All these Things confider'd, I think every Man in the World, that hath any Sense of Religion, muft needs be convinced, that ferious and folemn Prayer is not only of great Use, but of abfolute Neceffity for the obtaining what we want; that there is no profpering in our Affairs without it; and when it is put up devoutly and heartily, and in that Manner it ought to be, it never fails to bring down the Bleffing of Heaven upon

us.

I should now proceed to the Third Head propofed to difcourfe of, and that is, of the Requifites or Conditions of Prayer, that we must take care to obferve. if we would have our Prayers either acceptable to God, or beneficial to ourfelves; but this I fhall referve for another Time. Now to GOD, &c.

SERMON

SERMON III.

MATTH. VII. 7.

Afk, and it shall be given you, feek; and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

T

HIS Text is a Part of our Sa-
viour's famous Sermon on the
Mount, which may be juftly
called a Summary of all Chri-

ftian Duties. In thefe Words he is treating of the great Chriftian Inftrument of obtaining from GoD whatever we ftand in need of, and that is hearty Prayer to him. He had delivered to his Difciples, in the former Chapter, a Form of Prayer for them to use; and now he comes to recommend and enforce the conftant Practice of that Duty, by giving them Affurance, that if they did practise it, they fhould not fail of having their Requests granted, and being fupplied with every thing they stood in need of.

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A great and unfpeakable Com fort this is, to be able, at all times, certainly to fay, whatever is fit for me, it shall be given me, if I do but afk it, if I do but feek it, if I do but knock at the Gate of Mercy for it. And yet this every Chriftian may fay, if our Saviour's Affirmation may be relied on; for Words cannot be contriv'd to express more plainly, or more strongly, the constant neverfailing Efficacy of hearty Prayer, than these are which our Saviour here delivers; Ask, faith he, and it shall be given you; feek, and ye fhall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Which Promife of his, for the further poffeffing our Minds with a stedfast Belief of it, he repeats again, in the next Verfe, by way of an univerfal Propofition; for every one that afketh, receiveth, and he that feeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened; and the more to enforce this, he doth in the next Words put the Cafe of an ordinary Father, who tho' he may be fuppofed to be otherwise a churlifh or unkind fort of Man, yet if his Son, when he is an hungry, should ask Bread of him, he could not be thought fo hard-hearted as to give him a Stone for Bread, or a Serpent for a Fish: If, therefore, as our Saviour infers, we that are evil know how to give good Gifts unto our Children, when they afk us; how much more will our heavenly Father (who has nothing of Evil or Churlishnefs in his Nature, but is perfect Love and

Qoodness

Goodness itself), how mach more shall he give good Gifts unto them that afk him?

But then tho' all this be fo, tho' GoD hath by his Son Jefus made this plain Promife, That every one that afketh shall receive; and tho' we may be as certain as we are of any thing, that God will to all Chriftians always make good this Promise, yet we cannot imagine, that every thing that any of us ask fhall be granted to us; for we may ask foolish unreasonable Things : Neither can we imagine that every kind of afking will prevail with GOD to hear us; for we may ask in fuch a Manner that our Petitions fhall rather be Affronts than Prayers, and fo may justly merit Indignation and Contempt rather than Acceptance; fo that before we can apply this Promise to ourfelves, or expect that GOD fhould make it good to us, it is abfolutely neceffary that we fhould rightly understand it; that is, know both what we are to afk, and how we are to afk, if we hope to receive the comfortable Effects of our Saviour's Words.

And indeed this is the only material Point to be difcourfed of from this Text; that GOD will, on his Part, always perform what our Saviour hath given his Word for, I hope nobody among us doubteth, and therefore it is needlefs to infift on the Truth of that, All that is to be done is to fhew, what, and how we may so ask, so seek, so knock, as that we may receive what we afk; find

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what we feek; and obtain Admittance upon our knocking.

My Business then at this time, is to give an Account of the Requifites or Conditions of Prayer, which we are to take care to obferve, if we expect to have our Prayers anfwered.

Now thefe Requifites or Conditions of Prayer are, as I just now intimated, either fuch as concern the Matter of our Prayers, or the Things we are to pray for; or fecondly, fuch as concern the Manner of our Prayer, or the Qualifications with which they are to be accompanied; both these therefore must be here confidered.

I begin with the First, the Matter of our Prayers, or the Things which we are to ask at GOD's Hands.

Now here the general Propofition is; That the Things which we afk of God (if we mean he should anfwer our Prayers), muft be fuch as are agreeable to his Will. This is the Rule laid down by the Apostle in the first Epistle of St. John, v. 14. This (faith he) is the Confidence that we have in him, that if we afk any thing according to his Will, he heareth us: And moft certainly if we do not ask according to his Will, he will not hear us: Well, but how fhall we know what Things are agreeable to GOD's Will, and what are not, that so we may know what Things we are to pray for? In Anfwer to this Inquiry, I lay down these Four Propofitions.

Firft