Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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B04947
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A discourse concerning prayer especially of frequenting the dayly publick prayers. In two parts. / By Symon Patrick, D.D. now Lord Bishop of Ely.
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Patrick, Simon, 1626-1707.
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1693
(1693)
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Wing P789A; ESTC R181547
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106,863
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299
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coâ—dition as our Bodies tell us when thâ— are ill or in pain or hungry aâ— thirsty or labouring under any othâ— burthen 3. And then there is supposed a â—â—sire to have these wants supplyed as 〈◊〉 have already said Emptiness is troublesome to us when we feel it and it â—s impossible we should not long to be â—ased by getting it filled If we do â—ut fancy we are in need there is no â—est till we find some satisfaction We must be either satisfied that we do not â—eed it or we must have what we are â—tisfied is needful And in this consists Internal Prayer the desire or longing of the Soul to be â—lled with all the fulness of God to be satisfied with his likeness to be reconciled to him and to be made dayly more conformable to his Will and Pleasure in every thing 4 Which desires we are strongly inâ—ined even by Nature it self to exâ—ess in Words which are the interâ—reters of our minds and declare that is in our hearts For all sensible Creatures we see make their moans by â—â—dible Cryes of several sorts when their needs are great And therefore â—an cannot be the only silent thing â—â—t is formed by God to implore his â—elp and beg his relief on all occasiâ—ns in such words as are apt signiâ—cations of his inward desires And that 's the last thing observable 5. Prayer is an expression of our inward desires unto God the Author anâ— Fountain of all good For when wâ— are desirous to receive an Alms from any person we alwayes ask it of sucâ— as we believe are able and we hopâ— are willing to bestow it But neveâ— make our applications to those whâ— are as beggarly as our selves Now 〈◊〉 is God only who is able to supply aâ— our needs and hath revealed himself 〈◊〉 be willing to bestow what we ask 〈◊〉 him nay hath invited us to come 〈◊〉 him and assured us he will grant oâ— desires And who alone knows oâ— needs and can hear the desires of aâ— men and likewise is the only Judgâ— whether that be fit for us which we as 〈◊〉 or there be not something better thaâ— our own wishes Upon which account Saints and Aâ—gels are not to be invocated For 〈◊〉 we know not whether they hear uâ— nay it seems impossible to us thâ— they should be able to hear such greâ— numbers of Supplicants as in seveâ— and very distant places call upon thâ— same Saint or Angel So we know 〈◊〉 what power they have to help us nor what they can do for us if they could hear us but we know they cannot be in so many places at once as they have Suitors to give them their succour and assistance And besides they have made no promises to us that they will so much as prefer our petitions to God or do all they can for us Nor are they wise enough to judge what Petitions are fit to be preferred and what not that is what is most behoveful for us in all conditions and states of Life and in all the particular passages and circumstances thereof It might be added that all these Petitions must be put up in the Name and through the Mediation of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus who is our only Advocate with the Father But that belongs rather to the manner of addressing our Prayers unto God and therefore I here omit it And shall only observe for the further explication of it that there are several parts of Prayer to God As may be gathered even from that remark at the conclusion of the lxxii Psalm The Prayers of David the Son of Jesse are ended Where the foregoiâ—â— Psalms are all called Prayers thougâ— some of them be doleful complaints 〈◊〉 the sadness of his condition others 〈◊〉 them confessions of sin which hâ—â— brought him into that doleful estate others acknowledgments of his intiâ—â— dependance on God others magniâ—â—â— his powerful and wise Goodness anâ— render thanks for benefits receiveâ— and promise dutiful obedience as we as petition for pardon and deliverancâ— By which we learn that Prayer unâ—â— God is made up of all these and thâ— in a sense of his Greatness and Gooâ—ness of our absolute dependance upâ—â— him and all the benefits we have râ—ceived from him we ought to addreâ— our selves to him confessing how wâ— have offended him bewailing the â—â—serable estate into which we have therâ— by brought our selves begging hâ—â— pardon imploring the Grace of hâ—â— Holy Spirit and in the sincerity anâ— uprightness of our hearts resolving tâ—â— be wholly his and to serve him in newness of life all our dayes And the truth is every one of theâ—â— is vertually a petition to him Wheâ—â—ther we heartily acknowledge what he â—s or adore him or praise him or give him thanks or confess our unworthiness or profess our dependance on him or promise fidelity to him c. they all bespeak his grace and favour towards us and move him to bestow his mercy upon us This is a short explication of the Nature of Prayer which will be something better understood by what follows concerning the Necessity of it though when I have said all that I can I am sensible it will be defective For Prayer is so sublime a thing that the noblest Wits have acknowledged we stand in need of the Father to inlighten of his first-begotten Word to teach and of the Spirit to operate in us as Origen's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 N. 8. words are That we may be able to think and speak worthily in so great an Argument CHAP. II. Of the Necessity of Prayer WE shall be the more strongly moved to study this high and excellent Duty and to labour to perform it aright when we are made sensible it is so indispensable a part of aâ— godly Life that we cannot so much a pretend to the profession of Christianity if we do not practise it Of which there is this general demonstration which cannot be gainsaid That which is founded in our Nature and to which we are bound bâ— vertue of our being Creatures to thaâ— every Christian is indispensably tied it being the intention of our Lord Christ his coming not to loosen those obligations we have upon us as menâ— but to strengthen them and bind them harder upon us to heighten all natural Duties and to make us more deeply sensible of the Laws that are written in our very being Now such an one is this of Prayer which doth not stand upon a mere positive command as Baptism and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper do That is it is not our Duty merely because our Lord by his Authority hath made it so but he hath made it so because we are made to it as I may speak and formed by God to acknowledge him in this manner For it is as natural a thing to Pray as it is to Believe there is a God and to be perswaded that we were made by him and not by our selves Hence it is That you shall