428 DIRECTIONS FOR GETTING AND KEEPING tain ; for those that are either men of unready tongues, or that are so ill bred among the rude vulgar, that theywant fit expressions of their own minds, or that are of over-bashful dispositions, or espe- cially that are of small knowledge, and of little and short acquaint- ance with those that should teach them to pray by their example, or that have been but of short standing in the school of Christ, such a man may have the spirit of prayer many a year, and never be able, in full expressions of his own, to make known his wants to God ;. no, nor, in good and tolerable sense and language,, before others to speak to God, from his "own invention. A man may know all those articles of the faith that are of flat necessity to sal- vation, and yet not be able to find matter or words for the opening of his heart to God at length. I would advise such to frequent the company,of those that can teach and help them in prayer, and neglect not to use the smallestparts theyhave, especially in secret, between God and their own souls, where they need not, so much as in public, to bé regardful of expressions ; and in the mean time to learn, a prayer from some book, that may most fitly express their necessities ; or to use the book itself in prayer, if they distrust their memories, not resolving to stick here, and make it a means of indulging their laziness and negligence, much less to reproach and deride those that express their desires to God from the ptesent sense of their own wants, (as some wickedly do deride such ;) but to use this lawful help till they are able to do better without it than with it, and then to lay it by, and not before. The Holy Ghost is said (Rom. viii. 16.) to help our infirmities in prayer ; but how ? 1. By teaching us what to pray for; not always what matter or words to enlarge ourselves by ; but what necessary graces to pray for. 2. By giving us sighs and groans inexpressible, which is far from giving copious expressions ; for groans and sighs be not words, and if theybe groans that we cannot express, it would rather seem to intimate a want of expression, than a constant abounding there- in, where the Spirit doth assist; though indeed the meaning is, that the groans are so deep, that they are past the expression of our words : all our speech cannot express that deep sense that is in our hearts. For the understanding bath the advantage of the affections herein; all the thoughts of the mind may be expressed to others, but the feelings and fervent passion; of the soul can be but verb defectively expressed. Lastly, All have not the spirit of prayer in like measure ; nor alI that have it in a great measure at one time, can find it so at pleasure. Desires rise and fall,and these earnest groans be not in every prayer where the Holy Ghost doth assist. I believe there is never a prayer that ever a believer did put up to God for things lawful and useful, but it was put up by the help of the Spirit.
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