105 A GUIDE TO PRAYER. would use it constantly all that month, yet never confining my- self all along to those very words, but giving myself a liberty to put in or leave out, or enlarge according to the present work- ings of my heart, or occurrences of providence. Thus by de- grees I would write less and less, at last setting down little more than heads or hints of thought or expression ; just as ministers learn by degrees to leave off their sermon notes in preaching. I would try whether ayear or two of this practice would not fur- nish me with an ability in some measure to pray without this help ; always making it one of my petitions that God would pour more of his Spirit upon me, and teach me the skill of pray- ing. And by such short abstracts and general heads of prayer, well drawn up for children, according to their years and know= ledge, they may be taught to pray by degrees, and begin before they .are six years old. Objection. If any christian that loves his ease should abuse this proposal, and say, " If I may use this prayer of my own framing for a month together, why may I not use it all my life; and so give myself no farther trouble about learning to pray." Answer I. I would first desire such a man to read over again the great inconveniences mentioned in the second chapter, that arise from a perpetual use of forms, and the danger of con- finement to them. -2. I would say in the second place, The . matter of prayer is almost infinite : It extends to every thing we can have to transact with our Maker, and it is impossible, in a few pages, to mention particularly one-tenth part of the subjects of our converse with God. But in drawingup new prayers every month, in time we may run through a great part of those sub- jects, and grow by degrees to be habitually furnished for converse with him on all occasions whatsoever : Which can never be done by dwelling always upon one form or two. As children that learn to read at school, daily take out new lessons, that they may be able at last to read every thing, which they would not well attain, if they always dwelt on the same lesson. -3. Besides, there is a blessed variety of expressions in scripture, to represent our wants, and sorrows, and dangers : The glory, power, and grace of God,'his romises and covenants, our hopes and dis- .00uragements; andpsometimes, one ex¡;r. salon, sometimes ano- ther, may best suit ourpresent turn of thought and temper of our minds. It is good therefore to have as large a furniture of this kind, as possible, that we might never beat a loss to express the inward sentiments of our soul, and clothe our desires and wishes in such words as are most exactly fitted to them. -4. Though God is not the more affected with variety of words and argu- ments inprayer, for he acts upon other principles borrowed from himself, yet our natures are inure affected with such a variety. Our graces are drawu into more vigorous exercise, and by our
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