Cafes of Conjcience. ,:Booke. Godh<~<mnot (innmahatis,(acl\ as hue and lie A in their Gnnes, and turne not vnto God by true repentance. d oh. j.U. B; rhio•eefc..now that fjodhe4res ~ur prtt;:rt,tjwee k..~tpe hiusm– vumndcmmtJ. I addc further, that the man which harh before time repented,mu!l again renew his rcpemancc, if hcc dcfire that his prayers OJOuld bee accepted. For the very particular linnes of men, whereinto they fall afrertheirrepenrance, doe hinderrhe courfe of their prayers, from hauing accelfe vnro God,if they benotrepenred of. And for this caufe, the worthy men of God,the Prophets in the oldeT dlament, doevfually in the be– ginningof their prayers, !l,ll humble them· felucs,and confctfctheir finnc;as wee may fee B in the example of Daniel,chap.9.v.s,G,&c. andof£zra,chap.9.v.G,&c, Secondly, before a man makea prayer, he mufl firll (ifn<ede reqmre,)bereconciled vn– to his brother. If thou bring rby gift tothe t~lt4r, andther:e remrmbrtflthat thybrotherb~tthought again[l t hu Jeam therethineoJftring, Atul goe 1 hy wa; ,firll be reconciled to thy brorhor,and then comeanduffcrth] gift. Mat.$. >J. Wheny<fha/1 {landandp";,f.rgtu<,if J' hau<anything againjl •'1 m4>1,&c.Mark.JJ,>5. Thirdly, bee that isto pray mull prepare himfdfe in heart and minde, u one thatls to fpcake famiharlywith God. In t~is prep.uation,fourethings~te requi– red. F~rCl,rbemindcisrobceemproedofall C carnall &worldly rhougbts, Seccndly,there mu[! be in the minde, aconuderorion of rhe things tobeeasked, ThirdlY, aliftingvpof the heart vntothe Lord,Pfal.>5·'· Fourrhly, the heart mull bee touched,with areuerence of theMaie[fieofGod, towbomcwcpray, Ecclef.5.1. & norrofh ~>ith th] mautb,n,.ferth; htar< behaft; r.vtur• thingbifor. God,For the neglect hereof, the Lord thrcatneth to bring aiudgementvpon the.Ifraelites,E(a,: 9·'3·t4, Sell, 2 . Conditior.s The fecond fort of Conditions, arc rbofc inproy<r. that are required in prayer, and they arein n6mbereighr. I. Euery petition muR proceede from a D liuelyfenfe andfeehng ofourowncwanrs,and ofour fpirituall poucrty. Forwithour tbis,no prayer can be earneR and hearty; andconfc– quentlybecome acceptablcvnro God. For example,whcnwe pray that Gods name may be hallowed,wc mull in making thatpetition, hauc in our hearrs a fcnfcofthecorruption ofour,narure,whcrcbyweare prone ro dtfllO– nour the name ofGod, I I. Our praiermull proceed from an ear– uefl de~reof rhat grace which weewant :and this dehrcis indeed praier it fclfe, Mofes vt. rermgncuer aword, but groningin the fpirit vnro God, in thebehalfe of the lfraelites, is faid,to cri! 1Jntoth~ l ()rd,Exod.14.I5.We~ow nor(faith Paul) what top-.]""""ught,but th< Spzrit it !'If• malt_tth r.quefl for VI with fighn thAt CAnnot b, <xprefi'J,Rom.8.26. II I. The petition muR procccdc ftorn faumg and trueiullifying faith, The r..fon "• bccoufcwithouttharfaith; it is lmpolliblc that eitherour perfons,orourpraycrs,orany other aClion wee doo, !hould plafc God, Heb.u.<i'. I V. Euery petition mull begroundedvp– oo the word of God, and not framed accor– ding to the~arnallconccitand fanfioofmans braine. And this i4 the AjfurAitce thlltlJ'eh.c11ein him,th•tifwu.uk.!A•] thing ACCORDING TO HIS WILL,hth<Ar((hs,t.lohs.14.Now wee baue a double ground ofour prayer in Gods word lacommaundemcnt to make the prayer, either gcncrall or particular, and a promife,that•Our requef!s n1aiJ begranted. Here wee mull remember two rules, Fir!l, Thmg• to bee asked arc either fpirituall, or temporall , Spirituall are fuch as concernc God ; whereof Comeare more nccclfarie ro faluallon, as remillion of tlnncs,faith, repen– rance,and fuch like :fomc arc]etfe nccelliuie, as hope, ioy in the feeling of Gods mcrciein dollretTe, &c. Tcmporall thlngsarcfuch as belong to rhis life,as meatc,drinkc,clotbing, prefermenr,and fuch like, Now tcuching things fpirituall, that arc morenecetfary to faluation, wee arc to pray for them abfolutely, without anyexc<prion orcondition.But for thingslc!Tenccelfaric to faluation,and for temporal blelfings,we mull askc them at Gods handwith thiscondition if11 be hiswill and pleafure,andfofarre forth, as hec in hiswifedomc lhall iudgero beemoll expedient for vs. Hereinwemullfollow rhe example of Chrill, who in his agony prayed to his Farherrotakcthat cup fromhim,>yct with thiscondition,Nor my ,.,u,butthJ ,.iu he do.,, The reafon isthis: Lookc bowfarforth God commands v• to aske, &promifethtbat we n~all recciue,fo farre forth arc wee warran– ted to ••ke, and mayhope ro rccciue : Now God command•vs roaskc,and promifethvs the 6r!l fort offpiritual things,frcely and fim– ply,withourany condition or exccp~ion. But the other fort of fpirituall things, that arc ldfe necelfary, and temporall blcllingo, bee promiLi:thvs with condition 5 and therefore in hkcfortought.wc to aakethem, The fecond rulcis: Wee mull nor in our prayer, binde God to any circumRancesof time,place,or meafureof tbargraccorbcne– fit,which weaske, V. Ourpraim being thus framed,(as bath beene faid) areto beeprefentcd and olfered roGodalone,and tononebuthim, Forfirll, none clfe can heare all men,in all placcs,ar all times; and he!pcall men, in all places,andat all times,but onely bee, Againe,theSpirit o~ God make• vstopray, and in prayertocall him ./166a, Father. Furrhcrmorc,all prayer mull beegrounded vpon the word, IV herein weeflauenot the leall warrant, either expref– lyfer downe, or byconfequent implyed. to prderre
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