Seal. CLXIII. the troubles of life. ing nothing. And fince this requires great Wifdom, to bear great affti£tions with patience, therefore he adds, that God is always ready to grant this Wifdom and Grace to thofe that heartily beg it of him. If any of you lack wifdom, let him afkof God, that giveth to all men liberally, andupbraideth not ; and it fhall be gi- ven him, I John 3. 22. And whatfoever we afk, we receive of him, becaufe we keep his commandments, and do thofe things that are pleafing in his fight. And Chap. 5. 54, 15. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that is, we Chri- ftians : for he had faid before, Thefe things have I written uno you, that believe on the name of the Son of God; and then it follows, And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we aft any thing according to his will, be heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatfoever we aft, we know that we have the petitions that we defzred of him ; that is, tho' we have not prefently the thing we pray'd for, yet we are as lute of it as if we had it. The carnet} prayer of every fincere Chriftian, is very powerful and available with God. So St.James affures us, Chap. 5. 16. The effeflual fervent prayer of .a righteous man availeth much : Much more the united Prayers of the faithful. So our Saviour declares , Matth. 18. 59. Again, I fay unto you, that if twoof you (hall agree on earth, as touching any thing that they (hall aft, it (hall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. All thefe Promifesand Declarations do certainly lignifie a more efpecial Effica- cy and Prevalency of the Prayers of Chriftians. And tho' there was a miracu- lous Power of Prayer in the primitive times, which is now ceafed, and of which St.James plainly fpeaks, Chap. 5. 14, 15. Is any Fick amongyou ? let him call for the Elders of theChurch, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer offaith (hall fave thefick, and the Lord (hall raife him up. Yet it is certain that thefe Promifes extended farther, to the Effi- cacy of the Prayers of the faithful in fuch cafes. And fo our Saviour extends this promife, Mattis. 21.22. for after he had faid in the Verfe before, Verily I fay unto you, Ifye have faith, and doubt not, ye fhall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree, but elfo ifye fhallfay unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou call into the lea, it (ball be done. After this he immediately fúbjoins, And all things whatfoeverye afk in prayer, believing, ye (ball receive. Hereby de- daring that the Efficacy of the Prayers of Chriftians was not limited only to thofe miraculous Effefts, which were but to continue for a time, but that this Promife was to be extended to the Prayers of the faithful in all cafes and all times. And indeed all the grounds and reafons of the Efficacy and Prevalency of our Prayers, which are mentioned in the New Teftament, do equally concern Chri- ftians in all times; as that we pray toGod in the name and mediation of Jefus Chrifl, upon which ourSaviour very frequentlywhen he makes this Promife, lays great ftrefs, and feems to render it as the reafon of the fpecial Efficacy of our Prayers. John 14. 13, 54. Andwhatfoever ye (hall aft in my name that will I do, that the Father may beglorified in the Son. Ifyefhall aft any thing in my name, I will do it. And Chap. 16, 23, 24. Verily verily I fay untoyou, Whatfoever ye fball aft theFather in my name, be will give it you. Hitherto haveye afked nothing in my frame: afk, andye (hall receive. Another reafon of the acceptance and prevalency of our Prayers, is, that the Spirit of Godwhichdwells inall true Chriftiansdoes help our weaknefs, and fe- eretly direfts us to afkof God thofe things which are according to his Will, and does as it were intercede for us. Rom. 8. 26. Likewife the fpirit elfo belpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we fhould pray for as we ought : but the Spi- rit it .fed/ maketh intercefon for us. And ver. 27. And he thatfearcheth the hearts, Itnotetb what is the mind of thefpirit, becaufe he maketh interceffionfor the faints, uaccordingg to the will of God. And no wonder if thofe Petitions are very preva- lent, which we are affifted and direfted to put up to God, according to hiswill. And this certainly is a great comfort under any trouble, that we can have free accefs to God by prayer, in confidence that he will grant us thofe requefts which we 413
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