66 INFERENCES. From this subject we learn,-1. That prayer is a suitable exercise for all; that it is a necessary duty; and that it is a great privilege. 2. From whom and through whom our mercies How. 3. The necessity of faith in prayer. 4. That all prayer is not accepted; many prayers never reach the throne. 5. That we must be particular in the confession of sin. 6. That if prayer is not answered, it is our own fault. 7. That they who neglect this duty, oppose a known command. 8. That the danger of those who neglect family prayer is very great,-Jer. x. 25; where such are classed among heathens; and, consequently, they cannot be Christians but in profession. Indeed, they are worse than heathens, for even they were convinced of the necessity of this duty by the light of nature; seeing we read that every family had their household gods, to which they prayed, together with their children. But as family prayer is a very important part of family religion, and as it seems to be much neglected in the present day by those who call themselves Christians, we shall extend this inference a little. We say, then, that they who neglect this duty do not believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God. They may, indeed, acknowledge them to be so; but they do not firmly believe that they are the Word of God. For instance, they do not believe the passage formerly alluded to, viz., that God will pour out his fury upon those families that call not upon his name;" otherwise why do they neglect this duty? But to reject part of the Scriptures, or those parts of them which are not agreeable to their natural inclinations, is the same as to reject the whole. The true Christian believes the whole Scripture to be the Word of God, notwithstanding that there are many parts of it which oppose his natural inclinations; and he endeavours, through the strength of Divine grace, to perform every commanded duty; and this he knows to be one, viz., family worship. But again, they who neglect this duty, live in a continual breach of the Fifth and Sixth Commandments of the moral law,-of the Fifth Commandment, which requires parents to instruct their children in the doctrines and duties of religion, and to pray with and for them; and of the Sixth Commandment, which not only forbids us to take away the natural life of ourselves or others. but also, according to its spiritual import, commands us to do what he can to promote the life of our own souls and of the souls of others. Surely, then, he must be a hard-hearted parent who does not do what he can to save the souls of his children, or, in other words, who does what he can to damn them; for we may readily believe, that he who neglects family religion will not be very anxious to keep his family from conforming themselves to the world, that is, from following its maxims, customs, and amusements; the love of which and the love of God are utterly inconsistent. "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."-1 John ii. 15. He, then, who neglects the duty of family worship, has sure and infallible evidence that he has no real concern about the salvation either of his own soul or of the souls of his family. But further, they who call themselves Christians, while they neglect this duty, are guilty of very great hypocrisy. They pretend to worship God in public, when the eyes of their fellow-creatures are upon them; but when in private and secret, or in the presence of the heart-searching God alone, they neglect religion altogether-they bow not a knee to him who made them. Such have a name to live, but they are dead-spiritually dead; and if they do not consider their ways, and turn to the Lord and to their duty, they will in a short time be eternally dead. Let those, then, who neglect family religion, begin the performance of this duty, humbly depending on the grace of God, and ever remembering that none can be true Christians who neglect it. Although there is no express command for it in Scripture, yet we find that it was practised by the saints, which is equal to a command; and surely they who would be Christians, must imitate Christ, who did not neglect this duty, but prayed with his disciples, who were his family; and, moreover, it is, as formerly mentioned, a duty of mere natural religion, or a duty, the obligation of which is evident from the light of nature alone. Of the Rule of Direction in Prayer. Q.99.—What Rule hath God given for our direction in Prayer? The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called "The Lord's Prayer." ANALYSIS AND PROOFS. We are here taught, 1. That we need a rule to direct us in prayer. Rom. viii. 26. "We know not what we should pray for as we ought." 2. That the whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer. 1 John v. 14.-"If we ask any thing according to his will, he beareth us. 99 See also John xv. 7. 3. That the Lord's Prayer is the special rule given us for our direction in prayer. Matt. vi. 9.-" After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father," &c. EXPLANATION. Obs. 350.--We require a rule to direct us in prayer. That we need to be directed in prayer, appears evident, when we consider the following things: 1. The nature of God. As God is far above the comprehension of creatures, and as it is only by the light which he himself imparts that he can be beheld; so we require a sure direction in prayer, when we would call upon his name. It is to him alone that we ought to make known our requests; but if we do not know him, we cannot glorify him in this respect. 2. The nature of man. Man is a guilty and condemned criminal; and, consequently, he ought to approach God with reverence. But he cannot do so with propriety without a rule of direction, seeing he is so ignorant of himself. 3. That we may greatly err respecting the matter of our prayers, and thus their success would be impeded. Had we no direction in prayer, we should be ready to pray for that which is included neither in the command nor in the promise, and our prayers would not be accepted. 4. That we may also greatly err with respect to the manner in which we ought to pray. Without a rule, we should certainly overlook what is most necessary to render our prayers an acceptable service; namely, the mediation of Jesus Christ, through which alone our prayers can be accepted, and the assistance of the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to help our infirmities, and to teach us to pray as we ought. 5. The danger to which we are exposed in obtaining a curse and not a blessing, if our prayers are not according to the will of God. Hence, direction in prayer is most necessary; and we ought to bless the Lord, that he hath given us a rule of direction. But we must remember, that this rule of direction is only an externai Whatever help, although fully sufficient as such. That we may pray acceptably, something more is absolutely necessary. external help we may have, we must have the internal help of the Holy Spirit, without which we cannot pray as we ought. Rom. viii. 26. This internal help is also the gift of God--the blessing promised to his Church; and this promise is fulfilled in all the seed of Jacob, who pray in the Spirit, and who know that they cannot call Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Obs. 351.-The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer. By the whole Word of God, we are to understand the whole of Divine revelation contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which God hath given us as a general rule of direction in prayer. By this we are informel that we ought to pray; by this we are furnished with every thing necessary for our help in prayer, at all times and upon all occasions, for ourselves and for others, in whatever circumstances we or they may be placed; by this we are furnished with all needful matter for prayer-for all the parts of prayer, and also with the most suitable and necessary directions respecting the manner in which we ought to pray; and by this also words are put into our mouths which ought to be used in prayer; so that we can be at no loss for want of just and proper expressions, which we may adopt, when we approach the throne of grace. Obs. 352.-The Lord's Prayer is the special rule given us for our direction in prayer. That form of prayer which is the special rule of our direction, when addressing the throne of grace, is called The Lord's Prayer, because it was dictated by our Lord Jesus Christ, in answer to this petition of his disciples: "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”—Luke xi. I. But, properly speaking, it is not the Lord's Prayer, because he could not use every part of it for himself. He could not make use of the fifth petition," Forgive us our debts;" for he had no sin to be forgiven, being the Holy One of God-holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners. That our Lord did not prescribe this prayer to be used by his people in all succeeding ages as a form, from which they were not to deviate, but only as a pattern of prayer, the various parts of which they might clothe in other language of Scripture, or in language suited to the peculiar circumstances in which they might find themselves placed, may be proved from various considerations:-1. This prayer does not expressly contain all the parts of prayer, although it may do so by inference. There is no direct mention made of confession of sin and thankful acknowledgment of mercies, nor of the name of Christ as Mediator, and of his sufferings and death, which must be considered as the foundation on which our prayers rest, and through which alone they can find acceptance. 2. This prayer cannot be used as a form, from which we must not deviate, because the evangelists, Matthew and Luke, who record it, differ in their mode of expression, which they would not surely have done, had Christ designed it only as a form. 3. We have several prayers in the New Testament, which were afterwards used by Christ and his apostles; but none of them are expressed in the language of this prayer, nor are they concluded with it; which is no mean argument against the necessity of adopting the very language or expressions of this prayer. Acts i. 24, and iv. 24; Eph. i. 24; 1 Thess. iii. 11; Heb. xiii. 20; John xvii. But although we are not bound to use this prayer as a set form from which we are not to deviate, yet the words of it " may be used as a prayer" to God, equally with other Scriptures, provided it be done with understanding, faith, reverence, and the other graces which are necessary to the right and acceptable performance of the duty of prayer. And that it G g may be thus used, is evident from its being called "that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples."-Luke xi. 2. This pattern of prayer consists of three parts,-a preface, six petitions, and a conclusion. The preface is, "Our Father who art in heaven;" the conclusion is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever;" and the petitions compose the rest of it. In the first three petitions, we pray for the advancement of the honour of God; and in the last three, we pray for our own happiness. We are first to pray for the honour of God, to show that this is preferable to our happiness, and is the spring of the whole of it.-1 Cor. x. 31. And there is only one petition for temporal mercies, namely, the fourth, to show that we ought to be more earnest at the throne of grace for spiritual than for temporal mercies. INFERENCES. From this subject we learn,-1. The necessity of prayer. 2. The goodness of God in giving us direction in prayer. 3. That we ought to treasure up the Word of God. 4. The sin of those who neglect prayer, seeing such help is afforded. 5. That they who neglect it have no excuse. Of the Preface to the Lord's Prayer. . 100.-What doth the Preface of the Lord's Prayer teach us? The preface of the Lord's Prayer [which is, "Our Father which art in heaven"] teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others. ANALYSIS AND PROOFS. We are here taught, 1. That the preface to the Lord's Prayer is, "Our Father which art in heaven."-Matt. vi. 9. 2. That in prayer we must approach God with holy reverence. Heb. xii. 28. Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." See also Ps. cxlv. 19. 3. That in prayer we must approach God with holy confidence. Eph. iii. 12. "In whom we have boldness and access with confidence." 11 4. That in prayer we must approach God as our Father. Rom. viii. 15.- Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." 5. That in prayer we must approach God as being able to help |