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3. When you have obferved any confiderable wandring of your thoughts, bind yourself to repeat that Prayer again with actual attention, or elfe revolve the full fenfe of it in your fpirit, and repeat it in all the effects and defires of it: and poffibly the tempter may be driven away with his own art, and may ceafe to interpofe his trifles, when he perceives they do but vex the perfon into carefulness and piety; and yet he lofes nothing of his devotion, but doubles the earneftnefs of his care.

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If this be not feasonable or opportune, or apt to 4. any Man's Circumftances, yet be fure with actual attention to fay a hearty Amen to the whole Prayer with one united defire, carneftly begging the Graces mentioned in the Prayer: for that defire does, the great work of the Prayer, and fecures the Blefling, if the wandring Thoughts were against our will, and dif claimed by contending against them at l

5. Avoid multiplicity of Bufineffes of the World; and in thofe that are unavoidable, labour for an even nefs and tranquility of Spirit, that you may be un troubled and fmooth in all tempefts of Fortune: for fo we shall better tend Religion, when we are not torn in pieces with the Cares of the World, and feized upon with low Affections, Paffions and Interest.

6. It helps much to attention and actual advertisement in our Prayers, if we fay our Prayers filently without the Voice, only by the Spirit. For in mental Prayer, if our Thoughts wander, we only ftand ftill when our mind returns we go on again; there is none of the Prayer loft, as it is if our Mouths fpeak and our Hearts wander.

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7. To incite you to the ufe of thefe or any other Counfels you fhall meet with, remember that it is a great undecency to defire of God to hear thofe Prayers, a great part whereof we do not hear ourselves. If they be not worthy of our attention, they are far more unworthy of God's.

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Signs of tedioufnefs of Spirit in our Prayers and all
Actions of Religion.

The fecond temptation in our Prayer is a tedioufnefs of Spirit, or wearinefs of the Employment: like that of the Jews, who complained that they were weary of the new Moons, and their Souls loathed the frequent return of their Sabbaths: fo do very many Chriftians, who first pray without fervour and earneftnefs of Spirit; and fecondly meditate but feldom, and that without Fruit, or Senfe, or Affection; or thirdly, who feldom examine their Confciences, and when they do it, they do it but fleepily, flightly, without compunction, or hearty purpose, or fruits of Amendment. 4. They enlarge themfelves in the Thoughts and fruition of temporal Things,running for comfort to them only in any fadness and misfortune. 5. They love not to frequent the Sacraments, nor any the Inftruments of Religion, as Sermons, Confeffions, Prayers in publick, Faftings: but love eafe, and a loofe undifciplin❜d Life. 6. They obey not their Superiours, but follow their own judgment, when their judgment follows their Affections, and their Affections follow fenfe and worldly Pleafures. 7. They neglect or diffemble, or deferr, or do not attend to the Motions and Inclinations to Vertue which the Spirit of God puts into their Soul. 8. They repent them of their Vows and holy Purposes, not because they difcover any indifcretion in them, or intolerable inconvenience, but because they have within them labour, (as the cafe now ftands) to them difpleasure. 9. They content themfelves with the firft degrees and neceffary, parts of Vertue; and when they are arrived thither., they fit down, as if they were come to the mountain of the Lord, and care not to proceed on toward perfection. 10. They enquire into all cafes in which it may be lawful to omit a duty; and though they will not do lefs than they are bound to, yet they will do no more than needs muft; for they do out of fear and felf-love, not out of the love of God, or the

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Sect. 7. Spirit of Holiness and Zeal. The event of which will be this: He that will do no more than needs muft, will foon be brought to omit fomething of his duty, and will be apt to believe lefs to be neceffary than is.

Remedies against Tedioufnefs of Spirit.,

The Remedies against this Temptation are these : 1. Order your private Devotions fo, that they become not arguments and caufes of tedioufnefs by their indifcreet length; but reduce your words into a narrower compafs, ftill keeping all the matter, and what is cut off in the length of your Prayers, fupply in the earneftness of your Spirit: for fo nothing is loft, while the words are changed into matter, and length of time into fervency of devotion. The forms are made not the lefs perfect, and the fpirit is more, and the fcruple is removed.

2. It is not imprudent if we provide variety of forms of Prayer to the fame purposes, that the change by confulting with the appetites of fancy may better entertain the fpirit: and poffibly we may be pleafed to recite a Hymn, when a Collect feems flat to us and unpleasant; and we are willing to fing rather than to fay, or to fing this rather than that: we are certain that variety is delightful: and whether that be natural to us, or an imperfection, yet if it be complied with, it may remove fome part of the temptation.

3. Break your office and devotion into fragments, and make frequent returnings by ejaculations and abrupt intercourfes with God: for fo, no length can opprefs your tendernefs and ficklinefs of fpirit; and by often praying in fuch manner and in all circumftances, we fhall habituate our Souls to Prayer, by making it the bufinefs of many leffer Portions of our Time and by thrufting it in between all our other Employments, it will make every thing relish of Religion, and by degrees turn all into its nature.

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4.Learn to abstract your Thoughts and Defires front Pleafures and Things of the World. For nothing is a

direct cure to this Evil, but cutting off all other loves and adherences. Order your affairs fo, that Religion may be propounded to you as a reward, and Prayer as your defence, and holy Actions as your fecurity, and Charity and good Works as your treasure. Confider that all things elfe are fatisfactions but to the brutish part of a Man, and that these are the refreshments and relishes of that noble part of us by which we are better than Beafts: And whatfoever other inftrument, exercife or confideration is of use to take our loves from the World, the fame is apt to place them upon God.

5. Do not feek for delicioufnefs and fenfible confo lations in the actions of Religion, but only regard the duty and the Confcience of it. For although in the beginning of Religion moft frequently, and at fome other times irregularly. God complies with our infirmity and encourages our duty with little overflowings of fpiritual joy, and fenfible pleasure, and delicacies in Prayer, fo as we feem to feel fome little beam of Heaven, and great refreshments from the fpirit of confolation; yet this is not always fafe for us to have, neither safe for us to expect and look for: And when we do, it is apt to make us cool in our enquiries and waitings upon Chrift when we want them: It is a running after him, not for the Miracles, but for the Loaves; not for the wonderful things of God, and the defires of pleafing him, but for the pleasure of pleafing ourfelves. And as we must not judge our Devotion to be barren or unfruitful when we want the overflowings of Joy running over; fo neither must we cease for want of them. If our Spirits can ferve God chufingly and greedily out of pure Confcience of our Duty; it is better in itself, and more fafe to us.

6. Let him ufe to foften his Spirit with frequent Meditation upon fad and dolorous Objects, as of Death, the Terrors of the Day of Judgment, fearful Judgments upon Sinners, ftrange horrid Accidents, Fear of God's Wrath, the Pains of Hell, the unfpeakable Amazements of the Damned, the intolerable load of a fad Eternity. For whatfoever creates Fear, or makes

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makes the Spirit to dwell in a religious Sadness, is apt to entender the Spirit, and make it devout and pliant to any Part of Duty. For a great Fear, when it is ill managed, is the Parent of Superftition; but a difcreet and well-guided Fear produces Religion,

7. Pray often and you fhall pray oftner; and when you are accustomed to a frequent Devotion, it will fo infenfibly unite to your Nature and Affections, that it will become Trouble to omit your ufual or appointed Prayers: And what you obtain at first by doing Violence to your Inclinations, at laft will not be left without as great Unwillingness as that by which firft it entered. This Rule relies not only upon Reafon derived from the Nature of Habits, which turn into a fecond Nature, and make their Actions eafie, frequent and delightful: But it relies upon a Reafon depending upon the nature and conftitution of Grace, whofe Productions are of the fame Nature with the Parent, and increafes itfelf naturally growing from) Grains to huge Trees, from Minutes to vaft Proportions, and from Moments to Eternity. But be lure not to omit your ufual Prayers without great Reafon though without Sin it may be done; becaufe after you have omitted fomething, in a little while you will be. paft the Scruple of that, and begin to be tempted to leave out more. Keep yourfelf up to your ufual Forms: You may enlarge when you will; but do not contract or leffen them without a very probable, Reafon.

8. Let a Man frequently and ferioufly by Imagination place himself upon his Death-Bed, and confider what great Joys he fhall have for the remembrance of every Day well fpent, and what then he would give that he had fo fpent all his Days. He may guess at it by Proportions: For it is certain he fhall have a joyful and profperous Night who hath spent his Days holily, and he refigns his Soul with Peace into the Hands of God, who hath lived in the Peace of God and the Works of Religion in his Life-time. This Confideration is of a real Event, it is of a Thing that will certainly come to pafs. It is appointed for all Men once.

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