thee time enough for all thy work and in his infinite wisdom he hath given thee choice opportunities for every part of it Thou hast thy seasons for labour and for rest seasons for buying and for selling a season for praying and for hearing now look thou carefully to it that thou do every thing in its season that is the excellent property of him whom the Scripture pronounceth a blessed man He is and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season Psal. 1. 3. We cannot well do two things at once and that God who understandeth our frame hath ordered out accordingly concerning us There is but one thing thy duty at one time Now it is thy business to understand what that one thing is and so to do it In short Let not thy secret Prayer hinder thee from waiting upon Publick Ordinances and Publick Worship on God's Holy-day the Church being met together in Christ's name thou oughtest to meet with them if able because thou art a Member of that Body Thou sinnest if thou art praying at home when thou shouldest be hearing abroad So God hath given thee time for the duties of thy general Calling as a Christian and for the business of thy particular Calling too and he would have thee to mind both It is not his will that thou shouldest be cruel to the Body or unnatural to thy Family under a pretence of being tender over thy Soul He that provides not for his own House is so far from being a good Christian that the Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Tim. 5. 8. He hath denied the faith i. e. practically and in his deeds and is worse than an Infidel who doth from a natural instinct take care of his own Thou who sittest under the light of the Gospel and hast the Law of God revealed and opened to thee art far worse than the Heathens because thou dost neglect that duty which they perform who have no other Light to direct them than that of Nature Know O man thou sinnest if thou art in thy Closet when it is thy duty to be in thy Shop or thou O woman when thou oughtest to be employed about the affairs of thy Family and thou O Servant when thou shouldest be doing thy Master's or thy Mistris's business thy time to be sure is none of thine own thou must not injure them to serve him He hates robbery for burnt offering Come Christians learn a piece of holy wisdom do righteousness at all times and in all things Keep all the Wheels going and all in their order The right timing of what you do is putting of a glory upon what you do if all men would keep their place and wisely time their actions we should have better men and a better World than now we have Eccles. 3. 11. God hath made every thing beautiful in his time How beautiful is frost in Winter and heat in Summer joys and comfort if need be yea and heaviness by reason of manisold temptations if need be all the Works of God are done with the greatest exactness as to every circumstance in a proper time and in a lovely order so let yours be done too to the best of your knowledge and the utmost of your power I astly When thou art in secret at thy Prayers unto God carry in thine head and heart the cases of others and be an humble Supplicant unto a God in their behalf tho thou shouldest pray alone yet not
shalt make to thy self no graven Image Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day So here Thou when thou prayest Christ would have every one that nameth his Name that takes upon him the Profession of being one of his People to make a particular application of this to himself and to look upon this counsel as given and this charge as laid upon him Thou Thomas when thou prayest do this and thou Iohn when thou prayest do this and so thou Matthew and thou Andrew and so every one that was then alive or that shall live in any Age or place of the World It is spoken to you and to me and to all do thou enter into thy Chamber thou alone and shut the door upon thee not upon others with thee but upon thee and so pray unto thy Father get alone saith Christ and pray alone do it when there is no body by none to see thee none to overhear thee God and an holy Soul are very good company when it goes out with tears and he meets it with smiles when it draws up its Confessions and he seals its Pardons it breathes out holy desires and longings and he affords it gracious answers and in them satisfactions it states its case tells its Diseases open its Sores and he applies easing and healing remedies In a word When the Soul fires its Sacrifice and then in the holy flame thereof the blessed Angel of the Covenant doth wonderfully It is oftentimes good for the Saints to go one with another into the presence of their Father they have been called upon to strive together in prayer and that in Family duties or in publick Ordinances or in cases of common concernment but there is no Christian who hath not his own wants and his own pressures and his own bitternesses and upon these accounts it is best for him to go alone and thou canst not tell O holy Soul what special favour God may shew thee what token of love he may put into thy hand when there is no body by When disconsolate Hannah had been watering her plants weeping greatly alone pouring out her Soul in tears and prayers before the Lord she had such an impress upon her Spirit such a message of peace whisper'd to her as made her glad at heart and on a sudden dried up all her tears so that her countenance was no more sad Thou if thou engagest in this work in thine uprightness mayst believingly and comfortably expect the same in God's time However set this down with thy self and act accordingly That Secret Prayer is thy unquestionable duty by virtue of a Divine Command 4. Lastly There is a very gracious promise made to Secret Prayer and here I shall lay down this Assertion as worthy your taking notice of That the great God doth not make promises to any thing which he doth not require and which is not acceptable and pleasing to him and which accordingly is not duty in man Promises do follow Precepts and are designed for the strengthening of our hearts and hands the encouraging us to Acts of Obedience and the sweetning those Obediential Acts to us He is angry at those who offer to do those things in matters of his Worship for which they have not his Warrant Hence such enquiry as this Isa. 1. 12. Who hath required this at your hands viz. to come in such a manner And hence also that Complaint and Charge That they burn their Sons and Daughters in the fire made a Sacrifice of them which as he saith Ier. 7. 31. He commanded them not neither entred it into his heart David's Design was good and it pleased God that he had an heart so set for his honour yet it was a rebuke and check to him that God sent him this message by Nathan 2 Sam. 7. 7. In all the places wherein I have walked with the Children of Israel spake I a word with any of the Tribes of Israel whom I commanded to feed my poople Israel saying Why build ye not me an house of Cedar From whence saith Peter Martyr we learn that David failed in attempting such a thing when he had not a word for it from God from whom he ought to have expected and waited for a peculiar command as to the thing and time and place Those that run on such Errands as God never sent them on and presume to do such works as God never set them about or will venture to do his work in a way of their own cannot with any shadow of reason expect a reward from his hand let them get one where they can Why should God pay them for doing that which is none of his work or for doing it after their own fashion Nadab and Abihu did the work of God in offering Incense but they did it after their own fashion in making use of strange fire and it cost them their lives they found God not a bountiful Rewarder but a dreadful Revenger When Promises are made by God to any thing they do plainly speak that thing to which those Promises are made a duty Now we find here in the Text a great and gracious promise made by our Lord Iesus to secret Prayer Do this saith he when thou prayest enter into thy chamber and shut thy door about thee study all possible privacy and retirement let no body know of that which thou goest about if thou canst help it do it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in secret there is Christ's Counsel and it must needs be good because given by him in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and whose name is Wonderful Counsellour now take with you the Promise annexed to this Counsel Thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly God will not send one single Petitioner empty from his Throne of Grace though thou goest begging yet thou shalt return rejoycing Abraham the Father of the Faithful had bowels of compassion yearning over his wicked Neighbours he prayed in secret for â—ilthy Sodom There was no body to back him in that Suit nor to plead together with him that City was indeed so bad that he was both ashamed and afraid to appear as an Advocate for them and therefore he did more than once deprecate the Divine displeasure Oh let not the Lord be angry yet observe how mighty he was with God He lifted up prayer after prayer and God condescended to him again and again Single and solitary Abraham had such a great interest and success that the glorious and provoked God did not give over granting until Abraham had given over praying By what hath been said I hope the first thing promised is performed namely it is made plain and evident That Secret-prayer is the Christian's duty We now proceed to the Second which is to prove That if it be rightly managed it will be his advantage and to that end I shall only shew that it will afford him these two
he comes armed with Authority from the Chief Priests to bind all that call on thy Name Well Ananias do what thou art bidden for though it is true that he hath been a vile Wretch a cruel and malicious Enemy fear him not the Wolf is turned into a Lamb It is no matter what formerly he was he is now quite another thing and is acted by a far better Spirit He is a new man and thou mayst take this for a certain and undoubted evidence of it He is a Praying-man He that before spake nothing but blasphemies and outrages against Christ and breathed out threatnings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord did now that he was converted and sanctified speak supplications It is the fashion of a great many when the Lord's day comes they will go out to hear and they are for variety this man and that and twenty more possibly three Sermons upon a day peradventure four and I do not blame any for being swift to hear it is an excellent thing to see Christians hungry and of good appetites so that they do but allow themselves necessary time for concoction and be not wanting to personal and Family duties but Conscience do thou speak and that loud enough to make guilty Persons hear and feel too be there not some of these who at home are never upon their knees before God If a man could look into their Houses and into their Chambers he would find that Prayer is quite shut out from thence And for my part I cannot but tell you That let these Persons hold their heads never so high and have obtained never so great a name I can look upon them as being no better than a company of walking Ghosts such as do really want an inward vital principle and are carried up and down from one Congregation to another by some external consideration Prayer is a breathing in Heaven's Air it is the breathing of the Soul in the bosome of God it draws in spirit and life from him and then again it pours out and empties it self into him and it is full out as possible for a man to live a natural life without natural breathing as it is for him to live a spiritual life without spiritual breathing I mean without Prayer You know when God promiseth his Spirit Zechar. 12. 10. he doth it in these Expressions I will pour out upon the House of David and the Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplications Wheresoever the Spirit of God comes and dwells in the Soul as a Spirit of Grace there he doth certainly act as a Spirit of Supplications and the Apostle Paul saith Rom. 8. 15. That the Sons of God receive the Spirit of Adoption whereby they cry Abba Father Which imports a filial boldness and confidence in dealing with him by fervent Prayer I remember what you may meet in 1 Cor. 13. 1 c. Though I speak with the tongues of men and Angels though I have the gift of Prophecy and understand all Mysteries and all knowledge though I have all faith so as to remove mountains though I bestow all my goods on the poor and give my body to be burned yet if I have not Charity it profits me nothing I am nothing but as a meer sounding brass and â—inkling cymbal What he there speaks of Charity or Love which doth indeed make Actions lovely in the sight of God and men and puts a lustre and beauty upon them the very same may be affirmed concerning Prayer Let a man be never so well accomplished never so raised in his attainments never so fluent and warm in his discourses never so eminent for his profession never so frequent and attentive in his hearing never so abundant in acts of Charity yet if he be a prayerless Person he is nothing nothing in Religion nothing to purpose all his parts and performances though many and specious will amount to nothing in Heaven's Arithmetick they will be of no more significancy than so many Cyphers without a Figure to put a value into them That which I have said amounts to thus much To live without Prayer is utterly inconsistent with a gracious and holy frame and all that such an one doth will never turn him to a good account You may as soon live a spiritual life without Faith as live by Faith without Prayer for as was before observed they that believe will speak When God hath kindled a spark of Grace in the Soul it will be working in a way of Prayer that spark will fly upward and carry the Soul along with it Thus we find it in Psal. 39. 3. My heart was hot within me while I mused the fire burned then spake I with my tongue What did he speak Prayers Lord make me to know my end and the measure of my days Therefore my advice is that you would either take up Prayer and follow it as a principal part of a Christians work or else lay down your Profession boast not of a filial Relation to God while thou art not possessed with a filial spirit and disposition Never talk of your being acquainted with God and some of his Friends when in all your lives you never spake one serious hearty word to him If you are resolved to live without Prayer be so just and reasonable as to put off the honourable name Christian which doth by no means belong to you and call your selves Heathens Beasts nay which is worse though not too bad for you down-right practical Atheists Secondly Your Condition at the present is very miserable though you know it not so long as you live without Prayer you live without a blessing whatsoever may light upon you the blessing of God is the portion of a praying People If you will look into the Book of God which I believe you seldom do for those that will not beg his mercy will not labour to know his will you may see how much it cost Esau to get a blessing from his Father Isaac he shed many tears and lifted up loud cries Gen. 27. 33 34. Isaac told him that one had brought him Venison which he had eaten of and he blessed him and he should be blessed It is said When Esau heard the words of his Father he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry and said unto his Father Bless me even me also O my Father and when Isaac answered vers 37. Behold I have made him thy Lord and all his Brethren have I given to him for Servants and with corn and wine have I sustained him and what shall I do now unto thee my Son Vers. 38. Esau said unto his Father Hast thou but one blessing my Father Bless me even me also O my Father and Esau lifted up his voice and wept What art thou so poor O my Father as that in giving one blessing thou hast given away all Hast thou not reserved one And all this he was fain to do before he could obtain Yea and it
the little things which did speak the unsoundness of their hearts so what shall we think of them who spend all or the greatest part of their care and heat about those things which come not under any express command of the Divine Law They that are most curious about their Bodies are as it is to be feared most careless about their Souls they spend so much time at their Glass that they have none for the Bible they are so careful that a Pin be not stuck amiss in their Cloaths that they leave every thing amiss in their Hearts by the Garbs and unreasonable Dresses in which some sillily proud persons come into the Assemblies it is easie for Spectators to determine how they spent and profan'd the Morning of the Sabbath at home and we may apprehend and fear the same in the present case that those persons who are so much set for such things as this are at least very apt and prone to bestow none of their care about that which deserves most they are so much for the place that they forget and neglect the heart they are so thoughtful where they pray that they do not mind how they pray they are so set for a form they do not mind nay possibly they hate the Power But by the way letâ—me whisper this in the ear of these persons That the Altar will not Sanctify a corrupt thing If you bring dead formal lifeless Prayers though you offer them up in your Consecrated Churches nay at your adored Altars they will not come up with a sweet smelling favour and acceptance before God I would not have any body think that I do God forbid that I should say A Form of Prayer and Formality of Heart are inseparable Companions I do not doubt but meer formal Professors are most for forms but I dare not affirm that all those who make use of Forms are meer formal Professors I do not doubt but some looking upon Forms as lawful and out of modesty and an humble sense of the lowness of their own parts do make use of Forms when they pray with others and are conscientious in the use of them and they do accompany the Petitions Confessions and Thanksgivings contained in them with sincere affections and do meet with a gracious acceptance with God and do enjoy a communion with his Holy Majesty But this I will also be bold to say and if any be offended at it upon them be it That constant stated forms of Prayer and Formality are borderers upon one another they live at no such great distance but that they frequently yea commonly meet together in the same Service and in the same Persons And really I am of the mind that it stands them in hand who make use of forms to be very cautious and look warily to themselves lest they do even before they are aware fall into formality that indifferency and lukewarmness of Spirit which God cannot endure When in the forequoted Scripture the Woman of Samaria fell into discourse with Christ about the place of Worship whether it ought to be at Ierusalem or in that Mountain viz. Gerizim our Saviour did wisely and graciously take her off from that as a matter not so momentous as to deserve either her Enquiry or his Resolution and fell to acquainting her with directing her to and putting herâ— upon the Spirituality of that Worship which is to be performed as that which she and every one ought principally to attend unto because it is that which the heart of God is most for and upon which his pure eyes are chiefly set 4 Iohn 23 24. The hour cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth for the Father seeketh such to worship him God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth Spiritual Worship is most congruous and agreeable to God Childish Toys please Children who have no more wit outward Pomp and Ceremonies please vain men who have not so good hearts as they should but spiritual Worship is acceptable to that God who is himself a Spirit such Worshippers he seeks others he rejects when he finds them therefore you must be such if you would find favour or receive a Blessing And to shut up this particular I will only add That if men were once set as they should be for the spirituality of Worship they would not be so unreasonably eager as they are for nor so tetchy froward and contentious about Places Modes and Forms which can fetch their pedigree and original no higher than meer human Invention and Appointment Enough of that and it will be well if some persons do not think this a little too much VSE In the third and last branch of this Use of Reprehension my work will be to awaken rouze and startle to convince and bring those to judge and condemn themselves who live without secret Prayer I hear from some and I do more than partly believe it That there are many Professors and those too of some Name and Eminency who live under the dreadful guilt of this sinful omission and if there be some such how great may we suppose the total number to be of them who are this way chargeable tho' let them be never so many every one of them Man Woman and Child is known to that God who observes our down-lying and our up-rising and is acquainted with all our ways There are those that will come to publick Ordinances that they may not be counted Heathens nor suspected to be Papists which Party now blessed be God is under great infamy and reproach tho' not greater than they do deserve upon account of the very Principles of that cursed Religion which they have embraced and do profess Yea and they will attend upon those Ordinances which they think are most purely administred and also join themselves in Communion with those Churches which they look upon as being of the most Scriptural Constitution that so they may be reckoned among Christians of the highest Form and chiefest Rank yea and peradventure they will set up Family-duties they will call their Children and Servants together and all under their â—oof and Charge to seek the Lord lest upon a discontent or remove some-body within doors should tell tales by means whereof their reputation should be blasted and the truth of their Religion called in question by any of those to whom they are desirous yea ambitious of approving themselves But wretches as they are as for Prayer by themselves either in Chamber or in Closet or any where else they do lay it aside altogether God himself will be a swift Witness against them that He and they never so met together They find much other work and can do many other things when they are alone They can spend a great deal of time at the Glass viewing and dressing themselves they can tell their Money and read over their Bills and Bonds but as for Soul-searching
of thy heavenly Father I am confident if thou wilt begin it in good earnest thou wilt not easily give it over I do not indeed know what interruption the Devil may give thee who hates all the Work of God and good of Man but if by temptation thou shouldest for a time be taken off from it thou wilt not be well nor able to enjoy thy self till thou dost return to it again I dare say in an humble holy and beliâ—ving performance thou wilt experience such incompâ—rable sweetness and so much benefit and advantage accruing to thee that thou wilt go on and call upon God as long as thou livest and then expire thy Soul in the same manner as Stephen did whose last words were Prayer Acts 7. 59. Lord Iesus receive my spirit and Lord lay not this sin to their charge and when he had said this he fell asleep That which I have further to do will be in these two things 1. Lay down Motives to the work 2. Give Directions for managing it I shall begin with the Motives for the alluring and drawing you to this excellent work who have hitherto been altogether strangers to it or very backward and by consequence inconstant off and on and I shall most heartily rejoice if the Lord would graciously please to succeed these endeavours so that what I shall suggest to you may bring you upon your knees that there may be more of this Chamber-practice more of a Chamber-fellowship and Closet-communion with your God The Motives are these First Do you pray in secret because that God who is the proper Object of Prayer seeth in secret as trusting in him you do at no time and in no condition trust in a God that cannot save so directing your Prayers to him you do in no place pray unto a God that cannot hear When Hagar had in a fear fled from the face of her incensed Mistress God found her out in the Wilderness where she was absconded and appeared and spake unto her there whereupon it is said in Gen. 16. 13. That she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her Thou God seest me for she said Have I also here looked after him that seeth me We may as some do reckon these words to be words of reprehension as relating to herself and words of admiration as referring to God Have I also looked after him Here I am but how stupid and foolish have I been I have been looking back to the Comforts which I had when in the Family and under the wing of my Master Abraham and I have been looking to the displeasure and severity of my Mistress Sarahâ—â— and I have been looking to the desolate place and distressed condition into which I am now brought but have I here minded God and looked after God I have been so afflicted with my loss and have pored so much upon my troubles that I have been unmindful of God did find neither heart nor leisure to think of Him or look after Him a Case it is too common among the children of men yet here he â—eeth me and minds me here he looks upon my person and upon my affliction and sorrow And maist not Thou my Friend say the very same when thou art alone and in thy Closet-recesses Thou God seest me When no soul living is by when no mortal eye seâ—th me then Thou God seest me Now let me desire thee after that serious consideration to propound this as a serious Question to thy self Have I also here looked after him that seeth me God's eyes have been here upon me but have mine eyes been again upon God and unto God It may be thou art able to say In the publick Congregation I have looked after that God who seeth me there I have had many frequent repeated and raised thoughts at him there I have waited for him more than they that watch for the morning yea more than they that watch for the morning But when thou art in thy Chamber canst thou make thy Appeal to God and say O Lord thou knowest and art my witness that even here I have looked after thee that seest me here mine eyes of Faith and Prayer have been toward the Lord that seeth me This is an Argument which our deâ—râ—st Lord Jesus maketh use of in the Text That your Father seeth in secret The Royal Prophet saith Psalm 139. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence The Question speaks it a thing impossible to be done His eye is fastned upon thee and follows thee whithersoever thou goest look to thy self and ponder all thy actions thou art under the pure and piercing and all-discerning eye of the infinitely Great and Glorious Majesty when thou art in the Congregation and in the Street and in the Shop and in the Kitchen yea and when thou art in the Closet too And since he doth see thee there what wouldst thou have him see thee doing wouldst thou have him see nothing but vanity in thy mind and corruption in thy heart wouldst thou have him see nothing done by thee but looking into thy Glass and into thy Chests and Bags or turning over thy Fineries and Fooleries and so feeding thy Wantonness and Pride or making provision for a perishing Carkass to deck and adorn it or gratifie a bruitish and sensual Appetite but never see thee upon thy knees seeking his face and favour or the good of thine own precious and never-dying Soul Oh that His Eye might affect your Hearts That Divine Eye which is upon all your ways and looks you thorow and thorow That Eye which is ten thousand times yea inconceivably more than the eyes of all the Angels in Heaven and of all the Men upon Earth The Eye of God should among others have these two effects upon us and upon all men that know and own him First It should awe us Seâ—ondly It should quicken and animate us It should awe us when we are in secret and be an effectual curb to those Lusts and Corruptions which would otherwise break loose and grow rampant When no body is by do not dare to sin because God is by This preserved young Ioseph from falling before a great temptation When he might have procured the savour of his Mistress and as some would have thought have done himself a kindness this thought brake the neck of the temptation How shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God Again the Eye of God should animate and put life into you it should as a golden Spur quicken you to the careful and lively performance of Duty when you are in secret and no body at hand to take notice of it and make report Let it be enough for you enough alone that God seeth your love to him and the desires of your Souls to his Name and a remembrance of him and communion with him and He needs none to inform him of your unmindfulness and neglect of him no no He
and compendious way mingling with it faith in Christ to provide for your own peace and comfort when you do humbly and freely load your selves with the acknowledgment of the sins you are guilty of you may find them lie more light upon you Consciences when you bind them upon your selves you may find God loosing them and taking them off by the assurance of a gracious and full pardon Till David came to this poor man he was in a most dismal condition Psal. 32. 3. While he kept silence his bones waxed old through his roaring all the day he kept silence i. e. he did not confess sin and then he was fain to spend all his time in roaring because of the torment and anguish which he felt and so long as he did not carry toward God in a way of ingenuity God carried toward him in a way of severity Vers. 24. Day and night thy hand was heavy upon me my moisture is turned into the drought of Summer He was sunk under the weight of that hand and broken almost to shivers and dried up like a potsherd But now see what a comfortable change was wrought and how God appeared to his joy when he brake off that sinful silence yea as soon as he took up a resolution of doing it Ver. 5. I acknowledged my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin So then this is the way to remove Judgements to pacifie the wrath and displeasure of God to quiet the Conscience to recover the sense of Divine Favour and to get for broken bones the joy of God's Salvation Fifthly When thou art in secret keep a strict watch over thy self Watch over both thy Body and Soul watch over thy body that it may not sleep as the Disciples did very unseasonably when they had the greatest reason to keep awake You know what our Saviour said That the body is weak where the spirit is willing It is a great sin and therefore a great shame for people yea such as profess godliness when they are about the Work and Service of God in these Assemblies hearing and praying to sleep away so much of that precious time as they do as if these things were none of their business and they were not at all concerned in it Sure I am this is not to sit here as God's People sitteth this is no sign of a serious Christâ—an coming to hear for Life and to pray for Life and working out Salvation with fear and trembling and yet they sleep in the midst of Observers when they have some on all sides to give them an awakening jog and I desire you to make conscience of doing it it is an act of Duty and of Love it is a friendly jog and the party to whom you give it is obliged to take it thankfully at your hands as a kindness He doth not know how much he may lose by a little Nap some precious Truth may then be spoken and passed in which he was greatly concerned and by which he might have been greatly benefited but it is gone and lost as to him he slept it away But when thou art all alone thou hast none by to do that friendly Office to bestow a jog upon thee then thou must do all the work thy self and look to thy self therefore thou shouldst be the more thine own Friend and take the more care and pains And also watch thy Soul thine heart keep it as thou art commanded with all diligence And as Deborah said to her self when she was in the midst of her work Iudges 5. 12. Awake awake Debroah awake awake utter a Song so do you call upon your selves in your Duties Awake awake O my Soul awake awake lift up a Prayer Thou hast now wrestling-work in hand do not be dull heavy and lazy at it watch thine heart for it needs it and two things in particular it is very subject to wandrings and coolings the heart of man is a wandering heart will not keep its way nor dwell upon its proper Object David could say My heart is fixed O God my heart is fixed But could he say so always or canst thou No tho' it is fixed in its choice of God in its affection to him in its resolution for him yet it hath not that fixation of thoughts and meditations upon him nor that fixedness of fellowship and communion with him which should be Thou thinkest thou carriest thy heart with thee to thy duty but dost thou not often find it hath given thee the slip and is gone before thou hast done Therefore look to it keep thine eye upon it that it may keep its place and to its business But then again the heart of man hath its coolings as well as its wandrings As it should keep its way so it should carefully keep its heat Be much therefore and frequent in stirring up thy self when thou goest by thy self to take hold of God beware of all deadness and dulness when thou art going to serve a living God When fire-brands are together they will help one another and burn to the last but he that would keep a single one alive had need to tend it carefully and be often blowing it yea and adding some fewel too Watchfulness is as great and necessary a Duty as any the Christian hath to do he must watch unto Prayer that he may not go about it unseasonably that he may not lose a fit opportunity but set up his sail as soon as the wind blows and that he also might make use of all advantages for the tuning of his instrument and getting his heart into a right frame and he must watch likewise in prayer that when he is at the work he may not idle in it and so lose his duty by losing himself for want of looking to Alas what is Prayer without the heart unprofitable to man abominable to God it is like a Carcase when the Soul hath once forsaken it a stinking and offensive thing who would make a Present of it to a great King Sixthly When thou art upon thy knees engaged in secret Prayer unto God be sure that thou double thy diligence and put thy strength forth to the utmost When a great many are lifting at an heary weight every one may spare himself and put forth the less strength because there is such a number to assist but when there is no more than one single person tugging at it he had need strain and labour hard else he must leave it where and as he found it When we are joined together with others in Prayer when with a Church of Christ an Assembly of Saints there is a number of Supplicants a great many besieging the Throne of Grace wrestling with God and pulling down the Blessings which are desired and then we may speak in the same manner as David did Psal. 7. 6 7. Arise O Lord in thine anger lift up