CHAPTER III, 151 IV. Intreat the assistance of some kind christian friend, to ,give you notice of all the irregularities that-yourselves may Nave been guilty of in prayers, especially fit your first years of the practice of this. duty ; and esteem those the most valuable of your friends, who will put themselves to the trouble of giving you a modest and an obliging hint of any of your own imperfec- tions : for it is not possible that we ourselves should judge of the tone of our own voice or the gesture5'thatweourselves use, whether theybe agreeable to our fellow-worshippers or no. And in other instances also, our friends may form a more unbiassed judgment than ourselves, and therefore arefittest to be our correq- tors. For want of this, some persons, in their youth, have gained so ill a habit of speaking in public,' and so many disor- ders have attended their exercise of the gift of prayer, ill tones, vicious accents, wild distortions of the countenance, and divers other improprieties, which they carried with them all the years of their life, and have oftentimes exposed the worship of God to .contempt, and hindered the edification of those that join with .them, rather than promoted it. V. Be frequent in the practice of this duty of prayer, not only in secret, but with one another. For though every rule that I have before given, were fixed in your memories, and always at hand, yet without frequent practice, you will never at- tain to any great skill and readiness in this holy exercise. As our graces themselves, by being often tried and put upon action, become stronger, and shine brighter, give God more glory, and do more service tomen ; so will it fare with ever-y gift of the holy Spirit also; it'is improved by frequent exercise. Therefore the apostle bids the young evangelist Timothy, that he should not neglect to stir up thegft that was in him, though it was a gift communicated in an extraordinary way, by the imposition of hands; 2 Tim. i..8. And therefore it is that some serious chris- tians that have less knowledge, will excel persons of great learning, and wit, and judgment, in the gift of prayer ; be- ' cause though they do not understand the rules so well, yet they practise abundantly more. And for the most part, if all other circumstances are equal, it will be found a general truth, that he that prays most, prays best. CHAPTER III. Of the grace of Prayer. IN the two first chapters, I have finished what I proposed concerning the external parts of prayer; 1 proceed now to take a short view of the internal and spiritual part of that duty and .this has-been usually called the grace of prayer. Here I should
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