DISCOURSE XXV.

Of Prayer.

JER. XXIX. 12, 13.

Then fhall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will bearken unto you. And ye shall Jeek me, and find me, when ye shall fearch for me with all your heart.

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'HERE is nothing in the whole life of man more needful to be recommended, and more ufeful in our daily practice, than fincere, humble, and devout prayer. The neceffity of this duty is fo great, that without it nothing can be expected at God's hands; for as St. James obferves, i. 17. Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, who is also faid to be rich unto all that call upon him. Now this command is laid upon us, not because God either will not, or cannot give without our afking; but because he hath appointed the act of prayer, as one mark of our faith in his promifes; as the means whereby his creatures fhould confefs their dependance upon him; as a gracious privilege to fupport our hope, and keep us from fainting under various trials for there is no doubt but he always knoweth what we need, and is always most ready

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to give us a fufficiency of those things that will really profit us.

But in order that we may keep up a just sense of his divine power and goodness, and behave ourfelves moft gratefully towards him on that account; loving, fearing, and worshipping him fincerely and conftantly, as we ought to do; it hath pleased God in his high wisdom, and for our good, that in time of neceffity we should lower ourselves before him, pour out the fecrets of our hearts, as in his prefence, and implore the aid of his almighty power, in forms of holy and repeated prayer. Thefe are his own words, as fpoken by his faithful fervant David, to this very purpofe, in the Ith Pfalm, ver. 15. Call upon me in the day of thy trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. He further encourages us to this incumbent tafk, by the mouth of his beloved Son, in the gofpel of St. Matthew, vii. 7,8. Afk and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that afketh receiveth; and he that feeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. St. Paul abounds in exhortations to this end, That we should continue in prayer, and watch in the fame with thanksgiving, (Col. iv. 2.) and St. James likewife moft earnestly advifes all men to ufe diligent prayer, (James i. 5.) If any of you (fays he) lack wifdom, let bim afk of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. And in another place he faith, (v. 16.) Pray one for another, that ye may be bealed, for the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

By all these paffages, and many others that might be produced upon the fubject, we are clearly taught, that though in his wifdom, and fore-knowledge, God perceiveth all our wants, yet it is his pleasure that we fhould call upon him, and pray unto him; and that he will have us no lefs ready on our parts to ask, than he on his part is willing

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to give. And hence, the reasonings of these men are proved moft falfe and foolish, who think all prayer to God is vain and needlefs, because by his infinite nature he trieth the heart and reins, and knoweth the meaning of the Spirit before we ask. It is a fufficient argument against this error, that if fuch an opinion could deftroy the ufe of prayer, our Bleffed Lord would not have been fo frequent in admonishing his difciples to watch and pray; for if this be true, why did he propose to them a form of prayer? faying, After this manner therefore pray ye, Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name; (Matt. vi. 9.)* Again, why did he pray fo often, and fo earnestly before his paffion? And laftly, why did the apoftles, immediately after his afcenfion, affemble together in one place, and there continue a long time in prayer? It is evident, therefore, that what tends to condemn the practice of Chrift and his followers as infufficient, must neceflarily be erroneous, and confequently the efficacy. of prayer is established. It must be a becoming employment for all men, at all times, and in all places, whenever occafion requires it, and decency and propriety warrant the exercise of it. The very condition of our nature, and our conftant need of grace, render it expedient, and comfortable, to apply to our heavenly Benefactor in the hour of diftrefs. Pray always (faith St. Paul, Eph. vi. 18.) with all prayer, and fupplication in the fpirit, and watching thereunto with all perfeverance. And in another place he advifes (1 Theff. v. 17.) to pray without ceafing; by which he does not mean that we are to be continually on our knees, but that we should strive to keep

It is obfervable, that our Lord introduces this very command, with the previous acknowledgment that our heavenly Father knoweth what things we have need of, before we ask him; which affords the fulleft refutation of the notion that God's prefence can be any plea against the duty and benefit of our paying him this homage,

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our will always in fubjection to God's providential appointments; that we should ever depend upon him; and that we ought not to be flack or faint in prayer when we do ufe it, but to continue the practice as long as we live, nothing doubting but that God will hear and grant what is proper for us. Many other paffages might be advanced from fcripture to declare the use of prayer, but there can be no occafion for more proofs in fo plain a cafe. None can be fo ignorant, who have any pretenfions to chriftianity, but they must know, none can be fo blind but they muft fee, that prayer is univerfally profitable to all alike, and no better reafon can be required for it, than that it is through this means only, we are taught to expect thofe bleffed and endless treafures which God our heavenly Father hath referved for his children, through the merits and interceffion of his well beloved Son Jefus Chrift, and which are moft furely confirmed to us by this covenant and promise, that if we afk as we ought to do, we shall receive them.

Having fo far feen the great value of prayer, let us now proceed, in order to encourage ourselves in a due discharge of the duty, to confider what wonderful power is attributed to it in feveral parts of Holy Scripture. We read in Exod. xvii. 12. that Joshua, the general of God's people, when he was fighting against the Amalekites, did not obtain the victory over the enemy fo much by his own skill and valour, as by the earnest and conftant prayer of Mofes, who (to fhew the will and power of God, in conducting all events) as long as he held up his hands to God, fo long did Ifrael prevail; but when he fainted*, through bodily infirmity, and let his

* This action affords a beautiful figure, to point out the neceffity of faith in prayer; and it likewife feems defigned by the Almighty, to teach humility to the people, by proving to them, that conqueft depended upon the might of his arm to whom they muft took up moft earnestly, and conftantly, for help in time of need.

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hands drop, then did the people of Amalek prevail. So that Aaron and Hur, who were on the mount with them, feeing from whom alone their ftrength was derived, kept his hands propt up tilk the going down of the fun, or the people had been that day routed.. Again, we read concerning Jofhua himself, in Joth. x. 12. that when at the fiege of Gibeon, upon his humble petition to Almighty God for aid, and in fure faith that he alone is mighty to fave, he obtained of the Lord that the fun and moon fhould ftay their courfe for a whole day, till the people had avenged themfelves upon their enemies, to the utmoft that God intended. Of what happy effect, likewife, was the fervent petition of Jehoshaphat, which prevailed on God to caufe his foes to fall out among themselves, and wilfully to deftroy each other? Further, can we too highly teftify our wonder at the notice paid to the fupplication of Elias, who though a man fubject to like affections as we are, prayed to the Lord that it might not rain, and there fell no rain upon the earth for the space of three years and fix months. Again he prayed that it might rain, and plenty defcended, fo that the earth brought forth her increase more abundantly *.

It would take up too much time, as the apostle fpeaks, to tell of Judith, Efther, Sufannah, and numerous other godly men and women; and to fhew how greatly they profpered under all their difficult and doubtful undertakings, by:

* Doubtlefs all thefe inftances were effected in a fpirit of prophefy and great faith, and to exalt the power and praise of God, in the fight both of his own people and their enemies; but it teacheth us, at the fame time, that when our prayers are influenced by a defign for the glory of God, which is the end of all creation, we have no caufe to fear but they will be heard in proportion as the principle is pure, that inclines us to prefent

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