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giving up their minds devoutly unto prayer *. fhall conclude thefe particular marks of God's favor, to all who faithfully call upon his holy name for help, in the words of two of the ancient fathers of the church (Auguftine and Chryfoftom) the one calleth prayer the key of heaven; the other pofitively affirmeth, that the whole world containeth nothing fo powerful or happy, as the man who accuftometh himself to fervent prayer.

Seeing, therefore, it is fo very needful an article of the Chriftian life, and fo very acceptable to God; let us imitate the example of Chrift and his Apostles, and be most earneft and diligent in calling upon the name of the Lord. Let us never faint, never flacken, but let us daily and hourly, early and late, in feafon and out of feason, at church and at home, bé duly occupied in godly. thoughts, or pious petitions. And though we fhould not obtain our requeft at first, yet let us not be difcouraged, but go on to fupplicate the Lord to hear us. He will affuredly attend to us at laft, if only on account of our importunities †, which mark our confidence in this condition of his favor. Remember the parable of the unrighteous judge, and the poor widow, how by inceffant ap

* There is every reason to believe that many do not thrive in their affairs, and that various mifchances befal them, because they neglect attending to this very effential duty. They truft in themfelves, and to the ordinary course of things, independent of the bleffing of the Most High God; nor do they truly worship in public or in private, the great Creator who reigneth over all his works.

+ This does not import that God can be wearied into a compli ance of our intreaties, or that there is any intrinfic virtue in the earneftness of our forms; but importunity is here ufed to fignify the frength of our faith in the promifes. If though we should be unworthy of God's favor (as we certainly are) on every other account, yet this proof of our truft in his power and mercy, this obedience to his commands, will engage him at laft to fuccour us, fo as to affift our beft happiness. He often feems not to hear us at firft, to try whether our dependance is fincere or only wavering, and mere outward homage.

plication

plication fhe prevailed upon him to do her juftice against her adverfary, although in other refpects he feared not God nor man. And fhall not God much more confider the cause of his faithful fervants, (faith our Bleffed Lord) who call upon him day and night, who confide humbly in his promifes and favor. Thus Chrift encouraged his firft difciples, and in them, all other chriftians, to pray always and never to faint. The ftory of the woman of Canaan, fupplies us, likewife, with further hope, if we do but perfevere in calling upon HIM, who is mighty to fave. We fee in this particular cafe, that fhe was in a manner rejected of Christ, and efteemed (by the very allution fhe applied), as one unworthy of any benefit at his hartds; yet the ceafed not to implore his favor, but followed him, crying and calling upon him to be merciful to her daughter. At length by her importunity, by this full proof of her truft in his power, and the love the bore towards his creature, the obtained her requeft. As what is here recorded, moft certainly is written for our good, let us learn by these examples to be conftant and fervent in our devotions, perfuading ourfelves, that whatsoever we ask of God the Father, in the name of his Son Jefus Chrift, and agreeable to godlinefs, he will certainly grant it. He is the truth itself; and as furely as he has promifed, fo furely will he perform*. May God, for his rich

*And as it may happen that we fhall fail of receiving many things, which by the deceitfulness and ignorance of our present nature, we are apt too fondly to fet our hearts upon, even in the denial of fuch requefts, another valuable exercise of faith prefents itfelf. Here we must humbly content ourselves that God knoweth fuch things are not for our beft advantage, which confifts in our being regularly weaned from too much fondness for this scene, and all its vain unprofitable delights; that we may be duly prepared for the enjoy. ment of better things in God's holy kingdom; and by our fubmiffion and refignation to his decrees, we may reft affured there will finally be bestowed upon us, a mighty recompence for the comparatively, light difappointment, and afflictions, in this state of trial.

mercies' fake, fo work in us, by his Holy Spirit, that we may ever make our humble prayer unto him as we ought to do, and never fail to obtain whatever is moft profitable for us, through Jefus Christ our Lord, to whom with the Father, &c.

SECOND PART.

HAVING employed the former part of this Difcourfe in fhewing you both the neceffity and effect of devout and conftant prayer to the Father of lights, and fountain of all good; and having confirmed the truths delivered to you, by many weighty testimonies, and exprefs examples from Holy Scripture; we will proceed, in the fecond part, to confider the nature of the Being to whom we fhould always direct our prayers. We are most plainly taught in God's holy word, that he, the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth, is the only fource of all true happiness, and that whatever we have in this world, we receive it wholly from his hands. In proof of this, St. James obferves, i. 17. Every good and perfect gift is from above, and proceedeth from the Father of lights. And St. Paul speaks to the fame purpose, in many parts of his epiftles; fhewing, that the fpirit of wifdom and revelation, nay every religious attainment, as faith, hope, charity, grace and peace, come all from God alone: under which conviction, and the fenfe of man's infufficiency for any thing that is good, he puts this queftion, in Cor. iv. 7. For who maketh thee to differ from another, and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Whenever therefore we ftand in need

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of any thing profitable for foul or body, it is our highest wisdom and duty to betake ourselves to God, who is the fole difpofer of all events. this end, our Savior Chrift, when teaching his difciples in the gofpel, upon this fubject, fends them to the Father, in his name, faying, verily, verily, I fay unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask in my name that will I do*. The Apostle, likewife, in Acts ii. 21. makes use of the words of the prophet Joel, ii. 32. and declareth, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord fhall be faved.

It is plain then, from the fure word of life, that in all our wants we must fly unto God, implore help at his hands, and truft entirely unto his mercy. To confirm the truth of this affertion, it behoves us to give serious attention to the following reafons for it. There are certain qualities or perfections abfolutely requifite to be found in thofe on whom we depend for relief; and if these do not belong to HIM, unto whom we pray, our petitions confequently will avail us nothing, they muft prove fruitlefs. Now the first property or perfection is, that he to whom we make the application, be able to help us. The fecond confifts in his being willing to do it; the third is, that he is capable of hearing us, or knowing our prayers: and the fourth, that he understandeth better than we ourfelves what we moft require, and how far it is expedient to grant it. Could thefe perfections be found in any other being, but God, then might we lawfully call upon that being; but who is fo ignorant as not to know that they belong only to the Almighty, who

* As it is clear that we can ask nothing in Chrift's name, and confiftent with our relation to him, that is unworthy of him to beftow, this fupplies us with another caufe, why our petitions are nor always heard; they are too often made for what is inftrumental to the fulfilling our carnal lufts; which is, in fact, begging to be but out of his kingdom, instead of praying that it may come, or be formed in us.

fearcheth all things, even the fecrets of the heart. And hence a fufficient argument is afforded us, against the error of calling upon faints or angels to affift our prayers; for as we have no good authority to fuppofe they have fuch perfections, as above defcribed, we cannot poffibly place any confidence in them; and faith is abfolutely neceffary to encourage bope. St. Paul, fpeaking on this fubject, and of the SUPREME himself, to whom only it is our duty to apply, doth thus confirm the neceffity of a fure reliance on his power; How fall they call on bim in whom they have not believed? Faith, therefore, in the object of our petitions, must first be established, before we can present them with any degree of gaffurance that they will be answered. Now to amaintain fuch a truft in any creature, would argue horrible blafphemy against God, and his most holy word; nor can fuch a thought be ferioufly adamitted by any real chriftian, because we are ex-prefsly taught in fcripture, to place our confidence in the Bleffed Trinity alone, in whofe name we are all baptized, according to the plain commandment sof our Savior Chrift, as recorded in St. Matthew's gofpel.

But that the truth of these things may be ftill clearer, even to the most unlearned perfon, it will be proper for us attentively to confider what prayer is.One of the ancient Fathers of the church (St. Auguftine) calleth it a lifting up of the mind to God; or in other words, an humble offering of the heart to him. Another of them (Ifidorus) defcribes it thus: "It is not a mere tribute of the lips, (fays he) but an earnest affection or inclination of the foul towards its chief good." Hence we may perceive, that true prayer, in its fpirit or effence, doth not fo much confift in the outward found, manner, or employing of many words, as in the inward defire, or dedication of the will to God. And as the fcripture tells us, it is God only who

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knoweth