A Praflical Expojition whatfoever Employmem thou art abour, thou mayefi fiill pray , fOr thy Farber that is in Heaven frill hea rs thee: He hears thy Though1s and thv Defires when either they are too big, or when it is not expediem to articulate rherri' into Wo;ds. Indeed thy Voice in Prayer is nor always neceflny, nay, fometimes it is not convc· niem; yea, it is never neceffary, but only upon Three Accoums. · Firjl, As that which God requires fhould be employed in hi s Sen1ice; for this ·was a great End why it was given us, that therewith we might BlefS and Praife God; With the Tongue, faith the Apofile, we blefs God, even the Father, James 3·9· Or Secondly, When in Secret it may be a Means ro help to raife JJP our Aftt:CHo~s keeping it !Iill within the Bounds of Decency and Privacy. Or, ' Thirdly, In our joining with others it helps likewife to raife and quicken their AffeEI:ions; othcrwif& were it not for thefe Three Reafons the Voice is no more necef. fary tl) make our Wants and Defires known unto God, than it is to make them known to our own Heans: For thy Father which is in Heaven is not certainly excluded from any Part of the Earth ; be is with thee, and lays his Ear to thy very Heart, and boars the Voice of thy Thoughts when thy Tongue is filent: And thou mayeft, wharfoever Work or Bufinefs thou art doing, dart up a Prayer and a winged Defire unto him, which !hall be as acceptable and effetlual as th< more folemn Performance of this Duty at fiat ed Times. Secondly, Is thy Father in Heaven ? Thy Praytrs then fhould be made fo as to pierce the Heavens where God is. But how can this be done fince the DiCtanee be~ rween Heaven and us is fa infinite? This is not w be done by the Intent ionof raifing rhy Voice, but by the Intention ofraifing thy Zeal and Spirit; for ·Zeal and Affellion is a !lrong Bow, rbatwill !hoot a Petition through Hea•en itfelf: Let all thy Pe. titions therefore be Ardenr, and carry Fire in them, and this will caufe them to afcend to the Element of Pure Celeftial Fire, from whence thy Breaft was at firft inflamed. It is a moll remarkable Place, Exod.14- r5. when the Rd S<a was before the !fra<- /ire$, and the .?Egyptians purfuing them behind, and unpalfable Mountains on each fide, the People Murmuring, and Mofes their Captain and Guide in an unextricable Srreight, we read not of any Vocal Prayer that ll1qfcs then put up; and yet God calls to him) Why criefi thou unto me? A Prayer it was, not fo much as accented, not fo much as whifpered; and yet fo !lrong and powerful that it pierced Heaven, and was louder in the Ears ofGod than the Voice of Thunder. llnd thus much fhall fufllce to be fpoken concerning the Preface of this Prayer, 011r Father, wbicb art in Heaven. Let us now proceed unto the Petitions rhemfelves ; the fir!l Three of which relate unto God's Glory, the other to our Temporal and Spiritual Good. Of rhofe which relate to God's Glory, the Fir!l defireth rhe lldvancement of this Glory itfelf, Hallowed be thy Nam<. The Second the Means of effeaing ir, Tby Kingdom com<. 'Ihc Third the Manife!lation of it, Thy Will be done in Earth, at it is in HtiWtn. , 1 begin with the Firft ofthefe, Hallow<d h< thy Name. In the Explication of which we fhall enquire, Firll, What is to be under!lood by the Name of God. Secondly, What it is to Hallow this Name of God. Thirdly, What is contained in this Petition, and what we pray for when we fay, Hallowed be thy Nam<. Fitll, What is meant by the Nom< of God. To this I Anfwer That the Name of God is any Perfetlion afcribed to hilll where- ~y he harh been ple~fed to make himfelfknown to the Sons of Men: For Names are given to this very intent, that they might declare what the Thing is to which that Nom< dorh belong. Thus when God had created Adam, and made him Lord of this vifible World, he caufed the Bea!ls of the Field, and the Fowls of the Air, to pafs befOre him, as it were w do Homage to their new Sovereign, an~. to receh'e Nam~r from him; which according to the Plenitude and Perfeaion of hts Knowledge d1d then aptly ferve to exprefs their feveral Natures, and were not only Names, _but~· finitions too. So when mention is made in Scripttlrl of the Name of God. 1t fignt~ fies fome Exprefiion of his infioite Effi:nce, in which he is pleafed gracloufiy to <on· defcend to rhe weaknefs of our Capacity, and ro fpell out hlmfelf to us, lomet1mcs by one Perfetlion, and fomerimes by aaotber; lince it is u.tterly impotllble foGr~a~~;:
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