CHAPTER It. 343 der the head of pleadingformercy, when we use his power, his wisdom, or his goodness as an argument to enforce our petitions ; and under the head of thanksgiving also, when we bless him for the benefits that proceed from his goodness, his power, or his wisdom : so in the beginning of a prayer in our invocationof God, we put in a sentence or two, of confession of our unworthi- ness, and of petition for divine assistance : so towards the con- clusion of prayer, it is not amiss to use a sentence or two consist- ing of salt matter as may leave a suitable impression upon our minds, though perhaps something of the same matter may have been before mentioned : as, to ask forgiveness of all the imper- fections of our holy things : To entreat that God would hear all our requests in the name of our Lord Jesus : to r comrmend our prayers into the hands of our Redeemer, our great High Priest, and to commit our whole selves to the conduct of divine grace, till we are brought safe to glory. But then all this must be done with such a variety of expression, and with some proper connex- ions, as will render it agreeable in itself, and will entertain the minds of those that join with us, and give them delight rather than hinder their devotion. HL Let those things, in every part of prayer, which are the proper objects of our judgment, be first mentioned, and then those that influence and move our affections ; not that we should follow such a manner of prayer as is more like preaching, as some imprudently have done, speaking many divine truths with- out the form or air of prayer : it is a very improper custom, which some persons have taken up and indulged, when divine truths come to be mentioned in prayer, they run great lengths in a doctrinal way ; yet there is occasion frequently in prayer, un- der the several parts of it, for the recollecting of divine truths, and these lay a proper foundation for warm and pathetical expres- sions to follow. As, O Lord, thou artgood, and thou dost good; why should I continue so long without partakingof thy goodness? My sins aregreat, and my iniquities have many aggravations; O that Imight mourn for them before thee in secree! O that 1 could pour out my soul before thee in sorrow, because of multipli- ed ofences ! Thus let the language of affection follow the lan- guage of our judgment, for this is the most rational and natural method. Having laid down these general rules, the best particular method I can direct you to is, that division ofthe parts of prayer meot:oued in the foregoing chapter. I know not amore natural order of things than this is. To begin with invocation, or cal- lingupon God ; then proceed to adore that God whom we invoke, because of his various glories ; we are then naturally led to the vvork of confession, considering what little contemptible crea- tures we are in the presence of so adorable a God, and to limn-
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=