ture that "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much," so if you are really pious, by praying for a friend who is not so, you may be the means of procuring that friend a benefit from God; and consider what a blessed thing it is to be the means, through the mercy of God, and mediation of Christ, of good to others.

St. Paul tells us to be "instant in prayer,” i. e. to let our minds be so seasoned with a consciousness of the obligations we are under to God, and our dependence upon him for every thing, that they may always be in a proper disposition to pray; and to avail ourselves of that disposition to pray as often as we can; and we can pray during the performance of our several duties without interrupting them, and amid our rational recreations without diminishing the pleasure they afford us; as well in a crowd as in a closet; for to pray does not always require us to kneel down, nor always to use a long form of words: a look

or sigh of entreaty to heaven, and an exclamation or tear of gratitude, are efficient prayer and praise to God; who looks only to the heart, and does not hear us on account of the position in which we pray, nor the number and form of words which we use, but solely on account of the spirit of devotion within our hearts. When we experience an inclination to do wrong, or evil thoughts enter our minds, a silent prayer, if it were only "Lord save me!" though we were walking in the street, would, if it were sincere, instantly be heard by God; who in his goodness would answer it, and assist us in escaping the temptation that assailed us; because, when we pray, we acknowledge God's power and goodness, and our own dependence upon him, and thereby we glorify him; and he has not occasion to be told what we want, because he knows all things. But he has commanded us at certain times to use forms of words, in which we are to ask forgiveness of our sins, tell him our

wants, and implore him to relieve them and grant us his blessing; praising him for his mercies: because, if we were left only to pray by looks, sighs and exclamations, our disposition to pray, for want of sufficient exercise, would degenerate. These are modes of prayer to be used when we can with propriety use no other; and the other mode is to be resorted to when we can adopt that with propriety. Those who really enter into the spirit of religion use both modes; and both as frequently as they can; the one I shall call, for distinction sake, mental, and the other, practical prayer. The same of praise. When any good befals us, for which we feel anxious to thank God, we retire to our closets, if there be an opportunity, and praise him on our knees, and in a form of words-this is practical praise; but, if we are so situated that we cannot seek privacy, nor kneel, nor use a form of words, then, a grateful look to heaven, commissioned by the heart, moved by the de

lightful emotions of gratitude, is equally with a regularly constructed form of thanksgiving acceptable to God; for it is the prostration, as well as the elevation of the heart before him, adoring and glorifying him; (which is always an acceptable sacrifice, and the sacrifice in which he delights) and such an act will procure a blessing for us, in God's sanctifying to our use that for which we praised him. The use of these mental prayers and praises is in conformity to St. Paul's injunction of being "instant in prayer," and such we may employ in every situation, without the least inconvenience or hinderance of our several occupations; and no mind, which is properly endued with a Christian spirit, can avoid having frequent recourse to mental prayer and praise; a habit which strengthens our virtuous resolutions, invigorates our efforts, elevates our hearts above mean cares, and sweetens all our enjoyments. These are for every occasion; practical prayer and praise for parti

cular occasions. When our Saviour graciously vouchsafed to give us the form of prayer called the LORD'S PRAYER, (by way of noting its superiority to all other prayers, as the Scriptures collected are called the BIBLE, or Book, to distinguish it from all other books), he gave it as a pattern for us to construct our prayers from; not confining us to the words of that prayer, nor to its length; but enjoining us always to form our prayers in the spirit of that prayer, whether we used long or short petitions. There are people tenacious of long prayers, but this is superstition. Long prayers are suitable to occasions of much leisure, but are certainly at other times inconvenient; and, therefore, short prayers often said are more generally useful; and our Saviour has taught us that all we should say may be said in a small compass.

In long prayers there is frequently an injudicious redundancy of language; and we should be careful not to address su