SERMON LIII.

THE NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER.

1 CORINTHIANS XIV. 15.

I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also.

THESE words may be understood as expressing the disposition of every one who is sensible of his own wants, and conscious of his duty towards God: and from them we may observe-1. the act to be performed; 2. the manner of performing it; and, 3. what is implied in the Christian's resolution concerning it.

I. The act to be performed is prayer;-a very important duty, often inculcated, and strongly enforced in the divine word. Our spiritual life begins with it: "Behold, he prayeth," says Christ of Saul; and our natural life should end with it." Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," were the dying words of Stephen, and become the lips of every expiring Christian. It is an universal duty: every one that has a tongue to speak should thus employ it to God. Dependant creatures hereby acknowledge their dependance, necessitous creatures their wants, sinful creatures their transgressions, and implore the Divine mercy. Renewed creatures hereby exercise their graces, express their desires, calm their fears, and hereby their souls are brought into a suitable state for the reception of those blessings which God intends to

The best have need of prayer, and the worst may receive benefit by it. It is also a constant duty; never out of season, never to be neglected, till faith is turned into vision, and prayer into praise. There is no duty we are more apt to omit, no duty which it is more our interest to perform, no duty which Satan more opposes, or with which God is better pleased. As a man cannot live without breathing, so it is certain that the Christian cannot thrive without praying. I proceed,

II. To consider the manner in which this act is to be performed; and this, in my text, is described in a very concise and comprehensive manner.

1. With the spirit. This may refer to our own spirit. All the powers there resident, all the graces there implanted, should be exercised in this duty. "I will pray with the spirit;" that is, with uprightness and sincerity, with earnestness and fervour. My whole soul shall be engaged in the service; I will pray with my spirit when I do not or cannot pray with my voice, and thus keep up an intercourse with heaven in a crowd of impertinent visitors, amidst the hurries of business, and notwithstanding a thousand obstacles and avocations. I will also pray with my spirit at the more stated seasons of prayer. My words shall represent the inward breathings of my heart, nor will I be satisfied unless I find the actings of my mind correspond with the duty I am performing. Warm affections and warm expressions shall go together, and unto God I will lift up not only my voice but my soul.

This

Or this may be understood of the assistance of the Divine Spirit, whose agency and influence is absolutely necessary to the acceptable performance of this and every other duty,he must prompt us to it, and quicken us in it. heavenly wind must fill the sails; and it is as necessary that the Spirit should make intercession in us, as that Christ should make intercession for us. As a spirit of judgment, he must indite our petitions; as a spirit of love, he must inflame our affections. The Advocate within us must open our

hearts; the Advocate without us, open God's ear. That may be applied to the wheels of action in the soul which was said of the wheels in Ezekiel's vision: "Whither the Spirit was to go they went, and they turned not when they went." So that it would be an excellent prologue to every duty, and especially prayer, to say, "Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, my dry, parched, and barren heart, that the spices may flow out;"-that I may be in a devotional and heavenly frame, a frame suited to the work in which I am going to engage. The fervent prayer is an inwrought prayer.

2. With the understanding; not only in an intelligible manner, so that we may understand ourselves and be understood by others who join with us (though the apostle might perhaps have this principally in view, and therefore dehorts from praying in an unknown tongue), but with an understanding,

(1.) Of the great object of prayer, and the manner in which God is to be addressed; both are expressed in those words of our Saviour: "God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." If we pray to a god we do not know, we pray to no god at all, but to a creature of our fancy, and one that has an existence only in our imagination; and prayers to God, but not regulated by his word, are like offering strange fire, which will only betray our folly, and draw down his indignation. None can approach God aright but those that have a spiritual acquaintance with him; for "how can we call upon him of whom we have not heard?" By knowing him in himself, we come to him with holy reverence; by knowing him in Christ, we draw near to him with humble boldness. A sight of his holiness convinces of the evil of sin; an apprehension of his goodness leads us to hope for the pardon of it; and in all our transactions with him, we must believe both that he is, and that he is the rewarder of all them that diligently seek him. As the corruption of nature

notions of the Deity: "I will give them an heart to know me." And again, "Thou shalt know the Lord."

(2.) Of the true nature of prayer. up of our desires to God: desire is the essence of it. new-born soul. There is

Prayer is the offering God is the object of prayer, and Prayer is the very breath of the nothing so glorifies a gracious

God, or eases a burdened conscience, as prayer. Spiritual poverty lays the foundation for it, and spiritual enrichment is the delightful consequence of it. It is the making known our requests unto God, or, as Job expresses it, "making supplication to our Judge;" so that self-knowledge is a necessary prerequisite to the serious, affectionate, and constant discharge of this duty. None will seek discoveries of pardoning grace till they are burdened with the guilt of sin. Those only that see themselves estranged from God, and wandering in the by-paths of sin and folly, will say with David, "Seek thy servant;" and it is not till the billows of Divine wrath are ready to overwhelm us, that we shall cry out with the disciples, "Lord, save, or we perish." Prayer, as I intimated before, is the lifting up of the soul to God: "Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul." So that there may be more of prayer in a deep-fetched sigh, or broken-hearted groan, than in the most pompous oration, or the most eloquent harangue. In a word, it is a wrestling or striving with God; a stirring up ourselves to take hold of him. When rightly performed, it is a holy agony or conflict, which denotes labour and fervency; and here the Almighty Creator is the vanquished party, and the weak creature more than a conqueror. "He had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him."

(3.) Of the subject-matter of prayer,—what it will be proper for us to ask, and what it will be likely for God to bestow. "This is our confidence, that if we ask any thing according to his will he heareth us." Zebedee's sons asked they knew not what, and met with a repulse; they went upon a wrong errand, and therefore lost their labour. It is a common

complaint amongst the children of God, that they know not how to order their speech before him, by reason of darkness; they should therefore pray that they might pray; say with the disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray,"-to pray pertinently, pathetically, argumentatively; to choose out acceptable words, such as may best convey our ideas, and be most expressive of the wants and desires of our souls, neither vulgar nor ostentatious. "Let the words of my mouth," says David, "and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer."

We should also seek to understand the various parts of prayer, such as an invocation of the Divine Majesty, an humble confession of our sins, an application for personal blessings, mingled with intercessions for others, and a thankful acknowledgment of God's inestimable mercies, which will be an antidote against disorder and confusion, and prevent those tautologies and vain repetitions which Christ condemned in the Scribes and Pharisees, and taught his disciples to avoid in that short but excellent summary of prayer which he delivered to them.

(4.) Of the proper ends of prayer. With respect to these, the generality of mankind are very much mistaken. Some think by their prayers to appease the wrath of God, and make an atonement for their sins; and therefore when their consciences are burdened with guilt, pour out a prayer, and having thereby obtained ease, return to their former course of sinning again. Prayer is to them what Christ is to the true believers. Others, ignorant of the omniscience and immutability of the Divine Being, or at least, not having their minds suitably impressed with those attributes of Deity, either suppose, that by their prayers they may inform God of some things to which he was a stranger before, or that they may alter his purpose, change the course of his proceedings, work upon his compassions, and by dint of importunity, weary him to a compliance with their