CHAPTER 11. 113 our best. But for younger christians, unskilled in this work, to rush always into the presence of God in solemn prayer, without due forethought, even when there is time allowed for it ; and to pour out words before God at all adventures, is no sign of that high reverence which they owe to so awful a majesty, before whom angels veil their faces, who is jealous of his own worship, and abhors the sacrifice offools. If we utterly neglect preparation, we shall be ready to fall into many inconveniences. Sometimes we shall be constrained to make long and indecent stops in prayer, not knowingwhat to say next. At other times we shall be in danger of saying those things that are very little to the purpose, and of wandering far from our purposed- subject and design, which can never be ac- ceptable to God. And sometimes when the mind is not regularly furnished, the natural spirits are put into a hurry, and we run intoa confused, incoherent, and impertinent rhapsody of words, whereby both God may be dishonoured, and our own edification and the edification of others spoiled ; while the Spirit of God stands afar off from us for a season ; it may be, on purpose to reprove our negligence of a wise and holy care to learn to pray. Some such unhappy practices as these in the last age have given great offence to the pious, and been a stumbling-block and scandal to the profane. The wicked and profane world have takenoccasion from hence to throw loads of reproach on all con- ceived prayer, under the name of praying extempore, and have endeavoured to render all prayer without books and forms as odious as possible under this name. The more sober and pious part of the church of England, that usually worship God by 'liturgies and precomposed forms, have been too ready to give ear to these reproaches, and have by this means been confirmed in their confinement to liturgies and prayer-hooks; they have been hardened hereby against attempting to seek the gift of prayer themselves, and been tempted to oppose and censure those who have attained it. No small share of this public scandal will be found at the door ofthose few bold, ignorant, and careless men, who have been guilty of such rash and thoughtless ad- dresses to God, under a pretence of praying by the Spirit. In opposition to this practice of premeditation, some pious and sincere christian may. say, I have now and then meditated r»auy things which I designed to speak in prayer ; but when I came to pray, I found'my thoughts enlargedbeyond allmy pre- paratton.s, and carried away to dwell in prayer upon subjects and petitions of a very different kind, and in a much more lively manner to express my thoughts than I had before conceived. Now I would persuade such a person to receive this divine assist- ance, not as an argument to neglect premeditation for the future, VOL. v
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