268 DIRECTIONS FOR GETTING AND KEEPING may express in prayer, and these God may so far hear as to grant them, as he did in part to Ahab. 3. An unbeliever may lie under preparing grace, and be on his way in returning towards God,though yet he be not come to saving faith ; and in this state he may have many good desires, and such prayers as God will hear. 4. Though God have not flatly engaged himself to unbelievers, so as to give them a certainty of hearing their prayers, and giving them true grace on the improvement of their naturals, yet he bath not onlyappointed them this andother means to get grace,but also given them half promises, or strong probabilities of speeding, so much as may be a sufficient encouragement to any such sinner to call on God, and use his means. For as he appointeth not any vain means to man, so no man can name that man who did improve his naturals to the utmost, and in particular, sought God in prayer, so far as a natural man may do, whoyet missed of grace, and was re- jected : (this is the true mean between Pelagianism andAntinomian- ism in this point.), 5. When God calls unbelievers to prayer, he withal calls them to believe. And when he works their heart to prayer by that call, he usually withal works them to believe, or at least towards believ- ing. If he that was unwilling to have Christ, do pray God to make him willing, it is a beginning of willingness already, and the way to.get more willingness. In prayer God useth to give in the thing prayed for, of this kind. 6. Prayer is the soul's. motion God-ward : and to say an unbe- liever should not pray, is to say he should not turn to God; who yet saith to the wicked, "Seek the Lord while he maybe found, and call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, " &c. Isaiah lv. 6, 7. 7. Prayer hath two parts ; desire is the soul of it, and expression is the body. The soul can live separated from the body, but so cannot the body separated from the soul. So can desire without expression, but not expression without desire. When our blind Antinomians (the great subverters of the gospel, more than the law) do rail against ministers for persuading wicked men to pray, they are against us for.persuading men to desire that they pray for'; prayer having desire for its soul. And do not those men deserve to be exterminated the churches and societies of the saints, who dare say to awicked unbeliever, ' Desire not faith ? Desire' not to leave thy wickedness? Desire not grace? or Christ? or God? and that will proclaim abroad the word (as I have oft heard of them with zealous reproaches),that our ministers are legalists, seducers, ignorant of the mysteries of the gospel, because they persuade poor sinners to pray for faith, grace, and Christ; that is, to desire
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=