lefs ones? as the Apoftle argues. No, let us affure ourselves, No Father doth in that Degree pity his Children, as the Lord is merciful to them that fear him; fo the Pfalmift tells us Nay, a Heathen Poet could fay, That Man is more dear to God than he is to himfelf: And if we do not feel more Effects of his Love (tho' those that we do feel are not to be named), it is because we will not open our Hearts or our Hands to receive them. The Communications of God are as ready at hand as the Air we breathe in, and they prefs into all rightly-difpofed Souls: But those Souls that are narrow and fenfual, that grovel upon the Earth, and will not caft up their Eyes, tho' it were to make a Purchase of the Stars, it is no Wonder that those Men continue in Darkness, and partake but little of the Light of God's Countenance; fince they love Darkness better than Light, they value the Gratification of a fenfual brutish Appetite before the Poffeffion of the greatest Good in the World.

Thus have I given you an Account of those general Qualifications or Difpofitions, that are requifite in a Man to make him fit for Prayer: And this, I believe, I may say, that whofoever will take care to get his Mind into fuch a Frame as I have been now reprefenting, it will be very easy to him to perform all fuch other particular Conditions required in the Scriptures to make his Prayers accept

able,

able, and which yet remain to be spoken to: That is to fay, he will hereby be the better enabled to pray fervently and conftantly, he will be in a better Difpofition to afk in Faith; he will the more eafily fee the Neceffity of putting up Prayers in the Name, and for the Merits of our Lord Jefus. He will be the more inclined to be in Charity with all the World, when he comes to beg Mercies for himself And Laftly, He will hereby be convinced how neceffary it is, that to his Prayers for good Things, he should also add his own Endeavours for the obtaining of them: But another Time must be taken for that.

SERMON

SERMON IV.

MATTH. VII. 7.

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

T

HE laft Time I preached upon this Text, my Defign was to give an Account of the Requifites or Conditions, which we are to observe in our Prayers, if we expect to have this Promife of our Lord's in the Text made good to us; that is to fay, how we are to ask, and feek, and knock, in order to the receiving what we ask, finding what we feek, and obtaining Admittance upon our knocking.

Now these Conditions, or Requifites of Prayer, are either fuch as concern the Matter of our Prayers, or the Things we are to pray for; or, Secondly, fuch as concern the Manner of our Prayers, or the Qualifications with which we are to put them up.

The

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The First of these I have already largely difcourfed of, and what I faid upon this Head may be reduced to thefe four Propofitions.

Firft, Whatever is not juft or lawful in itself ought not to be the Matter of our Prayers; for to afk fuch Things is really to affront God Almighty.

Secondly, Several Things may be very just in themselves, and yet it will be very unjust in us to ask them; as for Inftance, when we afk either Things that we need not, or ask them to evil Purposes, for the making for the Flesh to fulfil the Lufts thereof.

Thirdly, Even fuch Things as we think we have need of, and which we may very lawfully pray for, yet if they be Things of a temporal Nature, we cannot ask them abfolutely and peremptorily of God, but only with this Condition, if God fees them fit for us; for all temporal Bleffings we must put up our Prayers, with fuch perfect Submiffion to God, as to fay from our Hearts with our Saviour, Not my Will, O Lord, but thine be done. And the Reafon is, because we are at no Time certain, whether any of those outward Things we defire are really good for us: They may prove either real Evils to us, or there may be fomething which is much better for us, for which Reafon it is very unfit we fhould be our own Carvers, but refer ourfelves intirely to God, who alone knows what our true Interefts are.

And

And therefore, Fourthly and Laftly, there remains but one kind of Thing, which we can pofitively, and with Affurance of Succefs, pray to God for; and these are all spiritual Bleffings: All the Things that concern either our living a holy Life here, or a happy eternal Life hereafter; these we may peremptorily ask of God, and depend upon him that he will grant them, provided we aik as we should do; for these can never be. hurtful either to us or to the World, and therefore will alway be agreeable to the Will of God.

In the Second Place, as for the Requifites that concern the Manner of our Prayers, or the Qualifications with which we are to put them up, I diftributed them into these two Heads.

First, Those that are neceffary for the preparing or difpofing us to pray as we fhould do. Secondly, Those that must accompany our Prayers, if we would have them effectual. The firft fort of Things I call Preparatives to Prayer, and those I likewife treated of in the former Sermon, and therefore I shall now only name them. In order to a due Preparation for Prayer, or the getting ourselves into a devout praying Temper, there are thefe five Things required: Firft, That we purge our Hearts of all actual Affections to Sin, that we come not to God with any of our Wickednesses

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