'•^4 
 
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tihtaty oftU t:heolo0ical Seminar;? 
 
 PRINCETON . NEW JERSEY 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 Samael Agnew, Esq. 
 
 BV 205 .T74 1841 
 Treffry, Richard, 1771-1842. 
 A treatise on secret and 
 social prayer 
 
A TREATISE 
 
 SECRET AND SOCIAL PRAYER. 
 

 ^ -^^^ /"-. 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 SECRET AND SOCIAL 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 BY RICHARD^ TREFFRY. 
 
 ■Prayers are the bulwarks of piety."— Barrow. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PUBLISHED BY JOHN MASON, 
 
 AT THE WESLEYAN CONFERENCE OFFICE, 14, CITY-ROAD; 
 AND SOLD AT 66, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1841. 
 
ROCHE, PRINTER, 25, HOXTON-SQUARE, LONDON. 
 

 PREFAC: 
 
 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, more positively 
 enjoined, more frequently practised, and to the per- 
 formance 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 con- 
 science ; a duty that admits of no substitute ; and 
 from the obligation to which there can be no ex- 
 oneration. But, strange as it may seem, it is a duty 
 which thousands, through ignorance, totally neglect ; 
 and others, through carelessness, imperfectly and 
 irregularly perform. Even among those who admit 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 its propriety, and allow its necessity, many there are 
 who postpone its performance to what they deem a 
 more convenient opportunity. What unwillingness 
 they evince to enter into their closet ; and what 
 reluctance to remain in it ! How many excuses are 
 framed for the total omission of this duty I 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 mercies 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 
 happiness increased, and the end of its publication 
 answered. 
 
 London, April 27th, 1841. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 A DEFINITION OF PRAYER 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OF THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE SEVERAL PARTS OF PRAYER 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER 51 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON THE ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON THE PLACES AND SEASONS APPROPRIATED TO SECRET 
 
 PRAYER 102 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 EXCUSES FOR THE NEGLECT OF SECRET PRAYER CON- 
 SIDERED 119 
 
Vm CONTENTS. 
 
 ON SOCIAL PRAYER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 SOCIAL PRAYER ILLUSTRATED 135 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 REASONS WHY MEN SHOULD PRAY WITH AND FOR EACH 
 
 OTHER 
 
 162 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON PUBLIC MEETINGS APPROPRIATED TO SOCIAL PRAYER 180 
 
A TREATISE 
 
 ON 
 
 SECRET AND SOCIAL PRAYER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A DEFINITION OF PRAYER. 
 
 God is the only self-sufficient Being in the 
 universe. His existence is unoriginated, and 
 therefore necessary and eternal. He is empha- 
 tically 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 
 qualities as they conceived essential to happi- 
 ness, and rejected all others. Whatever differ- 
 ences of opinion there were among them con- 
 cerning the perfections of the Divine Being, in 
 this they were all agreed, that blessedness is so 
 
 B 
 
2 A TREATISE 
 
 inseparable from the notion of the Deity, that 
 whosoever professes to beheve in the existence 
 of God, must acknowledge him to be perfectly 
 and absolutely happy. And all intelHgent and 
 rational creatures are happy only as they re- 
 semble him, and are partakers of his divine 
 nature. The highest orders of created beings 
 who circle his throne rejoicing, have no self-ori- 
 ginated sources of happiness ; no innate springs 
 of blissful enjoyment. Happiness is not essen- 
 tial to their existence. Some of their order have 
 forfeited their elevated station, and by renoun- 
 cing their allegiance to their Creator, have in- 
 curred his heaviest displeasure ; and are reserved 
 unto the day of judgment to be adequately pun- 
 ished. 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 prayer, 
 which is the native language of dependence. 
 
ON PRAYER. 3 
 
 Prayer is a duty rendered sacred by antiquity ; 
 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, pre- 
 vails among the heavenly inhabitants, we have 
 no means of ascertaining; since the duties of 
 angels, or of redeemed 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 
 exigencies 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, 
 the grand reason why we are so little acquainted 
 with its true nature. Our pride excludes the 
 B 2 
 
^ A TREATISE 
 
 idea that we can be mistaken on a subject so 
 very intelligible ; and while we suppose informa- 
 tion 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 pre- 
 judices inseparable 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 blessedness 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 devo- 
 tional sentiments. Words alone, however well 
 chosen and adapted to express the sentiments 
 of the mind, form no part of prayer. " This 
 people," saith God concerning the Jews, " draw 
 near me with their mouth, and with their lips do 
 honour 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 lan- 
 guage of the heart, we cite the case of Hannah, 
 of whom the inspired writer says, " Hannah 
 spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but 
 her voice was not heard." Eli, who stood by, 
 thought she was drunken, and said unto her. 
 
ON PRAYER. 5 
 
 *' 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 sor- 
 rowful 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, O Lord, attend unto my cry; give 
 ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of 
 feigned lips." (Psal. xvii. I.) " Unto thee, O 
 Lord, do I lift up my soul." (Psal. xxv. I.) " As 
 the hart panteth after the water brooks, so 
 panteth my soul after thee, O God." (Psal. xlii. 
 1.) " O 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." (Psal. Ixiii. 1.) " Rejoice the soul 
 of thy servant : for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift 
 up my soul." (Psal. Ixxxvi. 4.) " Unto thee 
 lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the 
 heavens." (Psal. cxxiii. 1.) From 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 en- 
 gaged with God; it is a pouring out of the 
 soul in devout supplication. " It is not elo- 
 quence, but earnestness ; not figures of speech, 
 but compunction of soul." Hence, prayer sup- 
 
6 A TREATISE 
 
 poses a sense of want. It is the language of 
 a heart deeply affected with a sight of its neces- 
 sities. 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 concerned. Our physical necessities affect us 
 too sensibly to be overlooked. A man who is 
 sorely pinched with hunger, cannot remain ig- 
 norant of it. An unfortunate person beaten 
 by the tempest, 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 tho- 
 roughly acquainted 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 ma}^ be an utter stranger. 
 With the Laodiceans of old, he may think him- 
 self 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. Self-deception is a common evil : 
 " The heart is deceitful above all things, and 
 desperately wicked : who can know it ? " which 
 
ON PRAYER. 7 
 
 is an intimation that the heart is so deceitful, 
 and so wicked, that a knowledge of it is attended 
 with the utmost difficulty. 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 darkness 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 horrible 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, " skimming 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 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 
 
8 A TREATISE 
 
 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 unproiitably 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 pardoned 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 perdition, until 
 he has a lively conviction of the imminent 
 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 
 against us. Nor is it possible for us to know 
 ourselves, as moral agents, by the efforts of our 
 own reason, or by any words which man's wisdom 
 teacheth. It is by the unction of the Holy One 
 
ON PRAYER. 9 
 
 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 bestow- 
 ment of the Spirit was confined exclusively to 
 the apostolic 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 im- 
 parted. 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 forgive- 
 ness of sins, and inheritance among them that 
 are sanctified by faith that is in me." But the 
 Gospel is ministered in vain, without the agency 
 of the Holy Ghost to accompany that ministry. 
 Hence it is said of the primitive apostles, 
 b5 
 
10 A TREATISE 
 
 that "they went forth and preached every 
 where, the Lord working with them, and con- 
 firming 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 redressed. We may have 
 " the seeing eye," without " 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 understandings 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 of desire, by which the 
 prayers of saints are uniformly characterized. 
 
 And the same Spirit that enlightens the 
 understanding will, if not resisted, affect the 
 
ON PRAYER. 11 
 
 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 redemption through the blood of 
 Christ, even the forgiveness 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 desires 
 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 speaking 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 mentally 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; 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 
 
12 A TREATISE 
 
 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, O 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, " Whiles 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 oblation." 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 towards 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. 
 
ON PRAYER. 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OF THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER. 
 
 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 ne- 
 cessary for the acceptable performance of every 
 religious 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 
 humility 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 
 majesty, in whose sight all the nations of the 
 earth are as nothing, and less than nothing, 
 and vanity ; and his eternity, immensity, and 
 infinity; are subjects that cannot fail to inspire 
 us with deep lowliness of mind, when we 
 
14 A TREATISE 
 
 approach his awful majesty. And while, on the 
 one hand, we contemplate the infinite glories 
 of the Deity, we should, on the other, look at 
 our frailties, our imperfections, 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 con- 
 sumed : it is 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 supphants to the throne of grace, sueing 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 
 Abraham, 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 he said, " 1 have heard of thee 
 by the hearing of the ear ; but now mine eye 
 
ON PRAYER. 15 
 
 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 exer- 
 cise myself in great matters, 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 dispensation, when God would 
 sum up the things which are pre-eminently good 
 in his sight, humility is marked as one. " He 
 hath showed thee, O 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 shall be exalted." 
 " Be clothed with humility : for God resisteth 
 the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." 
 
16 A TREATISE 
 
 " Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty 
 hand of God, that he may exalt you in due 
 time." " Whosoever humbleth himself as this 
 little child, the same is the greatest in the 
 kingdom of heaven." 
 
 The parable of the Pharisee and publican 
 vs^as spoken by our Lord, to illustrate the widely 
 different effects betv^een the prayer of a vain 
 man, proudly puffed up in his fleshly mind, and 
 that 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 ex- 
 claiming, " God be merciful 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 sin- 
 cerity. Sincerity is opposed to hypocrisy, dis- 
 simulation, 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 that " is not 
 manifest 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 
 outward appearance, but judgeth righteous judg- 
 ment. The heaviest woes, and the most dread- 
 ful anathemas, which Christ, in the days of his 
 
ON PRAYER. 17 
 
 flesh, denounced against any classes of sinners, 
 were those of the Scribes and Pharisees; and 
 principally, if not solely, on account of their 
 insincerity. They imposed upon others by their 
 external semblance of sanctity. " Woe 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 themselves, and their attendants, 
 upon them for entertainment; 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 pre- 
 sume 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." 
 
 From the above observations, we may see how 
 hateful hypocrisy is in the sight of God ; who 
 must be worshipped, if worshipped at all, in 
 spirit and in truth. That our prayers may 
 therefore be acceptable to our Maker, let us 
 sincerely desire the blessings for which we 
 
18 A TREATISE 
 
 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 before the face 
 of Almighty God, our heavenly Father. Are 
 we seeking for pardon ? 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 re- 
 joicing 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 confi- 
 dence which we have in Him to whom we present 
 our petitions. " All things," said our Saviour, 
 " whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, 
 ye shall receive." " O 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 wouldest believe, 
 thou shalt see the glory of God?" " Whatsoever 
 things ye desire, when ye pray, beheve that ye 
 receive them, and ye shall have them." " This 
 is the confidence that we have in him, that if we 
 ask any thing according to his will, he heareth 
 
ON PRAYER. 19 
 
 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 expectation of 
 success; a belief that God will grant us the 
 desires of our hearts. It was said of Abraham 
 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 matter, 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. " I 
 am," saith he, " the Lord, I change not ; there- 
 fore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." It is 
 said of the Old Testament saints, that through 
 faith they obtained promises; that is, the ac- 
 complishment of the divine promises. If, there- 
 
20 A TREATISE 
 
 fore, 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 mea- 
 sure 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 accom- 
 plishment 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 communication 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 ! ' " 
 
 The spirit of prayer is a spirit of fervency and 
 
ON PRAYER. 21 
 
 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, O Lord, I beseech thee, 
 deliver my soul." " Like a crane, or a swallow, 
 so did I chatter ; I did mourn as a dove ; mine 
 eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am 
 oppressed ; undertake for me." " O that I knew 
 where I might find him! that I might come 
 even to his seat ! I would order my cause be- 
 fore him, and fill my mouth with arguments ; I 
 would know the words which he would answer, 
 and understand what he would say unto me." 
 " O Lord, hear ; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken 
 and do; defer not for thine own sake, O 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 in 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 eyes, are we not 
 justified in being fervent, and urgent in our 
 
^^ A TREATISE 
 
 addresses unto God ? Let us consider the ines- 
 timable value and importance of the blessings 
 for which we pray : blessings, for the purchase 
 of which the Redeemer sacrificed his 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 God 
 have prized so highly, that, rather than rehn- 
 quish them, they have endured "a great fight 
 of afflictions," 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 punish- 
 ment 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 pro- 
 portioned to the objects which they are designed 
 to effect. To call forth the utmost energies of 
 the mind, or the powers of the body, for the 
 
ON PRAYER. 23 
 
 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 most adapted to attain 
 the end. If we saw, for instance, our lives in 
 imminent danger ; were we exposed to the jaws 
 of a lion, or the paws of a bear; or were we to 
 awake at midnight, 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 solicit help in a cool, dispassionate, 
 apathetic manner ? Should we not pray in all 
 the agony of intense desire, and earnest impor- 
 tunity, to those who might be near, for pity's 
 sake, to devise some method to save us ? And 
 if the natural Kfe 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 con- 
 sume 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 is in 
 danger of natural death, with how much greater 
 
24 A TREATISE 
 
 reason would it exonerate us from all blame in 
 beseeching God earnestly, for his mercy's sake, 
 to save us when the soul is in danger of eternal 
 death ! Surely, 
 
 " On such a theme 'twere impious to be calm." 
 
 The spirit of prayer is a spirit of sacred 
 importunity. We should urge our plea with 
 earnest and continued solicitation. There may 
 be reasons in the divine mind, with which we 
 are unacquainted, 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 urgent, eager, free, and bold ; 
 and, in a manner, peremptorily importunate at 
 the throne of grace. This apparent delay on the 
 part of God in answering 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 mine adversary. " And 
 he would not for awhile : but afterward he said 
 
ON PRAYER. 25 
 
 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 him, 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 com- 
 pound of impiety and inhumanity, — who neither 
 feared God, nor regarded man, — would do a poor 
 widow justice against her adversary, merely for 
 her importunity, God most assuredly will avenge 
 his own elect, who cry day and night unto him. 
 The widow was relieved, not because she asked 
 rehef, 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 him ? And he from within shall answer 
 and say, Trouble me not : the door is now shut, 
 c 
 
26 A TREATISE 
 
 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 circum- 
 stance ? Why, said he, " I say unto you, Ask, 
 and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall 
 find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 
 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he 
 that seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh 
 it shall be opened." " Here," says Dr. Barrow, 
 *' our Saviour intimateth, 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 /or his impudence ; that is, for his 
 confident and continued urgency ; admitting no 
 refusal or excuse. So doth God, in such cases, 
 allow and oblige us to deal with him, being 
 instant and pertinacious in our requests, giving 
 him no rest; (as the phrase is in the prophet ;) not 
 enduring to be put off*, or brooking any repulse ; 
 never being discouraged, or cast into despair, 
 by any delay or semblance of neglect. We may 
 wrestle with God, like Jacob ; and with Jacob 
 may say, / ivill not let thee go, except thou bless 
 me. Thus God suffereth himself to be prevailed 
 upon, and is willingly overcome : thus Omnipo- 
 
ON PRAYER. 27 
 
 tence may be mastered, and a happy victory may 
 be gained over Invincibility itself. Heaven some- 
 times 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 sup- 
 pliant. 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 miracu- 
 lous relief, and proposing it for an example to 
 us of perseverance. 
 
 The spirit of prayer is a spirit of implicit 
 dependence on the agency of the Holy Ghost. 
 Genuine prayer is the effect of the Spirit's in- 
 fluence. Hence such texts as the following : — 
 " I will pray with the Spirit." " Praying always 
 with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, 
 and watching thereunto with all perseverance 
 and supplication for all saints." " But ye, be- 
 loved, building up yourselves on your most holy 
 faith, praying in the Holy Ghost." " The Spirit 
 helpeth our infirmities ; for we know not what 
 to pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself 
 maketh intercession for us with groanings which 
 cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the 
 hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, 
 c2 
 
^0 A TREATISE 
 
 because he maketh intercession for the saints 
 according to the will of God." " We have re- 
 ceived 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 o"ur 
 hearts ; so graciously hath God provided for the 
 encouragement of those who pray. " The Spirit, 
 as an enlightening Spirit, teacheth 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 
 employ language in making known our requests 
 unto him, can we do better than to employ his 
 own language ? Are we seeking for the pardon 
 
ON PRAYER. /Of 
 
 of our sins ? Then what can be more simple, 
 and at the same time more energetic, than the 
 following expressions ? — " God be merciful to 
 me, a sinner." " Lord, save, or I perish." " O 
 Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul." " Hide 
 thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine ini- 
 quities." Are we seeking the regeneration of 
 our nature? How appropriate and significant 
 are the following expressions ! — " Create in me 
 a clean heart, O 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 glad- 
 ness, 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 illustrious son Solomon : " Give 
 thy servant an understanding 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 in- 
 struction: — "O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake 
 for me." " Turn thee unto me, and have mercy 
 upon me ; for I am desolate and afflicted. The 
 troubles of my heart are enlarged : O bring thou 
 me out of my distresses. Look upon mine afflic- 
 tion and my pain; and forgive all my sin." 
 
30 A TREATISE 
 
 " Remove thy stroke away from me : I am con- 
 sumed by the blow of thine hand." " Consider 
 mine affliction, and deUver me: for I do not 
 forget thy laws." Such is the language of the 
 Holy Ghost; and though the phraseology em- 
 ployed in our prayers cannot be uniformly and 
 literally scriptural, yet no sentiments 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. 
 
ON PRAYER. 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 OF THE SEVERAL PARTS OF PRAYER. 
 
 " Prayer," according to Cruden, "comes from 
 a word in the Hebrew, which signifies appeal, 
 interpellation, intercession; whereby we refer 
 our own cause and that of others unto 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 several particulars. 
 
 The first thing to be considered in the nature 
 of prayer is invocation ; or calling upon the 
 object to whom we pray. This object is God, 
 and God alone. " O Thou," saith David, " that 
 hearest 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 idols, the work of their own 
 hands. But no crucifix or image must be used 
 
32 A TREATISE 
 
 in worship until first devoutly consecrated by 
 the priest. The consecration prayer is, " We 
 implore thee, O 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 redemp- 
 tion of souls ; and that it may be a comfort, pro- 
 tection, 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 
 Scriptures of truth to describe his nature. No 
 creature 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 graci- 
 ously condescended to reveal himself by certain 
 names, titles, and attributes. He is called 
 " Jehovah ;" (Isai. xii. 2 ;) " the God of hea- 
 ven ;" (2 Chron. xxxvi. 23 ;) " the God of the 
 whole earth ;" (Isai. liv. 5 ;) " the God of all 
 grace ;" (1 Pet. v. 10 ;) " the God of all comfort ;" 
 
ON PRAYER. 33 
 
 (2 Cor. 1,3;)" the God of patience and con- 
 solation ;" (Rom. XV. 5;) "the God of peace;" 
 (Heb. xiii. 20 ;) " the God of pity ;" (Psal. Ixxxvi. 
 15;) "the true and living God;" (Jer. x. 10 ;) 
 " a jealous God ;" (Exod. xxxiv. 14 ;) " the 
 mighty God ;" (Gen. xlix. 24 ;) " God alone ;" 
 (Psal. Ixxxvi. 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 heaven and earth ;" (Matt. xi. 25 ;) 
 " the Lord of the harvest ;" (Luke x. 2 ;) " th^ 
 Lord of hosts ;" (Isai. xiv. 27 ;) " the Lord of 
 lords;" (Deut. x. 17;) "the Lord of the vine- 
 yard ;" (Matt. xxi. 40 ;) and " the Lord mighty 
 in battle." (Psal. xxiv. 8.) 
 
 But while the Deity is described in the Scrip- 
 tures by titles illustrative of his glorious majesty 
 and absolute dominion, titles which are emi- 
 nently 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 feehngs of affectionate 
 regard and implicit confidence. " He is a 
 refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of 
 trouble." (Psal. ix. 9.) " He is the Hope of 
 Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble." 
 (Jer. xiv. 8.) " He is the Fountain of living 
 c 5 
 
34 A TREATISE 
 
 water." (Jer. ii. 13.) " He is the Shepherd of 
 Israel." (Psal. Ixxx. 1.) And especially he is 
 a Father ; and " like as a father pitieth his 
 children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear 
 him." (Psal. ciii. 13.) 
 
 The next in order in the several parts of 
 prayer, is adoration j which consists in rendering 
 to God the honour due unto his name. The 
 ancient Romans 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 com- 
 pounded oiad, " to," and 05, oris, " mouth;" and 
 literally signifies 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 fore-finger 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: for I 
 should have denied the God that is above." (Job 
 xxxi. 2Q—2S.) And God said to Elijah, " I 
 have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the 
 knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and 
 
ON PRAYER. 35 
 
 every mouth which hath not kissed him," or 
 kissed towards him. " Those who adore," says 
 St. Jerome, " used to kiss their hands, and to 
 bow down their heads; and the Hebrews, ac- 
 cording to the idiom of their language, put 
 kissing for adoration." Thus, (Psal. 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 practice of 
 adoration may be said to be still subsisting in 
 England, in the ceremony of kissing the king's 
 or queen's hand, and serving them at table: 
 both being performed kneeling on one knee. 
 
 But 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 resemblance to what those exalted beings 
 feel who veil their faces with their wings, and 
 " cast their crowns before his throne, saying, 
 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory 
 and honour 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, 
 
36 A TREATISE 
 
 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, putting them upon the head of the goat, 
 and shall send him away by the hand of a fit 
 man into the wilderness : and the goat shall 
 bear 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 assem- 
 bled 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 ini- 
 quities 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 con- 
 fessed, and worshipped the Lord their God." 
 (Nehem. ix. 1 — 3.) When Achan had com- 
 mitted 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 confession 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 37 
 
 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, 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 preaching 
 at Ephesus, it is said, " Many that believed 
 came, and confessed, and showed their deeds;" 
 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 sanc- 
 tity. The truth is, this is a great artifice and 
 engine, by which they keep the people devoted 
 
38 A TREATISE 
 
 to their interests; the knowledge of secrets 
 rendering them the more to be feared. In short, 
 this scrupulous enumeration of their sins, with 
 all their circumstances, under the pain of ana- 
 thema, is nothing but a rack to the con- 
 science, invented and exercised 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. Our sins of omission. 
 What duties we have neglected 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 wanderings 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 advan- 
 tage over us; what sinful tempers we have 
 indulged ; what unprofitable words we have 
 spoken; and what iniquitous actions we have 
 committed ; — all of which might, by the grace 
 of God, have been avoided, had we been on our 
 guard against the encroachments of evil. We 
 should confess our ingratitude to God. Though 
 
ON PRAYER. 39 
 
 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 gratitude 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 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 judg- 
 ment 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 peremp- 
 torily enjoined, but what we have actually done, 
 that he has positively prohibited. We should 
 confess the sin of our nature, our original 
 depravity, 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 delibe- 
 
40 A TREATISE 
 
 rately violated his law, which is holy, just, and 
 good. And while we acknowledge our sins, let 
 us deprecate the punishment which we have 
 so justly merited ; and say, with the Psalmist, 
 *' If thou shouldest mark iniquities, O 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 solicitation to 
 obtain all the blessings which God has promised 
 in the Gospel of his dear Son. Our Saviour has 
 taught us to pray, that we may be 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 
 ascendancy which evil hath obtained in our 
 hearts, by its reiterated acts ; from the dark- 
 ness of our understandings, the perverseness of 
 our wills, the hardness of our hearts, the carnal- 
 ity 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, seek- 
 ing whom he may devour; that we may not 
 be ignorant of his devices ; that we may be able, 
 by the shield of faith, to quench all the fiery 
 darts of the wicked one. 
 
ON PRAYER. 41 
 
 In our petitions we not only beseech God 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 pray that the necessities of our 
 souls may be graciously supplied ; that the eyes 
 of our understandings may be enlightened, that 
 we may see light in God's Hght ; 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 par- 
 doneth iniquity, transgression, and sin, may 
 forgive us all our sins, negligences, and igno- 
 rances ; and that he may give us the knowledge 
 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 efiiisions of the Holy Spirit ; that 
 
4f2 A TREATISE 
 
 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 
 be sanctified wholly ; and that our whole spirit 
 and soul and body may be preserved blameless, 
 unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and 
 that, finally, 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 him 
 pray." Afflictions are incentives to prayer ; and 
 prayer is our only asylum in the hour of afldic- 
 tion. Then we should pray for divine instruc- 
 tion, 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 He that hath 
 appointed it. It hath a voice, and we must 
 learn to understand the language of it. God, in 
 every affliction, " performeth the thing that is 
 appointed for us." And we should pray that 
 
ON PRAYER. 43 
 
 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 par- 
 takers 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, 
 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 buffet him, " besought the Lord, thrice, that, 
 it might depart from him." x\nd 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 en- 
 couraged to commit our cause unto God ; 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 circumstances that we meditate, 
 and connexions that we are about to form, when 
 we need divine direction. 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 
 
44 A TREATISE 
 
 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 servant offer his prayer to 
 God for direction ! " O Lord God," said he, 
 " of my master Abraham, 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 supplication was crowned. 
 
 Finally, prayer includes thanksgiving. Thanks- 
 giving has ever been considered a part of prayer. 
 " I exhort," says St. Paul to Timothy, " there- 
 fore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, in- 
 tercessions, 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 godliness and honesty. For this is good and 
 acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour." 
 It is said of Mattaniah, that " he was the 
 principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer." 
 (Nehem. xi. 17.) " And at the dedication of 
 the wall at Jerusalem, they sought the Levites 
 out of all their places, to bring them to Jeru- 
 salem, to keep the dedication with gladness, 
 both with thanksgiving, and with singing, with 
 cymbals, psalteries, and with harps." (Ch. xii. 27.) 
 And " in the days of David and Asaph of old, 
 there were chiefs of the singers, and songs of 
 
ON PRAYER. 45 
 
 praise and thanksgiving unto God." (Ch. xii. 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 Jerusalem was heard 
 even afar off." (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 ; but in 
 everything 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 re- 
 tention of benefits in the memory, and frequent 
 reflections upon them ; a due esteem and valu- 
 ation of benefits ; a reception of those benefits 
 with a willing mind and vehement affection ; a 
 due acknowledgment of our obligations ; endea- 
 vours 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 
 obligations we are under to God, and to 
 
46 A TREATISE 
 
 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 impos- 
 sible. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 neither have entered into the heart of man, the 
 things which God hath prepared for them that 
 love him." " We know not what we shall be." 
 The present is but the infancy of our being, and 
 eternity alone can disclose the boundless state 
 of blessedness to which, as redeemed human 
 spirits, we are entitled. Among the blessings 
 for which we are obligated to thank God, the 
 first in order is that of our creation. He com- 
 manded 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 boundless benevolence would call any crea- 
 ture into existence but for its good. The ex- 
 istence of man especially demands his gratitude. 
 " Thou madest him," saith the apostle, " a little 
 lower than the angels ; thou crownedst him with 
 glory and honour, 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 47 
 
 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, in- 
 tellectual improvement, and eternal blessedness, 
 than those with which the people of this country 
 are favoured. 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 vineyards which we planted 
 not. We inhabit an island whose rampart is 
 the sea; we have mechanics and artisans that 
 erect our houses, make our apparel, and minister 
 to our comfort ; we have 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 coun- 
 try 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 
 continual preservation. God is emphatically 
 called, "the Preserver of men." "O 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 
 
48 A TREATISE 
 
 holdetli 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 noon- 
 day. And while many of our fellow-creatures, 
 younger than we are, and less guilty, have been 
 hurried 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 providential 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 his 
 inestimable love in the redemption of the world 
 by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a subject 
 that 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 49 
 
 towards 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 ineifable 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 co-equal, co-essential, and 
 co-eternal with the 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 robbery to be equal 
 with God;" yet, when he undertook to deliver 
 man, he did not abhor the virgin's womb. 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, accursed death; for it is written, 
 " Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." 
 And the sufferings to which Christ subjected 
 
 D • 
 
50 A TREATISE 
 
 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 excellency 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 count- 
 less myriads of the world's population, either 
 desired 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 heUish 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." 
 
ON PRAYER. 51 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE ENCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER. 
 
 If prayer were a mere speculation, or an 
 experiment, or an exercise in which we engaged 
 without any divine warrant or promise, we 
 might then be discouraged, and entertain doubts 
 as to its ultimate success. The infinite disparity 
 between God and us, his majesty on the one 
 hand, and our meanness on the other, might 
 paralyse all our attempts to pray, and inspire us 
 with terror rather than trust. But the invita- 
 tions 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 encourag- 
 ing, as to silence all our fears, and inspire us 
 with a " confidence that puts doubt to flight." 
 
 We are encouraged to pray from a con- 
 sideration of the divine character, and the 
 revelation which God hath made of himself in 
 his word. Had he been described as an im- 
 placable Being, who delighteth in the death of a 
 sinner, who is waiting to mark our iniquities, 
 and severe to punish us for them, as ready 
 to crush us beneath the foot of his indignation, 
 to dash us in pieces as a potter's vessel, and 
 d2 
 
52 A TREATISE 
 
 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 believe 
 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 ; 
 
 " 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 himself all that is kind, pitiful, 
 and compassionate ; and there is nothing within 
 the whole range of human language more 
 endearing, or more calculated 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 God himself to 
 employ language that can convey adequate ideas 
 
ON PRAYER. 53 
 
 of his own nature and attributes, so far we are 
 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." (Psal. cxlv. 8, 9.) 
 " Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious 
 and merciful, slow to anger, and of great 
 kindness." (Nehem. ix. 17.) " The Lord is very 
 pitiful, and of tender mercy." (James v. U.) 
 " The Lord is long-suffering to us-ward, 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." (Psal. cxxx. 7.) And 
 what is that mercy which the Scriptures so 
 frequently ascribe to God, but a disposition to 
 commiserate and help the miserable ? Mercy 
 has misery for its object : and to set forth the 
 greatness, and extent of the divine mercy, 
 the inspired writers employ the loftiest ex- 
 pressions. It has height : " For thy mercy," saith 
 David, "is great unto the heavens." (Psal. Ivii. 
 10.) And even higher : " For thy mercy," says 
 the same inspired writer, " is great above the 
 heavens; and thy truth reacheth unto the 
 clouds." (Psal. cviii. 4.) And in reference to its 
 
54- A TREATISE 
 
 extent, it is as wide as the world. " For the 
 earth," saith David, '* is full of thy mercy." (Psal. 
 cxix. 64.) And as to its duration, the ex- 
 pression 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 anything 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 re- 
 members 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 be any 
 who seek after him; 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 
 eternal punishment, and who deserve to be 
 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 impeaching his justice, acquit the guilty? 
 
ON PRAYER. 55 
 
 Do not the Scriptures declare that, " though 
 hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be un- 
 punished?" 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 be 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 conformity with these state- 
 ments, Christ himself declared, " The Son of 
 man came not to be ministered unto, but to 
 minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." 
 (Matt. XX. 28.) And again: "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, and suffered the punish- 
 ment due unto our sins, we have all the encou- 
 ragement 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 by the blood 
 of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he 
 
56 A TREATISE 
 
 hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that 
 is to say, his flesh; and having an 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 ap- 
 pears in heaven itself, to recommend all believers 
 and their prayers to divine acceptance, by the 
 sprinkling of his blood, and the sanctifying in- 
 fluence 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 reconciled unto 
 God? "All things," says the same apostle to 
 the Corinthians, " are of God, who hath recon- 
 ciled 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 joy in 
 God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 
 we have received the atonement." And since 
 Christ, by his suffering death upon the cross,. 
 
ON PRAYER. 57 
 
 has obtained eternal redemption for man, can it 
 be supposed that he will refuse to grant what he 
 died to purchase for us, when we apply to him 
 in the way of his appointment? Was he mani- 
 fested 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 un- 
 willing 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 re- 
 ceive 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. 
 
 O ye poor, broken-hearted sinners, ye weeping, 
 humble suppliants, ye repenting, returning pro- 
 digals, ye who are writing bitter things against 
 yourselves, and thinking that God hath forgotten 
 to be gracious, and that his mercy is clean gone 
 for ever ; instead of looking at yourselves, and 
 deploring your wretched condition, look to Cal- 
 vary ; behold the Lamb of God ; view your 
 sacrificial Victim expiring upon the cross for 
 your salvation. " To shame your sins. He blushed 
 d5 
 
5S A TREATISE 
 
 in blood. He closed his eyes to show you God." 
 What more could he do to win your hearts, to 
 inspire your confidence, and to save your souls, 
 than he has done ? O 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 
 precepts and promises of the Gospel. God 
 commands us to pray ; to pray always with all 
 prayer ; to pray every where ; 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 them- 
 selves ; and are always connected with privileges. 
 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 59 
 
 Psalmist, " He will regard the prayer of the 
 destitute, and not despise their prayer." (Psal. 
 cii. 17.) " Whatsoever," saith Christ, " ye shall 
 ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father 
 may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask 
 anything in my name, I will do it." (John xiv. 
 13, 14.) " Ask, and it shall be 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 anything 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 immu- 
 tability of his nature. Human promises are 
 often violated by the fickleness and instability 
 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 concern- 
 ing 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 similar testimony. " Blessed be the 
 
60 A TREATISE 
 
 Lord," saith he, " that hath given rest unto 
 his people Israel, according to all that he pro- 
 mised ; there hath not failed one word of all his 
 good promise, which he promised by the hand 
 of Moses his servant." (1 Kings viii. 56.) " They 
 that wait upon the Lord shall renew their 
 strength." (Isai. xl. 3L) " 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." (Isai. Ixv. 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 
 inveterate enmity against him. But when the 
 sinner is awakened to see his danger ; when his 
 eyes are opened to perceive the exceeding sin- 
 fulness of sin, the deceitfulness of his own heart, 
 and the wickedness 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 in- 
 
ON PRAYER. 61 
 
 dignation ; then a conscious change takes place 
 in the heart; the enmity of his mind is subdued ; 
 the aversion that he had from 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 Hght, from 
 nature to grace, and from a state of carelessness 
 concerning salvation to a state of intense desire 
 after it, is wholly of God. He alone can excite 
 aspirations after himself in the soul; he only 
 can beget in us a love for prayer. And can it 
 be imagined 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 tan- 
 talise his creatures? Will he create desires 
 and excite expectations in the soul for the en- 
 joyment of his favour, and yet withhold that 
 favour which is so greatly desired and so in- 
 tensely solicited? That be far from him. " He 
 cannot deny himself." And what he hath pro- 
 mised, that he is able and willing to perform. 
 
 Finally, we are encouraged to pray by the 
 gracious 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 ; 
 
62 A TREATISE 
 
 to God's own account of his conduct towards 
 his saints. Who can read such texts as the 
 following without being encouraged to pray? 
 " And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, 
 O, 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 requested." (1 Chron. iv. 10.) 
 " I called upon the Lord in my distress : the Lord 
 answered me, and set me in a large place." 
 (Psal. 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." 
 (Psal. cxvi. 1, 2.) "Blessed be the Lord, be- 
 cause he hath heard the voice of my sup- 
 plications." (Psal. xxviii. 6.) " Verily God hath 
 heard me ; he hath attended to the voice of my 
 prayer." (Psal. Ixvi. 19.) " The Lord hath heard 
 the voice of my weeping ; the Lord hath heard 
 my supplication; the Lord will receive my 
 prayer." (Psal. 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." (Psal. xxxiv. 4, 6.) Sometimes God 
 not only gives the thing that is asked, but 
 even more than is asked. So he did to 
 
ON PRAYER. 63 
 
 Solomon. " Behold, I have done according 
 to thy words : lo, 1 have given thee a wise 
 and an understanding 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 instruction 
 to enable him to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's 
 dreams. " I thank thee," says he, " and praise 
 thee, O 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, O Daniel, I am now 
 come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 
 At the beginning of thy supplications the com- 
 mandment came forth, and I am come to show 
 thee ; for thou art greatly beloved : therefore 
 understand the matter, and consider 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, 
 
64 A TREATISE 
 
 SO that the earth yielded her increase. (James v. 
 17, 18.) When Samson was ready to perish 
 with thirst, he prayed to God, and he brought 
 water out of a jawbone for his supply. (Judges 
 XV. 18, 19.) And when he was brought into 
 the temple of Dagon to make sport to the 
 Philistines, " he called unto the Lord, and said, 
 O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee^ 
 and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, 
 O God, that I may be avenged of the Philistines 
 for my two eyes. And Samson took hold of the 
 two middle pillars upon which the house stood ; 
 and he bowed himself with all his might ; 
 and the house fell upon the lords, and upon 
 all the people that were therein. So the 
 dead which he slew at his death were more than 
 they which he slew in his life." (Judges xvi. 
 28 — 30.) It was in answer to the prayers of 
 the inhabitants of Nineveh, who cried mightily 
 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 
 indebted for proofs and evidences that God hears 
 and answers the prayers of men. Were it pos- 
 sible for us to consult the experience of the 
 countless multitude of redeemed human spirits, 
 who have " washed their robes and made them 
 white in the blood of the Lamb," and who are 
 
ON PRAYER. 65 
 
 now before the throne of God, we should find 
 that they could all bear testimony to the same 
 soul-encouraging truth. They were once miser- 
 able sinners upon earth ; but the Spirit of God 
 enlightened their understandings, and convicted 
 their consciences ; 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, harassed by fears, oppressed by doubts, 
 and discouraged by the difficulties 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 op- 
 portunities 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 
 evidences of his readiness to grant us our pe- 
 titions, than those with which he has already 
 
66 A TREATISE 
 
 favoured us. Then what should prevent us from 
 praying ? Is it the sinfuhiess of our past lives ? 
 Why, what evil have we done ? Have we per- 
 secuted 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 bitterly 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 murder? 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 
 towards God ; to show us that no previous sin- 
 fulness nor present unworthiness should prevent 
 us from coming to him, we have this kind and con- 
 soling 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 
 God, for he will abundantly pardon." 
 
ON PRAYER. 67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ON THE ADVANTAGES OF PRAYER. 
 
 That prayer has its advantages, is a truth 
 which, among Christians, admits of no contro- 
 versy. Can it be supposed that God has 
 imperatively 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 conceive 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 produce the smallest impres- 
 sion 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 expected. And were worldly 
 
68 A TREATISE 
 
 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 advan- 
 tage 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 
 surpasses the power of language : its existence 
 will run coeval with our being, and be as illimit- 
 able 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 
 remark 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 language of the prophet, they " draw 
 
ON PEAYER. W 
 
 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 bow down, and kneel before 
 the Lord his Maker, and beseech him to illumi- 
 nate 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 circum- 
 stances : and 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 reluctance 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 closet, 
 on his knees to God, though he may for some 
 
70 A TREATISE 
 
 time perform^ but a lip-labour service, will, if 
 he perseveres, 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 proportion as we accustom ourselves to the 
 practice of anything, 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 diminished ; according to the com- 
 mon 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. But that Simon Magus 
 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 
 to him, " Repent, therefore, of this thy wicked- 
 
ON PRAYER. 71 
 
 ness, and pray God, 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 : there- 
 fore 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 apostle 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 con- 
 demned for the neglect of prayer. " Have all 
 the workers of iniquity," saith the Psalmist, " no 
 knowledge ? Who eat up my people 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 your hands, 
 ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double- 
 
72 A TREATISE 
 
 minded." Hence we learn, that prayer is a duty 
 which wicked men are obligated to perform; 
 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 re- 
 vealed from heaven against him. Hell is moving 
 from beneath to meet him at his coming ; and 
 indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, 
 will be his endless portion. And if sin be such 
 a horrid evil, so pregnant with all that is malig- 
 nant, mischievous, 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 extin- 
 guishing the love of sin in our hearts, but it will 
 also be prevalent in procuring for us the pardon 
 of sin, and the knowledge of salvation by the 
 
ON PRAYER. 73 
 
 mission 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 
 violated; 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 pur- 
 chased a pardon for us ; a 
 
 " Pardon for infinite oifence ! And pardon 
 Through means that speak its vahie 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 moment exposed to punishment. Among 
 the countless 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 "made Judah, and 
 the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to err, and to do 
 
4^ A TREATISE 
 
 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 Hinnom; who had 
 used enchantments, and witchcraft, 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 pre- 
 valence of prayer, in the attainment of pardon, 
 in the case of Hezekiah, 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 recollection of what the 
 Lord had done for him, he said, " Behold, for 
 peace I had great bitterness : but thou hast in 
 love to my soul delivered it from the pit of 
 
ON PRAYER. 75 
 
 corruption ; for thou hast cast all my sins behind 
 thy back." In the same way David expected 
 the pardon of his sins ; and therefore he prayed, 
 " For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine 
 iniquity; for it is great. Look upon mine afflic- 
 tion 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 tres- 
 passes." 
 
 And if God, in answer to our penitential 
 prayers, pardons our sins, and casts them as a 
 stone into the depths of the sea, can we enter- 
 tain a doubt as to the beneficial effect of prayer? 
 " David," saith the apostle, " describeth the 
 blessedness of the man, unto whom God im- 
 puteth 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 for- 
 given, will be most clearly understood by 
 considering the evils from which they are 
 delivered, the privileges of which they are pos- 
 e2 
 
76 A TREATISE 
 
 sessed, and the glories to which they are entitled. 
 They are delivered from guilt and condemn- 
 ation, 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 
 misery, 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 
 everlastingly saved. And by virtue of their being 
 made heirs of God and joint-heirs vrith Christ, 
 they are entitled to *' an inheritance incorrupti- 
 ble, undefiled, 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 Egyp- 
 tians :" " 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 w^hich 
 is from above ;" which, St. James says, " is first 
 pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be en- 
 treated, full of mercy and good fruits, without 
 partiality, and without hypocrisy." " Wisdom," 
 
ON PRAYER. 77 
 
 says Macknight, " in the common acceptation of 
 the word, denotes a sound practical judgment 
 concerning things to be done or avoided. But 
 in Scripture it signifies that assemblage of 
 virtues which constitute true religion." Or, ac- 
 cording to Solomon, *' the fear of the Lord is 
 the beginning of wisdom : and the knowledge 
 of the holy is understanding." 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 ad- 
 vantageous to possess it. " Happy is the man 
 that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth 
 understanding. For the merchandise 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 retain eth her." " Wisdom is the principal 
 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 
 give to thine head an ornament of grace : a 
 crown of glory shall she deliver to thee." 
 
78 A TREATISE 
 
 And this wisdom, on which such high en- 
 comiums are bestowed, has God for its author. 
 Hence we read such texts as the following : — 
 " The Lord giveth wisdom : out of his mouth 
 Cometh understanding." " 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 understand- 
 ing." " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 
 See, I have called Bezaleel, and I have filled 
 him w^ith 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 discern 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 
 extraordinary 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. And, for our encouragement, we read, 
 " They that seek the Lord understand all 
 
ON PRAYER. 79 
 
 things." (Prov. xxviii. 5.) Of Cornelius it was 
 said, that he prayed to God alway; and liis 
 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 wisdom, 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 emphatically called " the Spirit of wis- 
 dom;" 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 
 tendency 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 pre-eminently 
 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 ; for they love the praise of men more than 
 the praise of God. Have they pleasures ? They 
 
80 A TREATISE 
 
 are the pleasures of this world, which vanish as 
 a dream, and leave room for a lasting and painful 
 repentance. Have they cares? They are the 
 cares of this world, which choke the good seed 
 and render 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, 
 sensualizes the affections, brutalizes the mind, 
 alienates 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 anti- 
 dote against the love of the world. He who 
 prays must necessarily turn away his mind from 
 the pursuit of worldly objects, to the contem- 
 plation of heavenly realities. In proportion as 
 the heart is engaged with God, it will be disen- 
 gaged 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 
 remembrance of its earthly connexions, to gaze 
 on eternal objects ; then it sits in heavenly places 
 with Christ Jesus, and the world ceases to exert 
 
ON PRAYER. 81 
 
 any undue influence over the affections. By 
 resorting 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 
 security. We all love and desire safety. How- 
 sad it is to be always in danger, conscious dan- 
 ger ; 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 comfortable 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 perfect security ! How grateful 
 to the heart of the shipwrecked mariner, to 
 escape safe to land, from the fury of the tem- 
 pest, 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 hostile 
 to our peace. We are liable to be entangled 
 in the snares of the world ; sinners will entice 
 e5 
 
82 A TREATISE 
 
 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 security ? Is it in our wisdom ? But our 
 enemies are more sagacious than we are. Is it 
 in our vigilance? 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 incon- 
 ceivably 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 mo- 
 ment 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 me." " I will call upon the Lord, 
 who is worthy to be praised ; so shall I be saved 
 
ON PRAYER. 83 
 
 from mine enemies." 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 per- 
 severance and supplication for all saints." 
 
 And such is the prevalence of prayer, that 
 God, in answer to it, has frequently interposed 
 miraculously 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 vdth a sword, shut up Peter in prison, 
 and appointed a band of soldiers to prevent Lis 
 escape. But prayer was made without ceasing 
 by the church of God for him ; and while they 
 were thus engaged, an angel of the Lord de- 
 scended, 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 de- 
 liverance 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 ; many stripes had been laid upon 
 them ; and, to add to their sufferings, they were 
 
84 A TREATISE 
 
 thrust into the inner prison, and their feet made 
 fast in the stocks. But though they were per- 
 secuted 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 sang 
 praises unto God: and the prisoners heard 
 them. And suddenly there was a great earth- 
 quake, 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 swallow 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 remem- 
 bered the Lord : and my prayer came in unto 
 thee, into thy holy temple." And by prayer he 
 obtained deUverance. When Zerah, the Ethi- 
 opian 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, whether 
 with many, or with them that have no power: 
 
ON PRAYER. 85 
 
 help us, O Lord our God ; for we rest on thee, 
 and in thy name we go against this multitude. 
 O Lord, thou art our God ; let not man prevail 
 against thee." And the Lord smote the Ethi- 
 opians before Asa, so that they were totally 
 discomfited and overthrown ; and the Israelites 
 carried away much spoil. When Rabshakeh, 
 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 wdth sackcloth, 
 and went into the house of the Lord, and, with 
 great importunity, 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 pro- 
 vidence 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 modern times, we should find, even 
 in our day, instances of similar deliverances 
 
86 A TREATISE 
 
 wrought out on their behalf in answer to prayer. 
 " Safety is of the Lord;" and he who prays as 
 he ought, whatever 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 surprise, the men rushed into the house 
 with large horse-pistols in their hands, and, with 
 horrible oaths and imprecations, demanded my 
 property. I answered, * Gentlemen, don't use 
 us ill; 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 wedding-ring, which I begged for 
 in vain, one of them asked his companion for a 
 cord to tie us together in the middle room of 
 the house. I now perceived our lives were in 
 
ON PRAYER. 87 
 
 imminent danger, and began to pray to the 
 Almighty God, saying, * Lord, thou art omni- 
 scient, and knowest the design of these men; 
 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 uncommon courage and strength, 
 that she rushed by the robbers, flew out of the 
 door, and ran into the lane towards a farm- 
 house, crying, * Murder, murder! 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 ruifians 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 executed. While he was under 
 sentence of death he confessed that it was the 
 intention of himself and his companion to set 
 
5» A TREATISE 
 
 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 answered me, they 
 seemed all affected." 
 
 The following providential deliverance was 
 related 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 an- 
 swered, * Yes; but you will have some sands to go 
 over, and unless you ride very fast you will be in 
 danger 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 other- 
 wise should have done. I got to the sands, and 
 pursued 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 com- 
 mended 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 knees, as I sat 
 
ON PRAYER. 89 
 
 upon my mare. They took me into the boat, 
 the mare sAvimming by my side till we reached 
 land. While we were in the boat, one of 
 the men cried out, * Surely, Sir, God is with 
 you ! ' I answered, ' I trust he is.' The man 
 replied, *I know he is;' and then related the 
 following 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 
 distance; and there we saw your distressing 
 situation.' 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 situation; 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 sunk, 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 
 
90 A TREATISE 
 
 reckoning : I therefore apologized to the land- 
 lord for the want of cash, and begged he would 
 keep a pair of silver spurs, till I should send to 
 redeem them. But he answered, * The Lord 
 bless you. Sir : I would not take a farthing of 
 you for the world.' After some serious con- 
 versation 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 pow- 
 erful that it has commanded the four elements. 
 Air ; — for St. James tells us that Elias was a 
 man subject 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 
 heaven; thrown down the walls of Jericho; 
 
ON PRAYER. 91 
 
 subdued kingdoms; stopped the mouths of 
 lions. Prayer is so potent, that it raiseth the 
 dead, overcometh angels, casteth out devils, and 
 that which is most wonderful, overcometh that 
 which cannot be overcome, and mastereth God 
 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 wrestling with him, *Let me go;' 
 and Jacob would not let him go until he had 
 prevailed ? Wherefore pray on all occasions, and 
 that without doubting. * 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 amidst 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 bereavements in their famiHes : a faith- 
 ful wife, the desire of their eyes, in whom their 
 fondest affections centred, is suddenly and un- 
 expectedly torn from their embraces ; or a be- 
 loved child, the prop of their declining years, 
 falls a prey to some malignant disease. And 
 amidst these scenes of deep affliction, when the 
 
92 A TREATISE 
 
 heart is wrung with unutterable anguish, what 
 comfort and support does prayer afford ! How 
 soothing it is to the smitten spirit to be enabled 
 to pour out its sorrows before God! We all 
 know what a relief it is to the mind to unbosom 
 its griefs to some kind and sympathizing friend, 
 even though it be not in his power to administer 
 eifectual relief: but how much more consolation 
 does it afford to be enabled to look up to our 
 heavenly Father, who is very pitiful, and of 
 great mercy, and who knows our frame, and 
 remembereth that we are dust. Hence prayer 
 is often the last retreat of the wretched ; it is 
 the 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 mountain of prayer we are raised far 
 above the world ; and the darkness, the thunder. 
 
ON PRAYER. 93 
 
 and the tempest roll beneath our feet. In this 
 lofty region, the air is always pure ; the light of 
 eternity shines 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 before God in righteous- 
 ness. If we cannot actually enter into heaven 
 until the house of our earthly tabernacle be 
 dissolved, and this body of our humiliation 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 w^e 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, exposed to the 
 same perils, and combating the same enemies ; 
 but that they overcame by the word of their 
 testimony, 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 Majesty on high; and 
 hear him addressing to us these animating words : 
 ' Be of good courage ; I have overcome the 
 
94 A TREATISE 
 
 world.' ' In the world ye shall have tribulation ; 
 but in me ye shall have peace.' * Be thou faithful 
 unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.' " 
 
 We have an instance of the soothing and 
 consoling 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, but it was his duty to 
 be 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 be 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 heaven," 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 pre- 
 ceded his petition. It was that prayer which 
 gave him courage to present that petition, and 
 which, probably, induced the sovereign to grant 
 it. What a double encouragement 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 re- 
 corded for our instruction on this subject. It 
 pleased God to afflict him with some painful 
 disease, which in consequence of the poignant 
 
ON PRAYER. 95 
 
 feeling that it produced, he calls " a thorn in 
 the flesh." He desired to have it removed, and 
 knowing that afflictions are sent to teach us to 
 pray, and continued 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, there- 
 fore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that 
 the power of Christ may rest upon me." 
 
 The late Dr. Whitehead was accustomed to 
 repeat 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 Methodist societ}'. " 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 danger- 
 ously 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 ear- 
 nestly, 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, 
 
96 A TREATISE 
 
 or very early next morning, while the young 
 woman's mother was sitting by her daughter's 
 bedside, who had been in a strong delirium for 
 several days, she opened her eyes, and hastily ad- 
 dressed her mother thus: * O mother! I have been 
 dreaming that I saw a man lifting up his eyes 
 and hands to heaven, and fervently praying to 
 God 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, * 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. 
 
ON PRAYER. 97 
 
 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 con- 
 version to God. The Lord, 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 remarkably 
 does this circumstance illustrate the words of St. 
 James ! " The prayer of faith shall save the 
 sick, and the Lord shall raise him up ; and if he 
 have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." 
 
 But how forlorn is the heart, and how cheer- 
 less 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 fore- 
 bodings as to his future destiny. But where are 
 his consolations ? Alas ! he has none. He has 
 no hope, and is without God in the world. He 
 has been hewing out cisterns, but they are 
 broken ; they hold no water. He has his portion 
 in this world; 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 
 
 F 
 
98 A TREATISE 
 
 improvement and perseverance in religion. With- 
 out prayer all other means v^ill be inefficacious 
 and abortive. In exact proportion as prayer is 
 practised or restrained, so is the Christian's pro- 
 gress or declension in personal piety. All the 
 means of grace are but lifeless forms vi^ithout 
 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 rehgion is a step in advance towards the 
 kingdom of heaven. Christianity is all progres- 
 sion. In commencing 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 efiect, 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 ? Can he abound in hope by the 
 power of the Holy Ghost, and yet remain in 
 doubt whether that hope affords him any ad- 
 ditional consolation or not ? Godliness is pro- 
 fitable unto all things ; and will not an increase 
 of godliness produce an additional degree of 
 profit ? Even could we imagine that prayer af- 
 
ON PRAYER. 99 
 
 forded no present advantages, that the Christian 
 derived no consolation from this divinely-insti- 
 tuted duty ; admitting it to be as irksome and 
 wearisome as prayerless persons imagine ; yet 
 the fact, that, by the practice of prayer, we obtain 
 a meetness for heaven, and by the neglect of it 
 we become vessels of wrath fitted for destruc- 
 tion, ought to be a motive sufficiently powerful 
 to induce us to give ourselves continually to 
 prayer, and to watch in the same with thanks- 
 giving. 
 
 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 instruction 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 rew^ard 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; " I am thy 
 shield, and thy exceeding great reward." Duties 
 will never go unrewarded. " God is not unright- 
 eous," saith the apostle, " to forget your work 
 and labour of love, which ye have showed to- 
 wards his name, in that ye have ministered to 
 the saints, and do minister." In addition to 
 all the advantages which we derive from the 
 F 2 
 
100 A TREATISE 
 
 practice of prayer in the present world, the 
 consolation it inspires, the 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 eternal reward which 
 God will bestow upon his praying 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 recompence. 
 They pray in secret, but they will be rewarded 
 openly. God, in the great day of eternal 
 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 ensure 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 deliber- 
 ately 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 101 
 
 long-suffering, and thus treasure up unto our- 
 selves wrath against the day of wrath ? Of horrid 
 things this is most horrid, and the most to be 
 deprecated and avoided. And, thank God, we 
 may avoid it. O let us be wise to-day. 
 
 " To-day is yesterday return'd; return'd 
 Full povver'd, 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." 
 
102 A TREATISE 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ON THE PLACES AND SEASONS APPROPRIATED TO 
 SECRET PRAYER. 
 
 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 
 immense and infinite essence. He is excluded 
 from no place, included in none; for he is 
 wdthout all limitation, dimension, or termination. 
 " If I ascend up into heaven," saith David, 
 " thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, 
 behold, thou art there. If I take the v^ings 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 dark- 
 ness hideth not from thee ; but the night shineth 
 as the day : the darkness and the light are both 
 alike to thee." Since God is essentially present 
 in every place, there is no place where prayer 
 may not be successfully offered to him; there- 
 fore, said the apostle, " I will that men pray 
 everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath 
 
ON PRAYER. 103 
 
 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 de- 
 votional exercise in which a human creature 
 can possibly be employed. 
 
 In the earl}^ 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 Beer-sheba, and 
 called there on the name of the Lord, the 
 everlasting God." And no doubt can be enter- 
 tained, but this grove was set apart for devotional 
 purposes ; that the pious patriarch might there 
 engage in the hallowed exercises of con- 
 templation, 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 consecrate to God 
 the most stately tree of the grove. This custom 
 very likely began with Abraham, but it soon 
 degenerated into gross and barbarous super- 
 stition ; on which account, groves were prohibited 
 
104 A TREATISE 
 
 by the Levitical law, and ordered universally to 
 be destroyed." The fifty-seventh Psalm, which 
 contains a fervent prayer for divine protection, 
 was composed and offered up to God in a cave, 
 where David had concealed himself, to escape the 
 fury of Saul. " Isaac went out to meditate," 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 God." And on another occasion it is 
 said, " In the morning, rising up a great while 
 before day, he went out, and departed into 
 a solitary 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 os- 
 tentation. 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; 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 in- 
 terrupted in his devotions, by any noise or 
 commotion from without. Daniel went into his 
 
ON PRAYER, 105 
 
 chamber, and prayed three times a day; 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 
 retirement is favourable to prayer; and that 
 pious people have sought and seized oppor- 
 tunities of being alone to pray. Is prayer the 
 lanfTuaoje of distress ? 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 frivolities, and avocations of the world, and 
 to shut ourselves up in our chambers ; 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 rejoice w^th joy un- 
 speakable 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 ex- 
 pressing to him the grateful feelings of our 
 f5 
 
106 A TREATISE 
 
 hearts, and of consecrating ourselves afresh to 
 his service! 
 
 " O ! 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 per- 
 fumed ! How well would the trade of godliness 
 thrive ! Surely such an 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 be 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 ; secret chambers 
 they have none : then let them do as Isaac did, 
 — retire into the fields to pray; 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. 
 
 x\s 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 107 
 
 avocations of men are so various, that the same 
 standard of duty cannot indiscriminately and 
 equally apply to all. That secret prayer should 
 be performed in the morning of each returning 
 day can scarcely be questioned. " My voice," 
 saith David, " shalt thou hear in the morning, 
 O Lord; in the morning 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 Psalms that are read in our 
 churches, the translation is a little varied, but 
 more definite. There the verse runs, " My voice 
 shalt thou hear betimes, O Lord; early in the 
 morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and 
 will look up." And elsewhere David says, 
 " O God, thou art my God, early will I seek 
 thee." And again: " I prevented the dawning 
 of the morning, and cried:" that is, before the 
 darkness of night was dissipated by the light of 
 the morning ; before the sun, like a bridegroom, 
 liad 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. 
 
108 A TREATISE 
 
 not to do what those did whom Job mentions, 
 who rose " early for a prey, to remove the land- 
 marks, or violently to take away their neigh- 
 bour's flocks, and to feed thereof;'' no, he rose 
 early to pray. Nor was he singular in his 
 conduct of early rising. Abraham got up early 
 to behold the awful destruction with which 
 Sodom was visited, when ** the smoke of the 
 country went up as the smoke of a furnace." 
 And when God commanded him to go, and 
 offer up his only son Isaac as a burnt offering, 
 Abraham rose up early in the morning to 
 put into execution this heart-rending mandate. 
 Jacob, after having slept on the ground, and 
 been favoured with a visionary representation 
 of a ladder set upon the earth, whose top reached 
 to heaven, rose up early in the morning to offer 
 up his grateful acknowledgments unto God. 
 Moses rose early in the morning to stand before 
 Pharaoh. Joshua rose early in the morning to 
 pass over Jordan. 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 
 beneficial influence on our own minds, essentially 
 depend on the manner in which they are offered. 
 
ON PRAYER. 109 
 
 They are successful in proportion as they are 
 fervent, 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 affections 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 ourselves 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 evenings that we were in 
 the mornings? And have not our devotions in 
 the evenings been as languid as our bodies, 
 and our prayers been as dull as our frames? 
 
 And the morning is not only the most favour- 
 able time for our devotions, but the most calcu- 
 lated 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 morning, in the possession of perfect 
 health, with our strength recruited, and our 
 bodies and minds refreshed, 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 noisome dun- 
 
110 A TREATISE 
 
 geons, subject to " all the horrors of the gloomy 
 jail!" how " many have been burnt out of house 
 and home !" how many have been shipwrecked 
 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 sus- 
 tained me." " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and 
 forget not all his benefits." 
 
 There is another consideration which will 
 serve to suggest to us the propriety of morning 
 prayer. We are ignorant of futurity; the wide 
 and boundless prospect lies before us, but 
 shadows, clouds, and darkness rest upon it. 
 When we begin a new day we know not how 
 it will terminate. " I know not," said Jacob, 
 *' the day of my death." " My times," said 
 David, " are in thy hand." 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." O how uncertain is 
 our time ! Where, when, and how it will end 
 we know not; we must not, cannot know. How 
 many rise in the morning, and go to their ac- 
 customed occupations full of health and vigour. 
 
ON PRAYER. Ill 
 
 and before the day closes, time with them is 
 finished, 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 ex- 
 istence ; it may conclude my mortal history ; it 
 may put a period to my worldly pursuits; it 
 may, by a sudden stroke, sever my soul and 
 body; it may extinguish the lamp of life, and 
 reduce this animated frame to a lifeless lump of 
 clay; it may usher my immortal soul into a 
 world of spirits, and, before this day closes, I 
 may be in heaven or hell, either with ' the 
 damned cast out, or numbered with the blest!' 
 O 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 indulge 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 
 
112 A TREATISE 
 
 feet; the provocation to which I shall be 
 exposed ; and the mental conflicts I shall have 
 to endure in the course of the day. I knovr 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 incon- 
 siderate, so careless, and so utterly devoid of all 
 real regard 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, 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 frustrate the infernal designs, 
 and counteract the insidious 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 pilgrimage ?" O 
 what a multitude of subjects 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 113 
 
 had often admired his patience under great pro- 
 vocations, 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 retire 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 sleep- 
 ing when we ought to be praying. " Lying 
 long and late in bed impairs the health, generates 
 diseases, and 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 mis- 
 chievous consequences : for to be asleep is to be 
 dead for the time. This tyrannical habit attacks 
 life in its essential powers : it makes the blood 
 forget its way, and creep lazily along the veins ; 
 it relaxes the fibres, unstrings the nerves, evapo- 
 rates the animal spirits, saddens the soul, dulls 
 the fancy, subdues and stupifies a man to such a 
 degree, that he, the lord of the creation, hath no 
 appetite for anything in it; he loathes labour, 
 yawns for want of thought, and trembles at the 
 creatures of his own gloomy imagination. The 
 
114 A TREATISE 
 
 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 prevent it, or it may 
 be hurried over without reverence 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, 
 the devotions of the evening. " The revolution 
 of day and night," says a late author, " points 
 out to us the propriety of some solemn acknow- 
 ledgment of God every morning and evening. 
 Besides, we have particular mercies to be thank- 
 ful 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 taber- 
 nacle, 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 retire to rest at night, 
 
ON PRAYER. 115 
 
 let us call to mind the events of the day, and we 
 shall find subjects for humiliation, gratitude, 
 and prayer. What cause for humiliation in re- 
 flecting 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 favoured ; 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, remit all the offences 
 and pardon all the sins that we have inadver- 
 tently 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 
 consider the dangers to which we are exposed 
 in the night season. Thousands are hurried 
 into eternity every succeeding night. It was at 
 midnight that the Lord smote all the firstborn 
 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 an hundred fourscore and five thou- 
 
116 A TREATISE 
 
 sand ; and when they arose early in the morning, 
 behold, they were all dead corpses." What acts 
 of cruelty are perpetrated in the night ! Then 
 the workers of iniquity, like evening wolves, 
 prowl about to plunder their neighbours' pro- 
 perty ; these may forcibly enter our habitations 
 in the night, and take away our lives : or the 
 pestilence that walketh in darkness may visit us ! 
 And considering how defenceless 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 keepeth 
 Israel, and never slumbereth 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 God is still with 
 us. With the poet let us pray, 
 
 " O may thy angels, 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 117 
 
 practicable, of retiring to our closets at noon to 
 renew our covenant with God, and to acknow- 
 ledge 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 imita- 
 tion? 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 perisheth of more value than that which 
 endureth unto everlasting life ? It was an an- 
 cient adage, " that meat and matins hinder no 
 work." Can the spiritual life of the soul be 
 sustained with less care than the natural life of 
 the body ? Let us not forget that '* prayer is 
 the appointed means of deriving all spiritual 
 supplies from above to support the life of reli- 
 gion ; and, therefore, it is reasonable 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, amidst the 
 avocations of the world, lift up their hearts, and 
 breathe out their desires after God in solemn, 
 ejaculatory prayer. " The Lord is nigh unto all 
 them that call upon him." And he wdll fulfil 
 
118 A TREATISE 
 
 the desire 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 ; but so fervent and ardent, says Me- 
 lancthon, that " they which stood under his 
 window, where he stood praying, might see his 
 tears falling and dropping on the ground." 
 
ON PRAYER. 119 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 EXCUSES FOR THE NEGLECT OF SECRET PRAYER 
 CONSIDERED. 
 
 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 almost 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 our- 
 selves. 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 themselves ? Sin 
 is an infamous thing; it reflects on us the 
 greatest discredit; it is a reproach to any peo- 
 ple ; and it exposes us to shame and everlasting 
 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 ef- 
 frontery in the practice of sin is peculiar to 
 
120 A TREATISE 
 
 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 accus- 
 tomed to make for their neglect of prayer, is 
 their ignorance of its nature. They know not 
 how to pray. It is a practice to which they 
 have never habituated 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 teachers, or 
 practise a tedious course of study, to understand 
 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 121 
 
 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 redressed; 
 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 know^n 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 suitable for 
 prayer ; sets before you examples of prayer ; and 
 gives you encouragements 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 
 duties of religion can never be acceptably per- 
 formed without some previous knowledge of 
 their nature, and the obligations you are under 
 to practise them. Ignorance of your duty totally 
 
 G 
 
122 A TREATISE 
 
 disqualifies you for 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. O consider your ways, and 
 turn your feet unto God's testimonies. 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, because 
 they have no heart to pray. In the pursuit 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 123 
 
 to this holy and deeply devotional exercise? Is 
 there anything in the nature of prayer that is 
 calculated to create disgust ? Is prayer so hos- 
 tile and ruinous to real enjoyment, that a man 
 must approach 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 pleasures? 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 v^^ho 
 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 reluctance you feel towards 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 uncleanness with greediness. But you 
 G 2 
 
124 A TREATISE 
 
 do not love to pray because you find no pleasure 
 in it. And can this be a reason why you should 
 neglect to pray? Must the duties of religion 
 be 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 pleasurable to perform ? And if you do 
 not love to pray, it is a proof that you do not 
 love God, that you have no desire to love him, 
 that your hearts are estranged from him, and 
 that his service is a weariness 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 pro- 
 mised 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 pre- 
 tensions 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 125 
 
 praise for the blessings they enjoy ; and those 
 who feel a dislike to prayer will be equally dis- 
 inclined to 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 busi- 
 ness you deem the most important part of your 
 duty. You have large and expensive families, 
 who are dependent 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 subordinate situation in soci- 
 ety; 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 import- 
 ance; and therefore it claims the precedence of 
 every other duty. " Seek Jlrst," said our Saviour, 
 " 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 
 
126 A TREATISE 
 
 God commands us to pray, and to pray every- 
 where, lifting up holy hands without wrath and 
 doubting. He 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 be saved. But have 
 you really no time to pray? O think again! 
 Can you abstract no time from your hours of 
 business, from your pleasures, from your sleep, 
 to entreat God to have mercy upon you, to 
 pardon your sins, and to fit you for heaven? O 
 what time is wasted in vain and foolish con- 
 versation, in dress, in idleness, in doing no- 
 thing, or something worse than nothing! What 
 would you think of a criminal condemned to die, 
 who would say he had no time to ask pardon 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 avoca- 
 tions 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 essentially present in every place; and our 
 prayers and our souls may find their way to him 
 from the remotest bounds of the habitable world. 
 
ON PRAYER. 127 
 
 Others, who neglect prayer, seek to excuse 
 themselves from all blame, by asking, " Why 
 should we pray ? Does not God know all our 
 wants ? Must we use a multitude of words to 
 explain them to him ? Can we inform God of any 
 thing that he does not know? And is he not im- 
 mutable? 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 re re- 
 lation. God has promised to hear prayer. This 
 is a truth equally obvious. God justly with- 
 holds 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 ex- 
 pediency 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 explain 
 how the food we eat nourishes and invigorates 
 the body. All we have to do with God's com- 
 
128 A TREATISE 
 
 mandments is, to understand and obey them. 
 " Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision 
 is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments 
 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 ; 
 therefore, 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 the' Almighty just, 
 And where we can't unriddle, learn to trust." 
 
 Another class of persons vrill 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 ; 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, crosseth inor- 
 dinate desires. Disappointments are frequently 
 blessings. Sinners cannot have worse judgments 
 
ON PRAYER. 129 
 
 inflicted upon them, than the gratification of 
 their own desires. Rachel said, " Give me 
 children, or else I die." She had her desire 
 granted, but death was the 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. " O what 
 abundance of wretches," says Baxter, " do offer 
 up hypocritical mock-prayers imto God ! blas- 
 pheming him thereby as if he were an idol, 
 and knew not their hypocrisy, and searched out 
 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 besetting 
 sin, and yet was afraid lest God should answer 
 his prayers." The prophet complained of the 
 people of Israel, that " they flattered God with 
 their mouth, and lied unto him with their 
 g5 
 
130 A TREATISE 
 
 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 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 conceive. " 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 unwilling 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 say, 
 
 " The hind'rance must be all in me, 
 It cannot in my Saviour be, 
 Witness that streaming blood." 
 
 O examine yourselves ! Look into your 
 hearts, and inquire. Have you given up your 
 sins? Remember 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 131 
 
 presents an insuperable obstacle to tbe success 
 of your prayers. O 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 to sin, " How 
 can I do this great wickedness, and sin against 
 God?" 
 
 But perhaps you are seeking to justify 3^our 
 slothfulness by saying, " We are poor sinful 
 creatures, and can do nothing of ourselves ; and 
 unless 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 casting 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 effect 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 
 
132 A TREATISE 
 
 through him might be saved, expects more of us 
 than we can possibly perform ? " But suffer 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 
 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 machinery ? Under its influence, do 
 you think that you will have no cross to take up, 
 no corrupt affection 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; 
 apd it is sufficient for all our need. But while 
 God worketh 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 punish- 
 ment 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. 
 
ON PRAYER. 133 
 
 Considering the importance, the reasonableness, 
 and the advantages of prayer, one could hardly 
 suppose, if well-known facts did not remove 
 all doubt, that any such beings as yourselves 
 could be found in existence ; that men so lost 
 to virtue, so utterly devoid of all reverence for 
 their Maker, and so 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 in- 
 evitably 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 ? Will 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. O begin 
 to pray; delay no longer; do not say in your 
 hearts that you cannot pray. You can, you must, 
 pray, or perish. Your state is fearful beyond 
 description; but though imminently perilous, 
 it is not utterly hopeless : but if you persist 
 
134 A TREATISE 
 
 in restraining prayer before 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 hidden from your 
 eyes. To you, and to every obstinate, incorri- 
 gible sinner, God will, ere long, say, " Because 
 I have called, and ye refused ; I have stretched 
 out my hand, and no man regarded ; but ye have 
 set at nought all my counsel, and would none of 
 my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; 
 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." 
 
ON PRAYER. 135 
 
 ON SOCIAL PRAYER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SOCIAL PRAYER 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 
 intellectual improvement, to self-examination, 
 and to intercourse with heaven ; but as we are 
 indebted 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 
 
136 A TREATISE 
 
 our lot to live. And among other means by 
 which we may benefit society, we notice espe- 
 cially that of prayer. 
 
 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 connexions, sympathies, and 
 attachments. The members of families include 
 children, parents, servants, and visiters ; for all 
 of wliom 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 understanding, 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. The mind of an infant is 
 a perfect blank ; without knowledge or discern- 
 ment, or even conscious existence. But though 
 a child may be too young to pray, yet he is not 
 too young to sin, nor too young to die ; for the 
 power of sinning precedes the power of praying. 
 The Psalmist, speaking of children, says, " They 
 go astray as soon as they be born, speaking 
 
ON PRAYER. 137 
 
 lies." 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. 
 But to meet the wants and wishes of such 
 persons, forms of prayer for families are com- 
 posed and published, of which they may avail 
 themselves. Not that we think a form of prayer 
 equally excellent with the gift of prayer; any 
 more than the reading of a pre-composed sermon 
 is equal to the gift of preaching. On this 
 subject Bishop Wilkins, in his discourse con- 
 cerning 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 
 farther, this were still to remain in his infancy, 
 and not to grow up in his new nature. This 
 would be as if a man who had once need of 
 crutches should always afterwards make use of 
 them, and so necessitate himself to a continual 
 impotence. 'Tis the duty of every Christian to 
 grow and increase in all the parts of Christianity, 
 as well gifts as graces ; to exercise and improve 
 
138 A TREATISE 
 
 every holy gift ; 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 prayer by book; that 
 'tis commonly of itself something flat and dead, 
 floating for the most part too much in gene- 
 ralitieSf and not particular enough for each 
 several occasion. There is not that life and 
 vigour in it to engage the affections as when it 
 proceeds immediately from the soul itself, and 
 is the natural expression of those particulars 
 whereof we are most sensible." " And 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 hy the 
 Spirit; which expressions are, for the most 
 part, a sign of a profane heart, and such as are 
 altogether 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 children. For their sakes, also, family 
 
ON PRAYER. 139 
 
 prayer should be maintained. The value and 
 variety of the benefits which result from thus 
 setting up the worship of God in our families 
 are known only to Him with whom we have to 
 do. A credible historian tells us, that, about a 
 century ago, there was an earthquake in Swit- 
 zerland, 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 families of 
 the wicked sometimes prosper; but their pros- 
 perity is a snare and a curse to them. " A pious 
 tradesman conversing with a minister on family 
 worship, related the following instructive cir- 
 cumstance 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 
 practice of domestic worship. Morning and 
 evening every individual of my family was or- 
 dered always to be present ; nor would I allow 
 my apprentices to be absent on any account. 
 In a few years the advantages of these engage- 
 ments appeared manifestly conspicuous : the 
 blessings of the upper and the nether springs 
 
140 A TREATISE 
 
 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 possible moment to 
 my customers, that I began to think whether 
 family prayer did not occupy too much of our 
 time in the morning. Pious scruples arose re- 
 specting my intentions of relinquishing this part 
 of my duty ; but at length worldly interest pre- 
 vailed so far, as to induce me to excuse the 
 attendance of my apprentices; and not long 
 after, it was deemed advisable, for the eager 
 prosecution of our business, to make the prayer 
 with my wife when we arose in the morning, 
 suffice for the day. Notwithstanding the re- 
 peated checks of conscience that followed this 
 base omission, the calls of a flourishing concern, 
 and the prospect of an increasing family, ap- 
 peared so imperious and commanding, that I 
 found an easy excuse for this fatal evil, espe- 
 cially as I did not omit prayer altogether. My 
 conscience was now almost seared 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 141 
 
 in the most afFectionate and respectful terms ; 
 but judge of my surprise and confusion when I 
 read these words : * O my dear master, never, 
 never, shall I be able sufficiently to thank you for 
 the precious privilege wdth which you indulged 
 me in your family devotions. O 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 sinner ; and there that I 
 first experienced the preciousness of Christ in 
 me the hope of glory. O Sir ! permit me to 
 say, Never, never neglect those precious en- 
 gagements. You have yet a family, and more 
 apprentices : may your house be the birth-place 
 of their souls!' I could read no farther: every 
 line flashed condemnation in my face. I trem- 
 bled ; I shuddered ; I w^as alarmed at the blood 
 of my children and apprentices, that I appre- 
 hended were soon to be demanded at my soul- 
 murdering hands. 
 
 " Filled with confusion, and bathed in tears, 
 I fled for refuge in secret. I spread the let- 
 ter before God. I agonized, and — but you 
 can better conceive, than I can describe, my 
 feelings. Suffice it to say, that hght broke in 
 upon my disconsolate soul, and a sense of 
 blood-bought pardon w^as obtained. I imme- 
 diately flew to my family, presented them be- 
 
142 A TREATISE 
 
 fore 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 super- 
 fluous part of my business, and retain my devo- 
 tion. Better to lose a few shillings, than become 
 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 
 vineyard; and as God's building; being lively 
 stones, built up a spiritual house, to offer up 
 spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus 
 Christ; and built upon the foundation of the 
 apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being 
 the chief corner-stone. The members of God's 
 church are designated by various names ; be- 
 longing to different parties ; espousing, on minor 
 points, divers opinions ; but all holding the Head, 
 and all looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ unto eternal life. On behalf of the mi- 
 nisters of God's church, prayers should be offered 
 by all believers. These need our prayers; for 
 
ON PRAYER. 143 
 
 they are men of like passions with ourselves. 
 They have the same common infirmities; are 
 attacked by the same enemies ; are liable to the 
 same dangers; and, by virtue 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 profitable 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, sup- 
 porting the weak, and being patient towards 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 unto the Lord 
 through their instrumentality. And let us not 
 think this an unnecessary or superfluous service ; 
 seeing the apostle St. Paul, eminently as he was 
 quahfied for the office of the Christian ministry, 
 earnestly solicited the prayers of his Christian 
 brethren. Writing to the Hebrews, he says, 
 " Pray for us ; for we trust we have a good con- 
 science, 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 
 
144 A TREATISE 
 
 it is with you." And to the Colossians, after 
 having 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 former is genuine. Where the foundation 
 is false, the fabric must fall. Almost as soon as 
 a Christian church was established upon earth, 
 the subtlety of the devil was employed in seeking 
 to subvert the faith upon which it was founded. 
 False doctrines and antichristian opinions were 
 extensively propagated ; and there were those 
 who cast off their first faith, and made shipwreck 
 of faith, and put away a good conscience. The 
 apostles spoke of such persons in terms of un- 
 qualified censure and condemnation; and they 
 used a variety of cautions and admonitions to 
 guard the primitive believers against the insidi- 
 ous seductions of men of corrupt minds, who 
 were reprobate concerning the faith. And if in 
 the primitive and purest ages of Christianity the 
 doctrine of faith could not be preserved inviolate 
 
ON PRAYER. 145 
 
 by men who were divinely inspired to propagate 
 it, and who could work miracles for its confirma- 
 tion ; can we reasonably expect, in these latter 
 days, to escape the contagion of false doctrine ? 
 The fashion of the present age is notoriously 
 sceptical; profane indifference assumes the name 
 of candour ; and, among a certain class of pro- 
 fessors, faith is nothing and morality every thing: 
 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 thistles; or error could 
 generate truth. Never was it more needful for 
 the members of the Christian church to be on 
 their guard against deceitful workers, 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 attire. 
 Never was poison made more palatable to the 
 taste, than it is in modern compositions. Sen- 
 timents derogatory to the person, work, and 
 honour of Jesus Christ, subversive of sound 
 evangelical morality, and hostile to the whole 
 spirit of revealed religion, are disseminated with 
 an industry worthy of a better cause. There- 
 fore, as the church is the pillar and ground 
 of the truth; as it is there that the truth 
 is deposited ; let its members keep that which is 
 committed to their trust, and pray that they 
 
 H 
 
146 A TREATISE 
 
 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 behaviour 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 to walk as Christ walked, 
 belies his profession; he is no better than a 
 hypocrite, a public dissembler, an enemy to 
 evangelical religion; and through him Chris- 
 tianity is brought into disrepute, 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 societies, 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 147 
 
 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 divinely inspired admonitions are 
 recorded : — " Have no fellowship with the un- 
 fruitful works of darkness." " 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-conceit; it was not that arrogant pre- 
 tension to superior sanctity which said, " Stand 
 by thyself, come not near to me, I am 
 holier than thou." The members of primitive 
 churches had their conversation in the world; 
 they mixed promiscuously 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 business, 
 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 un- 
 necessary intercourse with the world ; they chose 
 h2 
 
148 A TREATISE 
 
 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 invariably discountenanced, both by pre- 
 cept and example. And this separation from 
 worldly society may be traced to a most le- 
 gitimate 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 corruptible 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, re veilings, 
 banque tings, and abominable idolatries, but 
 they had turned to God from idols, to serve the 
 living and true God ; and their former besotted 
 companions, wholly ignorant of that divine 
 transformation, by which they were made new 
 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, bitterness, and party feeling among 
 Christians of different persuasions. In the 
 
ON PRAYER. 140 
 
 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 examining the truth ; 
 nor have we all equal opportunities. The great 
 Head of the church has wisely permitted this 
 diversity of opinion to exist. 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 God of love and peace may 
 be with them. 
 
 In addition to this, the members of the Chris- 
 tian church should pray for the extension and 
 establishment of the kingdom of Christ among 
 men. This must be accomplished by accessions 
 to the number of Gospel ministers. For what- 
 ever moral changes are effected in the world, the 
 ministers of Christ are the appointed instru- 
 ments for their accomplishment. If the wilder- 
 ness 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 with 
 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 
 
150 A TREATISE 
 
 warfare, and carry the battle to the gate. If 
 sinners are to be reconciled unto God, the am- 
 bassadors of Christ must be charged with the 
 messages of mercy and the ministry of reconcili- 
 ation. And wherever God has revived his work, 
 and extended the knowledge of his name, it has 
 been by the instrumentality of his ministers. 
 Referring to the latter days, the prophet says, 
 " Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall 
 be increased;" and our Lord declared, *' 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 
 ohurch should also pray for extraordinary effu- 
 sions of the Holy Ghost, to give efficacy to the 
 word of his grace. The wonderful effects pro- 
 duced by St. Peter's sermon at the feast of Pen- 
 tecost cannot be attributed to any peculiar or 
 exclusive excellency 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 : 
 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 151 
 
 wilderness will become a fruitful field, and the 
 fruitful field be counted for a forest. We are 
 entitled to believe, from the prophetical Scrip- 
 tures, that glorious 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, there- 
 fore, 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 ef- 
 fectually promote the work of God, 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 
 
152 A TREATISE 
 
 never prevail against it, we should pray for our 
 country. As Britons, our country ought to be 
 peculiarly dear to us. May we not adopt the 
 language of the Psalmist, and say of God, " He 
 hath not dealt so with any nation V* 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 Chris- 
 tian privileges, of our benevolent institutions, 
 of our Stranger's Friend societies, of our infirm- 
 aries, our hospitals, and other public buildings, 
 where relief is afforded to the outcasts, and 
 where the suffering sons 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." 
 " The whole head is sick, and the whole heart 
 faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the 
 head there is no soundness in it." From the 
 peasant to the peer, and through all the inter- 
 mediate grades of society among us, vice most 
 alarmingly prevails. It is difficult to enumerate 
 any act of criminality of which a human crea- 
 ture can be guilty, that is not perpetrated by 
 some portions of our population. Who that 
 seriously considers the moral condition of our 
 nation, does not perceive how much we need 
 
ON PRAYER. 153 
 
 the prayers of God's elect, who cry day and 
 night unto him ? 
 
 To be particular, we should pray for our 
 queen, that God may protect her person, pre- 
 serve her health, and continue her life ; and that 
 her government may long be a pubHc blessing 
 to our country ; that her throne may be estab- 
 lished in righteousness, and upheld with mercy; 
 that her enemies may be clothed with shame, 
 but upon herself that her crown may flourish. 
 And we should pray for the succession in the 
 Protestant line ; that the entail of the crown may 
 prove a successful expedient for the establish- 
 ment of peace and truth in our days, securing 
 them to posterity; and that all the machina- 
 tions and insidious schemes of our Popish adver- 
 saries, who are seeking to re-establish the " mys- 
 tery of iniquity" among us, "the Lord" may 
 " consume with the Spirit of his mouth," and 
 destroy " with the brightness of his coming." 
 
 We should also pray for our privy-counsellors, 
 the ministers of state, the members of parliament, 
 and all that are employed in the administra- 
 tion of our public aiFairs : that God may counsel 
 our counsellors, and teach our 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 understanding in the fear 
 h5 
 
154 A TREATISE 
 
 of the Lord : " that all things may be so ordered 
 and settled, by their endeavours, upon the best 
 and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, 
 truth and justice, religion and piety, may be 
 established among us for all generations." And 
 we should also pray, that our magistrates and 
 judges, and those who rule over us, may be just, 
 ruling in the fear of the Lord ; ever remember- 
 ing 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 covet- 
 ousness; that judgment may run down like a 
 river, and righteousness as a mighty stream. 
 
 We should also pray for our public schools 
 and seminaries of learning; that our children 
 and youths 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 examples of piety and holy 
 living to such as are-placed under their care. 
 
 And we should pray especially for the common 
 people of the land; that they may lead a quiet 
 and peaceable 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 ne- 
 cessaries and conveniences of life, as the recom- 
 
ON PRAYER. 155 
 
 pence of their daily toils; that neither the hire 
 of the labourers, who reap down our fields, nor 
 the wages of the artisans, 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, 
 afllicted, and forsaken, may have all their wants 
 suppKed by the charity of their affluent neigh- 
 bours ; and that God may make the " poor in this 
 world, rich in faith, and heirs of the 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 be 
 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, notwith- 
 standing the Sun of Righteousness has arisen, 
 and the Desire of all nations has appeared, 
 forms one of the most mysterious 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 situation of the countries 
 which all these beings inhabit, the degree of 
 civilization to which they have attained, their 
 
156 A TREATISE 
 
 languages, their literature, their manners and 
 customs, the climate, soil, and productions 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 v^^hat is their 
 spiritual condition? "Five hundred millions," 
 says the same writer, *'it is notorious, remain, 
 to this hour. Pagan idolaters ; and one hundred 
 millions more are the followers of the impostor 
 Mahomet. Two hundred millions only are 
 left wearing the Christian name." And if we 
 deduct 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 in- 
 fluence of Christian 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 apostles." " 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, without inter- 
 
ON PRAYER. 157 
 
 ruption, 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 degraded and ruinous condition. A 
 great and glorious 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 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 knowledge 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 bene- 
 ficial to man in his present probationary state 
 
158 A TREATISE 
 
 of existence will be induced in its train. For 
 the progression of knowledge has been constant 
 in every country where Christianity has pre- 
 vailed. 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 soothing hand. And in proportion as 
 Christianity becomes triumphant, ignorance and 
 error will cease to exist. Then a most happy 
 and peaceful state of society will be introduced 
 and perpetuated ; then gratitude shall bound in 
 every bosom, joy sparkle in every eye, bene- 
 volence breathe in every breast, and universal 
 love fill the earth. Thus Isaiah, in that pro- 
 phetical and figurative description which he fur- 
 nishes of the universal harmony that shall reign 
 in the world under the Messiah's peaceful do- 
 minion, 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 know- 
 ledge of the Lord, as the waters cover 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 become 
 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 159 
 
 Gentiles be gathered in; that there may be one 
 fold and one Shepherd. 
 
 But let us carefully guard against all dis- 
 crepancy between our prayers and our practice. 
 We can contribute towards the furtherance of 
 some objects only by our prayers ; but for the 
 accomplishment of others, efforts must be added. 
 We 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 wrestling with God on his 
 behalf, I had such a persuasion 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 I went again to God ; 
 and then the thought occurred to me, * You must 
 converse with him.' I did so ; and my con- 
 versation, by the blessing of God, was made 
 effectual to his salvation, and he is now seeking 
 to save others." 
 
160 A TREATISE 
 
 We pray for the good estate of the catholic 
 church, " that the righteousness thereof" may 
 "go forth as brightness, and the salvation 
 thereof as a lamp that burneth." But to main- 
 tain a consistency of character, we must seek to 
 promote the interests of the church, by uniting 
 ourselves with some section of it; making a 
 public profession of Christianity; walking in 
 wisdom towards 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 proportion of the globe should live hea- 
 thens, 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 ended 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 161 
 
 keep the sound within our own hearing, and 
 the words within our own island; is not this a 
 prayer which goeth out of feigned lips ? When 
 we pray, that God's "will maybe done," we know 
 that His will is, that " all should be saved, and 
 that not one should perish." When, 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 ve- 
 racity of our prayers by our exertions, and 
 extend its efficiency by our influence. 
 
162 A TREATISE 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 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 
 instructs 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 unchangeable 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 con- 
 sideration of the following scriptures : — " I ex- 
 hort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, 
 prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be 
 made for all men. For this is good and ac- 
 ceptable 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 his own words : " I say unto you, that if 
 
ON PRAYER. 163 
 
 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 especially for social worship. "Whien 
 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 God 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 multitude 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 devout exercise. Hence the Jews had 
 their oratories, " not erected," says Hooker, "in 
 any sumptuous or stately manner, which had 
 been perilous in regard of the world's envy 
 towards 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 ; nor thy duty, for want of 
 temporal encouragements." " In addition to 
 
164 A TREATISE 
 
 this, the Jews," says Mede, "besides their taber- 
 nacle, or temple, which was the only place for 
 sacrifice, had first or last two sorts of places for 
 reUgious duties, the one called proseuchce, the 
 other synagogues. The difference between 
 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 cedijicium tectum, a covered edifice, as our 
 houses and churches are ; where the law and 
 prophets were read and expounded, and the 
 people instructed 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 synagogues every sabbath-day.' 
 From whence also you may gather that syna- 
 gogues were within the cities, as proseuchce 
 were without; which was another difiference 
 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 re- 
 sorted thither." " Probably," says Dr. Clarke, 
 " this was before the time of their public wor- 
 
ON PRAYER. 165 
 
 ship ; and while they were waiting for the 
 assembling of the people in general; and Paul 
 improved the opportunity to speak concerning 
 Christ and his salvation 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 damsel met us, 
 which brought her masters much gain by sooth- 
 saying." In addition to all their other buildings 
 for devotional purposes, the Jews had their 
 splendid temple ; which was said to be a house 
 of prayer 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 
 exclusively to the temple ; for when St. Paul 
 took his leave of the Ephesian 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 children, till we were out of the city : and 
 we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed." 
 From the preceding texts it will be seen that 
 social prayer is sanctioned by the Scriptures ; 
 and this, were there no other reason to be 
 
166 A TREATISE 
 
 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? " " 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 are, 
 in a subordinate sense, and to a certain extent, 
 dependent 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 dependent 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 dependence 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? Do we derive benefits from our con- 
 
ON PRAYER. 167 
 
 nexion with society, and shall we not pray for 
 those who contribute to our personal and 
 domestic comfort ? Do they minister to our tem- 
 poral wants, and shall we not in return ask God 
 to supply their spiritual necessities ? In many 
 cases, all that we possibly can do to meliorate the 
 misery, and increase the happiness, of mankind, 
 is to commend 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 indifference 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, un- 
 less we pray for them. We cannot be ignorant 
 of that moral precept 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 neighbour whose habitation is 
 contiguous to our own ; and we denominate the 
 vicinity of our abode our neighbourhood. An- 
 ciently, 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 the Jewish religion, 
 
168 A TREATISE 
 
 and instructed in its principles. Nor did they 
 deem themselves obliged to perform any offices 
 of humanity to people of another 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 towards our neighbours, must be 
 measured and estimated by that which we 
 rationally and piously exercise towards ourselves. 
 For as God hath made the love of ourselves to 
 be the rule and standard, the pattern and argu- 
 ment 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 regu- 
 lations. 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 ffervently and as piously as we pray for our* 
 selves. Nor must we imagine that we have 
 
ON PRAYER. 169 
 
 discharged our duty unto others, until we have 
 sought their salvation by praying that God may 
 be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their 
 sins and iniquities 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 our- 
 selves, as it will tend to keep alive in our hearts 
 those benevolent feelings which it is our duty 
 and interest to cultivate and cherish towards 
 mankind. We all know that there is a large 
 portion of malevolence 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, emu- 
 lations, 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 dearth of that 
 
170 A TREATISE 
 
 charity that covereth a multitude of sins ; that 
 puts the most favourable construction 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 neglect of 
 social prayer? How can they pray together, 
 how advance the name of their God, or keep in 
 and stir up all grace in one another, unless they 
 be united by love? Pray with and for one 
 another ; and the consequence will be, your love 
 towards 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 
 behalf of others. And this is the chief reason 
 on which social prayer is founded. The Scrip- 
 tures furnish us with the most encouraging 
 statements and facts on this subject. See Abra- 
 ham interceding with God on behalf of the 
 inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah ; and great 
 and grievous as their sin was, and richly as they 
 
ON PRAYER. 171 
 
 had merited the divine indignation, yet God, in 
 answer to the prayers of the father of the faithful, 
 so far condescended as to say, that if only ten 
 righteous persons could be found among them, 
 he would spare 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 re- 
 peated 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 wdth the pes- 
 tilence, 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 
 affecting language: "Now if thou shalt kill all 
 this people as one man, then the nations which 
 have heard the fame of thee will speak, saying, 
 i2 
 
172 A TREATISE 
 
 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 forgiven 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 inter- 
 cessory 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 
 people," saith Moses : " I have pardoned accord- 
 ing 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 173 
 
 servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die 
 not. And Samuel said unto the people, More- 
 over, 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 supplications 
 "for all saints." On this subject an ancient 
 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 ad- 
 dressing 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 beseech you, brethren, for 
 the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of 
 
174 A TREATISE 
 
 the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in 
 your prayers." St. James saith, " Confess your 
 faults one to another, and pray one for another, 
 that ye may he 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 diseases, the text 
 serves to show the power of faithful prayer. 
 And in furtter proof of the availableness 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 intercede 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 argu- 
 ments can be more powerful, no motives more 
 availing, to excite them to the practice of the 
 all-important duty of social prayer. What con- 
 descension on the part of God, in allowing men, 
 the work of his own hands, to be co-workers 
 with himself in the most honourable exercise 
 upon earth; that of saving souls from death, 
 and rescuing from the jaws of perdition his 
 immortal offspring! "Thus saith the Lord," 
 
ON PRAYER. 175 
 
 by the prophet Isaiah, " the Holy One of Israel, 
 and his Maker, Ask of me things to come, con- 
 cerning my sons, and concerning 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." God 
 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? And there is nothing 
 hypothetical, or even scarcely contingent, in this 
 supposition. For God is never more inclined 
 to hear the prayers of some on behalf of others 
 than when believing parents present their pe- 
 titions to him for the salvation 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 stand- 
 
176 A TREATISE 
 
 ing memorial of his mother's importunity at the 
 throne of grace: Samuel^ "asked and given of 
 God." A character superior to Samuel for fer- 
 vent piety, incorruptible integrity, and public- 
 spirited usefulness, was never exhibited to the 
 world. St. Augustine aifords a remarkable ex- 
 ample 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, persisted in praying for me. She entreated 
 also a certain bishop to undertake to reason me 
 out of my errors. He was a person not back- 
 ward to attempt 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. Let 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 God, in the secret of 
 
ON PRAYER. 177 
 
 thy providence, forsook not my soul : day and 
 night the prayers of my mother came up before 
 thee, and thou wroughtest on me in a way mar- 
 vellous, 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, 
 " to prevent my going, or would fain have gone 
 with me; but I deceived her, pretending that I 
 only meant to accompany a friend until he should 
 sail. I persuaded her to stay behind; but I 
 that night departed privately, and she remained 
 weeping and praying. Courageous through 
 piet/, and following 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 conversing 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 enjoy 
 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, 
 i5 
 
178 A TREATISE 
 
 calling and saying, * I am the way, the truth, 
 and the life.' " " 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 : elevating our spirits, we as- 
 cended 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, * What do I here ? 
 One thing only, namely, your conversion, 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 
 child, 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. Besides, my dear mother often com- 
 mended me with many prayers and tears to 
 God; and I have no doubt that I reap the fruits 
 of her prayers to this hour." 
 
ON PRAYER. 179 
 
 This list might be easily enlarged to an 
 almost illimitable extent. The number of 
 children that have been brought to God through 
 the prevalency 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. 
 
180 A TREATISE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ON PUBLIC MEETINGS APPROPRIATED TO SOCIAL 
 PRAYER. 
 
 In addition to the 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 meet- 
 ings 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 unne- 
 cessary. 
 
 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 importance : too much attention cannot be 
 
ON PRAYER. 181 
 
 paid to it. 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 supplication will 
 be most copiously administered ; they will feel 
 the tenderest pity and the warmest charity on 
 behalf of the souls for whom they pray. The 
 tones of earnestness, and sincerity, and feeling, 
 will carry an emphasis and an infection with 
 them ; and they who speak from the heart will 
 speak to it. 
 
 If persons are employed in conducting prayer- 
 meetings, 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 
 engage in prayer be in strict accordance with 
 the language of the Holy Ghost in the Scrip- 
 tures. There is nothing that we can need, and 
 for which we are authorized to pray, that is not 
 
182 A TREATISE 
 
 revealed in the word of God. And no words 
 can be employed 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 inwardly 
 digest the holy Scriptures ; and thus be prepared 
 to speak unto God in his own language. What 
 a variety of phrases and expressions are pre- 
 sented to us in the Psalms which may be suitably 
 and successfully employed in our social devo- 
 tions! How cold and dead does that prayer 
 appear that is composed in the most elegant 
 language, when it is not heightened by that so- 
 lemnity 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 hiding 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 183 
 
 the son of Sirach : " Before thou prayest pre- 
 pare thyself, and be not as one that tempteth 
 the Lord." (Eccles. xviii. 23.) " Though a man 
 ought not," says Bishop Wilkins, " to be so con- 
 fined by any premeditated form as to neglect any 
 special infusion ; 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 preparation." Though prayer is a 
 mental exercise, for we must pray with the un- 
 derstanding, yet when we pray in pubhc 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 investiga- 
 ting subjects, uniformly refers to those signs. 
 In this case language is no less the instrument 
 of mental operation, than the expression of cor- 
 rect sentiment. It must be 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 ourselves what we 
 mean, yet if we use hard words and pompous 
 phrases, we shall perplex and confuse our fellow- 
 worshippers, rather than instruct and profit 
 them. " Except," saith the apostle, " ye utter 
 
184 A TREATISE 
 
 by the tongue words easy to be 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, O 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 efllux of thy glory." 
 " God is an abyss of light, a circle whose centre 
 is everywhere, and his circumference nowhere." 
 " 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 intelligent and pious minds, who desire to 
 worship God in spirit and in truth. 
 
 But those who use Scripture language in their 
 
ON PRAYER. 185 
 
 prayers should be 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 God 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 ;" for the subsequent 
 verse explains the former, " Can any hide him- 
 self 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 in 
 their prayers ask God to give them to " drink of 
 the brook in the way ; " a prophetical expres- 
 sion, that referred solely to the sufferings of 
 Christ. " The wrath of God," says Henry, 
 " running in the channel of the curse of the law, 
 was * the brook in the way;' in the way of his 
 undertaking, which he must go through with; 
 or which run in the way of our salvation, and 
 obstructed it; which lay between us and heaven : 
 Christ drank of this brook when he was made a 
 curse for us." Some, in addressing the throne 
 of grace on behalf of their ministers, pray that 
 they may " hear the sound of their master's feet 
 behind them ; " language which was used by 
 the prophet Elisha, concerning a man whom he 
 calls the " son of a murderer," who was sent to 
 take away his head. To mention this is a suf- 
 
186 A TREATISE 
 
 iicient exposure of its impropriety. Many, in 
 pleading with God for the conversion of the 
 world, pray that " he may give his Son the 
 heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost 
 parts of the earth for his possession." This is 
 asking for the accomplishment of a prophecy 
 which has long since been fulfilled. God gave 
 the heathen to Christ, by promise, before his in- 
 carnation. " The Scripture," saith the apostle, 
 " foreseeing that God would justify the heathen 
 through faith, preached before the Gospel unto 
 Abraham, saying. In thee shall all nations be 
 blessed. So then, they which be of faith are 
 blessed with faithful Abraham." And the 
 heathen was given to Christ virtually and truly 
 when the middle wall of partition which was 
 between Jews and Gentiles was broken down ; 
 and the Gentiles were made fellow-heirs of the 
 same body, and those that were afar ofi* were 
 made nigh by the blood of Christ. We our- 
 selves are living proofs of the accomplishment 
 of this prophecy, since we are all heathens, in 
 the scriptural sense of the term ; as all who 
 were not Jews were considered and denominated 
 heathens. 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 187 
 
 the intention of her who first employed the lan- 
 guage, 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 light- 
 ing down of his arm;" which is literally to pray 
 for the infliction of God's judgments upon us ; 
 since the whole passage (Isai. xxx. 30) is a pro- 
 phetical denouncement of God's wrath upon the 
 nations ; and hence the subsequent part of the 
 verse says, " With the indignation of his anger, 
 and with the flame of a devouring fire ; with 
 scattering, and tempest, and hailstones." 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. And, "Lord, give us 
 the spirit of prayer, and the grace of suppli- 
 cation ;" whereas the spirit of prayer is also the 
 spirit of supplication. Some take liberties with 
 the Lord's prayer, and say, " Deliver us from 
 all evil, and leave us not in temptation." And 
 the writer of this article once heard a very 
 popular preacher pray, " Forgive us our tres- 
 passes, and help us to forgive those who trespass 
 against us." Such improprieties should be care- 
 fully guarded against. 
 
 Thirdly. That public prayer-meetings may 
 be universally profitable, care should be taken 
 
188 A TREATISE 
 
 to avoid long and wearisome prayers. People 
 in common life, who are generally the persons 
 that take the lead in prayer-meetings, 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 obvious to all present; for after rambling a 
 minute or two, they come back to their former 
 views, and so on repeatedly; using nearly the 
 same expressions, and indeed very frequently 
 these repetitions are entirely verbatim. The pa- 
 tience of the people may hold out; but they are 
 merely saved by hope, as the person praying 
 makes a dozen periods before he really comes to 
 a conclusion." 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, 
 
ON PRAYER. 189 
 
 than to continue double the time on their knees 
 at once, to the great inconvenience and dis- 
 comfort 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 people 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 support me ; he prayed forty-eight 
 minutes. I was unwilling to rise, and several 
 times w^as nigh fainting. "What I suffered I 
 cannot describe. After the meeting was over I 
 ventured to expostulate with the good man ; and 
 in addition to the injury I sustained by his un- 
 merciful 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 re- 
 membrance of what I then suffered still rests on 
 my mind with a keen edge." One of the stand- 
 ing 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. 
 
190 A TREATISE 
 
 The circumstances and wants of men are greatly 
 diversified. It is very doubtful whether any 
 two persons in a congregation are in their 
 moral condition precisely similar. But the 
 blessings which God has to bestow are as nu- 
 merous 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, O 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 a collection of pet 
 phrases and favourite expressions, which they 
 use on all occasions ; 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 extensive range of subjects: 
 he prays not only for those who are present, but 
 for the ministers of God's word; for the different 
 
ON PRAYER. 191 
 
 sections of the Christian church ; for the pros- 
 perity of our own country; for the spread of 
 the Gospel, and the conversion of the world. 
 Of course it is not necessary 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 expres- 
 sions; but they often pray not only for the 
 same things, but follow one another almost word 
 for word. 
 
 There is another evil in close connexion with 
 this, that should be avoided ; and that is, the 
 employing the same persons from week to w^eek 
 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 Christian church 
 are numerous, there many may be selected 
 who can pray profitably; but perhaps they are 
 modest in their 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 entrusted them with the gift of prayer, they 
 should use it for his glory, and the advantage 
 of his people. In almost every Christian society 
 ofiicious persons will be found who, like Dio- 
 
192 A TREATISE 
 
 trophes of old, love to have the pre-eminence. 
 Perhaps they are seniors, and have been accus- 
 tomed for years to be the first and foremost in 
 these social and devotional exercises ; and they 
 cling to their ofi[ice v^^ith 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 v^alks of usefulness, 
 they regard them as rivals, rather than as fellow- 
 helpers to the truth; and would rather see them 
 bury their talents, than employ them in the 
 service of the sanctuary. 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 encourage those who will 
 occupy public situations in the church when 
 the tongues of their seniors are silent 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 in selecting matter for their prayers, 
 but they should also be careful to guard against 
 everything 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 deserves. Among all the ex- 
 ercises upon earth in which a human being can 
 
ON PRAYER. 193 
 
 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 circum- 
 stances 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 re- 
 sponsibility of the work in which he is engaged. 
 Everything, therefore, in his manner that tends 
 in any degree to create disgust, or excite pre- 
 judice, in the minds of his fellow-worshippers 
 should be carefully avoided. The management 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 devotion, 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 in- 
 dividuals who were ever born into the world 
 were precisely similar in their intonations. 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 God. Some 
 persons appear to have two voices; one for the 
 shop, and another for the sanctuary ; one by 
 
 K 
 
194 A TREATISE 
 
 which they address men, and another by which 
 they speak unto God ; and their voice at differ- 
 ent times is so dissimilar, that we should scarcely 
 know that they were the same persons, unless 
 we had some other evidence of their identity. 
 " 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 
 conversation, especially upon pathetical and 
 affecting subjects." Some have cheerful voices 
 in common conversation, but in prayer their 
 tones and intonations are grave, solemn, and 
 sepulchral ; which gives an occasion to our ene- 
 mieis to ridicule our worship, and pronounce it 
 canting, whining hypocrisy. 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 mucli 
 speaking; but these act as if they thought they 
 should be heard for their ^;ze speaking. But if 
 ever divine simplicity merits attention, it most 
 assuredly does in our devotions. The language 
 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. 
 
ON PRAYER. 195 
 
 In the management of the voice in prayer, 
 care should be taken that every sentence be 
 spoken loud enough to be heard; yet not so 
 loud as to affright or offend the ear. Between 
 these two extremes there is a great variety of 
 degrees in sound, sufficient to answer all the 
 changes in our affections, and the different sense 
 of every part of prayer. In the beginning of 
 prayer, especially, a lower voice is more becom- 
 ing, both as it bespeaks humility and reverence 
 when we enter into the presence of God, and as 
 it is also a great conveniency to the organs of 
 speech not to arise too high at first; for it is 
 much more difficult to sink again afterwards, 
 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 present to unite 
 with them ; for several sentences at the com- 
 mencement of their prayers, they cannot be 
 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 
 k2 
 
196 A TREATISE 
 
 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 neces- 
 sary it may be to use such expressions occasion- 
 ally 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 unfrequently the 
 napae of the Supreme Being is introduced un- 
 necessarily in our prayers. Some, by allowing 
 their tongues to run faster than their thoughts, 
 begin sentences without knowing how to con- 
 clude them; and hence, after much hesitancy, 
 they start off and seize on another sentence that 
 has no affinity or connexion wdth the former. 
 Others, to use a common phrase, pray at people 
 in their prayers; and are so personal in 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 ourselves alone, and not make them the 
 subjects of reprehension in our prayers. It 
 sometimes happens that persons of the lower 
 ranks of society give out hymns in the public 
 congregation which they are unable to read 
 correctly; and hence they make such egregious 
 
ON PRAYER. 197 
 
 blunders as a Sunday-school scholar might cor- 
 rect. The writer of this article once heard a 
 pious brother of this description, who, instead of 
 reading, " Source of the old prophetic fire," 
 read, " Scour off the old prophetic fire." This 
 shows the necessity of appointing such persons 
 to superintend prayer-meetings as are capable 
 of conducting them with propriety. 
 
 Sixthly. Those who speak unto God in our 
 pubHc 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 God which can alone render prayer 
 acceptable in his sight. On this subject much 
 circumspection is necessary. We are in great 
 danger of confounding animal excitement with 
 spiritual enjoyment. " When, from some ex- 
 ternal cause, the heart is glad, the spirits are 
 light, the thoughts ready, the tongue voluble, a 
 kind of spontaneous eloquence is the result; 
 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. 
 
198 A TREATISE 
 
 offer up their supplications 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 
 pervaded 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 ac- 
 ceptable to him, and profitable to ourselves. 
 There must be a hungering and thirsting after 
 righteousness, an intense desire for the en- 
 joyment 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 199 
 
 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 ejaculatory 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 aspirations of soul, and 
 devout wishes of the heart, will find acceptance 
 with Him whose throne is in 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 suppose," 
 says Dr. Clarke, " the grossly absurd, and per- 
 fectly 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 worshipper, and of that consciousness of his 
 wants and deep sense of his own worthlessness 
 
200 A TREATISE 
 
 which he ought to have, that the church of God 
 never tolerated it ; a custom that even Heathen- 
 ism 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 
 themselves is such as indicates the object of 
 their addresses to be neither a superior nor 
 equal? Their prayers are offered neither in 
 prostration, like the Mahometans ; nor standing, 
 like the Jews ; nor kneeling, as Christians ; but 
 SITTING ! an attitude in which a superior receives 
 and addresses an inferior. This is a custom 
 which has been introduced, 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 
 
ON PRAYER. 201 
 
 would dare to address Jehovah 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 conduct, called up her maid, and desired 
 her to go into the room where her mistress was, 
 to seat herself 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, ad- 
 dressing his wife, drew a parallel of her own 
 conduct with what she had resented so highly ; 
 and she was so fully convinced, that she pro- 
 mised to behave with more propriety at church 
 in future. 
 
 Some indulgence must be claimed, and allow- 
 ance made, on behalf of aged, weak, and afflicted 
 people, who, w^ith much bodily pain, and trem- 
 bling steps, come to the place where prayer is 
 wont to be made ; but whose infirmities render 
 them unable to assume any posture in the public 
 worship except that of sitting. But persons in 
 the full vigour of health should studiously and 
 conscientiously 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 sanc- 
 tioned by antiquity. Abraham "stood before 
 the Lord." Jehoshaphat " stood in the house of 
 
202 A TREATISE 
 
 the Lord," and pra5'ed; 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 v^^hile he prayed. But while standing 
 to pray may be tolerated, it is far more com- 
 mendable, and more consonant with the practice 
 of the pious in all ages, to kneel to pray. It 
 must be allowed, that no attitude 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 congregation of 
 Israel, and spread forth his hands toward hea- 
 ven." Ezra says, " I fell upon my 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 murderers, 
 "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, 
 
ON PRAYER. 203 
 
 of whom the whole family in heaven and earth 
 is named." 
 
 It is matter of regret that the pews in many 
 of our modern places of worship are so con- 
 structed as scarcely to admit of kneeling; and 
 especially during such long prayers as we are 
 not unfrequently accustomed to hear. But 
 where kneeling is impracticable, let us imitate 
 the heavenly inhabitants, 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 
 pubhc prayer-meetings ; and that is, the con- 
 tinuance of them unto unseasonable hours. It 
 must be allowed, 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 visit-, 
 ation and refreshing from the presence of the 
 Lord. There may be much of the unction of 
 the Holy One realized by the assembly. Peni- 
 tent 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 congregations 
 have been so deeply affected, and earnestly 
 engaged in prayer, that all persuasion to induce 
 them to retire, and go home to their several 
 
204f A TREATISE 
 
 dwellings, has been utterly unavailing. Like 
 Jacob of old, they have w^restled " till the break 
 of day." But such occasions are rarely realized. 
 Generally our prayer-meetings do not begin 
 until eight o'clock ; many of those v^ho attend 
 are labourers and mechanics, 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 maintained; and when 
 the husband, or master, is absent 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 overcome 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 company of their families, and teach 
 them wisdom and piety ; therefore their evenings 
 should not be always nor often spent abroad." 
 
ON PRAYER. 205 
 
 Ninthly. That meetings for prayer may be 
 more extensively and generally useful, all pru- 
 dential 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 duty, say, with an air of indifference, 
 " O, 'tis only a prayer-meeting!" If some 
 popular and favourite preacher be expected, or 
 a public Sunday-school meeting be advertised 
 for, what crowds of people are drav^m together ! 
 scarcely will the chapel contain the congre- 
 gation. 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 worshipped, and his 
 favour sought on behalf of ourselves, 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 indicative of 
 the low and superficial state of the religious 
 experience of any people, than the indifference 
 and inattention which they pay to meetings ap- 
 pointed 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 ; and Christian ministers espe- 
 cially should labour to excite in the minds of 
 
206 A TREATISE 
 
 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 entreat- 
 ing their hearers not to forsake the assembling 
 of themselves together, but to meet in the name 
 of Christ, for the purpose of mutual prayer and 
 devout supplication. And to their affectionate 
 entreaty they should add example. Let them 
 sanction these meetings by their presence : this 
 v^ll serve to prevent improper persons from 
 officiating in these meetings, and check any 
 irregularities that might otherwise be introduced 
 into them. And when ministers attend and 
 conduct these social meetings, their hearers, 
 v^hom they cordially invite, v?ill be induced to 
 follow their example; and thus the number of 
 devout worshippers will be considerably aug- 
 mented, and the increase of the congregations 
 can scarcely fail to awaken additional zeal, and 
 inspire with unwonted ardour the minds of 
 those who are accustomed to engage in these 
 devotional exercises. 
 
 But while ministers do their utmost to in- 
 crease the number of attendants at prayer-meet- 
 ings, the people should co-operate in this laud- 
 able undertaking. If they have a great sense 
 
ON PRAYER. 207 
 
 of the importance of eternal things, and a con- 
 cern for the precious souls of men, they need 
 not regret that they are not preachers; they 
 may go, in their earnestness, 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 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 pubKc 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 per- 
 sons, 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 
 
208 A TREATISE ON PRAYER. 
 
 prize our privileges, and especially the privilege 
 of praying ; of holding intercourse with God, 
 and ha^dng fellowship with the Father and the 
 Son, through the eternal Spirit. God does 
 not need our prayers ) they cannot augment his 
 happiness; our goodness does not extend to 
 him. But we pray for our own sake, and for 
 the sake 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 practice of prayer that can 
 alone render prayer pleasing. Whether, there- 
 fore, we have joy or grief, ease or pain, pros- 
 perity or adversity, honour or dishonour, let us 
 give ourselves to prayer ; for prayer is the first 
 of all duties, the obligation of all conditions, the 
 safety of all stations, the solace of all sorrows, 
 and the refuge in all dangers. Let us, then, 
 individually pray, with the Psalmist, " May the 
 words of my mouth, and the meditation of my 
 heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, ray 
 strength, and my Redeemer." 
 
 ROCHE, PRINTER, 25, HOXTON-SQUARE, LONDON.