THE Way to get RAIN: By way of Question and Answer.  
Showing the true Cause both of too much want, and too much abundance of RAIN.  
With the only remedy and means to remove either of these judgements when they are upon us.  
As also showing what we must do upon the removal of either of these Judgements.  Job 38, 30. 
The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.  
LONDON: Printed for John Wright at the King's Head in the old Bayley. 1649.   

The way to get Rain.  
Question.  
WHo hath the disposing of the rain and showers?  
Ans. The Lord only.  
Q. How prove you that?  
A. By these places of Scripture, Job 5.8, 9, 10. I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my Cause, which doth great things and unsearchable, yea marvellous things without number; who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields: 
Job 36.27.  For he maketh small the drops of water; they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof. Job 37.6. For he saith to the snow, Be thou upon the earth; likewise to the small rain, and the latter rain. Jer. 5.24. Neither say they in their hearts, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter rain in their season. Psalm. 147.8. Who covereth the heaven with clouds; who prepareth rain for the earth. Acts 14.17. And gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons.  
Q. Why doth the earth sometimes want rain?  
A. Because the Lord in judgement with holdeth it from the earth.  
Q How prove you that?  
A. By these places of Scripture, Gen. 2.5. For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth. Amos 4.7. And I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and caused it to rain upon one City, and not upon another.  
Q. And why doth the Lord sometimes withhold the rain from the earth?  
A. Because of the wickedness of the people that dwell on the earth.  
Q. How prove you that?  
A. By these places or Scripture, Leu. 26.18, 19 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then will I punish you seven times more for your sins; and I will break the ride of your power and I will make your heaven as Iron and your earth as brass. Jer. 3.2, 3. Thou hast polluted thy Land with thy whoredoms, and with thy wickedness, therefore have the showers been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain.  
Q. And why hath the earth sometimes too much rain?  
An. Because the Lord is pleased in judgement to send it.  
Q. How prove you that?  
A. By these places of Scripture, Job 36.26, 27, 28. Behold God is great, and we know him not; neither can the number of his years be searched out, for he maketh small the drops of water; they power d●wne rain according to the vapour thereof, which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly. Job 38.25. Who hath divided a water course for the overflowing of waters. Job 28.26. When he made a Decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning and for the thunder.  
Q. And why doth the Lord sometimes send too much rain upon the earth?  
A. Because of the wickedness of the people that dwell on the earth.  
Q. How prove you that?  
A. By these place? of Scripture, Gen. 6.13. & 7.12. And God said, unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold I will destroy them with the earth; And the rain was upon the earth forty day●s and forty nights. Ezek. 38.18, 22. And it shall come to pass at that same time, when Gog shall come against the Land of Israel, saith the Lo●d God, that my fury shall come up in my face; and I will plead against him with pestilence, and with blood, and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him an overflowing rain.  
Q And for what sins doth the Lord sometimes in judgement withhold rain from the earth when it wants it?  
A. For five special sins.  
Q. And which is the first sin for which the Lord doth sometimes in judgement withhold rain from the earth, when it wants it.  
A. The first sin is Idolatry.  
Q. How do you prove that?  
A. I prove it out or Deu. 11 16, 17. where it is said, Take heed to yourselves, that your hearts be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods, and worship them, and then the Lords wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven that there be no rain.  
Q. And which is the second sin, for which the Lord doth sometimes in judgement with hold rain from the earth when it wants it.  
A. For disobedience to his commandments.  
A. How do you prove that?  
A. I prove it out of Deut. 28.15.13, 24. where it is said, But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord, to observe to do all his commandments & his statutes which I command thee this day, the heaven that is over thy head, shall be brass; and the earth that is under thee, shall be iron; and the Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust.  
Q. And what is the third sin for which the Lord doth sometimes in judgement withhold rain from the earth when it wants it.  
An. For not bringing forth fruit answerable to the means and mercies bestowed upon a people.  
Q. How prove you that?  
A. I prove it out of Isa 5.4, 5, 6. where it is said, What could have been done more to my Vineyard, that I have not done in it; wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes. And now I will tell you what I will do to my Vineyard; I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up, and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down; and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up thorns and briers; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.  
Q. And what is the fourth sin, for which the Lord doth sometimes in judgement withhold rain from the earth when it is wanting?  
A. It is the sin of oppression and cruelty towards the poor.  
Q. How prove you that?  
A. I prove it out of Amos 4.1, 7. where it is said, Hear this word ye Kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy; and I also have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to harvest, and caused it to rain upon one City, and not upon another.  
Q. And what is the fifth sin for which the Lord doth sometimes in judgement withhold rain from the earth, when it is wanting?  
A. It is the sin of neglecting Gods ordinances, or omitting his worship when he requires it.  
Q. How prove you that?  
A. I prove it out of Zech. 4.17. where it is said: And it shall be, that whosoever will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem, to worship the King the Lord of Hosts, even upon him shall be no rain.  
Q. And for what sins doth the Lord sometimes in judgement send too much rain upon the earth?  
A. For two especial sins.  
Q. And which is the first sin for which the Lord doth sometimes in judgement send too much rain upon the earth?  
A. It is the sin of unequal and ungodly marriages; when God's people in their matching, have more respect to beauty and worldly considerations, then to piety and godliness.  
Q. How prove you that?  
A. I prove it out of Gen. 6.2, 3. Gen. 7.1,2. Compared together, where it is said that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all that they chose; And the Lord said my spirit shall not always strive with man, because he is but flesh, yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years▪ and the windows of heaven were opened, and the Rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.  
Qu. And which is the second Sin, for which the Lord doth sometimes in Judgement send too much Rain upon the earth?  
A. It is the soothing up of wicked men in their sins, and not denouncing judgements against them, as there is cause.  
Q. How prove you that?  
A. I prove it out of Ezek. 13.10 13. Where it is said, Because even because they have seduced my people, saying peace, and there was no peace, and one built up a wall, and lo others daubed it with untempered mortar: Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury, and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger.  
Q. Then it seemeth if we would obtain Rain in the time of drought, we must expect it only from the Lord?  
A. Yea indeed, if the Lord alone have the disposing of the Rain, than we are there to we expect it from the Planets, nor from the Clouds, though the sky be over spread with them, no nor yet from the wind, though it be in the South, for all such things are but the vanities of the Gentiles, of whom it is said, Jer. 14.22 By way of interogation, which implys a plain negation.  
Are there any among the vanities of the Gentles that can cause Raine, or can the heavens give showers, art thou not he O Lord our God, therefore we will wait upon thee, for thou hast made all these things?  
The Lord only is the Father of the Rain, and hath begotten the drops of the dew, and therefore we are to expect it only from him,  
Q. But what must we do that we may obtain Rain at the hands of the Lord, now in the time of drought?  
A. We must use such means as the Lord hath prescribed us.  
Q. And what means hath the Lord prescribed?  
A. That you shall find set down, 2 Chro. 7.13.14. Where the Lord saith, If I shut up heaven that there be no Rain, It my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then will I hear in heaven and forgive their sins, and heal their Land.  
Q. Then I perceive the first thing we must do, is to humble ourselves, but how shall we do that truly,  
A. If we would humble ourselves truly, we must seriously examine our selves what sins we have been guilty of, and especially as touching those sins, for which as you heard the Lord with holdeth Raine.  
Q. I pray you instruct me a little farther in this point, and repeat those Sins again, for which the Lord withholdeth Rain in the time of drought?  
A. The first is Idolatry, and therefore if you would truly humble yourself for your sins, examine yourself whether you have not loved, desired feared, and trusted in some creature, either more then in God, or equal with God. The Second is, disobeydience to God's Commandments, and therefore if you would truly humble yourself, you must examine your heart and life by some spiritual exposition of the ten Commandments. The third is, not bringing forth fruit answerable to the means and mercies bestowed on us, and therefore if you would truly humble yourself, you must examine yourself whether you have grown in grace, and been filled with the fruits of righteousness, answerable to those means and mercies, which the Lord hath bestowed on you. The fourth sin is, oppression and cruelty to the poor, and therefore if you would truly humble yourself, you must examine yourself whether you have not taken all advantages to enhance the prizes of such Commodities, as you have dealt in, and thereby oppressed the poor and needy. The last sin is, neglecting God's Ordinance, and therefore if you would truly humble yourself for your sins, you must examine yourself, whether you have not sometimes omitted prayer, hearing, reading, and receiving the sacrament, when you might and aught.  
Q. Well, the next thing we must do is to pray, but how shall we do that aright  
A. It is the spirit of Jesus Christ only that can teach you to pray aright, But if you stand in need of, and do desire a brief platform of prayer for Rain, now in the time of drought, then say from your heart,  
O most holy and gracious Lord, for we do here acknowledge before thee, that we have sinned against thee; we have broken every one of thy holy and just Commandments, for we have loved, desired, feared, and trusted in the creatures; yea, and delighted in the creature more than in thee, we have been very unthankful in the time of plenty, and have not brought forth fruit answerable to the means and mercies bestowed upon us; we have omitted prayer, hearing, reading & receiving the sacrament, when thou hast called us thereunto, we have taken thy titles, atributes, word and works in vain, by using them ignorantly, irreverently, and after a formal coursary manner, we have profaned thy day, by thinking our own thoughts speaking our own words, and doing our own works, we have been disobedient to superiors, and been much failing and wanting in our duties to inferiors; we have been rashly and sinfully angry, and not free from malice and envy, neither have we been free from unchaste and lustful thoughts we have immoderately desired to be rich, and have not always dealt so uprightly and justly, in buying and selling, in borrowing and lending, as we ought we have sometimes contemned, and and thought too basely of others, and have been guilty of evil surmisings and wrongful suspicion, and have sometimes rashly and unjustly judged, and sensured others, and spoken evil of them behind their backs, finally, O Lord we have been guilty of covetousenesse, and discontentedness with our present, condition, and have had inward long for that which hath belonged to other men.  
Now Lord for these & other sins whereof we have been guilty, we have justly deserved damnation in hell, how much more this judgement and chastisement of excessive drought and want of Rain; But yet seeing thou hast been pleased to declare thyself to be abundantly gracious and merciful in thy son Jesus Christ, and dost require us to seek thy fatherly face in him, lo we come to seek thy face, and to meet thee in him, praying and beseeching thee to manifest thyself in him to be a most gracious merciful and reconciled Father, in pardoning and forgiving these and all our other sins, and to turn our hearts against them, and to give us victory over them, and heal our land of this immoderate drought and want of Rain. O Lord though our iniquities, 
Jer. 14.7.  testify against us, do thou it for thy name sake, for our backslidings are many: O Lord we read that Eliah was a man subject to the like passions that we be, 
Jam. 5.17.18.  and he prayed earnestly that it might not Rain, and it Reigned not on the earth by the space of three years and six months, and he prayed again, and the heavens gave Rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit; Now therefore O Lord we pray thee hear us for thy mercy sake. Are there any among the vanities of the gentiles that can give us Rain, or can the heavens give showers, art not thou he O Lord our God▪ therefore we will wait on thee, for thou hast made all these things, Jer. 14.22.  
Q. And will the Lord hear our prayer if we thus pray, and will he send us Rain?  
A. Doubtless if we could thus humbly acknowledge our Sins, and thus by prayer seek Gods facein Christ, and then truly turn from our evil ways, God would according to his promise forgive our sins and heal our Land, it is our iniquities, which do separate between us and our God, and hinder the showers from coming down upon us, and therefore if we could but turn from our iniquities, and yield obedience to his Commandments, he would send us Rain, according to his gracious promise, Levit. 26.3, 4. If ye walk in my Statues, and keep my Commandments and do them, then will I give you Rain in due season, and the Land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and again, Deu. 11.13.14. And it shall come to pass, If you shall barken diligently to my commandments, which I command you this day to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul, that I will give you the Rain of your Land in due season, the first Rain, and the latter Rain, that thou mayst gather in thy Corn, and thy Wine, and thine Oil.  
Yea, to conclude, than the Lord would say unto us, ask ye of the Lord Raine, in the the time of the latter Rain, so the Lord shall make bright clouds, 
Zech. 10.1.  and give them showers of Rain to every one grass in the fields.  
Q. And what if after we have used all these means, the Lord be pleased either to send us Rain in the time of excessive drought, or to send us fair weather in the time of excessive Rain, what must we do then?  
A. Then we must from our hearts say with David, Psa. 115. 1. Not unto us O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the glory for thy mercy and thy truth sake; And we must not only thank the Lord with our lips, but also in our lives, by fearing to do any thing, which may displease him, and endeavouring to do all things that may please him.  
FINIS.