los A GUIDE TO PRAYER. or expression. I persuade myself, the scriptures cited in the foregoing section, concerning praying in the Spirit can never be explaiped this way in their full meaning ; and I hope to make it apparent in this section, that the holy Spirit hath more hand in prayer, than both these opinions allow. I think also on the other hand, those persons expect too much from the Spirit in, our day, 1. Who wait for all their incli- nations to pray, from immediate and present dictates of the Spi- rit ofGod ; who will never pray but when the Spirit moves them. I find in scripture frequent exhortations to pray, and commands to pray always, that is, to pray upon all occasions ; yet I find no promise nor encouragement to expect the holy Spi- rit will, by sudden and immediate impulses in a sensible way, dictate to me every season of prayer. For though the Spirit of God should sometimes withdraw himself in his influences, yet my duty and obligation to constant prayer still remain. 2: Those who expect such aids of the holy Spirit, as to make their prayers become the proper work of inspiration ; such as the prayers of David and Moses, and others recorded in scrip- ture. Let us not be so fond as to persuade ourselves that these workings of the holy Spirit in ministers, or in common Christians, while they teach or exhort, or pray, arise to the character ofthose miraculous gifts that were given to the apostles and primitive be- lievers ; such as are described in the church of Corinth, and else- where. For at those times a,whole sermon, or a whole prayer together, was a constant impulse of the holy Spirit, perhaps for the words, as well as all the matter of it, which made it truly divine. But in our prayers, the Spirit of God leaves us much to Ourselves, to mingle many weaknesses and defects with our duties, both in the matter, and in the manner, and in the' words So that we cannot sax of one wholesentence, that it is the per= feet or the purework of the Spiritof God. And we should run the danger of' blasphemy, to entitle the Spirit of God to ever thing that we speak in prayer, as well us to exclude all his assist- ance from all the prayers of the`saints in Our day. 3. Those who hope for such influences of the Spirit as to render their own study and labours needless ; who never have given diligence to furnish themselves in a rational way with an ability tO pray, upon presumption of those divine' impulses ; nor upon any Occasion will premeditate beforehand, but rush upon the duty, as Peter went out at !Christ's command to walk upon the water, and hope to be upheld and carried through all the dutywithout their own forethought : theywill cite' the text which was given to the disciples; Mat. x. "1:9. When they deliver a /oú up, take no' thought how or zi,ha.t ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in that sane hOnr`rahat ye shall speak. But this text has quite another design. It way be questioned whether this
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=