A Praelical Expojition And ·whereas our Saviour condemns the Pbarifets who devo11red fVidows Hotifcr and/or a Preunce made long Prtl)'eu, Mar. 23. 14. yet certain ir is rhar ic was no: their long Prayers that he condemns, but rbeir Pretence and Hy pocrifie. Thus much I thought fit to obfcrve from the Comexc. Our Saviour having thus cautioned his Difcipies againO: the Sins of rhe Pbarijcrs and Heathens in their Prayers, comes in the Words I have re<~d ro infirut1 them how to pray; .iJ.ftcr this manner tbertfore pray)'£, Our Fat7Jtr, &c. ' Some taking Advantage from thefe Words deny this to be ufed as a Prayer itfelf. llut only as a Model and PlatfOrm to dire8: us how to Pray. , But if we confu!t not only the PraElice of the Church ofChrift in all Ages, but the Scripture itfelf, we !hall find it to be both the one and the other; for ir is our Savj. ourJs exprefs InjunEHon, Luke I I. 2. When ye pray, f~y; and what fhould they fay but the Words immediately following, Our father, whJCb art in lieavrn, &c? One E~ vangelifr fays, Pray after tbi.r manner; the other faith, When ye pray, Jay; from both which being compared together it is eafie to c0lletl, that ir is both a Pattern for us to form our Prayers by, and that it is.a Prayer itfelf, which our Saviour, in Condefcention to our Infirmities, ha rh framed for us; putting Words into ou r Mourbs ro beg of God thofe Ble!fings which through his mofi prevalent lnrercoftion !hall not be de. nied us. And indeed of all Prayers this is the mofi abfolute and comprehenfive, comainjng in it not fo many Words as Petitions; for there is not any one Thing that we can pray for, according to the Will ofGod, bur.it i~ fummarily couch~d in this. And yet this Comprehenfivenefs, which IS the Admuable Excellency of this Prayer, bath been the only Reafon why fame of late h~ve fcrupled and refuted to ufe ir, becaufe they cannot pierce through all that is figndied by rhefe fubfiamial Expreflions. they think they ihould take God"s Name in vain in uttering that before him which they do not undetlland the utmoft Extent of. But if they did but confider their own Prayers the fame Doubts would llill remain. When they pray that God's Name may he glorified ., can they comprehend in that illort time, while they are uttering thofe Words, the infinite Latitude ofrhat Requefl:? Is it unlawful, at the clofe ofour Prayers, to defire that G:Jd would give us all good Things which we have not memion~d before him? And yet who of us can conceive how large an Extent that Requell: may have? May we nor fay Amen, and Seal up our Prayers wirh a So he it, though whHe we are fpeaking it we cannot prefently re. collea all that bath been mentioned before God in Prayer? And for any w fay that the Lord's Prayer is a Morfel too big for their Mouths, (as feme have done,) I have always accoumed it a moft unworthy and unfavoury Speech. Certainly Chrifi thoughr it not too big fOr his Difciples, whofe Capadd$ at that Time were poffibly none of the largefr, as appears in many lnftances, particularly in the Nature of Chrifi's Kingdom, which he taught them to pray that it might come, which they thought to be Temporal and Earthly. And thofe who refufe the ufe of the Lord"s Prayer, as too big for them, would yet think tbemfelves much wronged if we fhou!d but luf- pea them as ignorant in that, and in many other Points of Chrillian Doarinc, as the Difciples were when our Saviour infiruEl:ed them thus to pray. It being therefore, as I hope, clear and evident, that we may ofi:en pray in thefe Words, and that we muft always pray after this manner, let us now proceed ro con· fider the Prayer itfelf, in which there are thefe Four Parrs. Firjl, The Preface or lntroduElion to it. Secondly, The Petitions or Requefis we prefent to God, in which the greateft Part of it confifts. · Thirdly, The Doxology, or Praife·giving; for Praife is a nece!fary part of Prayer. FOurthly, The Conclufion or Ratification of all in the Sealing Panicle, Amen. I !hall fpeak fomewhat of thefe briefly in the general, and then more particularly of each, as my Text directs me. tlrfl, For the IntroduCHon or Preface unto the Prayer, and that is contained in thefe Words, Our Father, which art in Heaven. This is Ufed a'i a Preparative to Prayer: And what greater Inducement can there be to difpofe us into an Holy Awe and Reverence of God, than to fer before us the Greamefs and Glory of that Majefty before whom we profirate our felves ? llnd therefore we find t~~!
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=