272 The area. YIIlt. 20, 2 t. and lxix 32. Phil. iv. 6, 7. r Sam. i. Awatch mutt be often wound up. You muff wrei 1e in prayer, againft your unbelief, doubting, fears, catee reluttancyof the flab, to that which is good; againft all evil lulls and delires, coldnefs of affeìion, impa- tience, trouble of fpirit; every thing that is contrary to an holy life, and the graces and holy defires to be ailed for yourfelves or others, Col. iv. 12. Rom. xv. 30. Stir up yourfelves to the duty, Col. ii. i, 2. Ifa. lxiv. 7. Though the,fiefb be crois and reluctant, we muff not yield, but refill by the Spirit, 1LIatth. xxvi. 14. and thus we fhall find the Spirit helping our in- firmities, Roth. viii. 26, 27. Though God feem to defer long, we muff not faint nor be difcouraged, Luke xviii. r, 7. The greater our agonies be, the more earneftly we are to pray, Pfalm xxii z, 2. Luke xxii. 42. This is [prfkarterei to proteiche] " to continue inftant in prayer," Rom. xii. 12. Eph. vi. t 8. Thus you will find prayer a great heart- work, and not fuck ä thing as may be done while you think on other things, and that it requireth all the ftrength of faith and affection that you can po& ftbly eir up. Thus you may get a holy frame. (7.) You muff make a good ufe of the whole mat- ter, and all the manner of prayer, as ordinary and extraordinary exigences may require, to fair up grace in yon, by wreftling, and to bring your hearts into a holy frame. As, in confefliion, you mutt condemn yourielf according to the flefh, but not as you are in Chrift. You mutt not deny that grace that you have, as if you were only wicked hitherto, and now to be- gin again: which hinders praife for grace received in thofe that are already converted. In fupplication, you mutt endeavour to work up your heart to a god- ly forrow, Pfal. xxxviii. 18. and a holy fenfe of your own fin and mifery; and lay before you the aggra- vations thereof, Pfal. li. 3. and cii. Complaint and lamentation are one great part of prayer, as the La- mentations of Jeremiah. And youmull add ,plead.
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