Chapter LXXXIV: Section V

Considerations Which Should Move The Heart To Commune With God In Prayer.

_Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off_?—JER.
23:23.

1. It is of great use to us, to have before us certain heads which may serve as encouragements to the exercise of earnest prayer, which is that worship in spirit and in truth, which God requires of all his servants.

2. I. First, then, we must consider that “God knows what things we have need of, before we ask him.” Matt. 6:8.

3. II. That God draws, invites, and encourages us to the exercise of prayer, and assuredly promises that he will hear our prayers. Ps. 50:15.

4. III. That God is no respecter of persons, but has an equal regard for all mankind. Acts 10:34.

5. IV. That he is as sinful who presumes to pray upon the opinion of his own righteousness, merit, and holiness, as he that is afraid to pray out of a sense of his own sins and unworthiness. Luke 18:11, 14.

6. V. That God is not confined to any certain place, where only we ought to worship him; but that he is everywhere to be found, and is always “nigh to them that call upon him.” John 4:21, 22; Ps. 145:18.

7. VI. That God is, in his own eternity, unchangeable, and not confined to any certain time; but is always attentive to the prayers of his servants. 1 Thess. 5:17.

8. VII. That God anticipates our prayers, and gives us both natural and supernatural blessings, which yet, without prayer, nobody can truly enjoy.

9. These considerations will renew and awaken every soul that shall duly attend to them (Eph. 5:14): they will cleanse them from darkness and error; establish them on the foundation of truth; elevate them towards God; and inflame them with a lively devotion. For from them flow the following lessons:

10. I. That God commands and encourages us to pray, not for His own sake, as if He were ignorant of our wants, but for our sakes, that being quickened by prayer we might know and acknowledge them ourselves.

11. II. That God does not stand in need of any minute declarations of our necessities, but knows, even before we ask him, what things we have need of. Isa. 65:24; Ps. 139:2.

12. III. That God, who never slumbereth nor sleepeth, needs not to be awakened by our cries, fastings, and watchings; but that these exercises are profitable for man, to awaken and rouse him from the sleep of sin. Ps. 33:18; 34:15.

13. IV. That God is a thousand times more ready to give, than man is to receive. Jer. 32:41.

14. V. That the goodness and mercy of God towards mankind are infinite (Ps. 103:12), but that the negligence and sloth of men in praying, seeking, and knocking, are excessive. Matt. 7:7.

15. VI. That God is impartial and just in all his works, and is by no means the cause of our blindness, infirmities, ignorance, or miseries; but that wretched man himself is in fault, by neglecting to pray or to seek. Deut. 32:4; Ps. 92:15.

16. VII. That the true worshipper may at all times and in all places, offer up his prayers in spirit and in truth to God the Father, through Christ, provided he do not hinder himself. John 4:21, 23; Luke 18:1, etc.

17. VIII. That whosoever neglects prayer, deprives himself of the blessed opportunities of speaking to God. Ps. 19:14. Thus the sinner inflicts punishment on himself.

18. IX. That the diligent worshipper doeth good to himself; not of himself but by the prevenient grace of God, which is freely given to all men without exception.

19. Let him that is unacquainted with the preceding heads of meditation, know that he is still far from Christ, and has tasted but little of the truth. He who knows them, and believes them not, is guilty of a very great sin; and, lastly, he that believes them and yet is inactive, and does not stir up himself to the practice of them, but, on the other hand, lives on from day to day, in a state of doubt and indifference, is a great sinner, and shall be beaten with many more stripes than he who knew not his Lord’s will, and therefore did it not. Luke 12:47. Let the one last mentioned look carefully to himself, that he may be seriously converted, and not perish in his sins.

A PRAYER.

O Lord, and merciful Father, awaken me by thy Holy Spirit, that I may not only know those things, but may practise them by a lively faith, and become a true worshipper in spirit and in truth. Amen.