-Library of
Emory University
3\
Co\\tg\io^
" Prayer, ardent, opens heaven, lets down a stream
Of glory on the consecrated hour
Of man in audience with the Deity."
A TREATISE
ON
writ anfo J&wM IjraDtr.
BY
RICHARD TREFFRY.
"Prayers are the bulwarks of piety:"—Dr. Barrow.
REVISED BY THOS. 0. SUMMERS.
H a shrill*, fatrtn.:
PUBLISHED BY E. STEVENSON & E. A. OWEN, AGENTS,
for the methodist episcopal church, south.
1856.
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
This Treatise on Prayer was written by an
excellent Methodist minister—a member of
the British Conference—having been, as he
tells us in the Preface, "meditated during a
protracted season of suffering"—the very best
time in which to digest a devotional work. In
preparing it for a new edition, we have sub¬
jected it to a careful revision, making such
verbal alterations as were necessary to adapt
it to our clime, hoping thereby to extend its
circulation. It is a valuable work—well
adapted to promote the interests of experi¬
mental and practical piety, by inducing habits
of devotion and communion with God.
The Editor.
Charleston, S. C.t July 25, 1854.
1* 5
PREFACE.
The following Treatise was meditated during a
protracted season of affliction. For several months
the author was confined to his house, and chiefly to
his bed; and rendered incapable, through bodily
weakness, of occupying his place in the pulpit, and
engaging in those ministerial duties to which he had
been accustomed, with little interruption, for nearly
half a century. During his affliction, he felt, in an
unusual degree, the importance and necessity of
prayer; and he was induced, when favoured with a
measure of returning health, to throw his thoughts
into the form in which they are here presented to
the reader.
If there is any one duty within the whole range
of revelation more explicitly adverted to, morp posi¬
tively enjoined, more frequently practised, and to the
performance of which more promises are annexed in
the Scriptures than another, it is that of prayer.
Prayer is a duty which commends itself to every
man's conscience: a duty that admits of no substi¬
tute ; and from the obligation to which there can be
no exoneration. But, strange as it may seem, it is a
duty which thousands, through ignorance, totally
neglect; and others, through carelessness, imper¬
fectly and irregularly perform. Even among those
8
PREFACE.
who admit its propriety, and allow its necessity, many
there are who postpone its performance to what they
deem a more convenient opportunity. What unwil¬
lingness they evince to enter into their' closet; and
what reluctance to remain in it! How many ex¬
cuses are framed for the total omission of this duty!
Hence prayer, which is essentially connected with
the present well-being, and the future and endless
blessedness, of man, is impiously neglected until the
approach of the last enemy ; and thus, " to the mer¬
cies of a moment" are left "the vast concerns of an
eternal" state.
To minister to the instruction of men in reference
to the nature of prayer, and instrumentally to beget
in them a love to the practice of it, is a work, the
beneficial results of which can never be duly esti¬
mated. And should this little Treatise be so far
sanctioned by the Head of the church as to augment
the number of praying people; or should it induce
those who do pray to be more importunate at the
throne of grace for the blessings they need, the glory
of God will be promoted, the sum of human hap¬
piness increased, and the end of its publication
answered.
London, April 27th, 1841.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER L
PAGE.
A Definition of Prayer 11
CHAPTER II.
Of the Spirit of Prayer. 23
CHAPTER IIL
Of the several Parts of Prayer 41
CHAPTER IV.
Of the Encouragements to Prayer 61
CHAPTER V.
Of the Advantages of Prayer 77
CHAPTER VL
On the Places and Seasons appropriated to Secret
Prayer 112
CHAPTER VII.
Excuses for the Neglect of Secret Prayer, considered... 128
10 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
FACE.
Social Prayer illustrated 144
CHAPTER IX.
Reasons why Men should Pray with and for each Other, 170
CHAPTER X.
On Public Meetings appropriated to Social Prayer. 188
A TREATISE
ON
SECRET AND SOCIAL PRAYER.
CHAPTER I.
A DEFINITION OF PRATER.
God is the only self-sufficient being in the
universe. His existence is unoriginated, and
therefore necessary and eternal. He is emphat¬
ically styled, by St. Paul, the "blessed," or
happy "God." He is ineffably and inconceiv¬
ably happy in the enjoyment of himself. His
happiness is all his own; and it is so absolutely
perfect, as to preclude the possibility of increase)
and so immutable, as to be without variableness
or shadow of turning. This is a universally
acknowledged truth: even heathen authors, in
order to find out what properties to attribute to
God, pictured in their imaginations all such qual¬
ities as they conceived essential to happiness, and
rejected all others. Whatever differences of opin¬
ion there were among them concerning the per¬
fections of the divine Being, in this they were all
11
12
TREATISE ON PRATER.
agreed, that blessedness is so inseparable from the
notion of the Deity, that whosoever professes to
believe in the existence of God, mnst acknowl¬
edge him to be perfectly and absolutely happy.
And all intelligent and rational creatures are
happy only as they resemble him, and are par¬
takers of his divine nature. The highest orders
of created beings who circle his throne rejoicing,
have no self-originated sources of happiness—no
innate springs of blissful enjoyment. Happiness
is not essential to their existence. Some of their
order have forfeited their elevated station, and by
renouncing their allegiance to their Creator, have
incurred his heaviest displeasure; and are re¬
served unto the day of judgment to be adequately
punished. And from an habitual consciousness
that the angels who have kept their first estate
derive all their happiness immediately from the
Deity, they are incessant in their • ascriptions of
praise and adoration to Him who sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever:
for " they rest not day and night, saying, Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and
is, and is to come." The state of man is pecu¬
liarly a state of dependence: he is not his own:
he derived his existence from God; and it is in
him he lives, and moves, and has his being.
Hence arises the necessity and propriety of
DEFINITION OF PRAYER. 13
prayer, which is the native language of depend¬
ence. Prayer is a duty rendered sacred by anti¬
quity—a duty that has been practised in all ages,
and sanctioned by all the excellent of the earth.
How far any exercise that approximates, or bears
an affinity, to the nature of prayer, prevails
among the heavenly inhabitants, we have no
means of ascertaining; since the duties of angels,
or of glorified human spirits, form no part of the
Christian revelation. But that there is a moral
obligation binding man to pray, admits of no
controversy. His origin, his situation, his nature,
and his necessities all serve to remind him that
prayer is his imperative duty and his inestimable
privilege.
But what is prayer ? What is the import of
this term ? What qualifications are necessary to
enable a man to pray aright—acceptably to God,
and beneficially to himself ? It may be assumed,
on a superficial view of the subject, that prayer,
a duty so positively and frequently enjoined in
the Scriptures, so adapted to meet the moral exi¬
gencies of man, so universally practised by all
classes of Christians, and so essentially connected
with human happiness, in time and eternity, needs
no definition. But, plain as this duty appears to
be, erroneous notions are commonly entertained
concerning it. Its very simplicity is, perhaps,
2
14
TREATISE ON PRATER.
the grand reason why we are so little acquainted
with its true nature. Our pride excludes the
idea that we can be mistaken on a subject so very
intelligible; and while we suppose information
unnecessary, we do not inquire after it. We have
been taught to say our prayers when children;
and too many of us have never put away childish
things; but, retaining those prejudices insepara¬
ble from the feelings of infancy, mistake, through
life, the mechanical articulation of a form of
prayer, for that spiritual exercise of prayer which
is at once the honour, the safety, and the blessed¬
ness of a sincere Christian.
Prayer, it should be recollected, is not mere
speech : it is not the language of the lips : it does
not consist in the utterance of any devotional
sentiments. Words alone, however well chosen
and adapted to express the sentiments of the
mind, do not constitute prayer. " This people,"
saith G-od concerning the Jews, "draw near me
with their mouth, and with their lips do honor
me, but have removed their heart far from me."
And if the heart be not engaged in prayer, all
the words we can utter are no better than rude,
offensive sounds in the ears of the Almighty.
As a proof that prayer is the language of the
heart, we cite the case of Hannah, of whom the
inspired writer says, "Hannah spake in her
DEFINITION OF PRAYER.
15
heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was
not heard." Eli, who stood by, thought she was
drunken, and said unto her, " How long wilt
thou be drunken ? Put away thy wine from thee.
And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I
am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk
neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured
out my soul before the Lord." The expressions
used by David, and recorded in the book of
Psalms, are strikingly descriptive of the real
nature of prayer. " Hear the right, 0 Lord,
attend unto my cry; give ear unto my prayer,
that goeth not out of feigned lips." Ps. xvii. 1.
" Unto thee, 0 Lord, do I lift up my soul." Ps.
xxv. 1. "As the hart panteth after the water
brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, 0 God."
Ps. xlii. 1. "0 God, thou art my God;, early
will I seek thee : my soul thirsteth for thee, my
flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land,
where no water is." Ps. lxiii. 1. "Rejoice the
soul of thy servant: for unto thee, 0 Lord, do I
lift up my soul." Ps. lxxxvi. 4. " Unto thee lift
I up mine eyes, 0 thou that dwellest in the
heavens." Ps. cxxiii. 1. Prom these texts, and
many others that might be quoted, it will be seen
that prayer is an immediate address to the Deity.
It is an emotion of the heart engaged with God : it
is a pouring out of the soul in devout supplication.
16
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
" It is not eloquence, but earnestness : not figures
of speech, but compunction of soul." Hence,
prayer supposes a sense of want. It is the lan¬
guage of a heart deeply affected with a sight of
its necessities. He that has no knowledge of
himself, no acquaintance with his moral condition
as a sinner, is destitute of the most essential pre¬
requisite for prayer. It may be assumed, that he
who is in want must necessarily know it; and
the assumption is correct as far as the body is con¬
cerned. Our physical necessities affect us too
sensibly to be overlooked. A man who is sorely
pinched with hunger, cannot remain ignorant of
it. An unfortunate person beaten by the tem¬
pest, and on the point of perishing, is feelingly
alive to his danger. He who is parched with
thirst. is well acquainted with what he wants.
But a man may be in a state of the greatest
moral destitution, and yet remain totally ignorant
of his condition. He may be so thoroughly ac¬
quainted with his bodily necessities, as to render
it impossible for him to be deceived in reference
to their nature; and yet to the wants of his soul
he may be an utter stranger. With the Laodi-
ceans of old, he may think himself rich and
increased with goods, and that he has need of
nothing; and know not that he is wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
.DEFINITION OF PRAYER. 17
Self-deception is a common evil: " The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked :
who can know it ?" which is an intimation that
the heart is so deceitful, and so wicked, that a
knowledge of it is attended with the utmost diffi¬
culty. How many, under the influence of self-
love, give themselves credit for virtues which
they never possessed, and think more highly of
themselves than they ought to think! How
many " call evil good, and good evil: put dark¬
ness for light, and light for darkness: put bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" And their
deception is voluntary : they love to be deceived.
God's ancient people said to the prophets,
" Speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceit."
Hence God complains, " A wonderful and horri¬
ble thing is committed in the land : the prophets
prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by
their means; and my people love to have it so."
The consequence was, they healed the hurt of
the daughter of God's people slightly, " skim¬
ming over the wound, and never searching it to
the bottom : applying lenitives, when there was
need of corrosives: soothing them in their sins,
giving them opiates to make them easy in their
condition, while the disease was preying upon
their vitals." And the Jews were not the only
persons who were deceived, and deceived even by
2*
18
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
their teachers. " Many false prophets/' said our
Saviour, "shall arise and deceive many." And
Satan deceives whole nations. He blinds the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image
of God, should shine unto them. And wherever
the deception, in reference to our moral condition,
exists, there prayer, if not totally neglected, will
be carelessly and unprofitably performed. For
what motive can induce a man to pray who is
ignorant of what he wants ? Who will ever ask
God to pardon his sins, until he knows that he
has been guilty of sins that must either be par¬
doned or punished ? pardoned in this world, or
punished in that which is to come. Who will
ever pray that God will create in him a clean
heart, and renew in him a right spirit, until he
finds out the desperate wickedness of his heart,
and the perverseness of his own spirit? And
who will ever ask God to save him from perdi¬
tion, until he has a lively conviction of the im¬
minent danger to which he is exposed? "We
know not," saith the apostle, "what to pray for
as we ought;" and for this plain reason, because
we know not ourselves. We are unacquainted
with the depth of our depravity, the wickedness
of our hearts, the iniquity of our lives, and the
sentence of condemnation that is gone forth
DEFINITION OF PRAYER.
19
against us. Nor is it possible for us to know our¬
selves, as moral agents, by tbe efforts of our own
reason, or by any words wbicb man's wisdom
teacheth. It is by tbe unction of tbe Holy One
that we.know all things. The Holy Ghost is our
great teacher. He takes of the things of God,
and shows them unto us. " The Comforter,"
saith Christ, " which is the Holy Ghost, whom
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your re¬
membrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
And lest any should imagine that this bestowment
of the Spirit was confined exclusively to the apos¬
tolic age, St. Peter, in addressing the Jews at the
feast of Pentecost, declares, " The promise is unto
you, and to your children, and to all that are afar
off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."
But it is in, and by, the ministration of the
word that the Holy Ghost is ordinarily imparted.
The gospel is the ministration of the Spirit; and
it is God's great instrument for the conversion
of sinners. Christ's commission to St. Paul was,
"Delivering thee from the people, and from the
Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open
their eyes, and to turn them from darkness unto
light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that
they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inherit¬
ance among them that are sanctified by faith that
20
TREATISE ON PRATER.
is in me." But the gospel is ministered in vain,
without the agency of the Holy Ghost to accom¬
pany that ministry. Hence it is said of the prim¬
itive apostles, that " they went forth and preached
everywhere, the Lord working with them, and
confirming the word with signs following." And
writing to the Thessalonians, St. Paul said, " Our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but in
power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much
assurance."
Prayer supposes not only a sense of want, but
an ardent, restless, importunate desire to have that
want supplied. The former may exist without the
latter. We may know what we want, and yet
evince no anxious solicitude to have our wants
supplied. We may have " the seeing eye," with¬
out " the feeling sense." There may be light
without heat: knowledge without zeal: a clear
head, with a cold heart. Many know they are
sinners, who have no desire to be saints. They
know they are exposed to danger, but they make
no efforts to escape it. While their understand¬
ings are enlightened, their hearts are unaffected.
They have no moral feeling: their consciences are
callous, and their hearts as cold and dead as
stones; and if such persons ever pray, their
prayers are unavailing in the sight of God, for
want of that fervency of spirit, and importunity
DEFINITION OF PRAYER.
21
of desire, by which the prayers of saints are uni¬
formly characterized.
And the same spirit that enlightens the under¬
standing, will, if not resisted, affect the heart,
and convict the conscience of the evil of sin, and
the danger to which it inevitably exposes us; and
thus lead us to cry for mercy, and seek redemp¬
tion through the blood of Christ, even the for¬
giveness of all our sins. And for this purpose
God, by the mouth of the prophet, declares, " I
will pour upon the house of David, and upon the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and
of supplications; and they shall look upon me
whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn
for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and
shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in
bitterness for his first-born."
Prayer also implies the expression of our de¬
sires unto God. It is the unbosoming of our
hearts unto Him who looketh at the heart, and
requireth truth in the inward parts. It is speak¬
ing unto God—laying open all our desires and
wants unto him, and asking at his hands the
blessings that we need. This may be done men¬
tally or vocally, with or without words. When
God said to Moses, " Wherefore criest thou unto
me ?" there is no evidence that he had uttered a
single sentence, or even articulated a single word;
22
TREATISE ON PRATER.
but, like Hannah, he had prayed in his heart,
and with his spirit he had held intercourse with
God. On the other hand, we are commanded to
take with us words, and return unto the Lord, and
say unto him, " Take away iniquity, and receive
us graciously." And in the Psalms of David,
we often read of his crying unto God with his
voice, and making supplication with his tongue."
" Hear my voice, 0 God, in my prayer." " I
cried unto the Lord with my voice: with my voice
unto the Lord did I make my supplication."
" Lord, I cry unto thee: make haste unto me:
give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee."
Daniel said, " While I was speaking in prayer,
even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the
vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly,
touched me about the time of the evening obla¬
tion." And Job chose out his words to reason
with God. And as "the eyes of the Lord run
to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show
himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart
is perfect toward him: " whether we breathe out
our desires unto God with or without words, our
prayers will be acceptable in his sight, and be
marked with the tokens of his approbation.
spirit op prater.
23
CHAPTER II.
OF THE SPIRIT OF PRATER.
By the spirit of prayer, we understand that
temper or disposition of mind which is essential
to the right discharge of this devotional exercise.
There is a preparation of heart which is neces¬
sary for the acceptable performance of every re¬
ligious duty. Our Saviour reproved the ancient
Pharisees for their fasts and alms: not because
fasting and alms-giving formed no part of their
duty, but because human glory was the sole object
at which they aimed; and therefore said Christ,
" They have their reward."
The spirit of prayer is a spirit of genuine hu¬
mility and profound self-abasement. God, to
whom we pray, is an awful Being. His incom¬
prehensible subsistence in three persons, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost: his eternal power and
Godhead: his inconceivable distance from all
creatures: his essential purity: his glorious ma¬
jesty, in whose sight all the nations of the earth
a^re as nothing, and less than nothing, and vanity;
and his eternity, immensity, and infinity, are
24
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
subjects that cannot fail to inspire us with deep
lowliness of mind, when we approach his awful
majesty. And while, on the one hand, we con¬
template the infinite glories of the Deity, we
should, on the other, look at our frailties, our im¬
perfections, and our crimes. We are worms of
the earth, creatures who are but of yesterday, and
who know nothing; and especially we are sinners,
guilty, condemned criminals, who have merited,
and can merit, nothing but the punishment due
to sin. " It is of the Lord's mercies that we are
not consumed: because his compassions fail not."
Such considerations are eminently calculated to
humble us before God, and to lead us to abase
ourselves as in the dust in his presence. We
should also recollect that in prayer we come as
suppliants to the throne of grace, suing for mercy :
as criminals deprecating punishment, and asking
pardon of our Sovereign, whose laws we have
repeatedly and wilfully violated. And if ever we
should be clothed with humility, it is when we
assume the attitude of prayer. Look at Abra¬
ham, when pleading with God on behalf of the
wicked inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and
hear his language, " Let not the Lord be angry :
behold, I have taken upon me to speak unto the
Lord, which am but dust and ashes." A measure
also of the same lowliness of spirit Job felt, when
SPIRIT OP PRAYER.
25
he said, u I have heard of thee by the hearing of
the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee : wherefore
I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
Hear also the language of David. " Lord," saith
he, " my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes
lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great mat¬
ters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have
behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is
weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a
weaned child." Under the Old Testament dis¬
pensation, when God would sum up the things
which are preeminently good in his sight, humil¬
ity is marked as one, " He hath showed thee, 0
man, what is good; and what doth the Lord
require of thee, but to do justly, and to love
mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
" Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect
unto the lowly." " He forgetteth not the cry of
the humble." " Lord, thou hast heard the desire
of the humble." " Thus saith the high and lofty
one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy:
I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive
the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart
of the contrite ones." Nor are the scriptures of
the New Testament less commendatory of the
grace of humility : " He that exalteth himself
shall be abased, but he that humbleth himself.
a
26
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
shall be exalted." " Be clothed with humility;
for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to
the humble." "Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt
you in due time." " Whosoever humbleth him¬
self as this little child, the same is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven."
The parable of the Pharisee and publican was
spoken by our Lord, to illustrate the wide differ¬
ence between the effects of the prayer of a vain
man, proudly puffed up in his fleshly mind, and
those of a deeply humbled sinner, overwhelmed
with a sense of his demerit and danger: the one
thanking God that he was not as other men, and
the other smiting on his breast, and exclaiming,
" God be merdiful to me a sinner." " I tell you,"
saith our Saviour, " this man went down to his
house justified, rather than the other."
The spirit of prayer is a spirit of godly sincer¬
ity. Sincerity is opposed to hypocrisy, dissimu¬
lation, or guile. It is to be in reality what we
are in appearance. The Being to whom we pray
is not capable of being deceived. God is not
mocked. There is no creature thjt " is not mani¬
fest in his sight; but all things are naked, and
opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have
to do." He does not judge according to out¬
ward appearance, but judgeth righteous judgment.
SPIRIT OP PRAYER.
27
The heaviest woes, and the most dreadful anathe¬
mas, which Christ, in the days of his flesh,
denounced against any classes of sinners, were
those of the scribes and Pharisees; and princi¬
pally, if not solely, on account of their insincer¬
ity. They imposed upon others by their external
semblance of sanctity. "Wo unto you," said
our Saviour, " scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence
make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive the
greater damnation." "They devoured widows'
houses," says Henry, " either by quartering them¬
selves, and their attendants, upon them for enter¬
tainment, or by insinuating themselves into their
affections, and so getting to be the trustees of their
estates, which they could make an easy prey of;
for who could presume to call such as they were
to an account? And their long prayers were
made- up of vain repetitions: and they were for a
pretence; for by them they got the reputation of
pious, devout men, that loved prayer, and were
the favourites of Heaven; and, by this means,
people were made to believe it was not possible
that such men should cheat them."
Prom the above observations, we may see how
hateful hypocrisy is in the sight of Grod, who
must be worshipped, if worshipped at all, in spirit
and in truth. That our prayers may therefore be
28
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
acceptable to our Maker, let us sincerely desire
the blessings for which we pray. Let us utter no
sentiments, and use no language, but such as
spring from our hearts. Are we sinners? Then
let us confess our sins, with all their aggravating
circumstances, and not attempt to cloak them be¬
fore the face of Almighty Gq^ our heavenly
Father. Are we seeking for parCton ? Then let
us sincerely ask it at his hands. St. Paul prayed
for the Philippians that they might " be sincere,
and without offence till the day of Christ." And,
writing to the Corinthians, he says, "Our rejoic¬
ing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that
in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly
wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had
our conversation in the world."
The spirit of prayer is a spirit of faith. Our
success in prayer depends mainly on the confidence
which we have in Him to whom we present our
petitions. "All things," said our Saviour, " what¬
soever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
receive." " 0 woman, great is thy faith: be it
unto thee even as thou wilt." " All things are
possible to him that believeth," " Said I not
unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou shalt
see the glory of God ?" " Whatsoever things
ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them." "This is the
SPIRIT OP PRATER.
29
confidence that we have in him, that if we ask
any thing according to his will, he heareth us."
" If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,
that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth
not, and it shall be given him; but let him ask
in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea, driven with the winds,
and tossed; for let not that man think that he
shall receive any thing of the Lord." Prayer
must be regarded as a means, and not rested in
as an end. He that makes prayer the end of
prayer, thinking when that holy duty is performed
there is no more to be done, prays to no purpose.
In prayer there should always be a confident ex¬
pectation of success—a belief that God will grant
us the desires of our hearts. It Was said of Abra¬
ham that "he staggered not at the promise through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to
God:" that is, he disputed not, did not debate
the ipatter, but settled his heart upon God's
power and promise. Faith in prayer is founded
on the divine veracity : we believe that God will
hear us because he hath promised to do it; and
we take him at his word. It is impossible for
God to lie: he cannot deny himself. He says,
" I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed." It is said of the
Old Testament saints, that through faith they
3*
30
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
obtained promises, that is, the accomplishment of
the divine promises. If, therefore, the promises
are not obtained, there must be some culpable
defect in our faith. As there is a reason for the
hope that is in us, so there is a reason for our
faith: that reason is the promise of God. God
hath spoken: that is the ground of our faith:
what he hath spoken, is the measure of our trust.
There may be a general confidence in the veracity
of God, a belief that he is unchangeably true,
without that special trust, that implicit confidence
for the accomplishment of the promise for which
we plead, and for the fulfilment of which we
wait. In addition to this, there must be an act
of special trust in God for the present communi¬
cation of those blessings which we particularly
need, and which the promises of God authorize
us to expect. The language of saving faith is,
" I claim the blessing now;" and God will honour
this absolute reliance upon his veracity, power,
and love, by communicating to those who thus
honour him, the joys of pardon and holiness.
Whereas we may rest in this general confidence,
and, after all, perish in our sins.
" Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
And looks to that alone,
Laughs at impossibilities,
And cries, ' It shall be done!'"
SPIRIT OF PRAYER.
31
The spirit of prayer is a spirit of fervency and
intensity of desire for the blessings for which we
pray. Scripture prayers are fervent prayers.
Hence- we have such expressions as the follow¬
ing : " The sorrows of death compassed me, and
the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found
trouble and sorrow : then called I upon the name
of the Lord, 0 Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my
soul." " Like a crane, or a swallow, so did I chat¬
ter : I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with
looking upward : 0 Lord, I am oppressed: under¬
take for me." " 0 that I knew where I might
find him! that I might come even to his seat! I
would order my cause before him, and fill my
mouth with arguments : I would know the words
which he would answer, and understand what he
would say unto me." " 0 Lord, hear: 0 Lord,
forgive: 0 Lord, hearken and do: defer not for
thine own sake, 0 my God; for thy city, and thy
people, are called by thy name." And it is said
of Christ, when he retired into the garden of
Gethsemane, that, " being in an agony, he prayed
more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great
drops of blood falling down to the ground." And
ii^another place it is said, " that he offered up
prayers and supplications, with strong crying and
tears, unto Him that was able to save him from
death?* And with such examples before our
32
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
eyes, are we not justified in being fervent, and
urgent in our addresses unto Grod ? Let us con¬
sider the inestimable value and importance of the
blessings for which we pray: blessings, for the
purchase of which the Redeemer sacrificed hi3
soul, and laid down his life : blessings, the worth
of which surpasses the power of language to de¬
scribe, and the utmost stretch of the capacity to
conceive: blessings which the saints of Grod have
prized so highly, that, rather than relinquish
them, they have endured " a great fight of afflic¬
tions," and gone to the rack, the gibbet, the wheel,
or the flames; and blessings that we must realize
in our own personal experience, or else become
the subjects of the divine indignation upon earth
and the victims of eternal punishment in hell.
And we have not only blessings to secure, but
evils from which we must obtain deliverance:
evils dreadfully malignant in their nature, and
awfully ruinous in their consequences : evils which
will render the immortal existence of countless
myriads of human beings an eternal curse to them,
and of whom it may be said, Better for them if
they had never been born. And can we be too
fervent,, too much in earnest, to secure those
blessings, or to be saved from these evils ? All
human efforts ought to be proportioned to the
objects which they are designed to effect To call
SPIRIT OP PRAYER.
33
forth the utmost energies of the mind, or the
powers of the body, for the accomplishment of
some trivial object, or the gratification of some
petulant passion,
" Resembles ocean into tempest wrought,
To waft a feather, or to drown a fly."
But, on the other hand, where the object which
we wish to secure is indescribably important, there
we resort to the use of means the most energetic,
and efforts the best adapted to attain the end. If
we saw, for instance, our lives in imminent dan¬
ger : were we exposed to the jaws of a lion, or
the paws of a bear; or were we to awake at mid¬
night, and see the house in which we lived in
flames about us, and we liable to be buried in its
burning ruins, should we content ourselves to soli¬
cit help in a cool, dispassionate, apathetic manner ?
Should we not pray in all the agony of intense
desire, and earnest importunity to those who might
be near, for pity's sake, to devise some method
to save us ? And if the natural life of the body
be so precious, of how much greater value is the
never-dying life of the soul! If the fires which
threaten to consume the former be so much to be
dreaded, how much more ought we to dread the
flames which would torment the latter! If self-
preservation would justify us in crying fervently
for help from our fellow creatures, when the body
34
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
is in danger of natural death, with how much
greater reason would it exonerate us from all
blame in beseeching God earnestly, for his mer¬
cy's sake, to save us when the soul is in danger
of eternal death ! Surely,
" On such a theme't were impious to he calm."
The spirit of prayer is a spirit of sacred impor¬
tunity. We should urge our plea with earnest
and continued solicitation. There may be reasons
in the divine mind, with which we are unac¬
quainted, why our prayers are not answered the
moment they are offered—why we must seek, and
knock, and wait upon God until he have mercy
upon us. It is enough for us to know that God
does not ordinarily bestow his spiritual blessings
at our first asking: that he requires us to be ur¬
gent, eager, free, and bold; and, in a manner,
peremptorily importunate at the throne of grace.
This apparent delay on the part of God in answer¬
ing our petitions, may teach us how highly we
ought to prize the blessings which have cost us so
many tears, and prayers, and urgent solicitations
to procure. "There was," said our Saviour, "in
a city a judge, which feared not God, neither
regarded man; and there was a widow in that
city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me
of mine adversary;" or, Do me justice against
SPIRIT OP PRAYER.
85
mine adversary. " And he would not for a while ;
but afterward he said within himself, Though I
fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this
widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by
her continual coming she weary me. . And the
Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which
cry day and night unto hiin, though he bear long
with them ? I tell you, that he will avenge them
speedily." Now the design of this parable is
evidently to show, that if a judge, an unjust
judge, who was made up of a monstrous compound
of impiety and inhumanity—who neither feared
God, nor regarded man—would do a poor widow
justice against her adversary, merely for her im¬
portunity, God most assuredly will avenge his
own elect, who cry day and night unto him.
The widow was relieved, not because she asked
relief, but because she continued asking: because
she earnestly and importunately urged her suit;
and God is said to avenge his own elect, not be¬
cause they cry to him now and then, but because
they "cry day and night unto him."
On another occasion our Lord said, "Which
of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at
midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me
three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey
is come unto me, and I have nothing to set before
86
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
him ? And he from within shall answer and say,
Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my
children are with me in bed: I cannot rise and
give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not
rise and give him because he is his friend, yet
because of his importunity he will rise and give
him as many as he needeth." And what use did
our Saviour make of this circumstance? Why,
said he, "I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be
given unto you: seek, and ye shall find: knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. For every one
that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh find-
eth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
tl Here," says Dr. Barrow, " our Saviour intima¬
te th, where, comparing the manner of God's
proceeding with that of men, he representeth one
friend yielding needful succour to another, not
barely upon the score of friendship, but for Ms
impudence—that is, for his confident and con¬
tinued urgency—admitting no refusal or excuse.
So doth God, in such cases, allow and oblige us
to deal with him, being instant and pertina¬
cious in our requests, giving Mm no rest—(as the
phrase is in the prophet)—not enduring to be put
off, or brooking any repulse: never being dis¬
couraged, or cast into despair, by any delay or
semblance of neglect. We may wrestle with God,
like Jacob; and with Jacob may say, I will not
SPIRIT OP PRAYER. 37
let thee go, except thou bless me. Thus God suffer-
eth himself to be prevailed upon, and is willingly
overcome: thus Omnipotence may be mastered,
and a happy victory may be gained over Invinci¬
bility itself. Heaven sometimes may be forced
by storm, or by the assaults of extremely fervent
prayer: it assuredly will yield to a long siege.
God will not even hold out against the attempts
of an obstinate suppliant. So the kingdom of
heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it
by force. We read in St. John's Gospel of a
man that, being thirty-eight years diseased, did
wait at the pool of Bethesda, seeking relief: him
our Lord pitied and helped, crowning his patience
with miraculous relief, and proposing it for an
example to us of perseverance."
The spirit of prayer is a spirit of implicit de¬
pendence on the agency of the Holy Ghost, Gen¬
uine prayer is the effect of the Spirit's influence.
Hence such texts as the following : "I will pray
with the Spirit." " Praying always with all
prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watch¬
ing thereunto with all perseverance and supplica¬
tion for all saints." " But ye, beloved, building
up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in
the Holy Ghost." " The Spirit helpeth our in¬
firmities j for we know not what to pray for as we
ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
4
38
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
lor us with groanings which cannot he uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what
is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the will of
God." "We have received not the spirit of the
world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we
may know the things which are freely given to us
of God." One of the peculiar titles of the Holy
Ghost is that of " the Spirit of supplication:"
because of that special influence which he exerts
in bestowing this gift upon us. He must open
our lips, before our mouths can show forth his
praise. The Spirit maketh intercession for us:
as he dictates our requests, indites our petitions,
and draws up our plea for us. Christ intercedes
for us in heaven, and the Spirit intercedes for us
in our hearts: so graciously hath God provided
for the encouragement of those who pray. " The
Spirit, as an enlightening Spirit, teaeheth us what
to pray for: as a sanctifying Spirit, works and
excites praying graces: as a comforting Spirit,
silences our fears, and helps us over all our dis¬
couragements ; and is the spring of all our desires
and breathings after God."
In our prayers, therefore, we should ask the
aid, and depend on the assistance, of the. Holy
Ghost, that our prayers may have power with
God. And if in the secrecy of our closets we
SPIRIT OP PRAYER.
39
employ language in making known bur requests
unto him, can we do better than to employ his
own language ? Are we seeking for the pardon
of our sins ? Then what can be more simple, and
at the same time more energetic, than the follow¬
ing expressions? "God be merciful to me, a
sinner." " Lord, save, or I perish." " 0 Lord,
I beseech thee, deliver my soul." "Hide thy
face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniqui¬
ties." Are we seeking the regeneration of our
nature ? How appropriate and significant are the
following expressions! " Create in me a clean
heart, 0 God; and renew a right spirit within
me." "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be
clean : wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
"Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the
bones which thou hast broken may rejoice." Are
we seeking to have a right judgment in all things ?
Then hear the language of David: " Cause me to
know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift
up my soul unto thee." Or that of his illustri¬
ous son, Solomon : " Give thy servant an under¬
standing heart, that I may judge thy people : that
I may discern between good and bad." Are we
afflicted ? Then such prayers as the following are
recorded for our instruction: " 0 Lord, I am op¬
pressed, undertake for me." " Turn thee unto
me, and have mercy upon me; for X am desolate
40
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are en¬
larged : 0 bring thou me out of my distresses.
Look upon mine affliction and my pain ; and for¬
give all my sin." " Remove thy stroke away
from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine
hand." " Consider mine affliction, and deliver
me : for I do not forget thy law." Such is the
language of the Holy Ghost; and though the
phraseology employed in our prayers cannot be
uniformly and literally Scriptural, yet no senti¬
ments should be introduced, no language uttered,
no petitions urged in our devotions, that do not
harmonize with Scripture verities, and are not
sanctioned by Scripture examples.
parts of prayer.
41
CHAPTER III.
OF THE SEVERAL PARTS OF PRAYER.
" Prayer," according to Cruden, u comes from
a word in the Hebrew, which signifies appeal, in¬
terpellation, intercession j whereby we refer our
own cause and that of others tin to God as judge;
calling upon him, appealing to him for right,
presenting ourselves and our cause unto him."
Prayer is, therefore, a comprehensive term; it has
a great latitude of signification, and includes sev¬
eral particulars.
The first thing to be considered in the nature
of prayer is invocation, or calling upon the ob¬
ject to whom we pray. This object is God, and
God alone. Thus David says, " 0 thou that hear-
est prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." The
Papists pray to the Virgin Mary, in the following
language : " O blessed lady, have mercy upon us,
preserve thy servants: let the merits of Saint
Mary bring us to the kingdom of heaven. Do
thou protect us, drive away evil from us : in right
of a mother, command thy Son." They also
pray to departed saints, and even to images and
4*
42
treatise on prayer.
idols, the work of their own hands. But no cru¬
cifix or image must be used in worship until first
devoutly consecrated by the priest. The conse¬
cration prayer is, "We implore thee, 0 Lord,
holy Father, omnipotent and everlasting God, that
thou wilt vouchsafe to bless this wood of thy cross,
that it may be to mankind a healthful remedy,
the strengthener of faith, an inciter to good works,
the redemption of souls; and that it may be a
comfort, protection, and safeguard against the
cruel darts of their enemies, through our Lord
Jesus Christ." But as prayer is a special part
of religious worship, we are prohibited by our
Saviour from offering it to any being except to
God alone. For " thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."
In prayer, therefore, we invoke the Deity; we
call upon his name, and address him by such titles
and designations as are employed in the Scrip¬
tures of truth to describe his nature. No crea¬
ture can conceive what God is: no man by
searching can find out the Almighty to perfec¬
tion. No language can set him forth in all the
excellencies of his character. But he has gra¬
ciously condescended to reveal himself by certain
names, titles, and attributes. He is called "Je¬
hovah," Isa. xii. 2 : " the God of heaven," 2
Chron. xxxvi. 23 : " the God of the whole earth,"
PARTS OP PRAYER.
43
Isa. liv. 5 : " the God of all grace," 1 Pet. v. 10:
" the God of all comfort," 2 Cor. i. 3 : " the God
of patience and consolation," Rom. xv. 5: " the
God of peace," Heb. xiii. 20 : " the God of pity,"
Ps. lxxxvi. 15: " the true and living God," Jer.
x. 10 : "a jealous God," Exod. xxxiv. 14 : "the
mighty God," Gen. xlix. 24: " God alone," Ps.
lxxxvi. 10: "the incorruptible God," Rom. i.
23 : and " the God of gods," Deut. x. 17. He
is also called " the Lord God," Gen. ii. 8 : " the
Lord of glory," 1 Cor. ii. 8 : " the Lord of hea¬
ven and earth," Matt. xi. 25: "the Lord of the
harvest," Luke x. 2 : " the Lord of hosts," Isa.
xiv. 27 : " the Lord of lords," Deut. x. 17 : " the
Lord of the vineyard," Matt. xxi. 40: and " the
Lord mighty in battle," Ps. xxi v. 8.
But while the Deity is described *in the Scrip¬
tures by titles illustrative of his glorious majesty
and absolute dominion, titles which are eminently
calculated to inspire us with the most profound
reverence, and deep self-abasement of soul, he is
also represented by images of a most endearing
character, which can scarcely fail to awaken in
our minds feelings of affectionate regard and im¬
plicit confidence. " He is a Refuge for the op¬
pressed, a Refuge in times of trouble." Ps. ix. 9,
"He is the Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof
in time of trouble." Jer. xiv. 8. "He is the
44
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
Fountain of living water." Jer. ii. IB. " He is the
Shepherd of Israel." Ps. lxxx. 1. And especially
he is a Father; and " like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."
Ps. ciii. 13.
The next in order in the several parts of prayer,
is adoration, which consists in rendering to God
the honor due unto his name. The ancient Ro¬
mans practised adoration at their sacrifices and
other solemnities. Usually, there were images
of their gods placed at the gates of their cities
for those who went in or out to pay their respects
to. The word adoration is compounded of ad,
" to," and os, oris, " mouth; " and literally sig¬
nifies to apply the hand to the mouth, or to kiss
the hand. The devotee, having his head covered,
applied his right hand to his lips, the forefinger
resting on his thumb, which was erect, and thus,
bowing his head, turned himself round from left
to right. A custom of this kind is evidently
referred to by Job, when he said, "If I beheld
the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in
brightness, and my mouth hath kissed my hand:
this also were an iniquity to be punished by the
judge j for I should have denied the God that is
above." Job xxxi. 26-28. And God said to
Elijah, " I have left me seven thousand in Israel,
all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal,
PARTS OP PRAYER.
45
and every mouth which hath not kissed him/'
or kissed toward him. " Those who adore," says
St. Jerome, "used to kiss their hands, and to
how down their heads; and the Hebrews, ac¬
cording to the idiom of their language, put kiss¬
ing for adoration." Thus, Ps. ii. 12, "Kiss the
Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the
way :" that is, adore the Son, and submit to his
government.
The adoration which we are bound to pay to
God does not consist in acts of external homage,
or any prostration of body that we may practise
before him; but it is the homage of the heart;
it is that profound veneration and reverence of
the inward man which bears some distant resem¬
blance to what those exalted beings feel who veil
their faces with their wings, and "cast their
crowns before his throne, saying, Thou art wor¬
thy, 0 Lord, to receive glory and honor and,
power; for thou hast created all things, and for
thy pleasure they are and were created."
Another part of prayer consists in confession.
The Scriptures furnish us both with precepts and
examples on this subject. "Under the law, Aaron
was commanded to take a live goat, and to " lay
both his hands upon his head, and confess over
him all the iniquities of the children of Israel,
and all their transgressions, in all their sins,
46
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
putting them upon the head of the goat, and send
him away by the hand of a fit man into the
wilderness; and the goat bore upon him all their
iniquities unto a land not inhabited." Lev. xvi.
21, 22. "In the twenty and fourth day of this
month," says Nehemiah, " the children of Israel
were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes,
and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel
separated themselves from all strangers, and stood
and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their
fathers. And they stood up in their place, and
read in the book of the law of the Lord their God
One fourth part of the day"; and another fourth
part they confessed, and worshipped the Lord
God." Neh. ix. 1-3. When Achan had commit¬
ted the accursed thing, and the people fled before
their enemies, and their hearts melted and became
as water, Joshua said to him, " Give, I pray thee,
glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make con¬
fession unto him; and tell me now what thou
hast done: hide it not from me." Josh. vii. 19.
When David, at the reproof of Nathan, <was stung
with remorse of conscience for his foul offences,
he said, " I have sinned against the Lord. And
Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put
away thy sin: thou shalt not die." When John
the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness,
"then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea,
PARTS OP PRAYER.
47
and all the region round about Jordan, and were
baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins."
Matt. iii. 5, 6. After St. Paul had been preach¬
ing at Ephesus, it is said, " Many that believed
came, and confessed, and showed their deeds "—1
that is, formally disavowed their former life and
practice. Acts xix. 18. And thus, it is said,
" He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but
whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have
mercy," Prov. xxviii. 13. " If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," 1
John i. 9.
The Papists have what they call a sacrament
of penance, by which a man is bound, at least
Once a year, to confess to the priest all the sins
he hath committed since his last confession, with
all their circumstances. And from this law none
are exempted; neither prince nor king: no, not
even the pope himself. In it they place a great
deal of merit, and opinion of sanctity. The truth
is, this is a great artifice and engine, by which
they keep the people devoted to their interests:
the knowledge of secrets rendering them the more
to be feared. In short, this scrupulous enumera¬
tion of their sins, with all their circumstances,
tmder the pain of anathema, is nothing but a
rack to the conscience, invented and exercised
48
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
without any reason: no man's memory being
capable of answering what is required of him.
It is to God, and to him alone, that we are
bound to confess our sins. We should confess
our sins of omission :—What duties we have ne¬
glected to perform: what opportunities we have
had for prayer which we have omitted: how little
we have had of the spirit of prayer, even when
we have approached the mercy-seat: what wan¬
derings of heart from God: what coldness of
affection, and what vain thoughts and worldly
cares have obtruded on those hours which should
have been consecrated to devotion : how often we
have neglected to watch against the temptations
by which we have been assailed : how frequently
we have allowed the enemy to gain the advantage
over us. We should confess our ingratitude to
God. Though God has been loading us with his
benefits—benefits temporal and spiritual, personal
and relative—benefits -of which we are totally un¬
worthy and undeserving—yet how often have we
neglected to render again according to the benefits
conferred upon us ! How little of genuine grati¬
tude has been found in our hearts, and expressed
by our lips! We should confess our inattention
to the means of grace, and the public ordinances
of religion: how frequently we have omitted to
attend the ministration of the word. Instead of
PARTS OP PRAYER.
49
being swift to hear, we have allowed the concerns
of the world to occupy that time which should
have been spent in God's house; or we have
profited little by what we have heard. We have
not received the word in honest and good hearts;
or we have sat in judgment on our teachers, and
been more solicitous to please our fancy than to
reform our lives.
And we should not only confess our omission
of duties, but our commission of crimes—not only
what we have left undone that God has perempto¬
rily enjoined, but what we have actually done,
that he has positively prohibited. We should
confess the sin of our nature, our original depra¬
vity, our inclination to evil: the sins of our youth,
when we went astray, speaking lies: the sins of
our riper years, when God was not in all our
thoughts; and when we wilfully and deliberately
violated his law, which is holy, just, and good.
And while we acknowledge our sins, let us depre¬
cate the punishment which we have so justly
merited; and say, with the Psalmist, "If thou
shouldst mark iniquities, 0 Lord, who shall
stand ?''
Prayer also includes petition: which is the
most important and essential part of prayer.
This implies an earnest desire to be delivered
from the evils of our hearts, and an ardent
5
50
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
solicitation to obtain all the blessings which Giod
has promised in the gospel of his dear Son. Our
Saviour has taught us to pray, that we may he
delivered from evil: from that bias to evil to
which we are so prone: from the guilt which we
have contracted by the practice of evil: from
the dominion and ascendency which evil hath ob¬
tained in our hearts, by its reiterated acts : from
the darkness of our understandings, the perverse-
ness of our wills, the hardness of our hearts, the car¬
nality of our affections, and all the vain thoughts,
foolish imaginations, and carnal propensities that
lodge within us. We also pray that we may be
delivered from the evil one: that is, from the
devil, who goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour : that we may not be igno¬
rant of his devices : that we may be able, by the
shield of faith, to quench all the fiery darts of
the wicked one.
In our petitions, we not only beseech Glod to
deliver us from all that is evil, but to confer upon
us all that is good; to supply all our wants for
body and soul, for time and eternity. We pray
for our daily bread : that He who feeds the fowls
of the air, that have neither storehouse nor barn,
may feed us) and that He who clothes the grass
of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast
into the oven, may clothe us. Especially we prav
PARTS OF PRATER.
51
that the necessities of our souls may be graciously
supplied: that the eyes of our understandings
may he enlightened, that we may see light in
God's light: that He who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness may shine into our hearts,
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ. We pray that
He who pardoneth iniquity, transgression, and
sin, may forgive us all our sins, negligences, and
ignorances; and that he may give us the know¬
ledge of salvation by the remission of our sins:
that his Holy Spirit may
"Assure our conscience of its part
In the Redeemer's blood;
And bear his witness with our heart,
That we are born of God."
We pray for an increase of grace, for richer and
more copious effusions of the Holy Spirit: that
the peace of God, which passeth all understand¬
ing, may keep our hearts and minds, through
Christ Jesus: that, amidst all the trials and
calamities of life, we may in patience possess our
souls: that the word of Christ may dwell in us
richly; and that we may walk in the light as God
is in the light. We pray that we may he sancti¬
fied wholly; and that our whole spirit, and soul,
and body, may he preserved blameless, unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; and that finally,
d2
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
an entrance may be ministered to us abundantly
into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.
In our petitions, also, we are allowed to pray
for benefits suited to our various exigencies and
different situations in life. Is any among you,"
saith the apostle, " afflicted ? Let bim pray."
Afflictions are incentives to prayer; and prayer is
our only asylum in the hour of affliction. Then
we should pray for divine instruction, that we
may know why God contendeth thus with us.
" For affliction cometh not forth of the dust,
neither doth trouble spring out of the ground."
Affliction is God's rod; and we are commanded
to hear the rod, and him that hath appointed it. It
hath a voice, and we must learn to understand the
language of it. God, in every affliction, " perform-
eth the thing that is appointed for us." And we
should pray that our affliction may be sanctified
to us : that while God brings us through the fire,
he may refine us as silver is refined, and try us as
gold is tried. He doth not afflict us willingly,
but he does it " for our profit: that we may be
partakers of his holiness." "No chastening for
the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous)
nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable
fruit of righteousness unto them which are ex¬
ercised thereby." And we are allowed to pray,
PARTS OP PRAYER.
53
submissively, that he may remove his stroke away
from us. Thus St. Paul, when troubled with a
thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buf¬
fet him, " besought the Lord, thrice, that it might
depart from him." And of the Israelites it is
said, " They cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them out of their distresses."
Nor is it in affliction only that we are encour¬
aged to commit our cause unto Q-od; but in every
thing, by prayer and supplication, we are to make
our requests known unto him. There are certain
eventful periods in our lives, changes in our cir¬
cumstances that we meditate, and connections that
we are about to form, when we need divine direc¬
tion. How admirable and praiseworthy was the'
conduct of Abraham when he commissioned his
servant to go to a distant country to procure a
wife for his son ! How much he deprecated his
forming an alliance with one of the daughters of
the Canaanites among whom he dwelt! And
with what simplicity and earnestness did the ser¬
vant offer his prayer to Grod for direction ! " 0
Lord Grod of my master Abraham," said he, " I
pray thee send me good speed this day, and show
kindness unto my master Abraham." And the
sequel of the history furnishes us with ample
proof of the success with which the servant's sup¬
plication was crowned.
5*
54
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
Finally, prayer includes thanksgiving. Thanks¬
giving has ever been considered a part of prayer.
" I exhort, therefore," says St. Paul to Timothy,
" that, first of all, supplications, prayers, inter¬
cessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all
men; for kings and all that are in authority : that
we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all god¬
liness and honesty. For this is good and accept¬
able in the sight of God our Saviour." It is said
of Mattaniah, that " he was the principal to begin
the thanksgiving in prayer." Neh. xi. 17. " And
at the dedication of the wall at Jerusalem, they
sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring
them to Jerusalem, to keep the dedication with
gladness, both with thanksgiving, and with sing¬
ing, with cymbals, psalteries, and with harps."
chap. xii. 27. And " in the days of David and
Asaph of old, there were chiefs of the singers,
and songs of praise and thanksgiving unto God."
ver. 46. And at " that day they offered great
sacrifices, and rejoiced; for God had made them
rejoice with great joy : the wives also and the
children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusa¬
lem was heard even afar /\ff." ver. 43. And the
apostle, to the Ephesians, says, " Giving thanks
always, for all things, unto God and the Father,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." And he
exhorts the Philippians to be " careful for nothing;
PARTS OP PRAYER.
55
but in every thing by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving" to " let their requests be made
known unto God." And to the Colossians he
says, " Continue in prayer, and watch in the same,
with thanksgiving."
Thanksgiving is the expression of obligation.
"It implies," says Dr. Barrow, "a right appre¬
hension of the benefits conferred: a faithful
retention of benefits in the memory, and frequent
reflections upon them: a due esteem and valua¬
tion of benefits: a reception of those benefits with
a willing mind and vehement aflection: a due
acknowledgment of our obligations: endeavours
of real compensation; or, as it respects the divine
Being, a willingness to serve and exalt him; and
esteem, veneration, and love of the benefactor."
To comprehend the total amount of the obliga¬
tions we are under to God, and to estimate fully
the value and variety of the blessings which we
have already received from him, and especially the
endless treasures of blessings reserved for us in
heaven, is impossible. " We know not what we
shall be." The present is but the infancy of our
being, and eternity alone can disclose the bound¬
less state of blessedness to which, as redeemed
human spirits, we are entitled. Among the bless¬
ings for which we are obligated to thank God,
the first in order is that of our creation. Ha
56
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
commanded us into existence. His fiat gave us
birth; and for our very being we ought to bless
God. Life, in its humblest and most abject state,
is a blessing. God hath made nothing in vain;
and it cannot be supposed that a Being of bound¬
less benevolence would call any creature into ex¬
istence but for its good. The existence of man
especially demands his gratitude. " Thou madest
him," saith the apostle, "a little lower than the
angels : thou crownedst him with glory and hon¬
our, and didst set him over the works of thy
hands." " I will praise thee," saith David; " for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous
are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right
well." We are bound to thank God, not only for
our being, but for our well-being—for the period
of the world in which we live, and for the country
which we inhabit. Never since " Adam was first
formed," were any of his sons ever placed in
circumstances more calculated to secure their
personal comfort, intellectual improvement, and
eternal blessedness, than those with which the
people of this country are favqured. Like Israel
of old, we have great and goodly cities that we
builded not: houses full of good things which we
filled not: wells which we digged not; and vine¬
yards which we planted not. We have mechan¬
ics and artizans that erect our houses, make our
PARTS OP PRAYER.
57
apparel, and minister to our comfort: we ha ire
wholesome laws that secure to us our property:
we have ships that waft the treasures of distant
countries to our shores; and who but God hath
made our country to differ from the dark places
of the earth, which are full of the habitations
of cruelty? He hath fixed the bounds of our
habitations, and given us all things richly to
enjoy.
We are bound, also, to thank God for our con¬
tinual preservation. God is emphatically called,
" The Preserver of men." " 0 Lord," saith the
Psalmist, " thou preservest man and beast." " O
bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of
his praise to be heard : which holdeth our soul in
life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved." " It
is in him we live, and move, and have our being."
He feeds us with food convenient for us. " He
causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb
for the service of man: that he may bring forth
food out of the earth." He defeats the designs
of our enemies, and covers our heads in the day
of battle. He interposes, by his ever-watchful
providence, between us and danger. He delivers
us from the pestilence that walketh in darkness
and from the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
And while many of our fellow-creatures, younger
than we are, and less guilty, have been hurried
58
TREATISE ON PRATER.
into eternity, we have been spared, and the period
of our probation has been continued to us. For
the preservation of our lives, and all the provi¬
dential blessings with which we have been crowned,
let us offer unto God thanksgiving, and speak of
his praise all the day long.
But, above all, we should thank God for hip
inestimable love in the redemption of the world
by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a subject tha„
has called forth the adoration of angels. With
the angel that announced the advent of Christ,
"there was a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good will toward
men." And this is the chief theme of redeemed
human spirits in heaven; for they cry with a loud
voice, " Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."
That we may form some adequate conception
of the obligations we are under to God for the
gift of his well-beloved Son, and what a debt of
endless gratitude we owe him for this gift, let us
attentively consider the supreme dignity and inef¬
fable glory of him who sacrificed his soul for our
salvation. Jesus Christ was God manifested in
the flesh; God over all, blessed for ever. He
was coequal, coessential, and coeternal with the
PARTS OP PRATER.
59
Father-*-" being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made." But, though he
was " in the form of God, and thought it not rob¬
bery to be equal with God," yet he " took upon
him the form of a servant; and, being found in
fashion as a man," subject to all his infirmities,
and exposed to all his sufferings, " he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross :" a vile, ignominious, ac¬
cursed death; for it is written, " Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree." And the sufferings
to which Christ subjected himself on our account
were voluntary. His enemies said, " He saved
others, himself he cannot save/' But he could
have saved himself as easily as he could save
others. Had he desired it, his Father would have
sent him more than twelve legions of angels to
effect his rescue; but, said he, " The cup which
my Father hath given me shall I not drink it ? "
" I lay down my life, no man taketh it from me,
but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay
it down, and I have power to take it again."
And the transcendent excellence of the love of
Christ will appear, when we consider that he died
for his enemies. He expired on the cross to bring
nigh to God a race of alienated and rebellious
creatures : not one of whom, among the countless
myriads of the world's population, either desired
60
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
or deserved it. " Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound." And,
" Thus heavenly love did outdo hellish hate,
Giving to death, and dying to redeem,
So dearly to redeem
What hellish hate so easily destroy'd."
And since " God spared not his Son, but freely
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all things ? " Let us join
with the apostle, and say, " Thanks be unto God
for his unspeakable gift."
encouragements to prayer. 61
CHAPTER IY.
OP THE ENCOUARGEMENTS TO PRAYER.
If prayer were a mere speculation, or an exper¬
iment, or an exercise in which we engaged without
any divine warrant or promise, we might then be
discouraged, and entertain doubts as to its ulti¬
mate success. The infinite disparity between God
and us, his majesty on the one hand, and our
meanness on the other, might paralyze all our
attempts to pray, and inspire us with terror rather
than trust. But the invitations which God has
given us in his holy word, to make known our
requests unto him by prayer and supplication, are
so various, and so encouraging, as to silence all
our fears, and inspire us with a confidence that
" puts doubt to flight."
We are encouraged to pray, from a considera¬
tion of the divine character, and the revelation
which God hath made of himself in his word.
Had he been described as an implacable Being,
who delighteth in the death of a sinner—who is
waiting to mark our iniquities, and severe to pun¬
ish us for them—as ready to crush us beneath the
6
62
TREATISE ON PRATER.
foot of his indignation, to dash us in pieces as a
potter's vessel, and inflict upon us the vengeance
of eternal fire—then we should be terrified at the
thought of approaching his throne to sue for
mercy. Or had he revealed himself as a Being
who took no interest in our welfare, no concern to
promote our happiness; or were we taught to be¬
lieve from his own word that he looked upon our
world and all its inhabitants as utterly beneath
his regard, and too contemptible to engage his
notice, as poetically presented to us:—
" Who sees with equal eyes, as Lord of all,
A hero perish, or a sparrow fall,
Atoms and systems into ruin hurl'd,
And now a bubble burst, and now a world:"—
were this the character of God, we should have
no encouragement to pray, and no confidence in
prayer. Who would seek to conciliate the esteem
of an inexorable being? or ask favours of one
who was indisposed to grant them ? But God,
who is the object of our prayers, unites in him¬
self all that is kind, pitiful, and compassionate J
and there is nothing within the whole range of
human language more endearing, or more calcu¬
lated to awaken our regard, than the descriptions
which are given of the Deity in the Bible; and
nothing that can afford us greater encouragement to
pray. And as far as it is possible for G-od himself
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER. 63
to employ language that can convey adequate ideas
of his own nature and attributes, so far are we
made acquainted with God. To quote all the
passages of Scripture which are thus employed,
is unnecessary: let the following suffice :—" God
is love." " The Lord is gracious, and full of com¬
passion : slow to anger, and of great mercy. The
Lord is good to all; and his tender mercies are
over all his works." Ps. cxlv. 8, 9. "Thou art
a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness." Neh. ix.
17. "The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender
mercy." James v. 11. "The Lord is long-suffer¬
ing to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance." 2 Pet.
iii. 9. " With the Lord there is mercy, and with
him is plenteous redemption." Ps. exxx. 7. And
what is that mercy which the Scriptures so fre¬
quently ascribe to God, but a disposition to com¬
miserate and help the miserable ? Mercy has
misery for its object; and to set forth the great¬
ness and extent of the divine mercy, the inspired
writers employ the loftiest expressions. It has
height: "For thy mercy," saith David, "isgreat
unto the heavens." Ps. lvii. 10. And again:
" For thy mercy is great above the heavens; and
thy truth reacheth unto the clouds." Ps. cviii. 4.
And in reference to its extent, it is as wide as the
64
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
world. " For the earth," saith David, " is full
of thj mercy." Ps. cxix. 64. And as to its du¬
ration, the expression is repeated twenty-five times
in one psalm, "His mercy endureth for ever."
And does not the consideration of the divine
mercy encourage us to pray? Can any thing be
more consoling than the thought, that we address
a being who cares for us, sympathizes with us,
loves us, pities us in our misery, and remembers
that we are but dust ?—a Being who is exalted to
have mercy upon us, and who looks down from
heaven to see if there he any who seek after him j
and of whom it is said, " As is his majesty, so is
his mercy ? " There is no misery that he cannot
remove, no darkness that he cannot dissipate,
no guilt that he cannot pardon, no sorrow that
he cannot soothe, and no sinner that he cannot
save.
Another ground of encouragement to pray is
the sacrificial death and vicarious atonement of
our Lord Jesus Christ. When we look at our¬
selves as sinners, miserable sinners, sinners by
nature and practice, whose sins have merited eter¬
nal punishment, and who deserve to he banished
from the presence of God, and the glory of his
power, we are led to inquire, How can a man
be justified with God? Can God, without im
peaching his justice, acquit the guilty ? Do not
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER. 65
the Scriptures declare that, " though hand join in
hand, the wicked shall not he unpunished?"
How, then, can a sinner hope for salvation ? In
answer to this, we say, Because " Christ, by the
grace of God, hath tasted death for every man."
" He bore our sins in his own body on the tree."
" He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that
we might he made the righteousness of God in
him." It pleased God to bruise him, and to lay
upon him the iniquity of us all. And, in con¬
formity with these statements, Christ himself
declared, " The Son of man came not to he minis¬
tered unto, hut to minister, and to give his life a
ransom for many." Matt. xx. 28. And again:
11 This is my blood of the new testament, which
is shed for many, for the remission of sins." Matt,
xxvi. 28. And, " As the Father knoweth me,
even so know I the Father; and I lay down my
life for the sheep." John x. 15. Christ having
satisfied for us as our surety, we have all the en¬
couragement we can desire, to pray that God, for
the sake of what his Son hath done for us, will
pardon our sins, and accept us in the Beloved.
In this way the apostle reasons when writing. to
the Hebrews. " Having, therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest hy the blood of
Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say,
6*
66
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
his flesh; and having a High Priest over the
house of God : let us draw near with a true heart
in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water." Heb. x. 19-22. From
this text we may see what rich encouragement we
have to draw near to God in Christ with humble
boldness, and full assurance of faith. Jesus, our
High Priest, has opened a new and living way to
the throne of grace, through his crucified flesh;
and now appears in heaven itself, to recommend
all believers and their prayers to divine accept¬
ance, by the sprinkling of his blood, and the
sanctifying influence of his Spirit. All that God
does for us, in the exercise of his mercy, is for
the sake of his Son. Are our sins forgiven?
"God, for Christ's sake," says St. Paul to the
Ephesians, " hath forgiven you." Are we recon¬
ciled unto God? "All things," says the same
apostle to the Corinthians, " are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself, by Jesus Christ."
Have we peace ? it is " peace with God, through
our Lord Jesus Christ." Do we " rejoice with joy
unspeakable, and full of glory ? " " We j oy in God,
through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have
received the atonement." And since Christ, by his
suffering death upon the cross, has obtained eternal
redemption for man, can it be supposed that he
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER. 67
"will refuse to grant what he died to purchase for
us, when we apply to him in the way of his
appointment? Was he manifested in the flesh to
destroy the works of the devil ? and will he not
destroy those works in the souls of those who are
seeking for their destruction ? Can he who died
for us be unwilling to save us ? Is he gone to
heaven to make intercession for us; and will he
refuse to hear us when we intercede for ourselves ?
Did he not, in the days of his flesh, receive all
who came to him ? and can he be less willing to
receive sinners now than he was then? Is his
nature changed? Is his Spirit straitened? Is
his love for sinners diminished ? Are his bowels
of compassion shut up in displeasure ? No : he
is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; "
and Jesus is his changeless name.
0 ye poor, broken-hearted sinners, ye weeping,
humble suppliants, ye repenting, returning prodi¬
gals, ye who are writing bitter things against your¬
selves, and thinking that God hath forgotten to
be gracious, and that his mercy is clean gone for
ever: instead of looking at yourselves, and de¬
ploring your wretched condition, look to Calvary :
behold the Lamb of God: view your sacrificial
Victim expiring upon the cross for your salvation.
What more could he do to win your hearts, to
inspire your confidence, and to save your souls,
68
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
than he has done ? 0 believe in him. Nothing
but obstinate unbelief can exclude you from the
full benefit of his great atonement.
We are also encouraged to pray from the pre¬
cepts and promises of the gospel. God commands
us to pray; to pray always with all prayer; to
pray everywhere; to pray without ceasing; to
continue instant in prayer; and we are told that
men ought always to pray, and not to faint. And
why, it may be asked, these reiterated precepts,
binding us to pray ?• If prayer were not pleasing
to God, and if he were not disposed to answer our
prayers, on what principle can we account for the
precepts which enjoin upon us the practice of this
duty ? Duties never stand alone: they are not
isolated acts : they are not performed for their own
sakes: they uniformly refer to something beyond
themselves; and are always connected with priv¬
ileges. And if, as the Scripture testifies, the
prayer of the upright is God's delight, we can
scarcely conceive of a more powerful motive than
this to induce us to pray.
But we gather additional encouragement from
the promises and declarations of God, to pour out
our hearts before him. It is said by the Psalmist,
" He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and
not despise their prayer." Ps. cii. 17. " What¬
soever," saith Christ, " ye shall ask in my name,
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER. 69
that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in
the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name,
I will do it." John xiv. 13, 14. "Ask, and it
shall he given you: seek, and ye shall find : knock,
and it shall be opened unto you." Matt. vii. 7, 8.
"If two of you shall agree on earth as touching
any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for
them of my Father which is in heaven." Matt,
xviii. 19. And God's promises are founded on
the immutability of his nature. Human prom¬
ises are often violated by the fickleness and insta¬
bility of our character; but God is in one mind,
and none can turn him. " Prove me," saith the
Lord, by Malachi, "if I will not open you the
windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing
that there shall not be room enough to receive
it." Mai. iii. 10. " Behold," saith Joshua, " this
day I am going the way of all the earth; and ye
know in all your hearts, and in all your souls, that
not one thing hath failed of all the good things
which the Lord your God spake concerning you :
all are come-to pass unto you, and not one thing
hath failed thereof." Josh, xxiii. 14. And at
the dedication of the temple, Solomon bore a sim¬
ilar testimony. " Blessed be the Lord," saith he,
" that hath given rest unto his people Israel, ac¬
cording to all that he promised: there hath not
failed one word of all his good promise, which he
7.0
TREATISE ON PRATER.
promised by the hand of Moses his servant."
1 Kings viii. 56. "They that wait upon the
Lord shall renew their strength." Isa. xl. 31.
" Ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray
unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye
shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search
for me with all your heart." Jer. xxix. 12, 13.
So ready is God to answer prayer, that he takes
notice of the first purpose of praying. " It shall
come" to pass, that .before they call, I will answer;
and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
Isa. lxv. 24.
Another source of encouragement to pray
springs from that strong desire which all sincere
seekers of salvation feel to engage in this devo¬
tional exercise. In the carnal man's mind there
is not only a lamentable ignorance of God, but a
total alienation of heart from him, and an invete¬
rate enmity against him. But when the sinner is
awakened to see his danger—when his eyes are
opened to perceive the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the deeeitfulness of his own heart, and the wick¬
edness of his life : especially when he thinks how
he has grieved God, abused his mercies, violated
his holy sabbaths, neglected his ordinances, and
exposed himself to the divine indignation : then a
conscious change takes place in the heart: the
enmity of his mind is subdued: the aversion
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER. 71
which he felt to God is supplanted by a desire for
his favour; and then he begins to breathe out his
soul in prayer, and to
" Groan the sinner's only plea,
God be merciful to me."
And this change from darkness to light, from na¬
ture to grace, and from a state of carelessness conr
cerning salvation to a state of intense desire after
it, is wholly of God. He alone can excite aspi¬
rations after himself in the soul: he only can
beget in us a love for prayer. ..And can it be im¬
agined that there is any reluctance on the part of
God to grant us the desires of our hearts ? desires
which he himself has formed, and of which he is
the object ? Can he delight to tantalize his crea¬
tures ? Will he create desires and excite expecta¬
tions in the soul for the enjoyment of his favour,
and yet withhold that favour which is so greatly
desired and so intensely solicited ? That be far
from him. "He cannot deny himself." And
what he hath promised, that he is able and willing
to perform.
Finally, we are encouraged to pray by the gra¬
cious answers which God hath vouchsafed to his
people, in the different ages of the world. In
considering this subject, we must chiefly confine
ourselves to the records of revelation—to God's
own account of his conduct toward his saints'.
72
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
Who can read such texts as the following without
being encouraged to pray? "And Jabez called
on the God of Israel, saying, 0, that thou wouldest
bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that
thine hand might be with me, and that thou
wouldest keep me from evil that it may not grieve
me ! And God granted him that which he re¬
quested." 1 Chron. iv. 10. "I called upon the
Lord in my distress : the Lord answered me, and
set me in a large place." Ps. cxviii. 5. " I love
the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my
supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear
unto me, therefore will I call Upon him as long as
I live." Ps. cxvi. 1, 2. " Blessed be the Lord,
because he hath heard the voice of my supplica¬
tions." Ps. xxviii. 6. "Verily God hath heard
me : he hath attended to the voice of my prayer."
Ps. lxvi. 19. "The Lord hath heard the voice
of my weeping: the Lord hath heard my suppli¬
cation : the Lord will receive my prayer." Ps. vi.
8, 9. "I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and
delivered me from all my fears. This poor man
cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out
of all his troubles." Ps. xxxiv. 4, 6. Sometimes
God not only gives the thing that is asked, but
even mote than is asked. So he did to Solomon.
" Behold, I have done according to thy words:
lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER. 73
heart: so that there was none like thee before
thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto
thee. And I have also given thee that which
thou hast not asked, both riches and honour: so
that there shall not be any among the kings like
unto thee all thy days." 1 Kings iii. 12, 13. It
was by prayer that Daniel obtained divine instruc¬
tion to enable him to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's
dreams. " I thank thee," says he, " and praise
thee, 0 thou God of my fathers, who hast given
me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto
me now what we desired of thee; for thou hast
now made known unto us the king's matter."
Dan. ii. 23. And it was while he was engaged in
prayer, that Gabriel came to him, about the time
of the evening oblation, " and he informed me,"
saith Daniel, "and talked with me, and said, 0
Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill
and understanding. At the beginning of thy
supplications the commandment came forth, and
I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly be¬
loved ; therefore understand the matter, and con¬
sider the vision." Dan. ix. 22, 23. It was by
prayer that Elijah stayed the rain three years and
six months; and again obtained rain in answer to
prayer, so that the earth yielded her increase.
James v. 17, 18. It was in answer to the prayers
of the inhabitants of Nineveh, who cried mightily
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74
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
to God, that the Lord " repented him of the evil
that he said he would do unto them, and he did
it not." Jonah iii. 10.
Nor is it to the Scriptures alone that we are in¬
debted for proofs and evidences that God hears
and answers the prayers of men. Were it possi¬
ble for us to consult the experience of the count¬
less multitude of redeemed human spirits, who
have " washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb," and who are now be¬
fore the throne of God, we should find that they
could all bear testimony to the same soul-encoura¬
ging truth. They were once miserable sinners
upon earth; but the Spirit of God enlightened
their understandings, and convicted their con¬
sciences; and from a deep sense of their guilt
and danger, they were induced to call upon God
in the day of trouble, and he delivered them, and
gave them the "oil of joy for mourning, and the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."
And during the different stages of their Christian
pilgrimage, when beset by foes, harrassed by fears,
oppressed by doubts, and discouraged by the diffi¬
culties of the way, they betook themselves to
prayer: the Lord heard them, and delivered them
from all their foes, and inspired them with strength
to pursue their heavenward journey. And there
is not a saint upon earth that has not had frequent
ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER. 75
opportunities of witnessing the power of prayer—
not one that does not know that God is willing to
receive his prayers, and to grant him the desires
of his heart.
What encouragement may we gather from all
these considerations to pray! We can scarcely
conceive it possible for God himself to furnish us
with stronger proofs, and more incontestable evi¬
dences of his readiness to grant us our petitions,
than those with which he has already favoured us.
Then what should prevent us from praying? Is
it the sinfulness of our past lives ? Why, what
evil have we done? Have we persecuted the
saints ? So did Saul of Tarsus; but he prayed,
" And I," said he, " obtained mercy." Have we
denied Christ? So did Peter; but_he wept bit¬
terly at the recollection of his sin, and Christ
restored him to his favour. Have we corrupted
others by our bad example ? So did Manasseh;
but he prayed, and the Lord was entreated of him,
and pardoned his sins. Have we committed mur¬
der ? So did David; for he killed Uriah the
Hittite with the sword; but he acknowledged his
sin unto God, and he forgave the iniquity of his
sin. And to silence all our doubts, and inspire
us with confidence toward God—to show us that
no previous sinfulness nor present unworthiness
should prevent us from coming to him, we have
76
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
this kind and consoling invitation : " Come now,
and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as
snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool." And again : " Seek ye the
Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him
while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let
him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy
upon him; and to our Grod, for he will abund¬
antly pardon."
advantages op prayer. 77
CHAPTER Y.
ON THE ADVANTAGES OP PRAYER.
That prayer has its advantages, is a truth
which, among Christians, admits of no contro¬
versy. Can it be supposed that God has impera¬
tively enjoined a duty, the practice of which
presents no advantage to man ? Does he require
men to pray merely for the sake of praying ? Is
prayer to be performed irrespective of its results ?
"I confess myself/' said Paley, "unable to con¬
ceive how any man can pray who expects nothing
from his prayer; but who is persuaded at the time
he utters his request, that it cannot possibly pro¬
duce the smallest impression upon the Being to
whom it is addressed, or advantage to himself."
There were some of old, who insolently said, " It
is vain to serve God;" and others, who in the
same spirit inquired, " What is the Almighty,
that we should serve him ? and what profit should
we have if we pray unto him ? " That the men
of the world, who have their portion in this life,
should imagine that prayer is a profitless concern,
and a fruitless exercise, is no more than might be
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TREATISE ON PRATER.
expected. And were worldly wealth the only
thing that can benefit man—did the happiness of
his life consist in the abundance of the things
that he possesses—then the advantage of prayer
might be justly questioned; but there is profit
which as much exceeds that which is worldly as
our globe exceeds an atom—as an ocean exceeds a
drop—profit that relates to body and soul, to time
and eternity : all of which is secured by believing,
importunate prayer:
" For all the promises are sure
To persevering prayer."
But to describe all the advantages of prayer sur¬
passes the power of language: its existence will
run coeval with our being, and be as illimitable
as eternity. A cloud of witnesses, who are now
reaping the advantages of prayer, might be
brought to illustrate this subject: and who, had
they neglected prayer in this world, would now
have been miserable spirits in hell.
Among the advantages of prayer, we may re¬
mark, that it has a direct tendency to put us out
of love with sin, and to destroy that moral bias
which we have to the practice of evil. Sinners
uniformly delight in sin : sin is the element in
which they live. They love darkness rather than
light, because their deeds are evil. They declare
their sin as Sodom; and, to use the figurative
ADVANTAGES OP PRAYER. 79
language of the prophet, they "draw iniquity
with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a
cart-rope." But though the unregenerate heart
is captivated by the love of sin, and enslaved to
its practice, and the members of the body yielded
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; and
though all the efforts of the sinner may be totally
unavailing to rid himself of the love of sin; yet
let him turn to Him who is mighty to save, strong
to deliver, and good to redeem. Let him enter
into his closet, and shut his door, and pray to his
Father who seeth in secret: let him how down,
and kneel before the Lord his Maker, and beseech
him to illuminate the eyes of his understanding,
that he may discover what an evil and a bitter
thing sin is—that it is the abominable thing that
God hates: let him pray that God may affect his
heart, and bring all his sins to his remembrance,
in all their enormity and with all their aggravated
circumstances; Rnd let him do this sincerely,
earnestly, and importunately; and let him do it
daily, and in the name and through the mediation
of our Lord Jesus Christ; and whatever reluc¬
tance he may at first have to engage in this duty,
or however defective his prayers may be, yet he
will find that frequent and continued prayers will
be the most likely means to beget in him the
spirit of prayer. " A man that is often in his
80
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
closet, on his knees to God, though he may for
some time perform but a lip service, will, if he
persevere, find the very labour of his lips altering
the temper of his heart, and that he has learned
to pray by praying often." Use is called second
nature; and experience teaches us that, in pro¬
portion as we accustom ourselves to the practice
of any thing, we shall by degrees be transplanted
into its very spirit and temper. And as there are
no two elements in nature more hostile to each
other than the love of prayer and the love of sin,
it follows that, in proportion as the former is
strengthened, the power of the latter will be di¬
minished, according to the common adage, " that
prayer will make a man give over sinning, or sin
will make a man give over praying." He who
sets his heart to pray against sin must vanquish it.
Should it be said, as probably it will be, that in
exhorting a wicked man to pray, we exhort him
to do that which he is morally disqualified from
doing, since he dislikes prayer and has no heart
to practise it, it may be replied, That Simon Ma¬
gus was a wicked man cannot be questioned—a
man who imagined that the gift of the Holy
Ghost might be purchased with money, and to
whom St. Peter said, " I perceive that thou art' in
the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity."
And yet, odious as his character was, Peter said
ADVANTAGES OP PRAYER. 81
to him, "Repent, therefore, of this thy wicked-
ness, and pray Giod, if perhaps the thought of
thine heart may be forgiven thee." " Here note,"
says Burkitt, "a wicked man may pray, and
ought to pray. Bad as Simon Magus was, St.
Peter doth not drive him to despair, but directs
him to his duty. Pray to God." Prayer is a
part of the natural worship which we owe to God :
it is the soul's motion Godward; therefore to say
a wicked man should not pray, is to say, he should
not turn to God. All the prayers in the world,
without a man's own prayer to God for pardon
and remission, will be ineffectual and unavailable
to his salvation. Simon Magus desired the apos¬
tle to pray for him; but St. Peter bids him pray
for himself, as ever he hopes for forgiveness with
God : " Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness,
and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thy
heart may be forgiven thee." Without all doubt,
if he had repented and prayed, he would have
been forgiven. The doubt was, whether he would
repent and pray, and seek forgiveness. Wicked
men are condemned for the neglect of prayer.
"Have all the workers of iniquity," saith the
Psalmist, " no knowledge ? Who eat up my peo¬
ple as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord."
And the apostle St. James says, " Draw nigh
to God, and he will draw nigh to you : cleanse
82
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts,
ye double-minded/' Hence we learn, that prayer
is a duty which wicked men are obligated to per¬
form; and they commit sin if they live in the
neglect of it.
And if by the practice of prayer we obtain a
deliverance from the love and the power of sin,
may we not see how advantageous it is to pray ?
That sin is a great evil, may be gathered from its
effects. It blinds the understanding, hardens the
heart, sears the conscience, and sensualizes the
affections: it has turned angels into devils, lighted
up the fires of perdition, and peopled hell with
inhabitants. A sinner is an enemy to God: he
is condemned already, and is obnoxious to the
divine displeasure. The wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against him. Hell is moving from
beneath to meet him at his coming; and indigna¬
tion and wrath, tribulation and anguish, will be
his endless portion. And if sin be such a horrid
evil, so pregnant with all that is malignant, mis¬
chievous, and miserable—so much to be abhorred,
detested, and deprecated—then what a blessing
and an advantage to be put out of love with it,
and to have that bias to its practice, to which we
are so subject, entirely removed !
Nor will prayer be available only in extinguish¬
ing the love of sin in our hearts, but it will also
ADVANTAGES OP PRATER. 83
be prevalent in procuring for us the pardon of
sin, and the knowledge of salvation by the remis¬
sion of our sins. God is the moral Governor of
the world; and, as such, he is emphatically
called "our Lawgiver;" and his law is "holy,
just, and good." But that law we have all viola¬
ted ; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God; and, consequently, all are guilty, and
liable to be punished; and punished we must be
in the world to come, unless we are pardoned in
this world. But Christ hath purchased a pardon
for us—a
" Pardon for infinite offence! And pardon
Through means that speak its value infinite!
A pardon bought with blood! with blood divine!
With blood divine of Him we made our foe."
But though this pardon is graciously offered to us
without money and without price, yet it is never
obtained without prayer. He who has never
prayed for the pardon of his sins, is every mo¬
ment exposed to punishment. Among the count¬
less myriads of human beings in all climes, and
in all ages, whom God has freely forgiven, he has
never yet pardoned a prayerless sinner. But all
manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven
unto men who seek it by believing, fervent, and
importunate prayer. Look at Manasseh, a sinner
of a notoriously enormous character: who had
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TREATISE ON PRATER.
" made Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
to err, and to do worse than the heathen whom
the Lord had destroyed before the children of
Israel:" who had " caused his children to pass
through the fire in the valley of the son of Hin-
mon : who had used enchantments, and witch¬
craft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and wizards ;
and wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord,
to provoke him to anger ;" and yet he obtained
mercy. But how ? Why, the Lord brought upon
him "the captains of the host of the king of
Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns,
and bound him with fetters, and carried him to
Babylon; and when he was in affliction he be¬
sought the Lord his God, and humbled himself
greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed
unto him; and he was entreated of him, and
heard his supplication, and brought him again.
to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh
knew that the Lord he was God." We have also
a remarkable instance of the prevalence of prayer,
in the attainment of pardon, in the case of Heze-
kiah, who in his affliction turned his face toward
the wall, and prayed unto the Lord; and Isaiah
was commissioned by God to tell him that his
prayer was heard; and in the grateful recollec¬
tion of what the Lord had done for him, he said,
" Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; but
ADVANTAGES OP PRATER. 85
thou hast, in love to my soul, delivered it from the
pit of corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins
"behind thy back." In the same way David ex¬
pected the pardon of his sins; and therefore he
prayed, "For thy name's sake, 0 Lord, pardon
mine iniquity; for it is great. Look upon mine
affliction and my pain, and forgive all my sins."
And in that admirable compendium of devotion
which, for the sake of distinction, we call " the
Lord's Prayer," our Saviour has taught us, when
we pray, to say, " Forgive us our sins; for we
also forgive every one that is indebted to us."
And "when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye
have aught against any : that your Father also
which is in heaven may forgive you your
trespasses."
And if God, in answer to our penitential
prayers, pardons our sins, and casts them as a
stofie into the depths of the sea, can we entertain
a doubt as to the beneficial effect of prayer ?
" David," saith the apostle, " describeth the bless¬
edness of the man, unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins
are covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the
Lord will not impute sin." The blessedness of
those whose sins are forgiven, will be most clearly
understood by considering the evils from which
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86
TREATISE ON PRATER.
they are delivered, the privileges of which they
are possessed, and the glories to which they are
entitled. They are delivered from guilt and con¬
demnation ; from the torment of an accusing con¬
science; from the curse of a violated law; from the
wrath of God; from the foreboding of future mis¬
ery, and from the danger of damnation. They
are possessed of an assurance of the divine favour;
of the light of God's countenance; of the joy of
his salvation; of liberty of access to his throne,
and a good hope through grace of being everlast¬
ingly saved. And by virtue of their being made
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, they are
entitled to "an inheritance incorruptible, unde-
filed, and that fadeth not away."
Prayer is also beneficial and advantageous to
us, as it furnishes the most effectual means for the
attainment of divine wisdom. There are few
words used in the Scriptures with a greater latitude
of signification than the word wisdom. Hence
we read of " the wisdom of the Egyptians:"
" the wisdom of Solomon :" " the wisdom of this
world : " " the wisdom which is from beneath;''
"the wisdom of the just:" "fleshly wisdom:"
"the wisdom of words:" "the wisdom of God
in a mystery;" and, " the wisdom which is from
above," which, St. James says, "is first pure,
then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated ■
ADVANTAGES OP PRAYER. 87
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality,
and without hypocrisy." " Wisdom," says Mac-
knight, " in the common acceptation of the word,
denotes a sound practical judgment concerning
things to he done or avoided. But in Scripture
it signifies that assemblage of virtues which con¬
stitute true religion/' Or, according to Solomon,
tc the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wis¬
dom ; and the knowledge of the Holy is under¬
standing." There is so much said in praise of
wisdom in the Scriptures, and especially in the
Writings of Solomon, that we cannot doubt»of its
being beneficial and advantageous to possess it.
<c Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the
man that getteth understanding. For the mer¬
chandise of it is better than silver, and the gain
thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than
rubies; and all the things thou canst desire
are not to be compared unto her. Length of days
are in her right hand; and in her left riches and
honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and
all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to
them that lay hold upon her; and happy is every
one that retaineth her." " Wisdom is the princi¬
pal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all
thy getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and
she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to
honour when thou dost embrace her. She shall
88
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
give to thine head an ornament of grace : a crown
of glory shall she deliver to thee."
And this wisdom, on which such high encomi¬
ums are bestowed, has God for its author. Hence
we read such texts as the following : u The Lord
giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh under¬
standing." " God giveth to a man that is good
in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy."
" Blessed be God; for wisdom and might are his:
he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge
to them that know understanding." " And the
Lord spake unto Moses saying, See, I have called
Bezaleel, and I have filled him with the Spirit of
God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in
knowledge. And in the hearts of all that are
wise-hearted I have put wisdom."
And that God gives wisdom in answer to prayer,
we have abundant evidence for believing from the
Scriptures God said to Solomon, " Ask what I
shall give thee. And Solomon said, Give thy
servant an understanding heart, that I may dis¬
cern between good and bad. And the speech
pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this
thing. And God said unto him, Behold, I have
done according to thy word." And that extra¬
ordinary wisdom that Daniel possessed, of whom
it was said, that " wisdom like the wisdom of the
gods was found in him," was obtained by prayer.
ADVANTAGES OE PRAYER. 89
And, for our encouragement, we read, "They that
seek the Lord understand all things." Prov.
Xxviii. 5. Of Cornelius it was said, that he
prayed to God alway; and his prayers and alms
were so pleasing to God, that an angel was sent
to him to instruct him in the course of duty that
he was to pursue in order to his salvation. "If
any of you," saith the apostle James, " lack wis¬
dom, let him ask it of God." The Holy Ghost
is the great agent by which divine instruction is
communicated to the mind, and he is emphati¬
cally called "the Spirit of wisdom;" and, "If
ye," saith our Saviour, " being evil, know how to
give good gifts unto your children, how much
more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy
Spirit unto them that ask him ? "
Another benefit of prayer results from the ten¬
dency it has to withdraw our hearts from the
world—to lessen our esteem for earthly objects;
and to lead us to set our affections on things which
are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand
of God. Prayerless men are preeminently men
of this world, who have their portion in this
life. Every thing about them is worldly. Their
plans, and projects, and passions, are all worldly.
Do they possess riches ? They are the riches of
this world, which perish in the using. Have they
honours? They are the honours of the world;
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TREATISE ON PRAYER.
for they love the praise of men more than the
praise of God. Have they pleasures ? They are
the pleasures of this world, which vanish as a
dream, and leave room for a lasting and painful re¬
pentance. Have they cares ? They are the cares
of this world, which choke the good seed and ren¬
der it unfruitful. Have they time? The world
occupies it. Have they talents ? The world
engages them. Have they hearts? The world
fills them. And the love of this present evil
world, by which every fallen soul of man is so
powerfully enticed, and so easily captivated, sen¬
sualizes the affections, brutalizes the mind, alien¬
ates the heart from God; for " if any man love
the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
And he who thus lives will be found unfit for any
society in the other world, except such as in their
life-time received their good things, and at last
are drowned in destruction and perdition. But
prayer is an effectual antidote against the love of
the world. He who prays must necessarily turn
away his mind from the pursuit of worldly objects
to the contemplation of heavenly realities. In pro¬
portion as the heart is engaged with God, it will be
disengaged from the world. In prayer the world
is forgotten : then the soul holds intercourse with
the Father of spirits, and drops for a time the rq-
membrance of its earthly connections, to gaze on
ADVANTAGES OP PRATER. 91
eternal objects: then it sits in heavenly places
with Christ Jesus, and the world ceases to exert
any undue influence over the affections. By re¬
sorting to prayer, to obtain the victory over the
world, we imitate the example of David, who said,
" My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou
me according to thy word."
Prayer is also efficacious in promoting our secu¬
rity. We all love and desire safety. How sad it
is to be always in danger, conscious danger—to
live always under the apprehension that some evil
is ready to befall us, or some enemy waiting to
destroy us ! What a miserable state to live in a
forest, surrounded by lions, and tigers, and other
beasts of prey; and to have no security against
their attacks ! On the other hand, how comforta¬
ble to know that we are safe! How must the
manslayer have rejoiced, who had been pursued
by the avenger of blood, to get within the walls
of the city of refuge, where he would enjoy per¬
fect security ! How grateful to the heart of the
shipwrecked mariner, to escape safe to land, from
the fury of the tempest, and the war of elements !
But what is temporal danger, the danger to which
the body is exposed, compared to the danger of
the soul ? and our souls are exposed to the most
imminent danger. We live in a world of peril—
in an enemy's country. Every thing here is
92
TREATISE on prater.
hostile to our peace. We are liable to be entan¬
gled in the snares of the world: sinners will en¬
tice us: Satan and his emissaries will attack us:
principalities, and powers, and spiritual wicked¬
ness in high places, will annoy us. We have evil
hearts of unbelief, ever ready to depart from the
living God. And surrounded as we are by snares,
seductions, and dangers, where can we find secu¬
rity ? Is it in our wisdom ? But our enemies
are more sagacious than we are. Is it in our vig¬
ilance ? Alas ! of the devil and his angels it may
be truly said,
"A constant watch they keep:
They eye us night and day:
They never slumber, never sleep,
Lest they should lose their prey."
Is it in our power ? But the devil is inconceiva¬
bly powerful. He is the prince of the power of
the air. What, then, can we do to escape the
dangers to which we are every moment exposed ?
We must pray. Prayer is our only asylum in the
hour of danger. "The name of the Lord is a
strong tower : the righteous runneth into it, and
is safe." By prayer, the people of God place
themselves under the shadow of the Almighty's
wings, and there they find security. "When I
cry unto thee," saith David, "then shall mine
enemies turn back: this I know, for God is for
ADVANTAGES OP PRAYER. 93
me." " I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy
to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine ene¬
mies." St. Paul, in writing to the Ephesians,
after having described the several parts of the
Christian's armour, adds, " Praying always with
all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and sup¬
plication for all saints."
And such is the prevalence of prayer, that God,
in answer to it, has frequently interposed miracu¬
lously to save his people out of the hands of their
enemies. When Herod stretched forth his hands
to vex certain of the church, he killed James with
a sword, shut up Peter in prison, and appointed a
band, of soldiers to prevent his escape. But
prayer was made without ceasing by the church
unto God for him; and while they were thus en¬
gaged, an angel of the Lord descended, and by
his presence illuminated the prison; and he smote
Peter on the side, and immediately the chains fell
from his hands, the gates of the prison opened of
their own accord, and Peter hastened to his friends
to rejoice with them on the great deliverance which
God had wrought out on his behalf. Nor was the
deliverance of Paul and Silas from prison at
Philippi less remarkable, or less illustrative of the
mighty power of prayer. They had been basely
insulted by a lawless rabble in the market-place:
94
TREATISE ON PRATER.
many stripes had been laid upon them; and, to
add to their sufferings, they were thrust into the
inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks.
But, though they were persecuted by men, yet
they were not forgotten of God; and though shut
up in prison, yet that prison was to them as the
gate of heaven. For, "at midnight Paul and
Silas prayed, and sung praises unto God; and the
prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was
a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the
prison were shaken ; and immediately all the doors
were opened, and every one's bands were loosed."
Such was the prevalence of prayer, and such the
miraculous interposition of God on behalf of his
servants who trusted in him. The sequel of the
history we all know. The circumstances of Jonah
were inconceivably perilous. His situation, when
in the great fish which God had prepared to swal¬
low him up, was so horrifying, that he calls it the
belly of hell; yet even there he found an asylum
in prayer. " When my soul," said he, " fainted
within me, I remembered the Lord; and my
prayer came in unto thee, into thy holy temple."
And by prayer he obtained deliverance. When
Zerah, the Ethiopian monarch, with a thousand
thousand men, and three hundred chariots, came
against Asa, he " cried unto the Lord his God,
and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help,
ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER. 95
whether with many, or with them that have no
power: help us, 0 Lord our G-od; for we rest on
thee, and in thy name we go against this multi¬
tude. 0 Lord, thou art our G-od: let not man
prevail against thee." And the Lord smote the
Ethiopians before Asa, so that they were totally
discomfited and overthrown; and the Israelites
carried away much spoil. When Kabshakeh, sent
by the king of Assyria, with a great host, invaded
Judah, and used the most blasphemous words
against God and his people, Hezekiah, in great
distress, covered himself with sackcloth, and went
into the house of the Lord, and, with great im¬
portunity, prayed unto the Lord, to be saved from
the hand of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria;
and, in answer to Hezekiah's prayer, the Lord
said, " I will defend this city, to save it, for mine
own sake, and for my servant David's sake."
"Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and
smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred
fourscore and five thousand; and when they arose
early in the morning, behold, they were all dead
corpses."
And with such interpositions of divine provi¬
dence before our eyes, we cannot doubt of the
prevalence of prayer in promoting the security of
the saints. And were we favoured with inspired
records of the dealings of God with his people in
96
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
modern times, we should find, even in our day,
instances of similar deliverances wrought out on
their behalf in answer to prayer. " Safety is of
the Lord) " and he who prays as he ought, what¬
ever his circumstances may be, will be compassed
about with the divine favour as a shield.
In the year 1786, in a field adjoining the road
from Gravesend to Chatham, lived Mr. Fry, by
trade a brickmaker, who related to a friend the
following fact:—" One night last winter, after
family prayer, two men knocked at the door, and
asked for a light to seek a half guinea, which they
said they had dropped at our field gate in paying
a post-chaise boy. I desired the servant to open
the door, and let the gentlemen have a candle.
As soon as the door was open, to my great sur¬
prise, the men rushed into the house with large
horse-pistols in their hands, and, with horrible
oaths and imprecations, demanded my property.
I answered, 1 Gentlemen, don't use us ill j and
take it away: it is all there before you in those
drawers.' One of them guarded us, while the
other cleared the drawers of all my linen and
papers, and threw them on a heap in the middle
of the room. When they had gotten possession
of all the money I had, and my late wife's wed¬
ding ring, which I begged for in vain, one of them
asked his companion for a cord to tie us together
ADVANTAGES OF PRATER. 97
in the middle room of the house. I now perceived
our lives were in imminent danger, and began to
pray to the Almighty God, saying, < Lord, thou art
omniscient, and knowest the design of these men j
and thou art omnipotent, and able to deliver; and,
Lord, thou hast bidden us to call upon thee in the
time of trouble, and hast promised to deliver.
Now, Lord, is a time of trouble ! Now hear, now
answer, for thy own name and mercy's sake!'
Immediately the servant-woman found such un¬
common courage and strength, that she rushed by
the robbers, flew out of the door, and ran into the
lane toward a farm-house, crying, ' Murder, mur¬
der ! Fire, fire ! ' Upon which the men instantly
left me, and followed her; but, being confounded,
they took the Gravesend road, and the cries of
the servant alarmed the people in the farmer's
house, who came to our help, armed with pitch¬
forks and other weapons. We pursued the ruffians
to Gravesend; and, in searching the tides'-house,
where passengers wait for the return of the boat,
we found one of the thieves, with some of my
property in his possession. We took him before
a magistrate, who committed him for trial, and
bound me over to prosecute. At the assizes at
Maidstone, the robber was found guilty, and exe¬
cuted. While he was under sentence of death, he
confessed that it was the intention of himself and
9
98
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
Lis companion to set the house on fire, and burn
us in it, that we might not tell tales. When I
related my simple story to the judge and jury,
how I prayed, and how my God heard and an¬
swered me, they seemed all affected."
The following providential deliverance was re¬
lated by Mr. Richard Boardman, many years ago:
" I preached," says he, " one evening at Mould,
in Flintshire, and next morning set out for Park-
Gate. After riding some miles, I asked a man if
I was in my road to that place. He answered,
'Yes; but you will have some sands to go over,
and unless you ride very fast you will be in dan¬
ger of being enclosed by the tide.' It then began
to snow to such a degree, that I could scarce see a
step of the way; and my mare being with foal
prevented me from riding so fast as I should other¬
wise have done. I got to the sands, and pur¬
sued my journey over them for some time; but
the tide then came in, and surrounded me on
every side, so that I could not proceed nor return
back, and to ascend the perpendicular cliffs was
impossible. In this situation I commended my
soul to God, not having the least expectation of
escaping death. In a little time I perceived two
men running down a hill on the other side of the
water; and, by some means, they got a boat, and
came to my relief just as the sea had reached my
ADVANTAGES OE ERAYER. 99
knees, as I sat upon my beast. They took me
into the boat, the beast swimming by my side till
we reached land. While we were in the boat, one
of the men cried out,' Surely, sir, Grod is with
you!' I answered, ' I trust he is/ The man
replied, 1 I know he is;' and then related the fol¬
lowing circumstance : ( Last night I dreamed that
I must go to the top of such a hill. When I
awoke, the dream made so deep an impression
upon me that I could not rest. I went and called
upon this my friend, and desired him to accom¬
pany me. When we came to the place, we saw
nothing more than usual. However, I begged
him to go with me to another hill at a small dis¬
tance; and there we saw your distressing situa¬
tion.' When we got ashore, I went with my two
friends to a public house not far from the place
where we landed; and as we were relating this
wonderful providence, the landlady said, 'This
day month we saw a gentleman just in your situ¬
ation ; but before we could hasten to his relief, he
plunged into the sea, supposing, as we conjecture,
that, his horse would swim with him. to the shore,
but they both sank, and were drowned together.'
I gave my deliverers all the money I had, which
I think was eighteen pence; and tarried all night
at the public house. Next morning I was not a
little embarrassed how to pay my reckoning:
100 TREATISE ON PRATER.
therefore apologized to the landlord for the want
of cash, and begged he would keep a pair of sil¬
ver spurs, till I should send and redeem them.
But he answered, ' The Lord bless you, sir: I
would not take a farthing of you for the world.'
After some serious conversation with the friendly
people of the house, I bade them farewell; and
recommenced my journey, rejoicing in the Lord,
and praising him for his great salvation."
" Prayer," says an old author, " is so powerful
that it has commanded the four elements. Air;
for St. James tells us that Elias was a man sub¬
ject to like passions as we are, and he prayed that
it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth
for the space of three years and six months; and
he prayed again, and the heavens gave rain, and
the earth brought forth her fruit. Fire; for the
three children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
came unsinged from the fiery furnace, the heat of
which consumed those who approached it. Earth;
for at the prayer of Moses she opened her mouth,
and swallowed up Korah and all that appertained
unto him. Water; for at the prayer of Moses
the sea fled back. What," continues he, " shall I
say ? It hath made the sun stand still in the
firmament: fetched fire and brimstone from hea¬
ven : thrown down the walls of Jericho: subdued
kingdoms: stopped the mouths of lions. Prayer
ADVANTAGES OF PRATER. 101
is so potent, that it raiseth the dead, overcometh
angels, casteth out devils j and that which is most
wonderful, overcometh Omnipotence himself. For
doth not the Lord say to Moses, ' Let me alone)'
and Moses would not let him alone until he had
obtained his petition ? and again, to Jacob wrest¬
ling with him, 1 Let me go;' and Jacob would
not let him go until he had. prevailed ? Where¬
fore pray on all occasions, and that without doubt¬
ing. 'I am more afraid/ said Mary Queen of
Scots, 'of the prayers of Knox, [the reformer,]
than I am of an army of ten thousand men.'"
Another advantage of prayer is the consolation
it affords amid all the distressing scenes of life.
Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
There are personal and domestic troubles to which
we are unavoidably subject. How many are
doomed to suffer severe and complicated afflictions
of body ! Others have to sustain the bitterest be¬
reavements in their families: a faithful wife, the
desire of their eyes, in whom their fondest affec¬
tions centred, is suddenly and unexpectedly torn
from their embraces; or a beloved child, the prop
of their declining years, falls a prey to some ma¬
lignant disease. And amid these scenes of deep
affliction, when the heart is wrung with unuttera¬
ble anguish, what comfort and support does prayer
afford! How soothing it is to the smitten spirit
9*
102
TREATISE ON PRATER.
to be enabled to pour out its sorrows before G-od!
We all know wbat a relief it is to tbe mind to
unbosom its griefs to some kind and sympathizing
friend, even tbougb it be not in his power to ad¬
minister effectual relief; but how much more con¬
solation does it afford to be enabled to look up to
our heavenly Father, who is very pitiful, and of
great mercy, and who knoweth our frame, and
remembereth that we are dust. Hence prayer is
often the last retreat of the wretched : it is tbe
temple of tranquillity to the unhappy, where their
minds are soothed, and their cares and sorrows are
hushed, and almost forgotten. "From the end
of the earth will I cry unto thee," said David,
" when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to
the rock that is higher than I."
Are the joys of heaven to be anticipated on
earth? Does faith realize the immense blessings
of hope, and give us to sit and converse with
Christ in heavenly places ? These joys are to be
felt, these blessings realized, these heavenly places
opened, this glorious converse to be enjoyed, in
prayer. " Prayer," says an elegant writer, " is
Nebo: prayer is Tabor. On the elevated mount¬
ain of . prayer we are raised far above the world j
and the darkness, the thunder, and the tempest
roll beneath our feet. In this lofty region the
air is always pure: the light of eternity shines
ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER. 103
perpetually on the top of the hill. From thence
we behold the palms and robes of the just; and
the spirits of just men made perfect, walking be¬
fore God in righteousness. If we cannot actually
enter into heaven until the house of our earthly
tabernacle be dissolved, and this body of our hu¬
miliation be exchanged for a body like unto Christ's
glorious body, yet from thence we are permitted
to look unto heaven, and admire the holy worship
of that everlasting temple. If we cannot ascend
to Christ and his saints, into the mountain of
God, yet he and his saints descend to us, upon
the mountain of prayer. Here Moses and Elijah,
patriarchs and prophets, evangelists and apostles,
martyrs and confessors, encourage their brethren
in the patience and tribulation of Jesus. They
tell us, they were men of like passions with our¬
selves, suffering the same evils, expossd to the
same perils, and combating the same enemies;
but that they overcame by the word of their testi¬
mony, and by the blood of the Lamb. Finally,
it is from the mountain of prayer that we have
the brightest views of Jesus, sitting at the right
hand of the maj esty on high; and hear him address¬
ing to us these animating words: 1 In the world
ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer:
I have overcome the world.' 1 Be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.'"
104
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
We have an instance of the soothing and con¬
soling character of prayer in the time of great
sadness, in the experience of Nehemiah. He was
not"*only an officer in the court of the greatest
king of the east, hut it was his duty to he much
in the royal presence. He was, on a particular
occasion, under deep affliction; for Jerusalem was
in ruins! On a certain day his sadness was so
great as to he visible to the king, at whose table
he was attending. The monarch inquired the
cause of his sorrow, and what request he had to
make. He instantly " prayed to the God of hea¬
ven," doubtless to strengthen him; and then he
made his petition to the king, for no less a boon
than to allow him to rebuild the walls of the
sacred city. His prayer preceded his petition.
It was that prayer which gave him courage to pre¬
sent that petition, and which, probably, induced
the sovereign to grant it. What a double encou¬
ragement is here given to the courtier both to
pray to God, and to speak truth to a king!
We have also the example of St. Paul recorded
for our instruction on this subject. It pleased
God to afflict him with some painful disease, which,
in consequence of the poignant feeling that it
produced, he calls "a thorn in the flesh." He
desired to have it removed, and knowing that af¬
flictions are sent to teach us to pray, and continued
ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER. 105
to instruct us to be instant in prayer, he prayed
earnestly, and repeated his request, that it might
depart from him. But, though his prayer was
not answered according to his expectation, yet, as
a promise was made that grace should be imparted
to enable him to bear his affliction, he said, " Most
gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirm¬
ities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
The late Br. Whitehead was accustomed to re¬
peat with pleasure the following fact:—In the year
1764 he was stationed as an itinerant preacher
in Cornwall. He had to preach one evening in
a little village where there was a small Metho¬
dist society. " The friend," says he, " at whose
house we preached, had at that time a daughter,
who lived with one of our people about ten miles
off. His wife was gone to attend her daughter,
who was then dangerously ill of a fever; and her
husband had that day received a message from her,
informing him that his child's life was despaired
of. He earnestly, and with tears, desired Mr.
Whitehead to recommend his daughter to God in
prayer, both before and after preaching. He did
so, in the most warm and affectionate manner.
Late that evening, or very early next morning,
while the young woman's mother was sitting by
the bedside of her daughter, who had been in a
strong delirium for several days, she opened her
106
TREATISE ON PRATER.
eyes, and hastily addressed her mother thus: 10
mother ! I have been dreaming that I saw a man
lifting up his eyes and hands to heaven, and fer¬
vently praying to Giod for my recovery. The
Lord has heard his prayers, and my fever is gone;
and, what is far better, the Lord has spoke peace
to my soul, and sealed his pardoning love on my
heart. I know it, I feel it, my dear mother; and
his Spirit bears witness with my spirit that I am
a child of God and an heir of glory.' Her
mother, still thinking that she was in a delirium,
desired her to compose herself and remain quiet.
The daughter replied, 1 My dear mother, I am in
no delirium now : I am perfectly in my senses:
do help me to rise, that upon my bended knees I
may praise God.' Her mother did so, and they
both praised God with joyful hearts; and from
that hour the young woman recovered so fast, that
she was soon able to attend to the affairs of the
family where she lived. She had never seen Mr.
Whitehead previous to this remarkable time; but
some weeks after, she saw him, and the moment
she beheld his face she fainted away. As soon
as she came to herself, she said, ' Sir, you are the
person I saw in my dream, when I was ill of a
violent fever; and I beheld you lift up your hands
and eyes to heaven, and most fervently pray for
my recovery and conversion to God. The Lord
ADVANTAGES OP PRAYER. 107
in mercy, heard your prayers, and answered them
to the healing of my wounded spirit, and to the
restoration of my body to its former health and
strength. I have walked in the light of his
countenance from that time to the present; and I
trust I shall do so as long as I live.' " How re¬
markably does this circumstance illustrate the
words of St. James ! " The prayer of faith shall
saye the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up j
and if he have committed sins, they shall be for¬
given him."
But how forlorn is the heart, and how cheerless
are the prospects of a prayerless man ! He, too,
has his troubles: disappointments and crosses
in his expectations: perplexities and cares in
his business : afflictions and bereavements in his
family: remorse in his conscience; and forebod¬
ings as to his future destiny. But where are his
consolations ? Alas! he has none. He has no
hope, and is without Grod in the world. He has
been hewing out cisterns, but they are broken:
they hold no water. He has his portion in this
world j and when death comes, he is driven away
in his wickedness into outer darkness, where shall
be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Prayer is also the most essential means of im¬
provement and perseverance in religion. Without
prayer, all other means will be inefficacious and
108
TREATISE ON PRATER.
abortive. In exact proportion as prayer is prac¬
tised or restrained, so is tbe Christian's progress
or declension in personal piety. All the means'
of grace are but lifeless forms without prayer. It
is by coming boldly unto the throne of grace, that
we not only obtain mercy, but find grace to help
in time of need. Every step we take in religion
is a step in advance toward the kingdom of hea¬
ven. Christianity is all progression. In com¬
mencing our religious course, we enter in at a
strait gate, and, in proportion as we advance in
religion, we walk in the narrow way : we grow up
into Christ our living Head in all things—increase
with all the increase of God; and go on to perfect
holiness in the fear of the Lord. And holiness
and happiness are as inseparable as the cause and
the effect, the means and the end. Our increase
in personal piety cannot fail to be advantageous
to us. Can a man grow in grace, and yet derive
no spiritual benefit from that growth ? Oan he
abound in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost,
and yet remain in doubt whether that hope af¬
fords him any additional consolation or not?
Godliness is profitable unto all things; and will
not an increase of godliness produce an additional
degree of profit? Even could we imagine that
prayer afforded no present advantages — that
the Christian derived no consolation from this
ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER. 109
divinely-instituted duty: admitting it to be as
irksome and wearisome as prayerless persons im¬
agine ; yet the fact that, by the practice of prayer,
we obtain a meetness for heaven, and by the neg¬
lect of it we become vessels of wrath fitted for
destruction, ought to be a motive sufficiently
powerful to induce us to give ourselves continu¬
ally to prayer, and to watch in the same with
thanksgiving.
Finally, The advantage of prayer will be seen
in the reward apportioned to those who live in the
practice of this most essential duty. In the in¬
struction which our Saviour gave to his disciples
concerning closet-prayer, he said, " Pray to thy
Father which is in secret, and thy Father which
seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." God
never said unto the seed of Jacob, " Seek ye me
in vain." On the contrary, " He is the rewarder
of them that diligently seek him." "Fear not,"
said God to Abraham : "lam thy shield, and thy
exceeding great reward." Duties will never go
unrewarded. "God is not unrighteous," saith
the apostle, " to forget your work and labour of
love, which ye have showed toward his name,
in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do
minister." " In addition to all the advantages
which we derive from the practice of prayer in
the present world, the consolation it inspires, the
10
110 TREATISE ON PRATER.
protection it affords, and the promises it secures,
while in the body, there is yet another blessing
attendant upon it; and that is the vast and eter¬
nal reward which God will bestow upon his pray¬
ing people in the last day. The scribes and
Pharisees did all their works to be seen of men,
and of men they had their reward; but Christians
do theirs as in the sight of God, and from him
they will receive their abundant and eternal recom¬
pense. They pray in secret, but they will be
rewarded openly. God, in the great day of eter¬
nal judgment, will openly acknowledge them as
his own before men, angels, and devils; and will
say unto them, "Well done, good and faithful
servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord."
And if prayer be productive of such fruits: if
it insure such a vast reward : if God, in answer
to our fervent and importunate prayer, saves us
from so many evils, and confers upon us so many
blessings—'blessings which will run coeval with
our very existence—can we deliberately make up
our minds to live in the neglect of it ? Shall we
relinquish all expectation of being saved ? Are
we in love with our own ruin ? Have we made a
covenant with death? and with hell are we at
agreement ? Shall we despise the riches of God's
goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, and
thus treasure up unto ourselves wrath against the
ADVANTAGES OE PRAYER. Ill
day of wrath? Of all horrible things, this is
most horrible, and the most to be deprecated and
avoided. And, thank. God ! we may avoid it.
0 ! let us be wise to-day !
" To-day is yesterday return'd—return'd
Full powerM, to cancel, expiate, raise, adorn,
And reinstate us on the rock of peace.
Let it not share its predecessor's fate;
Nor, like its elder sisters, die a fool."
112
treatise on prayer.
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE PLACES AND SEASONS APPROPRIATED TO SECRET
PRATER.
God is an omnipresent Being. The heaven
and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him.
His eyes are in every place, beholding the evil
and the good. He filleth all places with his im¬
mense and infinite essence. He is excluded from
no place, included in none for he is without all
limitation, dimension, or termination. " If I as¬
cend up into heaven," saith David, "thou art
there : if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art
there. If I take the wings of the morning, and
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there
shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall
cover me, even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the
night shineth as the day: the darkness and the
light are both alike to thee." Since God is essen¬
tially present in every place, there is no place
where prayer may not be successfully offered to
him; therefore, said the apostle, "I will that
PLACES AND SEASONS OP PRAYER. 11S
men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, with¬
out wrath and doubting."' But when we recollect
that prayer is an employment which demands not
only the exercise of the understanding, but the
devotion of the heart, we may see the propriety
of retirement from the world, and seclusion from
the busy scenes of life, in order that the whole of
our powers and faculties may be engaged with
God in the most solemn and deeply devotional
exercise in whicl} a human creature can possibly
be employed.
In-the early periods of the world, the worship
of God was exceedingly simple. Temples and
edifices consecrated to religion, there were none;
but it was said of the father of the faithful, that
" Abraham planted a grove in Bedr-sheba, and
called there on the name of the Lord, the everlast¬
ing God." And no doubt can be entertained but
this grove was set apart for devotional purposes—-
that the pious patriarch might there engage in the
hallowed exercises of contemplation, meditation,
and prayer. " Pliny tells us, that as groves and
trees were the ancient temples, so even in his
days, among the country people, where primitive
simplicity still remained, it was usual to conse»
crate to God the most stately tree of the grove.
This custom very likely began with Abraham, but
it soon degenerated into gross and barbarous
10*
114
TREATISE ON PRATER.
superstition : on which account, groves were pro¬
hibited by the Levitical law, and ordered univer¬
sally to be destroyed " The fifty-seventh Psalm,
which contains a fervent prayer for divine protec¬
tion, was composed and offered up to Grod in a
cave, where David had concealed himself, to es¬
cape the fury of Saul. " Isaac went out to med¬
itate," or to pray, as some commentators render
it, " in the field at eventide." Jesus " went out
into a mountain to pray, and continued all night
in prayer to Grod." And on another occasion it
is said, " In the morning, rising up a great while
before day, he went out, and departed into a soli¬
tary place, and there prayed." " Peter went up
upon the house-top to pray, about the sixth hour."
At the hour of noon, to the house-top he retired,
for the sake of secrecy, where he could neither
hear nor be heard, and thus avoid distraction and
ostentation. Our Saviour, in giving directions
concerning the duty of prayer, says, " But thou,
when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which
is in secret j and thy Father which seeth in secret
shall reward thee openly." The word " closet"
generally imports any secret place where a person
is not seen or heard; and where he is not liable
to be disturbed or interrupted in his devotions,
by any noise or commotion from without." Daniel
PLACES AND SEASONS OE PRAYER. 115
Went into his chamber, and prayed three times a
day3 and though he was prohibited by law from
praying, and threatened with being cast into a
den of lions if he persisted in the practice of
prayer, yet so fearless was he of consequences,
that he would not even deign to shut his window
while he prayed.
Such statements lead us to conclude that retire¬
ment is favourable to prayer 3 • and that pious peo¬
ple have sought and seized opportunities of being
alone to pray. Is prayer the language of dis¬
tress ? Is it the voice of sorrow ? Are we
mourning after God? Do we complain in the
bitterness of our souls ? Then how congenial
with our feelings, and what a relief to our spirits,
will it be, to retire from the vanities, and frivoli¬
ties, and avocations of the world, and to shut our¬
selves up in our chambers 3 and in the anguish of
our spirits to weep, and pray, and plead with God
for the pardon of our sins, and the salvation of
our souls! Is prayer the language of love ?
Is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost given unto us ? And can we re¬
joice with joy unspeakable and full of glory?
Then how gladly shall we avail ourselves of all
convenient opportunities of going into our closets,
and holding secret intercourse with God — of
expressing to him the grateful feelings of our
116
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
hearts, and of consecrating ourselves afresh to his
service!
(< 0 ! what a blessed thing," says an old author,
" were it, if every person in several rooms of the
house were at work with God in secret prayer!
How bravely would that house be perfumed!
How well would the trade of godliness thrive i
Surely such a house were a more blessed, beautiful
edifice than any prince's palace under heaven. It
is the disposition of gospel penitents to mourn,,
every family apart—husbands and wives apart)
(Zech. xii. 11, 12;) and of gracious souls to he
like doves of the valleys, every one mourning for
his iniquity." Ezek. vii. 16. It must be allowed
that many pious persons in humble life have few
opportunities and conveniences for retirement: se¬
cret chambers they have none : then let them do
as Isaac did—retire into the fields to pray j or,
with the Saviour, let them seek some " solitary
place," and offer up their devout supplications to
God ; for it is his presence alone that can impart
sanctity to any place; and a praying heart will
never fail to find a praying place.
As to the precise times which should be daily
and sacredly set apart for the hallowed exercise
of prayer, it must be obvious that no absolute
rule can be laid down that is capable of universal
application. The circumstances and avocations
PLACES AND SEASONS OE PRAYER. 117
Of men are so various, that the same standard of
duty cannot indiscriminately and equally apply to
all. That secret prayer should he performed in
the morning of each returning day, can scarcely
he questioned. " My voice/' saith David, " shalt
thou hear in the morning, 0 Lord: in the morn¬
ing will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will
look up." But let not modern manners, or the
effeminacy of the age, mislead us, and induce us
to suppose that, by the morning, David meant any
time before noon. In the old translation the
verse runs, " My voice shalt thou hear betimes, 0
Lord: early in the morning will I direct my
prayer unto thee, and will look up." And else¬
where David says, "0 God, thou art my God,
early will I seek thee." And again : " I pre¬
vented the dawning of the morning, and cried:"
that is, before the darkness of night was dissi¬
pated by the light of the morning — before the
sun, like a bridegroom, had come forth from his
chamber, and spread his rays upon the mountains,
or tinged the lofty spires with his golden beams—.
before the little feathered choristers had begun to
chant their early lays, David's voice was heard,
and his prayer had ascended to the throne of God.
David was therefore an early riser} and he rose
early, not to do what those did whom Job men¬
tions, who rose " early for a prey, to remove the
118
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
landmarks, or violently to take away their neigh¬
bour's flocks, and to feed thereof:" no, he rose
early to pray. Jacob, after having slept on the
ground, and been favoured with a visionary rep¬
resentation of a ladder set upon the earth, whose
top reached to heaven, rose up early in the morn¬
ing to offer up his grateful acknowledgments unto
God. Jesus came early in the morning into the
temple; and all the people came early in the
morning to hear him.
Prayer to God is never ill-timed, never out of
season, never unnecessary; but the morning is
peculiarly favourable to closet devotion. The
success of our prayers with God, and their bene¬
ficial influence on our own minds, essentially de¬
pend on the manner in which they are offered.
They are successful in proportion as they are fer¬
vent, zealous, and importunate. When is the
mind in the fittest state to exert itself in prayer?
when are its powers the most active, and its affec¬
tions the most lively ? and when are our bodies
the most vigorous, and the most free from fatigue
and lassitude ? Is it not in the morning, after a
sound night's rest—after having disburdened our¬
selves of a load of weariness with which we lay
down oppressed ? Do we not frequently feel that
We are scarcely like the same persons in the eve¬
nings that we were in the mornings ? And have
PLACES AND SEASONS OF PRAYER. 119
not our devotions in the evenings often been as
languid as our bodies, and our prayers been as dull
as our frames ?
And the morning is not only the most favoura¬
ble time for our devotions, but the most calculated
to call forth the effusions of gratitude and praise
to God. Every new day is like a new period in
our existence} and when we awake in the morn¬
ing, in the possession of perfect health, with our
strength recruited, and our bodies and minds re¬
freshed, can we fail to reflect on the events of the
past night? How many of our fellow-creatures
have slept the sleep of death! how many have
been deprived of "-tired nature's sweet restorer,
balmy sleep," and exposed to "all the sad variety
■of pain !" how many have been confined to noi¬
some dungeons, subject to "all the horrors of the
gloomy jail!" how "many have been burnt out
of house and home !" how many have been ship¬
wrecked at sea, or lost in untrodden ways in the
land ! how many have been robbed and murdered !
how many have died unprepared, and are now
""lifting up their eyes in torments!" and here
am I a monument of divine mercy ! "I laid me
down and slept: I awaked, for the Lord sustained
me." "Bless the Lord, 0 my soul, and1 forget
not all his benefits."
There is another consideration which will serve
120
treatise on prater.
to suggest to us the propriety of morning prayer.
We are ignorant of futurity: the wide and bound¬
less prospect lies before us, but shadows, clouds,
and darkness rest upon it. When we begin a new
day we know not bow it will terminate. "I
know not," said Jacob, " the day of my death."
"My times," said David, "are in thy band."
There they are concealed, and measured out, like
some precious, invaluable cordial, in single drops,
one moment at one time; and another is not given
until that is taken away. We therefore "know
not what a day may bring forth." 0 bow uncer¬
tain is our time ! Where, when, and bow it will
end, we know not: we must not, cannot know.
How many rise in the morning, and go to their
accustomed occupations full of health and vigour,
and before the day closes, time with them is fin¬
ished, and eternity begun! Every succeeding
morning we should each one think with himself,
" I know not but I may die to-day ! This day
may terminate my probationary state of existence:
it may conclude my mortal history : it may put a
period to my worldly pursuits : it may, by a sud¬
den stroke, sever my soul and body: it may ex¬
tinguish the lamp of life, and reduce this anima¬
ted frame to a lifeless lump of clay: it may usner
my immortal soul into a world of spirits, and,
before this day closes, I may be in heaven or hell,
PLACES AND SEASONS OP PRAYER. 121
either with 'the damned cast out, or numbered
with the blest!' 0 what an awful, momentous,
and indescribable change may take place in my
situation, my condition, and my feelings, ere this
day closes! Thousands will begin this day as full
of health, and as free from disease, as I am, who
will be in eternity before night. And can I in¬
dulge in such reflections, and ponder such thoughts
in my mind, and yet begin the day without prayer ?
Can I go to my daily duties without asking God
to prepare me for the events of the day ? And
even if I should live through the day, yet I am,
ignorant of what will befall me in the pursuit of
my worldly business and employment. I know
not the temptations by which I shall be assailed—
the snares that will be laid for my feet—the provo¬
cation to which I shall be exposed} and the mental
conflicts I shall have to endure in the course of the
day. I know not how my spirit will be grieved—
how my fears will be alarmed—how my confidence
in God will be shaken—how my patience will be
tried—into what labyrinths and perplexities I shall
be brought; and what sins I may be induced to
commit before night. And can I be* so inconsider¬
ate, so careless, and so utterly devoid of all real re¬
gard for my reputation, my comfort, and my soul,
as to begin the day without prayer ? Shall I go
into the world without God ? shall I not ask his aid,
11
122
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
his protection, and his paternal care ? shall I not
place myself under the shadow of his wings?
shall I not beg of him, on the bended knees of
my body, to keep me as in the hollow of his hand—
to be with me in the hour of temptation—to frus¬
trate the infernal designs, and counteract the in¬
sidious artifices of my most inveterate enemies?
shall I not ask him to inspire my heart with a
reverential regard to himself, that I may be in the
fear of the Lord all the day long; and that his
statutes may be my songs in the house of my pil¬
grimage ? " 0 what a multitude of subj ects suggest
themselves to our minds in the morning of each
succeeding day, for devout meditation and prayer!
Dr. Boerhaave, being asked by a friend who
had often admired his patience under great provo¬
cations, by what means he suppressed his anger,
being naturally quick of resentment, answered,
" that he had, by daily prayer and meditation,
mastered himself. It was his daily practice to re¬
tire for an hour in the morning, and spend it in
private prayer and meditation; and it gave him
spirit and vigour for the business of the day."
And that we may have time for morning prayer,
let us individually say, with David, "I myself
will awake early." Let us not be sleeping when
we ought to be praying. " Lying long and late
in bed impairs the health, generates diseases, aaf
PLACES AND SEASONS OP PRAYER. 123
in the end destroys the lives of multitudes. It is
an intemperance of the most pernicious kind,
having nothing to recommend it, nothing to
set against its ten thousand mischievous conse¬
quences ; for to be asleep is to be dead for the
time. This tyrannical habit attacks life in its es¬
sential powers : it makes the blood forget its way,
and creep lazily along the veins : it relaxes the
fibres, unstrings the nerves, evaporates the animal
spirits, saddens the soul, dulls the fancy, subdues
and stupefies a man to such a degree, that he, the
lord of the creation, hath no appetite for any
thing in it: he loathes labour, yawns for want of
thought, and trembles at the creatures of his own
gloomy imagination. The indolent man pretends
that he lies in bed because he has nothing to do;
and yet he lives in the total neglect of morning
prayer." Let him rise and pray, and let prayer
take the precedence of every other exercise. If
it be deferred, some business may come in to pre¬
vent it, or it may be hurried over without rever¬
ence and without profit.
" In early prayer who seek his love,
Shall soon the grace of Jesus prove;
But who in sleep their pleasure take,
Shall never find him when they wake."
But while we speak of the propriety of morn¬
ing prayer, let us not overlook, or lightly esteem,
124
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
the devotions of the evening. "The revolution
of day and night/' says a late author, " points out
to us the propriety of some solemn acknowledg¬
ment of God every morning and evening. Be¬
sides, we have particular mercies to be thankful
for, and particular favours to seek, every morning
and every night." God appointed, under the law
of Moses, that there should be a lamb offered and
incense burnt every day, both in the morning and
evening, at the door of the tabernacle, where he
promised to meet the children of Israel and bless
them. " It is a good thing," saith the Psalmist,
"to speak of thy loving-kindness every morning,
and thy faithfulness every night." Before we re¬
tire to rest at night, let us call to mind the events
of the day, and we shall find subjects for humilia¬
tion, gratitude, and prayer. What cause for
humiliation in reflecting on our imperfections,
frailties, and the numerous deviations from the
path of rectitude which have marked our steps!
And what a motive for gratitude when we think
of the mercies with which we have been fa¬
voured — the protection that has been afforded
us—the dangers which we have escaped—the
health that we have enjoyed; and the list of
blessings, infinite, with which our existence has
been crowned! And what a subject for prayer
that God may, in the plenitude of his compassion,
PLACES AND SEASONS OP PRATER. 125
remit all tlie offences and pardon all the sins that
we have inadvertently or thoughtlessly committed
in the course of the day !
And to impress our minds with the propriety
and necessity of prayer before we commit our-,
selves into the arms of sleep, let us seriously con¬
sider the dangers to which we are exposed in the
night season. Thousands are hurried into eter¬
nity every succeeding night. It was at midnight
that the Lord smote all the first-horn in the land
of Egypt, when there was not a house where there
was not one dead. And that was a night not less
terrible when " the angel of the Lord went out,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hun¬
dred fourscore and five thousand; and when they
arose early in the morning, behold, they were all
dead corpses." What acts of cruelty are perpe¬
trated in the night! Then the workers of ini¬
quity, like evening wolves, prowl about to plunder
their neighbours' property : these may forcibly
enter our habitations in the night, and take away
our lives; or the pestilence that walketh in dark¬
ness may visit us ! And considering how defence¬
less a state of sleep is, and how utterly unacquainted
we are with what may happen to us during the
night, let us never retire to rest without prayer
Let us pray that God may be about our bed, as
he has been about our path that He who
11*
126 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
keepetli Israel, and never slumlberetli nor sleepeth,
may keep us: so that no evil may befall us, nor
any plague come nigh our dwelling—that our
sleep may be sweet to us; and that, when we
awake in the morning, we may find that Grod is
still with us. With the poet let us pray,
" 0 may thy angela, while I sleep,
Around my bed their vigils keep:
Their love angelical instil,
Stop every avenue of ill:
May they celestial joys rehearse,
And thought to thought with me converse."
And in addition to our morning and evening
prayers, we should avail ourselves, when it is
practicable, of retiring to our closets at noon to
renew our covenant with G-od, and to acknowledge
our obligations to him for all his benefits. This
was David's practice. " Evening, morning, and
noon-day," saith he, " will I pray and cry aloud."
Daniel also prayed three times a day. And one
of Peter's seasons for prayer was noon. And are
not these examples worthy of Our imitation ? We
find no inconvenience in laying aside our worldly
business in the middle of the day to supply our
bodily necessities. And is the meat that perish-
eth of more value than that which endureth unto
everlasting life ? It was an ancient adage, " that
meat and matins hinder no work." Can the spir¬
itual life of the soul be sustained with less care
PLACES AND SEASONS OP PRAYER. 127
than the natural life of the body? Let us not
forget that " prayer is the appointed means of de¬
riving all spiritual supplies from above to support
the life of religion; and, therefore, it is reasona¬
ble and our duty to make use of it: just as it is
reasonable, and every man's duty, to eat and drink,
because he cannot otherwise live." Those persons
who cannot command any time at noon to retire
to their closets to pray, may, at least, amid the
avocations of the world, lift up their hearts, and
breathe out their desires after God in solemn, ejac-
ulatory prayer. " The Lord is nigh unto all them
that call upon him." And he will fulfil the de¬
sire of them that fear him, whether that desire be
expressed in language, or only formed and fostered
in the heart. It is recorded of Luther, that he
prayed every day three hours: nor were his closet
prayers dull, careless, or heartless j but so fervent
and ardent, says Melancthon, that " they which
stood under his window, where he stood praying,
might see his tears falling and dropping on the
ground."
128
treatise on prater.
CHAPTER VII.
EXCUSES FOR THE NEGLECT OF SECRET PRATER CON¬
SIDERED.
The neglect of well-known duties is a sin too
commonly practised to excite any surprise. How
general is that confession, "We have left undone
the things which we ought to have done ! " But
excuses or pretexts for the neglect of duty are al¬
most as common as the sin itself. Where is the
sinner to be found who has not some plea to offer
in extenuation of his sin? We have a wonderful
talent at deceiving ourselves. There is scarcely a
fault for which we do not find an apology. Our
ingenuity on this subject is inexhaustible. What
will not men do to shift off the blame from them¬
selves ? Sin is an infamous thing: it reflects on
us the greatest discredit: it is a reproach to any
people 'y and it exposes us to shame and everlast¬
ing contempt. The prophet Jeremiah mentions
some, of whom he says, "Were they ashamed
when they had committed abomination? Nay,
they were not ashamed, neither could they blush."
But this unblushing boldness or effrontery in the
NEGLECT OF PRAYER.
129
practice of sin is peculiar to those who have, by a
long course of reiterated and criminal actions,
hardened their hearts and steeled their consciences
against conviction. These, to use the language
of the evangelical prophet, " declare their sin as
Sodom, they hide it not." Sinners, however,
generally have some kind of consciousness of the
shamefulness of sin, and especially of some sins
which are not so commonly practised as others;
and hence they court concealment; and when this
cannot be effected, then they rack their invention
to frame excuses or palliations for their conduct.
Among the excuses which men are accustomed
to make for their neglect of prayer, is their igno¬
rance of its nature. They know not how to pray.
It is a practice to which they have never habitua¬
ted themselves; and they cannot tell what to say,
even if they were to make an attempt. But why,
it may be asked, do you not know how to pray ?
Were prayer a secret, or a mystery which required
strong intellectual powers to comprehend; or
were it necessary for you to consult skilful teach¬
ers, or practise a tedious course of study, to un¬
derstand how to pray, then indeed there might
be some shadow of a plea for your conduct. But
among all the duties of religion, nothing can be
more simple, nothing more easily understood, than
prayer, It is equally plain to the illiterate and
130
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
the learned—to the obscure as to the renowned—
to the peasant as to the prince. But how can you
content yourself to remain ignorant of the most
important duty that God ever imposed upon man ?
Have you no wants to be supplied ? no guilt to be
pardoned ? no blessings to be obtained ? And
have you not heard of that Being who heareth
prayer—who invites you to make known your
wants to him—who holds out to you the sceptre
of mercy, and who waits to be gracious—who is
more ready to hear than you are to pray, and
more accustomed to bestow benefits upon you than
you are solicitous to receive them ? And has not
God given you a book which teacheth you how to
pray—what to pray for—furnisheth language suit¬
able- for prayer—sets before you examples of
prayer; and gives you encouragement to pray?
And what more can you desire ? Nay, what more,
may we not ask, can God himself do for you to
make you wise unto salvation, than what he has
already done, or is willing to do for you ? If,
therefore, you remain ignorant of the nature of
prayer, your ignorance is voluntary, inexcusable,
and in the highest degree criminal. For the du¬
ties of religion can never be acceptably performed
without some previous knowledge of their nature,
and the obligations you are under to pradtise them.
Ignorance of your duty totally disqualifies you for
NEGLECT OP PRAYER.
131
the right discharge of it; and if you continue to
remain ignorant of the nature of prayer, you will
live, as you hitherto have done, in a prayerless,
Christless state; and at last be turned into hell,
with all the nations that forget God. 0 consider
your ways, and turn your feet unto God's testimo¬
nies. Now is the accepted time: behold, now is the
day of salvation. Arise, and call upon God, if so be
that he may think upon you, that you perish not.
Another class of persons apologize for the
neglect of prayer, by alleging the dislike they
have to it. Prayer is a duty for which they
have no relish, to which they have no attach¬
ment, and in the practice of which they have
no enjoyment. They seldom, if ever, pray, be¬
cause they have no heart to pray. In the pur¬
suit of earthly objects, and the management of
their secular concerns, their hearts are all alive.
They follow the world with avidity; and at the
shrine of mammon they present their offerings
with alacrity and.delight; but, alas! the throne
of grace they approach with an ice-like apathy:
as if it were the property of prayer to freeze the
affections, and to turn the heart of flesh into a
heart of stone. But why, it may be" asked, have
you such a dislike to prayer ? and to what causes
can you attribute the antipathy you feel to this
holy and deeply devotional exercise ? Is there
132
TREATISE ON PRATER.
any thing in the nature of prayer that is calcu¬
lated to create disgust ? Is prayer so hostile and
ruinous to real enjoyment, that a man must ap¬
proach the mercy-seat with as much reluctance as
a fool goes to the correction of the stocks ? Does
prayer possess no attractions ? Does it promise no
pleasure? Does it create no enjoyments? So
far from this being the case, you cannot conceive
of a happier creature upon earth than a praying
man—one who draws near to God, and who feels
that God draws near to him. "A man on earth
devoted to the skies," who walks with God, and
rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
" Prayer ardent opens heaven, lets down a stream
Of glory on the consecrated hour
Of man in audience with the Deity."
" Prayer is good for all things that are good, and
good against all things that are evil." If you
have no disposition to pray, you must pray for a
disposition. The neglect or omission of a duty
can never fit you for the performance of it; for in
proportion as you omit to pray, so will the reluc¬
tance you feel toward it increase, until you have
lost all the spirit and power of prayer, and you
are given over to a reprobate mind to work all un-
cleanness with greediness. But you do not love
to pray because you find no pleasure In it. And
can this be a reason why you should neglect to
NEGLECT OF PRAYER. 133
pray ? Must the duties of religion he omitted
because you find no pleasure in the performance
of them ? Are you not to mortify the deeds of
the body, to crucify the flesh with its affections
and lusts, to deny yourself, and to take up your
cross daily and to follow Christ; and to do many
things which are far more painful than pleasura¬
ble to perform ? And if you do not love to pray,
it is a proof that you do not love Grod, that you
have no desire to love him, that your hearts are
estranged from him, and that his service is a wea¬
riness to you. Then what a wretched state must
your souls be in! How unfit are you to die!
You cannot go to heaven, because you cannot have
a preparation for it without prayer. Salvation is
only promised to prayer: it is not attainable but
through the use of prayer ; and it is granted only
to perseverance in prayer. He, therefore, who
obstinately refuses to pray, can have no preten¬
sions to salvation. And were it possible for you
to be admitted into heaven, you would feel as
great an antipathy to its employments as you now
do to the duties of religion. For if the heavenly
inhabitants never pray, never ask blessings from
the hands of their great Creator, yet they are
endlessly employed in anthems of praise for the
blessings they enjoy; and those who feel a
dislike to prayer will be equally disinclined to
12
134
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
praise, which forms no inconsiderable part of
prayer.
A third class of persons excuse themselves from
praying by pleading the want of time. You are
men of business, and diligence in business you
deem the most important part of your duty. You
have large and expensive families, who are depend¬
ent on your exertions for a maintenance; and the
cultivation of your farms, or the cares of your
business, so fully engage your attention, that you
have no time to pray. Or you occupy a subordin¬
ate situation in society : you are obliged to labour
for your daily bread; and you ask, how can it be
expected that, you should be able to find time to
pray ? But remember that prayer is the first duty
of man—the first in order, and the first in im¬
portance ; and therefore it claims the precedence
of every other duty. " Seek first," said our Sav¬
iour, " the kingdom of God." " I love them that
love me," saith the Lord; "and those who seek
me early shall find me." Remember, he who has
no time to pray has no time to be a Christian;
for Christ spent whole nights on the cold ground
in prayer; and he hath left us an example that
we should tread in his steps. He who has no time
to pray has no time to obey God; since God com¬
mands us to pray, and to pray everywhere, lifting
up holy hands without wrath and doubting. He
NEGLECT OP PRAYER.
135
who has no time to pray has no time to be happy,
no time to answer the end of his creation, and no
time to he saved. But have you really no time
to pray ? 0 think again ! Can you abstract no
time from your hours of business, from your plea¬
sures, from your sleep, to entreat God to have
mercy upon you, to pardon your sins, and to fit
you for heaven ? 0 what time is wasted in vain
and foolish conversation, in dress, in idleness, in
doing nothing, or something worse than nothing!
What would you think of a criminal condemned
to die, who would say he had no time to ask par¬
don of his judge, when he knew that pardon might
be obtained if he sued for it ? or of a famishing
man who would say, that he had no time to ask for
food, or to stretch out his hand to receive it, when
it was offered to him ? Even if your daily avo¬
cations pressed so heavily upon you as to leave
you but little time for closet devotions, yet you
should recollect that prayer is a mental exercise :
it is the pouring out of the heart before God; and
this may be done anywhere—in the house, in the
street, in solitude, or in society) for God is essen¬
tially present in every place 3 and our prayers and
our souls may find their way to him from the re¬
motest bounds of the habitable world.
Others, who neglect prayer, seek to excuse
themselves from all blame, by asking, " Why
186
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
should we pray ? Does not God know all oui
wants ? Must we use a multitude of words to
expiain them to him? Can we inform God of
any thing that he does not know ? And is he not
immutable ? Will our prayers produce any change
in the divine mind ? Can he be more willing to
grant us his favours after we have prayed, than
he was before ?" In answer to questions of this
nature, it may be said, God, the supreme and
eternal Potentate, has peremptorily enjoined the
practice of prayer. This is a doctrine of revela¬
tion. God has promised to hear prayer. This
is a truth equally obvious. God justly withholds
blessings from those who never pray, which he
graciously grants to those who do. This also is
so evident as to need no proof. And with these
simple and indisputable truths in our possession, we
cannot fail to see the expediency and the necessity
of prayer. We may not be able to comprehend
how it operates to produce the effects attributed to
it; but if we postpone prayer because we cannot
explain every thing that appertains to it, we. may
with equal propriety decline eating, because we
cannot understand the process of digestion, or ex¬
plain how the food we eat nourishes and invigo¬
rates the body. All we have to do with God's
commandments is, to understand and obey them.
11 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is
NEGLECT OE PRAYER.
137
nothing, but the keeping of the commandment?
of God." To question their propriety is not our
province. It is not for us to say unto God,
"What doest thou?" "He giveth not account
of any of his matters" unto us. His will is the
unchangeable and eternal rule of rectitude; there¬
fore, with the Psalmist, we should esteem all
God's " precepts concerning all things to be right."
And though we cannot always discover the reasons
of the divine conduct, yet we must
" Confess th' Almighty just,
And where we can't unriddle, learn to trust."
Another class of persons will be ready to say,
"We have prayed, but we have not received any
answers to our prayers: the blessings which we
have sought, we have not found j and we there¬
fore think it is useless to continue to pray." But
God is not obliged .to give you all that you ask at
his hands. You may pray for things which it
would be disadvantageous for you to possess. St.
James mentions those who asked for blessings
which they meant to consume upon their lusts.
God, in mercy, drosseth inordinate desires. Dis¬
appointments are frequently blessings. Sinners
cannot have worse judgments inflicted upon them,
than the gratification of their own desires. Ra¬
chel said, "Give me children, or else I die."
She had her desire granted, but death was the
12*
138
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
consequence. But perhaps you have prayed for
spiritual blessings, and have not received them;
and you think it is useless to continue to pray. But
have you asked in an acceptable manner ? Are
you sincerely desirous of obtaining the blessings
for which you pray ? David mentions a prayer
that " goeth not out of feigned lips:" that is,
where the language of the lips- is expressive of the
feelings and sentiments of the heart. Feigned
prayers are fruitless prayers. <£ 0 what abund¬
ance of wretches," says Baxter, " do offer up hypo¬
critical, mock prayers unto God — blaspheming
him thereby, as if he were an idol, and knew not
their hypocrisy, and searched not their hearts !
Alas ! how commonly do men pray in public that
the rest of their lives hereafter may be pure and
holy, that hate purity and holiness in their hearts,
and deride and oppose that which they seem to
pray for! as Austin confesseth of himself before
he was converted, that he prayed against his be¬
setting sin, and yet was afraid lest God should
answer his prayers." The prophet complained of
the people nf Israel, that " they flattered God
with their mouth, and lied unto him with their
tongue; for their heart was not right with him,
neither were they steadfast in his covenant."
But if your prayers are not answered, is there
not a cause ? And can you for a moment imagine
NEGLECT OF PRAYER.
139
that God is unable or unwilling to grant you the
blessings for which you pray ? Unable he cannot
be, for power belongeth unto God—power that no
creature can resist, and of which no man can con¬
ceive. " I am/' saith he, " the Almighty God."
And is he less willing than he is able to answer
prayer?. Is not his benevolence equal to his
power ? Can He who is loving to every man,
who hateth nothing that he hath made, but who
is rich in mercy to all who call upon him, be un¬
willing to answer your prayers ? No: your want
of success in prayer is attributable, not to God,
but to yourselves. You may individually adopt
the language of the poet, and §ay,
" The hind'rance must be all in me,
It cannot in my Saviour be :
Witness that streaming blood."
0 examine yourselves! Look into your hearts,
and inquire, Have you given up your sins ? Re¬
member what David said, "If I regard iniquity
in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." God
heareth not sinners—wilful, impenitent sinners.
The indulgence of sin presents an insuperable ob¬
stacle to the success of your prayers. 0 cease
from doing evil: .put away iniquity far from your
tabernacle ; watch against all the encroachments
of sin: resist every temptation to it: keep your
hearts with all diligence; and say, when enticed
140
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
to sin, " How can I do this great wickedness, and
sin against God ? "
But perhaps you are seeking to justify your
slothfulness by saying, " We are poor sinful crea¬
tures, and can do nothing of ourselves; and un¬
less God give us grace, we have no power to pray."
And will you dare to insult God by insinuating
that he has withheld grace from you ? "Will you
seek to exonerate yourselves of all blame by cast¬
ing it on your Maker ? Will you say, with the
unprofitable servant, " I knew thee that thou art
a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown,
and gathering where thou hast not strawed ?"
Does God peremptorily command you to pray, and
yet refuse to grant you the needful aid for the
performance of this duty ? And will you arraign
the Judge of all the earth at your bar, and in ef¬
fect say, "We have done our best: better we
would have done, had we been able: more we
would have prayed, had we the power; but the
merciful, the benevolent, the ever-blessed God,
who hath sent his Son into the world that the
world through him might be saved, expects more
of us than we can possibly perform ? " But suf¬
fer me to ask, What do you desire God to do for
you, that he has not done ? and what grace do
you expect at his hands, that he has not imparted
to you? Are you so infatuated as to imagine
NEGLECT OF PRATER.
141
that the grace of God will supersede the necessity
of human exertion? Do you expect that grace
will render works unnecessary ? Will it operate
as irresistibly as wind or water acts upon ma¬
chinery ? Under its influence, do you think that
you will have no cross to take up, no corrupt af¬
fection to mortify, no right hand to cut off, no
right eye to pluck out, no old man to crucify ?
Grace helps us in time of need; and it is suffi¬
cient for all our need. But while God wbrketh
in us to will and to do of his good pleasure, we
must work out our own salvation with fear and
trembling. If God's grace acted violently and
irresistibly—if it destroyed all the principles of
nature, moral agency would be driven out of the
world—reward and punishment would become
ridiculous; as the only reason why men did good
would be, that God forced them to do it; and the
only reason why they did evil would be, because
they had no ability to do better.
To you who neglect prayer altogether, I would
say, Suffer the word of exhortation. Considering
the importance, the reasonableness, and the advan¬
tages of prayer, one could hardly suppose,- if well-
known facts did not remove all doubt, that any
guch beings as yourselves could be found in ex¬
istence—that men so lost to virtue, so utterly de¬
void of all reverence for their Maker, and so
142 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
hostile to all that is good, should be allowed to
live. That God is grieved at your conduct—that
his wrath is revealed from heaven against you—
that he has power sufficient to punish you, and
that punishment must inevitably be your portion,
if you continue in sin, are truths that admit of no
controversy. But the Lord bears with you: he
not only permits you to live, but he takes care of
your persons : he supplies your wants: he pities
your ignorance, and beseeches you to be reconciled
to him. And will you, for all this profusion of
kindness, treat him with contempt ? Willi you
continue to rebel against him ? Will you exclude
him from your thoughts ? If you live without
prayer, you are practical Atheists. It is in vain
that you allow there is a God, when you live as if
there were none. 0 begin to pray: delay no
longer: do not say in your hearts that you can¬
not pray. You can, you must pray, or perish.
Your state is fearful beyond description; but,
though imminently perilous, it is not utterly hope¬
less; but if you persist in restraining prayer be¬
fore God, it will shortly be without remedy. If
you will not now seek to know the things that
belong unto your peace, they will shortly be hid¬
den from your eyes. To you, and to every obsti-
mate, incorrigible sinner, God will, ere long, say,
" Because I have called, and ye refused: I have
NEGLECT OF PRAYER.
143
stretched out my hand, and no man regarded) but
ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would
none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your ca¬
lamity : I will mock when your fear cometh :
when your fear cometh as desolation, and your
destruction cometh as a whirlwind : when distress
and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they
call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall
seek me early, but they shall not find me."
144
treatise on prayer.
CHAPTER VIII.
SOCIAL PRATER ILLUSTRATED.
Man is a social creature: the love of society is
essential to his existence; and in it he breathes as
in his genial element.
" Man in society is like a flower
Blown in its native bed: 'tis there alone
His faculties, expanded in full bloom,
Shine out: there only reach their proper use."
That solitude has its charms and its advantages,
must be allowed. It is peculiarly favourable to
religious meditation, to scientific research, to in¬
tellectual improvement, to self-examination, and
to intercourse with heaven; but as we are in¬
debted to society for the protection of our persons
and property, for our domestic comforts, our
wholesome laws, and civil institutions, and for
many of our religious privileges, we are bound,
according to the best of our ability, to promote
the welfare of those with whom it is our lot to
live. And among other means by which we
may benefit society, we notice especially that of
prayer.
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED 145
In considering the character of social prayers,
we mention, as the first in order, prayers with,
and for, our families. The world is composed of
families, as the ocean is of drops; and there are
few persons in existence who have not some known
family connections, sympathies, and attachments.
The members of families include children, pa¬
rents, servants, and visiters : for all of whom daily
prayers should be offered. In families where
there are many children, some will be found who
are too young to pray*; for prayer is no less the
work of the mind, than of the heart—of the un¬
derstanding, than of the affections; and though
you may, and ought, to instruct little children to
lisp the language and utter the sentiments of
prayer, yet until their understandings begin to
expand, so as to be enabled to know good from
evil, they will be incapable of praying. They
therefore need the prayers of parents; for prayers
offered up in their hearing, and on their behalf,
are not only eminently calculated to instruct and
excite ~them to pray for themselves, but are also
the most effectual means of drawing down the
blessing of God upon their heads.
Some, who are heads of families, seek to excuse
themselves from praying with them, by pleading
their inability to pray extemporally. A remedy
for this imaginary deficiency is often sought in
13
146
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
forms of grayer. On this subject Bishop Wil-
kins, in his discourse concerning the gift of prayer,
says, " For any one so to set down and satisfy
himself with his book-prayer, or some prescript
form, as to go no further, this were still to remain
in his infancy, and not to grow up in his new na¬
ture. This would be as if a man who had once
need of crutches should always afterward make
use of them, and so necessitate himself to a con¬
tinual impotence. 'T is the duty of every Christ¬
ian to grow and increase id all the parts of Christ¬
ianity, as well gifts as graces—to exercise and
improve every holy gift j and not to stifle any of
those abilities wherewith God has endowed them.
Now how can a man be said to live suitably unto
those rules, who does not put forth himself in
some attempts and endeavours of this kind? And
then, besides, how can such a man suit his desires
unto his several emergencies ? What one says of
counsel to be had from books, may be fitly applied
to this grayer by book—that 'tis commonly of
itself something flat and dead, floating for the
most part too much in generalities, and not par¬
ticular enough for each several occasion. There
is not that life and vigour in it to engage the af¬
fections as when it proceeds immediately from the
soul itself, and is the natural expression of those
.particulars whereof we are most sensible." " And
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 147
if it be a fault not to strive and labour after this
gift, much more is it to jeer and despise it by the
name of extempore prayer, and praying by the
Spirit: which expressions are, for the most part,
a sign of a profane heart, and such as are alto¬
gether strangers from the power and comfort of
this duty."
Nor are children the only persons who need the
prayers of parents or heads of families. There
are servants, and frequently visiters, who form the
family circle, and are as ignorant of God as child¬
ren. For their sakes, also, family prayer should
be maintained. The value and variety of the
benefits which result from thus setting up the wor¬
ship of God in our families are known only to
Him with whom we have to do. A credible his¬
torian tells us that, about a century ago, there
was an earthquake in Switzerland, by which a
part of a mountain was thrown down; and it fell
upon a village that stood under it, and crushed
every house and inhabitant to pieces, except the
corner of one cottage, where the master of the
house, with his poor family, were found together
praying to God, It is true, indeed, that the fam¬
ilies of the wicked sometimes prosper j but their
prosperity is a snare and a curse to them. A
pious tradesman, conversing with a minister on
family worship, related the following instructive
148 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
circumstance concerning himself: " When I first
began business for myself, I was determined,
through grace, to be particularly conscientious
with respect to family prayer. Accordingly, I
persevered for many years in the delightful prac¬
tice of domestic worship. Morning and evening,
every individual of my family was ordered always
to be present ; nor would I allow my apprentices
to be absent on any account. In a few years the
advantages of these engagements appeared mani¬
festly conspicuous : the blessings of the upper
and the nether springs followed me: health and
happiness attended my family, and prosperity my
business. At length, such was my rapid increase
in trade, and the necessity of devoting every pos¬
sible moment to my customers, that I began to
think whether family prayer did not occupy too
much of our time in the morning. Pious scru¬
ples arose respecting my intentions of relinquish¬
ing this part of my duty; but at length worldly
interest prevailed so far, as to induce me to excuse
the attendance of my apprentices; and not long
after, it was deemed advisable, for the eager pros¬
ecution of our business, to make the prayer with
my wife, when we arose in the morning, suffice
for the day. Notwithstanding the repeated checks
of conscience that followed this base omission, the
calls of a flourishing concern, and the prospect of
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 149
an increasing family, appeared so imperious and
commanding, that I found an easy excuse for this
fatal evil, especially as I did not omit prayer alto¬
gether. My conscience was now almost seared
as with a hot iron, when it pleased the Lord to
awaken me by a singular providence.
" One day I received a letter from a young man
who had formerly been my apprentice, previous to
my omitting family prayer. Not doubting but I
continued domestic worship, his letter was chiefly
on this subject. It was couched in the most affec¬
tionate and respectful terms j but judge, of my
surprise and confusion when I read these words:
' 0 my dear master, never, never, shall I be able,
sufficiently to thank you for the precious privilege
with which you indulged me in your family devo¬
tions. 0 sir ! eternity will be too short to praise
my God for what I learned there. It was there,
that I first knew the way of salvation, and that I
first beheld my lost and wretched state as a sin¬
ner ; and there that I first experienced the pre-
eiousness of Christ in me the hope of glory. O
sir ! permit me to say, Never, never neglect those
precious engagements. You have yet a family,
and more apprentices : may your house be the
birth-place of their souls !' I could read no fur¬
ther : every line flashed condemnation in my face.
I trembled: I shuddered: I was alarmed at the
13*
150
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
blood of my children and apprentices, that I ap¬
prehended was soon to be demanded at my soul-
mnrdering hands.
" Filled with confusion, and bathed in tears, I
fled for refuge in secret. I spread the letter be¬
fore God. I agonized, and—but you can better
conceive, than I can describe, my feelings. Suf¬
fice it to say, that light broke in upon my discon¬
solate soul, and a sense of blood-bought pardon
was obtained. I immediately flew to my family,
presented them before the Lord, and from that day
to the present I have been, and am determined,
through grace, that whenever business becomes
too large to prevent family prayer, I will give up
the superfluous part of my business, and retain my
devotion. Better to lose a few shillings, than be¬
come the deliberate .murderer of my family, and
the instrument of ruin to my own soul."
The next in order for whom, and with whom,
prayers should be offered, is the church of the
living God. The church of God is composed of
Christian believers throughout the world—men
who have repented of their sins, and who have
obtained mercy by believing in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. These are represented in the
Scriptures as God's husbandry—as God's vine¬
yard ; and as God's building: being lively stones,
built up a spiritual house, to offer up spiritual
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 151
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ; and
built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cor¬
ner-stone. The members of God's church are
designated by various names, belonging to differ¬
ent parties, espousing, on minor points, divers
opinions; but all holding the Head, and all look¬
ing for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life. On behalf of the ministers of God's
church, prayers should be offered by all believers.
These need our prayers; for they are men of like
passions with ourselves. They have the same
common infirmities, are attacked by the same ene¬
mies, are liable to the same dangers; and, by vir¬
tue of their elevated office and situation, are
exposed to peculiar trials. We should therefore
pray that they may be men divinely called and
eminently qualified for the work of the Christian
ministry, that they may speak boldly, as they
ought to speak, keeping back nothing that is pro¬
fitable to their hearers; but declaring the whole
counsel of God with the Holy Ghost sent down
from heaven : warning the unruly, comforting the
feeble-minded, supporting the weak, and being
patient toward all men. And prayers should be
especially offered unto the great Head of the
church, that their ministry may be crowned with
eminent success—that much people may be added
152
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
unto the Lord through their instrumentality
And let us not think this an unnecessary or super¬
fluous service, seeing the apostle St. Paul, eminent¬
ly as he was qualified for the office of the Christian
ministry, earnestly solicited the prayers of his
Christian brethren. Writing to the Hebrews, he
says, " Pray for us j for we trust we have a good
conscience!, in all things willing to live honestly."
And to the Thessalonians he says, "Finally,
brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord
may have free course, and be glorified, even as it
is with you." And to the Colossians, after hav¬
ing exhorted them to "continue in prayer," he
adds, " Withal praying also for us, that God would
open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the
mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds."
The members of the church should also pray
for each other—that they may earnestly contend
for the faith which was once delivered unto the
saints. There is the doctrine of faith, as well as
the grace of faith—the object as well as the act;
and the latter can be influential only as the for¬
mer is genuine. Where the foundation is false,
the fabric must fall. Almost as soon as a Christ¬
ian church was established upon earth, the sub¬
tlety of the devil was employed in seeking to
subvert the faith upon which it was founded.
False doctrines and anti-Christian opinions were
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 153
extensively propagated; and there were those who
cast off their first faith, and made shipwreck of
faith, and put away a good conscience. The apos¬
tles spake of such persons in terms of unqualified
censure and condemnation; and they used a vari¬
ety of cautions and admonitions to guard the
primitive believers against the insidious seductions
of men of corrupt minds, who were reprobate con¬
cerning the faith. And if in the primitive and
purest ages of Christianity the doctrine of faith
could not be preserved inviolate by men who were
divinely inspired to propagate it, and who could
work miracles for its confirmation, can we reason¬
ably expect, in these latter days, to escape the
contagion of false doctrine ? The fashion of the
present age is notoriously skeptical: profane in¬
difference assumes the name of candour; and,
among a certain class of professors, faith is no¬
thing and morality everything : if a man's life, it
is said, be right, his faith cannot be wrong. As
if a corrupt faith could produce a correct life; or
men could gather grapes of thorns, or figs of this¬
tles; or error could generate truth. Never was it
more needful for the members of the Christian
church to be on their guard against deceitful work¬
ers, and to pray that they may be saved from the
power of seducing spirits, than it is at present.
Never was error decked out in more fascinating
154
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
attire. Never was poison made more palatable to
the taste, than it is in modern compositions. Sen¬
timents derogatory to the person, work, and hon¬
our of Jesus Christ, subversive of sound evan¬
gelical morality, and hostile to the whole spirit of
revealed religion, are disseminated with an indus¬
try worthy of a better cause. Therefore, as the
church is the pillar and ground of the truth, as it
is there that the truth is deposited, let its mem¬
bers keep that which is committed to their trust,
and pray that they may be " sound in faith, in
charity, and in patience."
In addition to this, they should also pray that
the genuineness of their faith may be evinced by
the uprightness and consistency of their conduct.
"Faith," saith St. James, "without works is
dead, being alone.'' " These things," saith St.
Paul to Titus, " I will that thou affirm constantly,
that they which have believed in God might be
careful to maintain good works. These things
are good and profitable unto men." Nothing was
more strenuously insisted on by the apostles, in
their directions to the primitive Christians, than
evangelical consistency. They were exhorted to
walk as children of the light—to be in their be¬
haviour as becometh holiness — to follow peace
with all men; and by well-doing, to put to silence
the ignorance of foolish men. He who neglects
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 155
to walk as Christ walked, belies his profession:
he is no better than a hypocrite, a public dissem¬
bler, an enemy to evangelical religion j and
through him Christianity is brought into disre¬
pute, and Christ is wounded in the house of his
friends. And it should never be forgotten that
the church and the world form two distinct socie¬
ties, whose views, habits, principles, and conduct
are hostile to each other. Of the Jewish church
it was said, " Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and
shall not be reckoned among the nations." '" And
this people have I formed for myself: they shall
show forth my praise." And as an evidence that
the Christian church possesses the same character
of separation from the world, the following di¬
vinely inspired admonitions are recorded: " Have
no fellowship with the unfruitful works of dark¬
ness." " Come out from among them, and be ye
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing." " Be ye not unequally yoked together
with unbelievers." But this separation from the
world was not a sanctimonious or a hypocritical
singularity: it was not engendered by vanity or
self-coneeit: it was not that arrogant pretension
to superior sanctity which said, " Stand by thy¬
self, come not near to me, I am holier than thou."
The members of primitive churches had their con¬
versation in the world ' they mixed promiscuously
156
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
in human society: they worked with their own
hands that they might provide things honest in
the sight of all men, and give to him that needed.
They bought, and sold, and were diligent in busi¬
ness, and wrought with labour and travail, night
and day. " These hands," saith St. Paul, " have
ministered unto my necessities, and unto them
who were with me." But they held no unneces¬
sary intercourse with the world: they chose not
the men of the world for their companions: the
friendship of this world they held to be enmity
with God; and conformity to the world they in¬
variably discountenanced, both by precept and ex¬
ample. And this separation from worldly society
may be traced to a most legitimate and powerfully
Operative cause: it grew out of that moral and
soul-transforming change which had been effected
in them. They were "born again, not of cor¬
ruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God which liveth and abideth for ever." And
though they were in the world, yet they were not
of the world. Some of them had previously
walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine,
revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries,
but they had turned to God from idols, to serve
the living and true God; and their former be¬
sotted companions, wholly ignorant of that divine
transformation, by which they were made new
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 157
creatures in Christ Jesus, thought it strange that
they continued not to run with them into the
same excess of riot.
The members of the church should also pray
that they may be united in the bonds of Christian
charity and brotherly love. It is a lamentable
thing that there should be so much bigotry, bit¬
terness, and party feeling among Christians of dif¬
ferent persuasions. In the present imperfect state
of human society there will necessarily be men of
different views. We cannot all think alike on any
subject: we have not all equal capacities for ex¬
amining the truth; nor have we all equal oppor¬
tunities. The great Head of the church has
wisely permitted this diversity of opinion to ex¬
ist. Jesus Christ is the Prince of peace, and of
the increase of his government and peace there
shall be no end: his last legacy to his disciples
was his peace : the church is the region of peace;
and all its members are bound to live in peace
with each other, that the Gfod of love and peace
may be with them.
In addition to this, the members of the Christ¬
ian church should pray for the extension and es¬
tablishment of the kingdom of Christ among men.
This must be accomplished by accessions to the
number of gospel ministers. For whatever moral
changes are effected in the world, the ministers
14
158 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
of Christ are the appointed instruments for theii
accomplishment. If the wilderness become a
fruitful field, it is by them that the fallow ground
is broken up, the precious seed sown; and it is
they that will return w^h rejoicing, bringing their
sheaves with them. If the strong holds of sin
are to be pulled down, and the fortresses of the
enemy destroyed, it is they who must wield the
weapons of the gospel warfare, and carry the bat¬
tle to the gate. If sinners are to be reconciled
unto God, the ambassadors of Christ must be
charged with the messages of mercy and the min¬
istry of reconciliation. And wherever God has
revived his work, and extended the knowledge of
his name, it has been by the instrumentality of
Ms ministers. Referring to the latter days, the
prophet says, " Many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall be increased;" and our Lord de¬
clared, " that the gospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in all the world as a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come." "The
harvest," said our Saviour, "truly is plenteous,
but the labourers are few: pray ye, therefore,
the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth
labourers into his harvest." The members of the
Christian church should also pray for extraordi¬
nary effusions of the Holy Ghost, to give efficacy
to the word of his grace. The wonderful effecfc;
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 159
produced by St. Peter's sermon at the feast of
Pentecost cannot be attributed to any peculiar or
exclusive excellence appertaining to the doctrine
which he preached, nor to the manner of his
stating it) but to the power of the divine Spirit,
which accompanied the ministration of the word j
and the success of the gospel must ever depend
upon his agency. It is only when the Spirit is
poured out upon us from on high, that the wilder¬
ness will become a fruitful field, and the fruitful
field be counted for a forest. We are entitled to
believe, from the prophetical Scriptures, that glo¬
rious manifestations of the Spirit will be made to
the church in the latter period of the world. " I
will pour," saith the Lord, " water upon him that
is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground : I will
pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing
upon thy offspring. I will put my Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes."
Prayer should, therefore, be made without ceasing
by the church, that the kingdom of God may
come, that his spirit may be poured out upon all
flesh, and that his word may have free course and
be glorified. This duty requires no sacrifice but
that of apathy, no funds but those of piety and
benevolence, and no talents but such as believers
universally possess. And there is no way by
which Christians in a private capacity can so
160
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
effectually promote the work of G-od, and advance
the kingdom of Christ among men, as by fervent
and importunate prayer. For the most eminent
effusions of the Spirit that we read of in the
Scriptures were not only afforded to prayer, but
they appear to have taken place at the very time
that this exercise was performed.
Besides praying for the church, that it may be
so established that the gates of hell may never
prevail against it, we should pray for our country
also. Where are there any people upon the face
of the earth who possess advantages equal to ours ?
Let us think of our holy sabbaths, of our houses
for public worship, of our gospel ministers, of our
Christian privileges, of our various benevolent
institutions, of our infirmaries, our hospitals, and
other public buildings, where relief is afforded to
the outcasts, and where the suffe"ring sons and
daughters of humanity are pitied and provided for.
But privileged as we are, yet how shamefully are
our privileges desecrated and abused! We are
" a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a
seed of evil doers." From the highest to the
lowest, and through all the intermediate grades of
society among us, vice most alarmingly prevails.
It is difficult to enumerate any act of criminality
of which a human creature can be guilty, that is
not perpetrated by some portions of our population.
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 161
Who that seriously considers the moral condition
of our nation, does not perceive how much we
need the prayers of God's elect, who cry day and
night unto him ?
To he particular, we should pray for our chief
magistrate, that God may protect his person, pre¬
serve his health, and continue his life; and that
his administration may be a blessing to the
country. We should also pray for his cabinet,
the national legislature, and for all that are em¬
ployed in the administration of our public affairs:
that God may counsel our counsellors, and teach
pur senators wisdom: that he may give them a
spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit* of
counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of the Lord, to make them of quick un¬
derstanding in the fear of the Lord: u that all
things may be so ordered and settled, by their en¬
deavours, upon the best and surest foundations,
that peace and happiness, truth and justice, reli¬
gion and piety may be established among us for
all generations." And we should also pray, that
our governors, inferior magistrates, and judges—
all who rule over us—may be just, ruling in the
fear of the Lord—ever remembering that they
judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with
them in judgment; that they may be able men,
fearing God, and hating covetousness — that
14*
162 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
judgment may run down like a river, and right*
eousness as a mighty stream.
We should also pray for our public schools and
seminaries of learning : that our children and
youth may be religiously educated, and trained up
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and
that those who are appointed to instruct them may
have a right judgment in all things, and be ex¬
amples of piety and holy living to such as are
placed under their care.
And we should pray especially for the people
of the land: that they may lead a quiet and peace¬
able life in all godliness and honesty ; that our
trade may flourish, and our commerce be widely
and industriously extended: that the labouring
classes of our community may have uninterrupted
employment, and have the necessaries and con¬
veniences of life, as the recompence of their daily
toils: that neither the hire of the labourers, who
reap down our fields, nor the wages of the arti¬
sans who work in our factories, may be kept back
by the fraud or avarice of their employers: that
those families who now pine with hunger, and
creep into the sordid hut of cheerless poverty,
destitute, afflicted, and forsaken, may have all
their wants supplied by the charity of their afflu¬
ent neighbours; and that God may make the
" poor in this world rich in faith, and heirs of the
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 163
kingdom which he hath promised to them that
love him."
Finally, we should pray for the world: that
Jews, Turks, infidels, and pagans, may all he
brought to a knowledge of the truth; and that
the ends of the earth may see the salvation of
God. The restricted progress of Christianity, and
the moral darkness in which so large a portion of
the globe has remained, notwithstanding the Sun
of righteousness has arisen, and the Desire of all
nations has appeared, forms one of the most mys¬
terious dispensations of Providence which has
ever occupied human attention. " As to the state
of the world," says a late writer, "the number
of its inhabitants is, I believe, generally supposed
to be about eight hundred millions. The situa¬
tion of the countries which all these beings in¬
habit, the degree of civilization to which they have
attained, their languages, their literature, their
manners and customs, the climate, soil, and pro¬
ductions of each of these countries, and a great
variety of other circumstances connected with
the present existence of these millions, have been,
to a certain extent, ascertained." But what is
their spiritual condition ? " Five hundred mil¬
lions," says the same writer, "it is notorious, re¬
main, to this hour, pagan idolaters; and one hun¬
dred millions more are the followers of the impostor
164 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
Mohammed. Two hundred millions only are left
wearing the Christian name." And if we dednct
all those who have the form of godliness only,
but are destitute of its power, it is to be feared
that we shall not leave more than one in four who
appears to be acting under the influence of Christ¬
ian principles. "We have, then, less than fifty
millions of real Christians on earth at any given
time; and all the rest, seven hundred and fifty
millions, are living and dying without God in the
world! And this is not of the worst, but of the
best, period of time, next the days of the apos¬
tles." 11 Perhaps there never existed more good
men on earth, at any one time, than there are at
present; and yet this leaves more than fifteen out
of sixteen of the human race unacquainted with
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus; and this
havoc made by sin and death has continued, with¬
out interruption, day by day and hour by hour,
through all the ages since the fall."
But fearful and appalling as this retrospect is,
we know from the prophetic Scriptures that the
world will not always continue in this awfully de¬
graded and ruinous condition. A great and glori¬
ous change will take place in its civilized and
moral state. God, by Isaiah, declares, " All flesh
shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour, and
thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob." And
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 165
by the prophet Jeremiah, God saith, " This is the
covenant that I will make in those days, saith the
Lord : I will put my law in their inward parts,
and will write it in their hearts; and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people : and they
shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and
every man his brother, saying, Know ye the Lord;
for they shall all know me, from the least even
unto the greatest; for I will forgive their iniquity,
and remember their sin no more." And by the
prophet Habakkuk, it is said, " The earth shall
be full of the khowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea." The world shall be as full
of this knowledge as the channels of the sea are
with water—so extensively will it spread, and so
widely will it diffuse its influence. And every
kind of knowledge that can be at all beneficial to
man in his present probationary state of exist¬
ence, will be induced in its train. For the pro¬
gression of knowledge has been constant in every
country where Christianity has prevailed. There
reason shines with a more radiant lustre : science
walks with a steadier step : justice holds a more
even balance; and friendship lends a more sooth¬
ing hand. And in proportion as Christianity be¬
comes triumphant, ignorance and error will cease
to exist. Then a most happy and peaceful state
166
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
of society will be introduced and perpetuated:
then gratitude shall bound in every bosom, joy
sparkle in every eye, benevolence breathe in every
breast, and universal love fill the earth, Thus
Isaiah, in that prophetical and figurative descrip¬
tion which he furnishes of the universal harmony
that shall reign in the world under the Messiah's
peaceful dominion, when men of fierce, lion-like,
and wolfish dispositions shall become meek and
pacific as the lamb, adds, as the reason for this
astonishing change, " For the earth shall be full
of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters
eover the sea."
Let us pray, then, in the language which our
Saviour has taught us to use, "Thy kingdom
come." Let the kingdoms of this world be¬
come the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his
Christ ; and may he reign for ever and ever. Let
the rejected Jews be recovered to the faith of
Christ, and all Israel be saved, and the fulness of
the Grentiles be gathered in : that there may be
one fold and one Shepherd.
But let us carefully guard against all discrep¬
ancy between our prayers and our practice. We
can contribute toward the furtherance of some
objects only by our prayers; but for the accon>
plishment of others, efforts must be added. We
SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED. 167
pray with and for our families; but, in addition
to this, we must instruct, admonish, and govern
them. I was once on terms of great intimacy
with a good man, who is now with God, and, in
the course of conversation, having reminded him
of the distinguished honour which the Lord had
put Upon -him, in giving him a son who was then
a successful missionary in the foreign field, he
said, " Yes, but he was once a great grief to me:
he grew up to manhood without having the fear
of God before his eyes. One day, while wrest¬
ling with God on his behalf, I had such a persua¬
sion in my mind that my prayer was heard, that
I could do nothing but rejoice. But," said he,
" for some time, seeing no perceptible change take
place in his conduct, I was disappointed, and 1
went again to God; and then the thought occur¬
red to me, 1 You must converse with him.' I did
so; and my conversation, by the blessing of God,
was made effectual to his salvation, and he is now
seeking to save others."
"We pray for the good estate of the church gen¬
erally, " that the righteousness thereof" may "go
forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a
lamp that burneth." But to maintain a consis¬
tency of character, we must seek to promote the
interests of the church, by uniting ourselves with
168
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
some section of it, making a public profession of
Christianity, walking in wisdom toward them that
are without, and adorning the doctrine of God our
Saviour in all things.
If we pray for our country, and yet omit to
seek its good—neglect to support its benevolent
institutions, to discountenance the violation of its
laws, and to reprove the sins of its inhabitants—
how justly may the sincerity of our prayers be
questioned!
If we pray that the Lord may make known his
salvation, and that his righteousness may be openly
showed in the sight of the heathen, and yet make
it a matter of indifference whether a vast propor¬
tion of the globe should live heathens, or die
Christians : if we pray that the knowledge of the
Lord may cover the earth, as the waters cover the
sea, yet act as if we were indifferent whether
Christianity erided as well as began at home : if
we pray that the sound may go out into all lands,
and the words unto the ends of the world, and
yet are satisfied to keep the sound within our own
hearing, and the words within our own country :
is not this a prayer which goeth out of feigned
lips ? When we pray, that God's " will may be
done," we know that his will is, that "all should
be saved, and that not one should perish." When,
SOCIAL PRATER ILLUSTRATED. 169
therefore, we assist in sending the gospel to the
dark and distant corners of the earth, then, and
not till then, may we consistently desire of God
in our prayers, that his saving health may be
known to all nations. For we must vindicate the
veracity of pur prayers by our exertions, and
extend its efficiency by our influence.
15
170 treatise on prayer.
CHAPTER IX.
REASONS WHY MEN SHOULD PRAY WITH AND FOR
EACH OTHER.
Social prayer, or, in other words, prayer with
and for each other, should be offered up to God,
because the Scriptures enjoin and sanction it.
The Bible is our rule of faith and practice : it in¬
structs us in what we are to believe, and it directs
us what we are to do. It is a rule divine in its
origin, circumstantial in its character, practicable
in its requirements, and inviolable and unchange¬
able in its nature. And by this rule we are bound
to walk: we are to practise what it enjoins, and
we are to avoid what it prohibits. Now, that we
are bound to pray with and for each other, will
appear from a consideration of the following scrip¬
tures : " I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, sup¬
plications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks, be made for all men. For this is good
and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour,
who will have all men to be saved, and to' come
unto the knowledge of the truth." And that our
Saviour sanctioned social prayer, will appear from
REASONS EOR SOCIAL PRAYER. 171
his own words : " I say unto you, that if two of
you shall agree on earth, as touching any thing
that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of
my Father which is in heaven. For where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there
am I in the midst of them." In addition to this,
our Lord's prayer was certainly designed espe¬
cially for social worship. " When ye pray, say,
Our Father: give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses; and lead us not into
temptation." When Zacharias was executing the
priest's office " before Grod in the order of his
course, according to the custom of the priest's
office, his lot was to burn incense when he went
into the temple of the Lord. And the whole mul¬
titude of the people were praying without at the
time of incense."
It is only on the principle that men have been
accustomed from time immemorial to pray with
and for each other, that public buildings have
been erected, and set apart for this social and de¬
vout exercise. Hence the Jews had their orato¬
ries, "not erected," says Hooker, "in any sump¬
tuous or stately manner, which had been perilous
in regard of the world's envy toward them;" but
plain and simple in their construction. "Do
not," says Bishop Taylor, " omit thy prayers, for
want of a good oratory or place to pray in 3 nor
172
TREATISE ON PRATER.
thy duty, for want of temporal encouragements."
"In addition to this, the Jews," says Mede, "be¬
sides their tabernacle, or temple, which was the
only place for sacrifice, had first or last two sorts
of places for religious duties, the one called pro-
seuchoe, the other synagogues. The difference be¬
tween which was this : proseucha was a plot of
ground encompassed with a wall, or some other like
mound or enclosure, and open above : much like
to our courts : the use properly for prayer, as the
name proseucha importeth. A synagogue was
cedificium tectum, a covered edifice, as our houses
and churches are: where the law and prophets
were read and expounded, and the people instruct¬
ed in divine matters: according to Acts xv. 21,
where it is said, ' Moses of old time hath in every
city them that preach him, being read in the syna¬
gogues every sabbath day.' From whence also
you may gather that synagogues were within the
cities, as proseuchce were without: which was an¬
other difference between them."
It was, in all probability, one of those places
that is referred to in the Acts of the Apostles,
where the sacred writer says, " And on the sab¬
bath we went out of the city by a river side,
where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat
down; and spake unto the women that resorted
thither." "Probably," says Dr. Clarke, "this
REASONS FOR SOCIAL PRATER. 173
was before the time of their public worship, and
while they were waiting for the assembling of the
people in general; and Paul improved the oppor¬
tunity to speak concerning Christ and his salva¬
tion to the women that resorted thither." And
that this was not the only exercise in which they
engaged, we learn from a subsequent verse, where
it is said, " As we went to prayer, a certain dam¬
sel met us, which brought her masters much gain
by soothsaying." In addition to all their other
buildings for devotional purposes, the Jews had
their splendid temple: which was said to be a
house of prayeT for all people. Hence we read,
"Two men went up into the temple to pray
and, " Peter and John went up together into the
temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth
hour." But social prayer was not confined ex¬
clusively to the temple; for when St. Paul took
his leave of the Bphesian elders, Acts xx, " He
kneeled down and prayed with them all; and they
all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed
him." And in the following chapter, when he
departed from Tyre, the brethren there " brought
us," says he, " on our way, with wives, and child¬
ren, till we were out of the city; and we kneeled
down on the shore and prayed." From the pre¬
ceding texts it will be seen that social prayer is
sanctioned by the Scriptures; and this, were there
15*
174 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
no other reason to be assigned, should induce us
to pray with and for one another.
That social prayer forms a part of our duty,
will further appear when we consider ourselves
members of civil society. We are all branches
of one great family, and consequently there is a
mutual relation subsisting between us. Where
can we find a human being to whom we are not
related, and who may not say to us, " Am I not
a man and a brother ? " u Have we not all one
Father ? Hath not one God created us ? " God
" hath made of one blood all nations of men for
to dwell on all the face of the earth." " The rich
and the poor meet together: the Lord is the Maker
of them all." And besides this, we hre, in a sub¬
ordinate sense, and to a certain extent, dependant
on each other for our continued existence. " The
profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is
served by the field." On some we are dependant
for our bread: on others for our apparel: on
others for our habitations; and on others for our
defence. We do not exist as solitary, but as social
beings. And from a consideration of the mutual
relation that subsists^between us, and the depend-
ance which we have upon each other, we see the
obligation we are under to consult each other's
welfare. And can we do this more effectually
than by prayer ? Ho we derive benefits from our
REASONS FOR SOCIAL PRAYER. 175
connection with society, and shall we not pray for
those who contribute to our personal and domes¬
tic comfort ? Do they minister to our temporal
wants, and shall we not, in return, ask God to sup¬
ply their spiritual necessities ? In many cases,
all that we possibly can do to meliorate the misery,
and increase the happiness, of mankind, is to com¬
mend them to God by prayer and supplication.
And he who neglects to do this, gives the most
palpable proof, if not that he is a direct enemy to
his species, yet that it is a matter of perfect in¬
difference with him whether they be happy or
miserable, and whether their souls be saved or
lost. Nor is it possible for us to discharge our
duty to our fellow-creatures, unless we pray for
them. We cannot be ignorant of that moral pre¬
cept that binds us to love one another. " If ye
fulfil," saith St. James, " the royal law, according
to the Scriptures, Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself, ye do well." It was a question once
proposed to Christ, "Who is my neighbour?"
We are accustomed to call him only our neigh¬
bour whose habitation is contiguous to our own;
and we denominate the vicinity of our abode our
neighbourhood. Anciently, the Jews deemed no
man their neighbour who did not belong to the
family of Israel, and who could not call Abraham
his father; or, at least, who was not proselyted to
176
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
the Jewish religion, and instructed in its princi¬
ples. Nor did they deem themselves obliged to
perform any offices of humanity to people of an¬
other nation. But the doctrine taught by Christ
in the parable of the good Samaritan is, that every-
man is our neighbour who needs our help, and to
whom we can render any assistance, even though
he should be an enemy, a heretic, or a heathen.
And the love which we are bound to cultivate and
evince toward our neighbours, must be measured
and estimated by that which we rationally and
piously exercise toward ourselves. For as God
hath made the love of ourselves to be the rule
and standard, the pattern and argument of our
love to others, we must infer, that it is such a love
of ourselves as is laudable and virtuous, and under
wise and righteous regulations. And does not
love to ourselves lead us to seek our own good,
and to pray for our own salvation ? What real or
legitimate love can that man have for himself who
is too proud, or too lukewarm or lazy, to pray for
himself? Genuine self-love is love to our souls;
and wherever this exists, prayer will be its never-
failing fruit. And as we are commanded to love
our neighbours as sincerely and as truly as we
love ourselves, we are bound to pray for them as
fervently and piously as we pray for ourselves.
Nor must we imagine that we have discharged our
REASONS FOR SOCIAL PRAYER. 171
duty unto others, until we have sought their sal¬
vation by praying that Grod may be merciful to
their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniqui¬
ties remember no more.
Another motive to induce us to pray with and
for others, springs from the reflex influence that
this exercise will have upon our personal piety.
Social prayer cannot fail to benefit ourselves, as it
will tend to keep alive in our hearts those benevo¬
lent feelings which it is our duty and interest to
cultivate and cherish toward mankind. We all
know that there is a large portion of malevo¬
lence in the world. How cordially do some men
hate one another! With what rancour and
fiend-like feelings do they seek to injure each
other's reputation, and to ruin each other's souls !
Hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, and
envyings, abound in almost every department of
society; and these lead to slander, defamation,
backbiting, and evil-speaking. " The tongue,"
says the apostle James, " can no man tame : it is
an unruly evil, full of deadly poison: it setteth
on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire
of hell." And these evils exist not only in the
world, but in the church—not only among men
whose hearts are fully set in them to do evil, and
whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, but
among people professedly pious there is a great
178
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
dearth of that charity that covereth a multitude
of sins, that puts the most favourable construc¬
tion upon things that are doubtful, and that hides
the faults we see, rather than expose them to the
gaze of the'public. And may not the almost total
absence of this charity be traced back to the neg¬
lect of social prayer? How can they pray to¬
gether, how advance the name of their God, or
keep in and stir up all grace in one another, un¬
less they be united by love ? Pray with and for
one another; and the consequence will be, your
love toward each other will abound more and
more. The very act of prayer will give birth to
the principle of love. And in proportion as you
pour out your hearts before God on behalf of
others, the beneficial effect of your prayers will
redound to yourselves. And thus "the liberal
soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall
be watered also himself."
But most of all we should pray with and for
others, as our prayers may be available for their
salvation. God hears the prayers of some on be¬
half of others. And this is the chief reason on
which social prayer is founded. The Scriptures
furnish us with the most encouraging statements
and facts on this subject. See Abraham inter¬
ceding with God on behalf of the inhabitants gf
Sodom and Gomorrah; and great and grievous as
REASONS FOR SOCIAL PRATER. 179
their sin was, and richly as they had merited the
divine indignation, yet God, in answer to the
prayers of the father of the faithful, so far con¬
descended as to say, that if only ten righteous
persons could he found among them, he would
Bpare the whole of the inhabitants for their sakes.
When the wrath of the Almighty was kindled
against Job's three friends for not having spoken
of him the thing that was right, God said unto
them, " My servant Job shall pray for you; for
him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your
folly. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job
when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord
gave Job twice as much as he had before." In
consequence of the repeated provocations of the
discontented Israelites against God, he seemed
fixed to exterminate them as a nation from the
earth. " How long," saith God to Moses, " will
this people provoke me ? And how long will it
be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I
have showed among them ? I will smite them
with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will
make of thee a greater nation and mightier than
they." But Moses, full of godly jealousy, and
totally regardless of his own reputation, ventured to
expostulate with his Maker in the following affect¬
ing language : "Now if thou shalt kill all this peo¬
ple as one man, then the nations which have heard
180 treatise on prater.
the fame of thee will speak, saying, Because the
Lord was not able to bring this people into the
land which he sware unto them, therefore hath he
slain them in the wilderness. Pardon, I beseech
thee, the iniquity of this people, according unto
the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast for¬
given this people from Egypt until now. And
the Lord said, I have pardoned according to thy
word." What a splendid proof is this of the
power of intercessory prayer ! What an evidence
of the delight that God takes in putting honour
upon it! What a motive to public-spiritedness in
religion! Here is a whole nation rescued from
ruin, and saved from the exterminating pestilence,
by the effectual fervent prayer of one righteous
man. See how ready God is to forgive sin !
"His waken'd wrath doth slowly move,
His willing mercy flies apace."
" Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this peo¬
ple," saith Moses : " I have pardoned according
to thy word," saith God.
When the children of Israel had added unto all
their evils that of asking a king, the Lord, to show
his displeasure against them, sent thunder and
rain, " that ye may perceive and ■see," saith he,
" that your wickedness is great in asking you a
king." They, full of consternation and alarm,
ran to Samuel, and said, " Pray for thy servants
REASONS FOR SOCIAL PRAYER. 181
unto the Lord thy God, that we die not. And
Samuel said unto the people, Moreover, as for me,
God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in
ceasing to pray for you." From this we may
learn, that the welfare of Israel had previously
been the subject of the prophet's prayers: that
the withdrawal of their allegiance from God could
not alienate the affections of Samuel from them,
and that he deemed it a sin against God to cease
from praying for them. St. Paul, in writing to
the Ephesians, exhorts them to make supplica¬
tions "for all saints." On this subject, an an¬
cient writer observes, " This is indeed the church's
treasury, the common stock of supplications.
Paul prayeth for them that had never seen his
face : ' God knoweth what conflict I have for you,
and for many that have not seen my face in the
flesh/ A christian is a rich merchant, who hath
his factors in divers countries—some in all places
of the world, that deal for him at the throne of
grace; and by this means the members of Christ's
body have a communion one with another, though
at a distance." In addressing the Romans, St.
Paul saith, "Brethren, my heart's desire, and
prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be
saved." And to the same people he says, " I be¬
seech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's
sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive
16
182
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
together with me in your prayers." St. James
saith, " Confess your faults one to another, and
pray one for another, that ye may be healed:
the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man
availeth much." Whether this healing refers to
the body or the soul, to natural or spiritual dis¬
eases, the text serves to show the power of faith¬
ful prayer. And in further proof of the availa-
bleness of prayer on behalf of others, St. John
declares, " If any man see his brother sin a sin
which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall
give him life for them that sin not unto death."
Such are the reasons why Christians should be
induced to pray with and for one another; and
such the motives that should prompt them to in¬
tercede with God on behalf of their families, the
church, their country, and the world. And to
Christian minds, minds thoroughly imbued with
the spirit and power of godliness, no arguments
can be more powerful, no motives more availing,
to excite them to the practice of the all-important
duty of social prayer. What condescension on
the part of God, in allowing men, the work of his
own hands, to be co-workers with himself in the
most honorable exercise upon earth; that of
saving souls from death, and rescuing from the
jaws of perdition his immortal offspring ! " Thus
saith the Lord," by the prophet Isaiah, "the
REASONS EOR SOCIAL PRAYER. 183
Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask of me
things to come, concerning my sons, and concern¬
ing the work of my hands command ye me."
For though we must not dare to strive with our
Maker by insolent complaints, yet we may wrestle
with him by faithful and fervent prayer. See the
power of intercession, and its prevalency with
God. "Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I
am." For he is waiting to be gracious; and he
in effect says to each individual, what he did to
Solomon, "Ask what I shall give thee." Gbd
has every thing to give that man can possibly
need; but he will be inquired of: we must ask
in order to receive. What if God should give to
you who are parents the souls of your children, in
answer to your prayers ! Would it not be to you
a source of rich delight, and endless exultation ?
God is never more inclined to hear the prayers of
'some on behalf of others than when believing
parents present their petitions to him for the sal¬
vation of their children. How instructive and
encouraging is the history of Hannah, and that
of her son Samuel! A son, promised in answer
to prayer—dedicated to God before he was born—
a son, whose very name, to the latest hour of his
life, was a standing'memorial of his mother's im¬
portunity at the throne of grace : Samuel, " asked
and given of God." A character superior to
184
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
Samuel for fervent piety, incorruptible integrity,
and public-spirited usefulness, was never exhibited
to the world. St. Augustin affords a remarkable
example of the prevalence of intercessory prayer.
"While I was yet walking in sin," says he,
" often attempting to rise, and sinking still deeper,
my dear mother Monica, in vigorous hope, per¬
sisted in praying for me. She entreated also a
certain bishop to undertake to reason me out of
my errors. He was a person not backward to at¬
tempt this where he found a docile subject. 'But
your son, says he, ' is too much elated at present,
and carried away by the pleasing novelties of his
opinion, to regard any argument, as appears from
the pleasure he takes in perplexing many ignorant
persons with his captious questions. Bet him alone,
only continue praying to the Lord for him: in the
course of his study he will discover his error.'
All this satisfied not my anxious parent. With
floods of tears she persisted in her request, till a
little out of patience by her importunity, he said,
' Begone, woman : it is impossible that a child of
such tears should perish.'" The influence of her
incessant prayers and tears he further traces.
" Thy hand, my G-od, in the secret of thy provi¬
dence, forsook not my soul: day and night the
prayers of my mother came up before thee, and
Reasons for social prater. 185
thou wroughtest on me in a way marvellous, but
in secret." He was in this state of mind when
he was persuaded to go to Rome as a teacher of
rhetoric. " She strove," said he, u to prevent my
going, or would fain have gone with me; but I
deceived her, pretending that I only meant to ac¬
company a friend until he should sail. I per¬
suaded her to stay behind; but I that night
departed privately, and she remained weeping and
praying. Courageous through piety, and follow¬
ing me through sea and land, she at length found
me, still hopeless with respect to the discovery of
divine truth. Ambrose, the bishop of Milan, was
charmed with the fervency of her piety. I was
delighted with his learning, and the sweetness of
his language. I sought for opportunities of. con-
Versing with him, but in vain. The state of my
mind was now altered: my meditations of thee,
my God, were like the attempts of men desirous
of awaking, but sinking again into sleep. But
thou, with whom are the hearts of all, didst shine
On me vehemently; I trembled: I now sought
the. way of obtaining strength to enj oy thee; but
found it not until I had embraced the Mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who
is God over all, blessed for ever, calling and say¬
ing, 11 am the way, the truth, and the life.'"
16*
186
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
" I determined," says he, " to return to Africa
with my mother; and while preparations were
making for our departure, we stood in a window
facing the east, at the mouth of the Tiber. We
conversed on the eternal life of the saints: ele¬
vating our spirits, we ascended above the noblest
parts of the creation to Thee, by whom all things
were made. In that moment the world appeared
to us of no value, when my mother said, 1 What
do I here ? One thing only, namely, your con¬
version, was the object for which I wished to live.
My God has given me this in large measure.
What do I here ?' Five days after, she was
seized with a fever, of which she died."
The mother of the Rev. John Newton was a
pious, experienced Christian. He was her only
ohild, and she made the care of his education
almost her whole employment. She stored his
memory with many valuable pieces, chapters, and
portions of Scripture. And though he departed
for a season from her counsels, yet, "when the
Lord at length," says he, "opened my eyes, I
found great benefit by the recollection of them.
Resides, my dear mother often commended me
with many prayers and tears to God; and I have
no doubt that I reap the fruits of her prayers to
this hour.
REASONS EOR SOCIAL PRAYER. 187
This list might he easily enlarged to an almost
illimitable extent. The number of children that
have been brought to God through the prevalence
of their parents' prayers exceeds all calculation.
And the wondrous power of faithful prayer will
never be fully known until that " day for which
all other days were made " shall declare it.
188
treatise on prayer.
CHAPTER X.
ON PUBLIC MEETINGS APPROPRIATED FOR SOCIAL PRAYER
In addition to tlie duty of praying with and for
our several families, meetings for mutual social
prayer should be established in every section of
the Christian church. To these meetings the
greatest publicity should be given; and persons
who are not members of the Christian church, but
who attend the ministry of the gospel, should be
earnestly and affectionately invited. For though
the preaching of the word is God's great ordinance
for the salvation of men, yet prayer should be
added, that this word may have free course and
be glorified. And that meetings for prayer may
be generally profitable, a few directions on the
mode of conducting them may not be deemed
unnecessary.
First. Let those who take the lead in these
meetings, and who are employed in conducting
them, and speaking to God on behalf of the
people, be persons of eminent piety, and uniform
Christian conduct. This is a point of vital im
portance : too much attention cannot be paid to it
PRAYER MEETINGS.
189
It is the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous
man that availeth much. God first accepteth the
person, and then the duty. " Them that honour
me," saith he, "I will honour." Men who live
nearest to God will have most power with him in
prayer. To them the spirit of grace and suppli¬
cation will be most copiously administered: they
will feel the tenderest pity and the warmest cha¬
rity on behalf of the souls for whom they pray.
The tones of earnestness, and sincerity, and feel¬
ing, will carry an emphasis and an infection with
them; and they who speak from the heart will
speak to it.
If prayer-meetings are conducted by persons
of an immoral or even of a doubtful character, in
whom the people have little if any confidence as
to their personal piety, they will not only fail to
secure the divine blessing, but be the means of
exciting prejudice in the minds of the attendants;
and thus the progress of religion will be retarded
rather than accelerated by their imprudent, not to
say pestilential, influence.
Secondly. Let the expressions of those who en¬
gage in prayer be in strict accordance with the
language of the Holj Ghost in the Scriptures.
There is nothing that we can need, and for which
we are authorized to pray, that is not revealed in
the word of God. And no words can be employed
190
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
in our prayers that are more acceptable with him
than what were used by those divinely-inspired men
who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
The inimitable simplicity of the lively oracles is
one of their principal excellencies. And that we
may be furnished with expressions adapted to the
nature of prayer, let us read, mark, learn, and in¬
wardly digest the Holy Scriptures) and thus be
prepared to speak unto God in his own language.
What a variety of phrases and expressions are
presented to us in the Psalms which may be suit¬
ably and successfully employed in our social devo¬
tions ! How cold and dead does that prayer
appear that is composed in the most elegant lan¬
guage, when it is not heightened by that solem¬
nity of phrase which may be drawn from the
sacred writings ! If in reading the word of God
we were to observe what expressions are suited to
the several parts of prayer, and retain them in
our memories, we should gain a treasure of divine
sentiments and expressions fit to address our
Maker upon all the occurrences of life. We
should thus avoid coming to our devotions with
unfurnished minds. By biding the word of God
in our hearts, and treasuring up in our minds the
important truths of revelation, we shall lay in
materials for prayer. Such was the advice of the
son of Sirach: " Before thou prayest, prepare
PRAYER-MEETINGS.
191
thyself, and be not as one that tempteth the Lord."
Eeclus. xviii. 23. " Though a man ought not,"
says Bishop Wilkins, " to be so confined by any
premeditated form as to neglect any special infu¬
sion, he should so prepare himself as if he did
expect no assistance; and he should so depend
upon divine assistance, as if he had made no pre¬
paration." Though prayer is a mental exercise,
for we must pray with the understanding, yet
when we pray in public we must use language.
Words are the signs of things; and expression is
the dress of thought; and the mind of man, in
combining ideas and investigating subjects, uni¬
formly refers to those signs. In this case lan¬
guage is no less the instrument of mental, operation
than the expression of correct sentiment. It must
he allowed that the language which we employ in
prayer should be plain and simple. , If we use
expressions that are hard to be understood, and
that are above the comprehension of common
minds, we may as well pray in an unknown
tongue, which the apostle so justly condemns, 1
Cor. xiv. 9—14. And though we may know our¬
selves what we mean, yet if we use hard words
and pompous phrases, we shall perplex and con¬
fuse our fellow-worshippers, rather than instruct
and profit them. "Except," saith the apostle,
"ye utter by the tongue words easy to be
192
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
understood, how shall it be known what is spoken ?
for ye. shall speak unto the air." " For a plain
man," says a late author, " to fill his prayer with
fine words, is as unnatural as for a ploughman to
cover his rustic coat with gold and silver spangles,
which, instead of exciting the admiration of any,
would only produce the pity and contempt of all
sensible and discreet persons." Dr. Watts, in his
" Guide to Prayer," mentions some in his day
who used such phrases as the following : " Thou,
0 Lord, art our dernier resort." "The whole
world is one great machine, managed by thy
puissance." " The beatific splendours of thy face
irradiate the celestial region, and felicitate the
saints: there are the most exuberant profusions
of thy grace, and the sempiternal efflux of thy
glory." " God is an abyss of light, a circle whose
centre is everywhere, and his circumference no¬
where." " Hell is the dark world, made up of
spiritual sulphur and other ingredients, not united
or harmonized, and without that pure balsamical
oil that flows from the heart of God." Such
swelling words of vanity may captivate and amuse
silly people who admire sound more than sense;
but they cannot fail to offend and disgust men of
intelligence and pious minds, who desire to wor¬
ship God in spirit and in truth.
But those who use Scripture language in their
PRAYER-MEETINGS. 193
prayers should he careful to use it in its proper
and legitimate sense. Some pervert the language
of truth, and put a false construction upon it.
How often have we heard this expression, " Thou
art a Hod nigh at hand, and not a God afar off/'
Whereas the text is, " Am I a God at hand, saith
the Lord, and not a God afar off ? " That is, " I
am a God afar off as well as nigh j" for the sub¬
sequent verse explains the former, " Can any hide
himself in secret places that I shall not see him ?
saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth ?
saith the Lord." Jer. xxiii. 23, 24. Some pray
that God may give them " the upper springs and
the nether springs:" that is, according to their
interpretation, the love of God and the love of
man; or else blessings for the soul and the body :
a meaning foreign from the intention of her who
first employed the language, who referred merely
to. springs of water. Others pray " that God
may cause his glorious voice to be heard, and that
we may see the lighting down of his arm : " which
is literally to pray for the infliction of God's judg¬
ments upon ps : since the whole passage (Isa. xxx.
30,) isa prophetical denouncement of God's wrath
upon the nations j and hence the subsequent part
of the .verse says, 11 With the indignation of his
anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire ;
with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones."
17
194 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
Others, in prayer make unnecessary additions to
the words of Scripture: such as, " Lord, lift thou
up the light of thy reconciled countenance upon
us :" as if the word reconciled were necessary to
complete the sense. Some take liberties with the
Lord's prayer, and say, " Deliver us from all evil,
and leave us not in temptation." And the writer
once heard a very popular preacher pray, " For¬
give us our trespasses, and help us to forgive those
who trespass against us." Such improprieties
should be carefully guarded against.
Thirdly. That public prayer-meetings may be
universally profitable, care should be taken to
avoid long and wearisome prayers. People in
common life cannot pray long without repetition:
if not in using the same words, yet in adopting
similar sentiments. He who prays fervently, and
who puts his whole soul into his prayers, cannot
pray long without exhausting his strength, and
thereby seriously injuring his health; and long
prosing prayers will lull people to sleep, rather than
enkindle in them the flame of devotion. " Some
persons, in spite of all remonstrances, have no
more notion of accommodating themselves to their
brethren, or to the time allotted them, than young
children. The reason they pray so long is not
owing to their extraordinary liberty: this is obvi¬
ous to all present; for, after rambling a minute
PRAYER-MEETINGS.
195
or two, they come back to their former views, and
BO on repeatedly, using nearly the same expres¬
sions, and indeed very frequently these repetitions
are entirely verbatim." If the persons appointed
to engage in prayer are so few as to be incapable
of occupying the whole of the time allotted for
the continuance of the meeting, it would be much
more profitable for them to pray twice, than to
continue double the time on their knees at once,
to the great. inconvenience and discomfort of the
worshippers. "Long prayers," says Dr. Clarke,
"prevent kneeling; for it is utterly impossible
for men or women to keep on their knees during
the time such last: where these prevail, the peo¬
ple either stand or sit. At a public meeting, a
pious brother went to prayer: I kneeled on the
floor, having nothing to lean against or to sup¬
port me : he prayed forty-eight minutes. I was
unwilling to rise, and several times was nigh
fainting. What I suffered I cannot describe.
After the meeting was over I ventured to expos¬
tulate with the good man ; and in addition to the
injury I sustained by his unmerciful prayer, I had
the following reproof: £ My brother, if your mind
had been more spiritual, you would not have felt
the prayer too long.' More than twenty years
have elapsed since this transaction took place;
but the remembrance of what I then suffered still
196
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
rests on my mind with a keen edge." One of
the standing rules of Methodism, recorded by Mr.
Wesley, which every itinerant preacher is bound
to observe, is, " Do not usually pray above eight
or ten minutes, at most, without intermission."
Fourthly. Those who take the lead, and officiate
in prayer-meetings, should study a little variety
in their thoughts and expressions. The circum¬
stances and wants of men are greatly diversified.
It is very doubtful whether any two persons in a
congregation are in their moral condition pre¬
cisely similar. But the blessings which God has
to bestow are as numerous and as various as the
necessities of man. What David said concerning
God's thoughts, we may say concerning his gifts :
" How precious are thy thoughts unto me, 0 God !
how great is the sum of them ! If I should count
them, they are more in number than the sand !"
And if God has such a rich variety of blessings
to bestow, why should not our prayers bear some
proportion to their nature and extent ? If the
Spirit of the Lord is not straitened in offering
such glorious privileges to our acceptance, why
should we be straitened in asking for the realiza¬
tion of them, and using such a variety of appro¬
priate language and expressions, that our prayers
may have something new and interesting in them ?
Some persons have U collection of pet phrases and
PRATER-MEETINGS.
197
favourite expressions, which thej use on all occa¬
sions ; and they ask for the same blessings in the
same set of words: this makes the worship dull
and formal. It frequently happens that the first
person who engages in prayer embraces an exten¬
sive range of subjects: he prays not only for
those who are present, but for the ministers of
God's word; for the different sections of the
Christian church ; for the prosperity of our own
country; for the spread of the gospel, and the
conversion of the world. Of course it is not ne¬
cessary for the next person that prays to pursue
the same track—much less for three or four to
do it in Succession. The expediency of it might
be questioned, even if they were all capable of
varying their expressions; but they often pray,
not only for the same things, but follow one an¬
other almost word for word.
There is another evil in close connection with
this, that should be avoided; and that is, the em¬
ploying of the same persons from week to week
in conducting the worship. In some cases this is
unavoidable, where the work is in its infancy, and
few can be found capable of exercising in public
prayer-meetings; but in our large towns, and
where the members of the church are numerous,
there many may be selected who can pray pro¬
fitably; but perhaps they are modest in their
17*
198
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
dispositions, and diffident and retiring in their
habits, and they shrink from observation, rather
than court it. But these should be pressed into the
service; and as God has intrusted them with the
gift of prayer, they should use it for his glory,
and the advantage of his people. In almost every
Christian society, officious persons will be found
who, like Diotrophes of old, love to have the pre¬
eminence. Perhaps they are seniors, and have been
accustomed for years to be the first and foremost
in these social and devotional exercises; and they
cling to their office with the greatest tenacity.
Instead of rejoicing in the fact that God is raising
up young men, and qualifying them to be their
coadjutors in the walks of usefulness, they regard
them as rivals, rather than as fellow-helpers to the
truth ; and would rather see them bury their tal¬
ents than employ them in the service of the sanc¬
tuary. But while we honour those to whom honour
is due, those who have borne the burden and
heat of the day, we should be careful to encou¬
rage those who will occupy public situations in
the church when the tongues of their seniors are
Bilent in death, and they have exchanged mortality
for life, and passed from the church militant upon
earth to the church triumphant in heaven.
Fifthly. Those who are appointed to officiate in
public prayer-meetings should not only be studious
PRAYER-MEETINGS.
199
in selecting matter for their prayers, but they
should also be careful to guard against every thing
that is unseemly and offensive in their manner of
praying. It is to be feared that this subject does
not obtain all that serious attention that it de¬
serves. Among all the exercises upon earth in
which a human being can possibly engage, that
of speaking unto God on behalf of his fellow-
sinners is the most solemnly important. Whether
he considers the Being whom he addresses, the
character and circumstances of those for whom he
pleads with him, or the blessings he solicits at his
hands, he cannot fail to be impressed with the
serious responsibility of the work in which he is
engaged. Every thing, therefore, in his manner
that tends in any degree to create disgust, or
excite prejudice in the minds of his fellow-wor¬
shippers, should be carefully avoided. The man¬
agement of the voice demands some attention.
God trieth the hearts, but the ear trieth words.
" Should the matter, method, and expressions be
ever so well chosen in prayer, yet it is possible for
the voice to spoil the pleasure, and injure the de¬
votion, of our fellow-worshippers." In human
voices there is an immense variety: this is one
proof among a thousand others of our Creator's
skill. It is questionable whether the voices of
any two individuals who were ever born into
m
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
the world were precisely similar in their intona¬
tions. Every man has his own voice, that which
is natural to him, and which he employs in his
common conversation with men; and no reason
can be assigned why he should affect to alter it
when he speaks in his devotions unto Grod. Some
persons appear to have two voices: one for com¬
mon conversation, and another for the sanctuary:
one by which they, address men, and another by
which they speak unto Grod; and their voice at
different times is so dissimilar, that we should
scarcely know that they were the same persons,
unless we had some other evidence of their iden¬
tity. "The great and general rule," says Dr.
Watts, " I would lay down for managing the voice
in prayer, is this: Let us use the same voice with
which we usually speak in grave and serious con¬
versation, especially upon pathetical and affecting
subjects." Some have cheerful voices in common
conversation, but in prayer their tones and into¬
nations are grave, solemn, and sepulchral: which
gives an occasion to our enemies to ridicule our
worship, and pronounce it canting, whining hypoc¬
risy. Others in prayer affect to speak fine, and
mince or clip their words, and employ pretty lady¬
like phrases, or scraps of poetry, perhaps from
Shakspeare, to speak unto the Lord. The ancient
Pharisees thought they should be heard for their
PR AYER-MEETIN GS.
201
touch speaking; but these act as if they thought
they should be heard for their fine speaking.
But if ever divine simplicity merits attention, it
most assuredly does in our devotions. The lan¬
guage of a Christian in prayer is the clothing of
his thoughts : it is the dress -of his mind; and it
should be composed like the dress of his body,
decent and neat, but not pompous or gaudy—
simple and plain, but not careless or unseemly.
In the management of the voice in prayer, care
should be taken that every sentence be spoken
loud enough to be heard j yet not so loud as to
affright or offend the ear. Between these two ex¬
tremes there is a great variety of degrees in sound,
sufficient to answer all the changes in our affec¬
tions, and the different sense of every part of
prayer. In the beginning of prayer, especially,
a lower voice is more becoming, both as it be¬
speaks humility and reverence when we enter into
the presence of God, and as it is also a great con¬
venience to the organs of speech not to arise too
high at first j for it is much more difficult to sink
again afterward, than to rise to higher accents if
need required. Some persons have acquired a
habit of beginning their prayers so loud as to
startle the company: others begin so low, even in
a large assembly, that it looks like secret worship,
and as though they prohibited those that are
202 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
present to unite with them ; for several sentences
at the commencement of their prayers, they can¬
not he heard by one-tenth of the persons present.
Some pray at the very top of their voices, in a
tone so elevated, and in a manner so vehement,
that when they come to repeat the Lord's prayer
they are necessitated to pitch their voices in a
lower key; and thus that divinely-instituted form
of prayer is irreverently, and with a schoolboy's
haste, hurried over. Others who are accustomed
to pray in public, habituate themselves to the use
of feeble and threadbare expletives: such as,
" Grant, we beseech thee;" or, " Be graciously
pleased;" or, "Let it please thee to hear us."
For, however proper or necessary it may be to use
such expressions occasionally in prayer, yet when
they are repeated at the commencement of almost
every sentence, they offend the ear, and interrupt
the devotion of the assembly. And not unfre-
quently the name of the Supreme Being is intro¬
duced unnecessarily in our prayers. Some, by
allowing their tongues to run faster than their
thoughts, begin sentences without knowing how
to conclude them; "and hence, after much hesi¬
tancy, they start off and seize on another sen¬
tence that has no affinity or connection with the
former. Others, to use a common phrase, pray at
people in their prayers; and are so personal in
PRATER—MEETINGS. 203
their allusions, that few can misunderstand them.
But if we desire to administer reproof to any of
our fellow-creatures, there is a more excellent and
a more Scriptural way of doing it: let us go and
tell them their faults between themselves and our¬
selves alone, and not make them the subjects of
reprehension in our prayers. It sometimes hap¬
pens that persons give out hymns in the public
congregation which they are unable to read cor¬
rectly; and hence they make such egregious blun¬
ders as a Sunday-school scholar might correct.
The writer of this article once heard a pious
brother of this description, who, instead of read¬
ing, " Source of the old prophetic fire," read,
" Scour off the old prophetic fire." This shows
the necessity of appointing such persons to super¬
intend prayer-meetings as are capable of conduct¬
ing them with propriety.
Sixthly. Those who speak unto Glod in our
public prayer-meetings, on behalf of the people,
should be careful not to allow any apparent zeal,
or fervency of manner, or elevation of voice, to
become a substitute for the spirit of prayer—for
that intense aspiration of the heart after Grod
which can alone render prayer acceptable in his
sight. On this subject much circumspection is
necessary. We are in great danger of confound¬
ing animal excitement with spiritual enjoyment.
204 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
" When, from some external cause, the heart is glad,
the spirits are light, the thoughts ready, the tongue
voluble, a kind of spontaneous eloquence is the re¬
sult : with this we are pleased, and this ready flow
we are willing to impose upon ourselves for piety
But there may be much apparent fervour of mind,
and fluency of speech, in our public prayers, with
little of that inward devotion of the heart, which is
in the sight of God of great price. We have not
unfrequently heard persons in our social meetings,
and even in our pulpits, offer up their supplica¬
tions unto God with great propriety of language,
and vehemency of utterance, but no sympathy is
excited in the minds of the worshippers, no flame
of devotion is enkindled in their hearts, and no
responses are heard from their lips: all is silent
as death, and as cold as the grave: while others,
with languid frames and enfeebled voices—with
little show of zeal, but much of the baptism of
the Holy Ghost—have had such power with God
in prayer, that a glow of heavenly feeling has per¬
vaded the assembly, and all have been ready to
acknowledge that God was with them of a truth.
Let us never forget, therefore, in our approaches
unto God, that a preparation of heart is necessary
to render our worship acceptable to him and pro¬
fitable to ourselves. There must be a hungering
and thirsting after righteousness, ah intense desire
PRAYER-MEETINGS.
205
for the enjoyment of God, a following hard after
him; and while we are praying for others, we
must feel for them, sympathize with them, and
long after them in the bowels of Jesus Christ;
and in the spirit of supplication intercede with
God for their salvation. Let us remember, also,
that the Spirit of God has no substitute: that
nothing can supply the lack of his presence: that
it is not by might or power on our part, that our
prayers are prevalent with God; but by the agency
of that Spirit who maketh intercession according
to the will of God. In our prayers, therefore, we
should expect the presence of the Holy Ghost to
cheer us, and his power to aid us, in our devotions.
And let us plead with him for the accomplishment
of those promises upon which he has caused us to
hope.
Seventhly. On the attitude or posture of body
most suitable to the exercise of prayer, it may not
be deemed superfluous or unnecessary to offer a
few thoughts. There is no time unseasonable, nor
place unsuitable, nor attitude improper, for ejac-
ulatory prayer. We may breathe out our desires
after God while lying on our beds, or sitting at
our tables, or working at our business, or walking
in the streets. And these solemn but silent aspi¬
rations of soul, and devout wishes of the heart,
will find acceptance with him whose throne is in
18
206
treatise on prayer.
heaven, but whose eyes behold, and whose eyelids
try, the children of men. But when we worship
God in public, and especially in social prayer,
some regard must be paid to the posture of body,
while the mind is engaged with God. "I sup¬
pose," says Dr. Clarke, " the grossly absurd, and
perfectly ungodly custom of sitting during prayer is
out of the question. It was so perfectly unlike every
thing that was becoming in divine worship, and so
expressive of a total want of reverence in the wor¬
shippers, and of that consciousness of his wants
and deep sense of his own worthlessness which he
ought to have, that the church of God never tole¬
rated it—a custom that even' heathenism itself had
too much light either to practise or sanction."
It was an observation made by Frederic III.
that the forms used by the Catholics in divine
service made their worship seem to have a supe¬
rior for its object; and those of the Protestants
to have an equal. Were that prince now living,
and were he to visit some of our churches and
chapels in this nation, might he not say, that the
posture of worship in which many place them¬
selves is such as indicates the object of their ad¬
dresses to be neither a superior nor equal ? Their
prayers are offered neither in prostration, like the
Mohammedans; nor standing, like the Jews; nor
kneeling, as Christians; but sitting ! an attitude
prayer-meetings.
207
in which a superior receives and addresses an in¬
ferior. This is a custom which has been intro¬
duced, partly through the example of those who
ought to have set a better, and partly, it is to be
feared, from that species of indifference which
arises from ignorance and carelessness; for did
people. think where and before whom they are :
did they properly reflect on the nature of prayer:
did they contemplate God as the Creator of
heaven and earth—as the universal Sovereign,
with whom is honour, power, dominion, majesty,
and glory—I say, did men consider these things,
can we suppose they would dare to address Jeho¬
vah in an attitude which is at the utmost distance
from reverence and humility ?
Eusebius one day perceiving that his wife, like
others, began to give up kneeling at her prayers,
and anxious to give her a proper sense of her con¬
duct, called up her maid, and desired her to go
into the room where her mistress was, to seat her¬
self down on the sofa, and to ask her for a new
gown. The lady was quite in a rage. Eusebius
desired the maid to retire; and, addressing his
wife, drew a parallel of her own conduct with
what she had resented so highly; and she was so
fully convinced, that she promised to behave with
more propriety at church in future.
Some indulgence must be claimed, and allowance
208
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
made, on behalf of aged, weak, and afflicted
people, who, with much bodily pain, and trembling
steps, come to the place where prayer is wont to
be made ; but whose infirmities render them una¬
ble to assume any posture in the public worship
except that of sitting. But persons in the full
vigour of health should studiously and conscien¬
tiously guard against any attitude of body that
betokens self-indulgence, or indolent listlessness,
while engaged in the solemn act of prayer.
Standing is a posture that has been sanctioned by
antiquity. Abraham "stood before the Lord."
Jehoshaphat " stood in the house of the Lord,"
and prayed; and "all Judah stood before the
Lord, and their little ones, their wives, and their
children." Our Saviour said, " When ye stand
praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any."
And the publican stood afar off while he prayed.
But while standing to pray may be tolerated, it
is far more commendable, and more consonant
with the practice of the pious in all ages, to kneel
when we pray. It must be allowed, that no atti¬
tude of body can be more indicative of genuine
humility and devout reverence of mind than that
of kneeling. Hence, Solomon, in praying,
" kneeled down upon his knees before all the con¬
gregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands
toward heaven." Ezra says, " I fell upon my
PRAYER-MEETINGS.
209
knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my
God." Daniel "kneeled upon his knees three
times a day, and prayed." Jesus " kneeled down,
and prayed." Stephen, in praying for his mur¬
derers, " kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice,
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when
he had said this, he fell asleep." Peter, when he
raised Tabitha from the dead, " kneeled down, and
prayed." St. Paul, in taking leave of -the Ephe-
sian elders, " kneeled down and prayed with them
all." And departing from Tyre, he says, " We
kneeled down on the shore, and prayed." And
on another occasion he says, " I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of
whom the whole family in heaven and earth is
named."
It is matter of regret that the seats in many of
our modern places of worship are so constructed
as scarcely to admit of kneeling j and especially
during such long prayers -as we are not unfre-
quently accustomed to hear. But where kneeling
is impracticable, let us imitate the heavenly in¬
habitants, who " stand in the presence of God,"
and " do his commandments, hearkening unto the
voice of his word."
Eighthly. There is another thing that should
be carefully guarded against in reference to public
prayer-meetings; and that is, the continuance of
18*
210
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
them unto unseasonable hours. It must be al-
lowed, that no absolute and invariable rule can be
laid down as to the length of time to which these
meetings can with propriety be extended. There
are seasons of peculiar visitation and refreshing
from the presence of the Lord. There may be
much of the unction of the Holy One realized by
the assembly. Penitent sinners may be fervently
agonizing with God for the pardon of sins; and
believers be earnestly seeking for purity of heart;
and the power of God may be present to heal.
And cases have occurred in which large congre¬
gations have been so deeply affected, and earnestly
engaged in prayer, that all persuasion to induce
them to retire, and go home to their several
dwellings, has been utterly unavailing. Like
Jacob of old, they have wrestled "till the break
of day." But such occasions are rarely realized.
Generally, our prayer-meetings do not begin until
eight o'clock in summer, and seven in winter;
many of those who attend are labourers and me¬
chanics, who are wearied by the exercises of the
day : others are servants, whose presence will be
needed at home; and some are heads of families,
who have domestic duties to perform, which are
no less important than those imposed upon them
by the church. Family prayer must be main¬
tained ; and when the head of the family is absent
PRAYER-MEETINGS.
211
until a very late hour, this will be omitted, or
hurried over, perhaps when the junior branches
of the family have retired to rest, or are so over¬
come with sleep that they can take no interest in
the devotions of the night. " Late evening visits,"
says Job Orton, " whether to our friends or public
places, are mischievous, both to personal and family
order and godliness. In this case, children are
gone to bed, servants fatigued, and all fitter for
sleep than prayer. If you are obliged, or think
it right, to spend the evening abroad, let family
worship be performed before you go out. This is
almost the only time when men of business can
taste the sweets of domestic life, enjoy the com¬
pany of their families, and teach them wisdom
and piety; therefore their evenings should not be
always nor often spent abroad."*
Ninthly. That meetings for prayer may be more
extensively and generally useful, all prudential
means should be used to increase the number of
their attendants. It is a lamentable fact, that
these meetings are thought lightly of by many
professors of Christianity. How thinly are they
attended ! Some, from whom better things might
be expected, as an excuse for their omission of
* Family prayer, in the evening, should always be held
immediately before or after tea.—[Editor.
212 TREATISE ON PRAYER.
duty, say, with an air of indifference, "0, 'tis
only a prayer-meeting! " If some populai and
favourite preacher be expected, what crowds of
people are drawn together! scarcely will the
church contain the congregation. But when the
most solemn and deeply devotional duty in which
man can possibly engage, is to be performed—
when the Deity is to be invoked, his name wor¬
shipped, and his favour sought on behalf of our¬
selves and the whole family of man, then perhaps
a dozen or twenty persons only can be found in
the house of prayer. Nothing can be more indi ¬
cative of the low and superficial state of the
religious experience of any people, than the indif¬
ference and inattention which they pay to meet¬
ings appointed for social prayer. If a revival of
the work of God takes place in any department,
or section of the church, it usually begins in the
prayer-meetings j and Christian ministers espe¬
cially should labour to excite in the minds of their
congregations an additional degree of interest on
behalf of those meetings. This may be done
both by exhortation and example. They may
embrace opportunities of preaching on the subject
of social prayer, explaining its Scriptural character,
its long-established practice, and its great utility;
and affectionately entreating their hearers not to
forsake the assembling of themselves together,
PRAYER-MEETINGS.
213
but to meet in the name of Christ, for the pur¬
pose of mutual prayer and devout supplication.
And to their affectionate entreaty they should add
example. Let them sanction these meetings by
.their presence : this will serve to prevent improper
persons from officiating in these meetings, and
check any irregularities that might otherwise be
introduced into them. And when ministers at¬
tend and conduct these social meetings, their hear¬
ers, whom they cordially invite, will be induced
to follow their example; and thus the number of
devout worshippers will be considerably augmented,
and the increase of the congregations can scarcely
fail to awaken additional zeal, and inspire with
unwonted ardour the minds of those who are ac¬
customed to engage in these devotional exercises.
But while ministers do their utmost to increase
the number of attendants at prayer-meetings, the
people should cooperate in this laudable under¬
taking. If they have a great sense of the import¬
ance of eternal things, and a concern for the
precious souls of men, they need not regret that
they are not preachers: they may go, in their earn¬
estness, and agonies of soul, and pour out their
hearts before Him who can supply all their need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
"There is no way," says President Edwards,
" that Christians in a private capacity can do so
214
TREATISE ON PRAYER.
much to promote the work of God, and advance
the kingdom of Christ, as by prayer. By this,
even women, children, and servants may have a
public influence. Let persons in other respects
be ever so weak, and ever so mean, and under,
ever so poor advantages to do much for Christ
and the souls of men, yet if they have much of
the spirit of grace and supplication, in this way
they may have power with Him who is infinite
in power, and has the government of the whole
world. A poor man in his cottage may have a
blessed influence all over the world. God is, if I
may so say, at the command of the prayer of
faith; and in this respect is, as it were, under the
power of his people : as princes, they have power
with God, and prevail. Though they may be
private persons, their prayers are put up in the
name of a Mediator who is a public person, being
the Head of the whole church;" and to whom
all power is given in heaven and in earth.
In conclusion, let us, as Christian professors,
prize our privileges, and especially the privilege
of praying — of holding intercourse with God,
and having fellowship with the Father and the
Son, through the eternal Spirit. God does not
need our prayers : they cannot augment his hap¬
piness : our goodness does not extend to him.
But we pray for our own sake, and for the sake
PRAYER-MEETINGS.
215
of others. And we have confidence in God that
he will hear our prayers, because he hath promised
to do it. Then let us bless the Lord for power to
pray, for hearts to pray, and for encouragement
to pray; and let this duty be our delight. Let
our love to it increase and abound more and more;
and let us pray without ceasing, for it is the prac¬
tice of prayer that can alone render prayer pleas¬
ing. Whether, therefore, we have joy or grief,
ease or pain, prosperity or adversity, honour or dis¬
honour, let us give ourselves to prayer; for prayer
is the first of all duties, the obligation of all con¬
ditions, the safety of all stations, the solace of all
sorrows, and the refuge in all dangers. Let us,
then, individually pray, with the Psalmist, " Let
the words of my mouth, and the meditation of
my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, 0 Lord,
my strength, and my Redeemer."
THE END.