A SERMON Concerning God's Deferring to answer men's Prayers: Preached before the King and Queen AT WHITEHALL, November the 11th 1694.  
By GEORGE STANHOPE, Chaplain in Ordinary to their Majesties, and Vicar of Lewisham in Kent.  
Published by Their Majesty's Special Command.  
LONDON Printed for Richard Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holbourn, 1695.   
St. Matthew Ch. XV. V 28. 
Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O Woman great is thy Faith; Be it unto thee, even as thou wilt. And her Daughter was made whole from that very hour.  
COnsidering the very precarious and depending State of Humane Nature, what infinite Variety of Miseries and Wants we are all subject to, and how Weak and Unable the very Greatest of us are to supply those Wants, or prevent those Miseries, or even to sustain ourselves under either: Man must needs be of all Creatures the most Disconsolate and Forlorn, were there not some higher and better Refuge, than his own Strength and Wisdom, provided for him to have recourse to. Our Maker therefore, who best knew our Necessities, hath commanded us to take Sanctuary in his Good Providence, and expressed the Tenderest Care of us. He hath directed that we should pour out our Hearts before him, and show him all our Trouble; and hath encouraged the Performance of this Duty, with Gracious Promises of Pity and Redress, and a Constant Readiness to hear, and help, and do, as He sees most expedient for us. But because His Thoughts are not always as Our Thoughts, and the Love of a Father is tempered with the Wisdom of a God; from hence it comes to pass, that many times what we ask is not granted at all; and at other times it is not granted so soon as we desire and expect it. Now in order to the composing our Minds under such Delays and Disappointments as these, that we may not rashly suspect God of Unfaithfulness to his Word, it is necessary to consider the Reasons of those Dispensations to us. And Reasons there always are, did we but duly attend to them, abundantly sufficient to convince us, that neither is He Unjust or Unkind, nor we neglected or forgotten.  
The absolute Denial of our Prayers is capable of an easy Resolution, because we often ask Stones instead of Bread, 
Matt. seven 9, 10.  and Serpents instead of Fishes. That is, We mistake our own Good, and do not see far enough into the Nature and Consequences of things, and must therefore in reason look upon it as an Act of Kindness to be denied. Since our Father denies us, only because he loves us, and because he understands better, and chooses better for us than we do for ourselves.  
But why those things which are really for our Advantage, and are at length given us, because they are so; why These, I say should yet be withheld, even when our Necessities are pressing; why those Supplications, which are themselves acceptable, should yet be rejected and discountenanced for a Season, and the Anguish of our Souls increased by sad Repulses: This seems to carry something more of Difficulty in it. For in such a case it is natural enough for a Man to argue thus in his own Breast. If the subject of my Petitions be not for the Glory of God, and my own Good, then is it not proper for him to grant, or me to receive at all; and the most Solicitous Application will not, ought not to obtain it. But if it conduce to both these two Great Ends, (as to be sure it does one way or other, because it is granted at last) why does not then this Divine Father hasten the Felicity of his Children? Why does not his Goodness double the Favour; by giving speedily, what his Wisdom sees fit to give, though later, and more slowly?  
That this is sometimes the Method of God's Deal with Mankind, is particularly manifest from the most remarkable Instance of a Canaanitish Woman, described here at large from the One and twentieth Verse, to that of my Text inclusively: She entreated no Trifling or unnecessary Favour, but one, upon which the whole Quiet and Happiness of her Life depended; the Cure of a Child in a most deplorable Condition; Verse 22 a Child whom an Evil Spirit had got strong Possession of, and tormented to that degree, that the Agonies of any common Sickness had been a Blessing in comparison; and the loss of her by a Natural Death, a most welcome Release from insupportable Misery and Pain. The distorted Limbs, the violent Convulsions, the sudden Throws and Pangs, the Terrors and Distractions of them who labour and languish under these Possessions, are more Dismal than words can express, and a Spectacle too Ghastly and Astonishing for Humane Nature to bear. If the Greatness of any Calamity could enforce Compassion, what Misfortune could have a better right to it than this? And who generally more apt to commiserate any Affliction, than the Tender and the Loving Jesus? 
Matt. viij. 5, 6, 7.  When the Centurion besought him in behalf of his Servant only, he met his Desires half way; and immediately replied, I will come and Heal him. But here a wretched Mother comes, whose Soul was quite overwhelmed with Passion; she suffers in and for her Daughter, feels all her Tortures, is shaken and oppressed by all her Frenzies and violent Agitations, dies every Moment afresh under all her Tearing and Foaming, and is pierced through with every cutting Shriek and Groan; all Nature works within her, and she throws herself at his Feet with all that Disorder and Perplexity of Heart, which none but Mothers know, none but Tender and Afflicted Mothers can make any tolerable guess at. And yet this otherwise kind Master, contrary to his Custom, seeks cruel Excuses to put her off. She pursues him from place to place, allows him no leisure to harden in, but melts him down with Tears, and deafens him with repeated Cries and Complaints. His Disciples themselves could hold out no longer, Verse 23 but turn Intercessors for her; so Troublesome it seems was her Importunity, or so very moving her Affliction. Yet still HE Relents not, Verse 25,26. but with a seeming Barbarity upbraids her Unworthiness of his Help, and her Confidence in expecting it. She takes the Hint, Verse 27 and urges him again and again, her Clamours and her Calamities will have no Denial, and then he yields at haft, and pleased to be thus vanquished, applauds and rewards her unwearied Zeal; does, as it were, delegate a Power to her to work the Miracle herself; makes her the Disposer of his Gift, and the Carver of her own Fortunes. Verse 28 Then Jesus answered, and said unto her, O Woman, great is thy Faith, Be it unto thee, even as thou wilt. And as she desired, so it was most effectually, she only begged that her Daughter might be restored to herself, and the whole Force of Hell was no longer strong enough to resist her, for her Daughter was made whole from that very hour.  
The several Steps taken in this Proceeding, and the manner of granting at last, in such comprehensive Terms, and with so peculiar a Character of the Petitioners Virtue, give us great reason to conclude, that, as the first Refusals were not out of any real Unkindness, so the following Compliance was either occasioned, or enlarged however, by means of that Faith, which our Lord so highly extols. And then the most effectual Course to answer the Design of this whole Passage, both with regard to the particular Case before us, and to our own Prayers in general, of which this Case is set here as a Pattern, will be to treat of the Words under the Three following Heads. 

I. First, To assign some Reasons why God delays the giving what we ask for some time, though he do not intent absolutely and altogether to withhold it from us.  
II. Secondly, To show what Qualifications are requisite in our Prayers, to render them Effectual and Successful, notwithstanding, and after such Delays. And,  
III. Thirdly, To consider how God's being wrought upon by Prayers so qualified, is confistent with the standing Order of Providence, and the Unchangeableness of the Divine Nature and Counsels.  
I. First, I am to render some account, why God delays the giving what we ask for some time, though he do not intent (as the Event of this Story plainly proves) absolutely and altogether to withhold it from us. And of this we may gather two very substantial Reasons from the Case now under our Consideration.    
1. The first is, That these Delays enhance and add to the Blessing, when we do at last receive it. The Satisfaction Men take in what they possess is not always proportioned, either to the real Value of the Things themselves, or the Want the Persons have of them; or the Advantages they reap from them, but depends chief upon the Sense and Disposition of their own Minds. The most valuable Enjoyments are sometimes utterly lost and thrown away, because they are slighted and overlooked. Our Necessities are not always duly understood, and when they are not so, the most seasonable Reliefs will be sure to fall very low in our Esteem. So that to give a true relish to any Happiness, the principal and most necessary Work, is to possess the Soul with a right Notion of its Indigent State, and the urgent occasion we have for it. And according to this Notion our Resentments will be more or less Grateful, and the Gift more or less Welcome, when we have attained it. This seems to be the very Reason, why those Blessings, which lie in common to all the World, are so little set by; because scarce any body considers the Benefit of That, which is open and easy to every body. It comes without our Seeking, and therefore it passes by without our Observing too. 
Matt. v. 45.  The Sun shines alike on the Evil, and on the Good; and the Rain descends as liberally on the Unjust as on the Just. The kindly returns of Day and Night, and Heat and Cold, seem to be fixed by Laws of Nature, and are usually tempered in Order and Measure. And though the Advantage of these things be Unspeakable, yet because it is Universal and Uniform, we grow wanton in the Enjoyment, and are but very lightly affected with the Convenience of them to us. And if this be the Condition of those Blessings that are absolutely necessary to preserve the World, and sustain this Life, of which we are so immoderately fond; how much more may we be expected to disesteem those others, that are only Additional Comforts, and tend not to the Support, so much as the Delight of Mankind?  
Herein then is One great Good of Afflictions, such as justifies both the Wisdom and the Kindness of God in appointing them, that they help us to discern something particular in our own case, and awaken us into a Sense of our Wants, and by the Deliverance recommend God's Goodness infinitely more to us, than uninterrupted Prosperity could ever have done. Health is the same in itself when constant, as when restored; and Preservation the very same, when nothing hath threatened our Safety: But yet every Man naturally entertains a Recovery from Sickness, and an Escape from Danger, with a more Sensible Pleasure, than if those Difficulties had never happened to him, and feels his Soul more powerfully wrought upon to be Thankful, than if he had never found occasion to fear or to complain at all. And all This seems to depend upon One Cause, which is, That in this Body we lead Lives of Sense, as well as Reason; and cannot therefore consider things always Abstractedly, and as they are in their own Nature, but must judge of them as they appear to us. And those Appearances are generally but Cold and Feeble, except some visible Change of our Affairs alter the present Habit of our Minds, and leave a strong and lively Impression upon us. And then the longer such Impressions last, the lower we are reduced, and the greater the Alteration is, the better still shall we taste and value that Mercy, which restores us to our former Ease and Happiness again.  
Now if this be the Condition of those things which make the Subject of our Prayers, it must needs be so with our Prayers themselves too. For One great End of Praying, is to publish our Wants, and to seek Relief and Supplies suitable to them; to bewail our Miseries, and to implore the Divine Favour and Assistance. And because this is sometimes done coldly, and of course only, God holds his Hand till we feel the Smart; and are brought to a due sight of our Circumstances, by being pinched under them. Thus he aggravates and prolongs our Sorrows, 'tis true; but withal he magnifies the Mercy, which turns our Heaviness into Joy: A Joy, that we should either not have felt, or have felt but very slightly, if the Deliverance had prevented, or met our first Wishes, and the Burden had never gauled, or weighed us down at all. So necessary is it, according to the present Constitution of Humane Nature, that Men should be taught Wisdom at their own Expense; and that God should sometimes restrain the Overflowings of his Bounty for our Good: That so by hindering his Blessings from becoming Easie, he may prevent that greater Mischief, the Sin of their becoming Cheap and Contemptible to us.  
This single Consideration of working us up to a right Apprehension, and a just Estimate of the Benefits Prayer obtains for us, is sufficient to acquit God of any Unkindness, and reconcile us to all the Difficulties and Delays we can meet with from him. He gives as he pleases, and he knows best when, as well as what to give. He defers not because he grudges the Gift, but only waits the most proper Season, that he may give when it will be most Acceptable, and when we are best prepared to Receive, and to Relish, and to Improve by the Favour.  
But yet this is not all: For when I say, that such Delays add to the Blessing, my meaning is, not only that they heighten it in our Opinion, but that they add to it in Reality, and procure us a greater Plenty and Proportion. For Prayer being a Duty which God hath commanded, and wherein he delights, the very performing it as we ought, gives us a fresh Title to what we ask. So that whatever Considerations besides might recommend us to his good Graces, this enforces all the rest. He hath solemnly engaged himself to the Good Man, and made the answering his Requests a Debt. And He is not only Just, but Generous in his Payments; none of our Concerns lie dead in His Hands, and if the Returns be slow, it is only that they may be made at last with greater Interest. As the Gospel furnishes us no where with an Example of so many Repulses, as this Woman of Canaan suffered, so does it rarely, if ever, set before us an Instance of so large a Commendation joined with so Comprehensive a Grant. In other cases we meet with such Answers as these, 
Luke xviii. 42. John iv. 51. Matt. viij 7.  Receive thy Sight; Thy Son liveth; I will come and Heal him, and the like. But here the words resemble those of the Angel to Jacob, Thou hast Power with God, 
Gen. xxxii. 28.  and with Man, and hast prevailed. Our Saviour seems to personate a Man conquered by some Superior Force, and to acknowledge that no Spoils can be too Rich for so gallant a Victory. The usual way of Consenting, it seems, was too narrow and too mean, and therefore he resigns up himself to her Disposal, and cries out with an Air of Ecstasy and Admiration, Oh Woman! Great is thy Faith, Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.  
And that This is no Special Case, or Particular Privilege, but what every Devout Person hath a Right to expect, we are assured by that Parable in the Eleventh of St. Luke, made use of by our Saviour to encourage Earnestness and Perseverance in Prayer. For though the Friend there would not lend his Neighbour three Loaves, upon the account of any Kindness or Old Acquaintance that was betwixt them, yet because of his Importunity (says the Text) he was content to rise out of his Bed, 
Luke xi. 8.  and give him as many as he had occasion for. The design whereof is to assure us, that even Ask itself hath something of Virtue, and much Efficacy in it. And surely we are then of all Creditors most Happy, when He, who in Marvellous Condescension is pleased to call his Mercies our due, does not only pay us Use for them, while he keeps them in his Hands, but loves to be often called upon for Payment: Nay; puts our very Importunity into the Account also, when we press hard for that, which nothing but his own Free Grace could in any Sense have made Ours.  
2. Secondly, Another excellent Reason for God's Deferring to answer our Prayers, is, That he may by this means improve our Virtue, and illustrate it to the World, and so both make, and show us in some good Degree fit, and worthy to receive the Blessings we Pray for. He deals with us as a Discreet and Tender Father, and suits the Methods of his Providence to our truest Advantage. Now, This is the Reformation of our bad Habits, Correcting the Perverseness of our Dispositions, and Consulting which way we may best advance in Innocency and Goodness. Where a ready Condescension to our Requests, will conduce most to his Glory and our Good, he gives Readily and Liberally. Where an Absolute Refusal will contribute more to these great Ends, it is an Act of Love and Goodness, as well as an Instance of his Wisdom to deny us. And where the Suspending our Mercies for a time will be most Beneficial, there we are put off till a more convenient day. Thus Almighty God proceeds always upon the same Principle, which we ought to go upon in respect of these Worldly Enjoyments. And that is, That Health and Sickness, Prosperity and Affliction, Successes and Disappointments, are but so many Instruments put into our Hand to do good with. That the most Valuable of them all, are yet then most truly and only Valuable, when they are made Occasions of promoting our Virtue: And that even the most Distasteful Accidents; when they better our Minds, become Blessings, exceeding great Blessings. Since then all these are but so many several sorts of Discipline, and constantly intended either to amend, or to exercise us, we have no reason to Repine at the Means, provided they do but conduct us to the End that Sanctifies them. And since we are under the Care of One, who is Wiser than We, and understands our Tempers, and our Necessities, much better than ourselves do, let us leave it to Him to choose both his own Times, and his own Proportions, and be very Confident, that when We have done our Part, he will not fail to give, not only the Thing that is best, but in the Season that is best for us. Indulgent Parents know, and feel, and, when it is too late, repent the Mischief of being too Easy to their Children. And therefore our Heavenly Father, who sees the ill Effects of such Indulgence, how Froward, and Peevish, and Insolent we grow, when we are never crossed, cures this Fretful and Impatient Disposition, by using us to stay a while; and checks the Eagerness of our Sensual Appetite, by withholding sometimes what we want very much, and most passionately Desire.  
Now this is an Easiness of Temper necessary to be attained by every Christian, but attained it can never be, except by Practice and Experience. Where we find it in Perfection, it is a most Noble and Glorious Pattern for others to copy after; and therefore the Dispensations that employ it, are no less proper to exercise the Strong, than to confirm the Weak. Thus it was in our present Case: This Woman seems to have been admirably prepared, and of a Disposition that needed no new Forming. And therefore our Saviour's Denials did not so much Increase or Occasion her Virtue, as they called it forth, and provoked her to exert it. Had her first Petition been granted, she had passed off in the common Crowd of Beggars, and we had never known more of her, but only that she Asked, and that she Received. But the Difficulties she found in obtaining her Request, and her Prudent Behaviour under them, did not only vindicate our Lord's Kindness to a Stranger, from all the Cavils of the Captious Jews; but have Immortalised her Name in Story, and rendered her a most Illustrious Example and Encouragement to Future Ages. An Example of all those Graces, which must conspire together to recommend our Prayers, and render them Successful.  
II. And this puts me in mind, that I ought to hasten to my Second Head, that so having vindicated the Goodness of God in sometimes Delaying to grant, I may show what Qualifications are requisite on our part, to make our Prayers at last Effectual, notwithstanding and after such Delays.  
Now those which the Words, and this Relation, (for to It I confine myself) give me occasion to insist upon at present, are Three, viz, Fervency, Humility and Perseverance. For these are but so many Parts and Ingredients, whereof that Faith is compounded, which my Text so highly commends.  
1. First, The Fervency of our Prayers is necessary to demonstrate that we are in good Earnest, and Seriously Desirous of the things we ask for. Prayer is not the Business of the Tongue, nor of the Body, but of the Mind, and the Affections. And the God, whose Quality it is, to understand the inward Parts, as well as to know every word in our Mouths, will have but very little Respect to the Lips, or the Knee, if the Heart be wanting: That is, If the Supplications we prefer be Giddy and Unthinking, Languishing and Lose. All the Vigour and Efficacy must come from within; those Pure and Holy Flames, which a Just Reverence for God and his Adorable Excellencies, and a Feeling Reflection upon our own Wants, have kindled within us. These will spread and exert themselves, and actuate the whole Mass in such a manner, that every part shall conspire by outward Signs, to express the inward Devotion of our Souls. But when Men pretend to approach the Throne of Grace, and do it with Coldness and Indifference; when they come into the Court, and more Immediate Presence of God, with Disrespect, and trifle with the King of Heaven; when Wand'ring Looks, and Irreverent Postures betray the distance of their Souls and Bodies, that they neither are togehter, nor consider where they are, How can we expect These Men should succeed? Or if the Voice be loud, the Gesture moving, and yet the Mind some other way employed, this may be Ostentation, but Zeal it is not; And the being seen of Men, and applauded by the Spectators, is all the Reward due to such Prayers. For they are only Affectation and Pomp, and at the best a solemn Passion pretty well acted.  
Thinkest thou then, O Man, that God will hear thee, when thou hearest not thy own self? Are Words, and Sounds, and empty Noise, of such Worth, that they should incline the Majesty of Heaven, when even Men Scorn and Laugh at Forms, and things by Rote? And yet such are all the Prayers of a roving and uncomposed Mind. For without Attention, and Thought, and Serious Desire, the Labour is only that of the Lip; and so much Air broken into Sound, without any Sense or Signification at all. Thou goest to public Theatres, and there seest Spectacles Tragical and full of Horror; Prosperous Villainy, and Injured Innocence; Calamities, and Tortures, and Deaths, enough to Soften the Hardest Heart: Yet not one Tear falls, because you know very well all this is but Shadow and Show only. And art thou so Vain to suppose, that God will be moved with a Scene of Devotion, with an empty Representation of a Prayer? Shall not He distinguish between Reality and Disguise, but be so Profuse, so Absurd, to reward thy Counterfeit Addresses? Formality in Truth, is in some Respects worse than Coldness: This neglects God, but That plainly Mocks and Affronts him. So impossible is it, that any outward Testimonies of Devotion, though never so Decent and Proper, should be of any Value at all for their own Sakes. And for this reason, possibly, our Prayers are called in Scripture a Sacrifice and an Incense, because they are rendered acceptable by the selfsame Methods that those were wont to be. It is the Burning that creates the Sweet-smelling Savour, and it must be the Earnestness and Warmth of our Prayers, that alone can make Them come up as Incense before the Throne of God.  
2. The next Qualification requisite in our Prayers is Humility, and of This we have many remarkable Instances in the Person before us. The slight our Saviour put upon her by his Silence, Verse 24 and the invidious Comparison he made between the Jews and Her; Verse 25 the bitter Reproach of Dog, Verse 26 and the aggravating Circumstances by which he exposed her Unworthiness; all which were so far from Provoking her, that she received them all with Meekness, acknowledged the Truth of what he upbraided her with, and frames a fresh Argument even from that Confession. Verse 27 In the Quality of Dogs she is contented to be reckoned, if that would entitle her to a Dog's Portion; that Cure of her Daughter, which in comparison of those frequent and mighty Miracles, wrought in the Country of the Jews, and for the Benefit of the Children, was but as the Crumbs that fall from the Master's Table. And herein we have a fair Copy set us, of those mean and vile Opinions of ourselves, with which the Majesty of Heaven and Earth should be approached. When Dust and Ashes, when a Creature Frail, and Poor, and Corruptible, is allowed the Privilege of attending a Glorious God, what Resentments, what Behaviour can be respectful enough to express the Infinite Distance! But especially, when that Creature, so contemptible by Nature, hath yet debased itself much worse by Sin; when it is not only Poor and Low, but Polluted and Odious in his sight. Oh! What Apprehensions of the Divine Favour can be agreeable to so Mighty, so Gracious a Condescension.  
Access indeed we have, and we are commanded to come with Boldness to the Throne of Grace. 
Heb. iv. 16.  But it should always be remembered, that it is a Throne of Grace, that the Seat of Judgement not any of us are able to stand before; That Mercy is the only thing we can pretend to, and that even This is in no degree due to us for our own Sakes, but purely upon the account of Another, who purchased it for us at the Price of his own Blood. That therefore we can have no Injury done us, because of ourselves we have no Right, no Desert, no Claim to put in. That if we be passed by in Silence, or if we be Reproved and Checked by the Sad Reproaches of our own Conscience; All this is the Effect of our own Unworthiness. If Others are preferred before Us, and enjoy larger Measures of the Divine Bleffing, still this is no Robbery to Us, nor any Just Occasion to complain of a Partial and Unfair Providence. If we obtain our Petitions, this is indeed the Excess of Bounty. If we wait long, He is Master of his Favours, and may do what he will with his own; and we are to consider, that our Business is to ask a Gift, and not to demand a Tribute. So that every thing that may conduce to the laying us Low in our own Thoughts; every thing that may help to speak our Modesty, and Reverence, and Submission, is all little enough for Wretches so Miserable, so Unworthy as We. And there cannot be a greater Absurdity, than to fly in the Face of God, and, like some Insolent Beggars, not only Grudge that we are not satisfied, but Curse and Revile the Hand that detains it from us. So did not the Mother in the Text. Instead of fancying herself ill used she bore all, and improved by all the Discouraging Arguments urged against her: She made her very Humility and Patience of Denial a new Incitement to ask again: And thus became most Eminent for the other Qualification requisite in our Prayers, which, I told you, is  
3. Perseverance. How necessary a Duty this is, the very Terms in which our Saviour hath directed us to Pray, are of themselves a plain and sufficient Intimation. For he who bids us Seek, implies that we must not leave off Seeking till we have Found: 
Matt. seven. 7.  And he who commands us to Knock, expects we should continue at the Door till we are heard, and it be opened unto us. But besides that, 
Matt. seven.  The Parable of the Father and the Son; 
Luk. xi.  of the Friend and his Neighbour in Distress for Provision to entertain his Guest; and that other of the Widow and the Unjust Judge, 
〈◊〉. x viij.  all agree in the Necessity and the Efficacy of this Virtue. So that as St. Chrysostom somewhere says, 
●om. 5.  We must not only ask, that we may receive; but we must ask for that very reason, because we do not receive; for we are often denied, only that we should ask again; and if we receive not at last, it is not owing to any Unwillingness in God, but to some Defect, some Weariness, and Impatience of Mind in ourselves.  
It were perhaps much more Useful and Seasonable upon this occasion to inquire, which way this Indefatigable Importunity comes to be so well accepted; When we find, that among Men nothing is more Troublesome and Displeasing. And the Difference seems to lie very much in This: That in God there is no End of Goodness, no End of Power, both which in Men are bounded within a narrow Compass. Too much Pressing to Men is therefore Harsh and Ungrateful, because this is obliquely to Reproach them; and taxes either their want of Inclination, or their want of Ability to gratify us. But He, who is Omnipotence and Love itself, can be subject to no such Reflections. Our Necessities can never exhaust his Stores; and his Bowels are so tender, 
Jer. xxxi. 28  that he is said to Watch over Men to do them good; it is of his Bounty that all our Wants are supplied; and the very withholding from us where they are not, is itself an Act of Kindness. And Our persisting in Prayer argues that we think so. For when Men take it ill to be denied, they naturally grow Sullen, and disdain to use any farther Entreaties. The same Boldness and Constancy which were Immodest and  to a Creature, is therefore most Commendable in our Addresses to God: In this case it is not only consistent with Modesty, but the strongest Evidence of it. For it speaks us well Contented, and Easie, and of a Resigned Spirit; it submits to his Wisdom, and confesses his Goodness and our Unworthiness; when we will not suffer ourselves to be prevailed upon by Sturdiness and Despair; nor resent these Repulses with Anger and Pride; but are still satisfied to repeat and reinforce our Requests, and to wait his own time and good Pleasure for the accomplishing our Desires.  
III. All that now remains to answer the Design of my Text, is to speak something very briefly to my Third and Last Head; wherein I promised to consider, How the Efficacy of Prayers thus Qualified, as you have seen, is Consistent with the Standing Order of Providence, and the Unchangeableness of the Divine Nature and Counsels.  
Now by this Unchangeableness, we are to understand, that God can never alter, i. e. he cannot cease to be what he is, nor be diverted from any of his Perfections, so as that he should leave off to be Holy, and Just, and Good, and Wise, and the like; for That is his Nature, and in it is no Variableness, 
James i. 17.  neither Shadow of turning. Nor can he Reverse what he hath positively and absolutely Decreed, or be false to any of his Promises; for these are his Counsels, and they are Yea and Amen, 
2 Co●. i. 20,  fixed immutably, and stand fast for Ever and Ever. But these Determinations do not reach so far, as to bind up every thing, and every accident in the Chains of a Fatal Necessity. He hath left many things at large to be the Rewards of men's Virtue, 
See Dout. xxvili. Isa. i. 19.20.  or the Punishments of their Wickedness. These are promised and threatened under certain Conditions, and as those Conditions are fulfilled or neglected, the Promise or the Threatening takes place accordingly. So that for God, 
Exod. xxxii. 11.— 14. Psal. cvi. 23.— 30.  upon men's Prayers and Repentance, to give what otherwise he would not have given; or to avert those Judgements, which would certainly have overtaken them, if These had not come in betwixt, and stopped the Blow, is so far from Changing, 
Jerem. xviii. 7, 8, 9, 10.  that it is the greatest Mark of Truth, and Constancy to his Word; the most exact way of observing those Eternal Rules, which his Wisdom and Providence hath all along form and prescribed to itself; 
Ezek. xxxiii. 13, 14, 15, 16  the properest Accomplishment of those Revelations made to Mankind in Scripture for their Encouragement, and which he hath there inviolably engaged always to govern the World by.  
There is indeed a Temper in Men, that affects to be courted, and flattered, and fawned upon; and complies with the Requests of others out of mean and little Ends. But this is the Effect of Pride, and Passion, and Interest; much different from those Condescensions of Almighty God, who, though he cannot be subject either to Weakness or Corruption, may yet be prevailed upon by such Methods, as becomes a Reasonable, and Wise, and Generous Mind. And therefore, when Men pay the Homage due to his Infinite Majesty; when they throw themselves entirely upon his Goodness, cast all their Care upon him, commit their Souls, and all their Concerns, into his Hands, and that with such Reverend and Strong Persuasions of his being a Faithful Creator, that no Delays, no Refusals can tempt them to suspect or distrust him: This is such an Argument to help and favour People in Distress, as every Great Spirit, every Man of Honour and common Good Nature, would think it a Fault to hold out against. So that for God to show himself flexible upon such Occasions, cannot in reason be charged with Fickleness or Levity, but is a Gracious Compliance upon Just and Reasonable Motives. And to harden himself against the continued Cries and Complaints of Suitors thus qualified, would much more misbecome the Character of Sovereign Judge, and Infinitely Good Ruler of the whole World.  
To conclude then in one Word. You see that it is impossible for Men to Pray in vain, provided they do but Pray as they ought; That (as the Collect for this Day insinuates) God is our Refuge and Strength, 
23d Sunday after Trinity.  always ready to hear the Devout Prayers of his Church, and that they who ask Faithfully, will not fail to obtain Effectually. Nay, that when he seems Deaf to all our Applications, his Mercy is even then providing some better thing for us; and that the slowest Grants are usually the most Plentiful and Advantageous at last. And, if the very Denial, if the very Delay of our Prayers be for our Benefit, Where can we possibly find any Objection to discourage us in this Duty?  
Let us come then, my Brethren, to the Throne of Grace, but let us come full of Holy Zeal, and Humble Modesty, and Unshaken Perseverance. Let us lay Siege, as it were, and make a close Pursuit upon this Saviour of the World. He only hides his Face for a Season, to make us more Diligent and Eager in the Search of him: Et fugit ad salices, & se cupit ante videri. He withdraws himself from our first Assaults, that we may renew the Attack with more Vigour, and loves to have what he delights to give seemingly forced out of his Hands. Let us then beset him every where, attempt him in Public and in Private, in the Congregation, in our Families, in our Closets, in our Beds; for This is a Holy Violence, and aught to be committed. This is the only Combat, for which no Time, no Place can be Unseasonable; and it is the only one too, in which we are sure of Victory at last, if we do but continue Wrestling, and not let go our hold.  
And Reason sure there is for all our Vehemence, when the Success is of such Consequence to us. For though Our Children be not Lunatic, yet we need a Cure no less Miraculous, than this Woman in the Text did; and that for a Relation, which ought to be much more Dear and Tender to us. For, alas! our Souls are grievously vexed with a Devil, yea with a Legion of Devils; wild unruly Passions, and Exorbitant Lusts, that rend, and tear, and torment us. This Possession is much too strong to recover ourselves from; nothing less than the Almighty Word of our only Saviour can release and restore us. To Him therefore we must come, Even to T●●, O Blessed Jesus! O cast us not off utterly, but bring us back to our right Mind. We are not indeed worthy to be called thy Children, yet in Pity, O Gracious Master, disdain not to feed us with the Crumbs that fall from thy Table. We would only, that thou vouchsafe to Heal, and to Pardon; Mercy, Mercy is our only Cry, Have Mercy on us thou Son of David. Say but Thou to our Distempered Souls, Be it unto You, even as you will, and we shall be made whole from this very hour. Amen.  
FINIS.