318 PREFACE. ness of the style will not be offence, since it is the only way to bring these things within the reach and capacity of young children ; and this A have scarce ever yet seendone with sufficient care inany forms, though they were made on purpose Mr children. For this reason, 1 have not only avoided, in the prayers forchildren, in their younger years, all long hardwards that have been introduced into divinity by the inventions of men, buteven many of those more difficult words which the scripture itself uses, such as redemption, communion, sanctification, mortification, pfopitiation, regeneration, &c. as supposing children to have but very confused or mistaken ideas under them. Nor was I willingto use metaphorical expressions, such as the. Lamb of God, or washing away our sins in bis own blood, or sitting at the right -hand of God, &c. without some little explication of them. I have therefore gene- rally used literal expressions, to signify the religioussentiments whichI intro- duce-into these composures ; unless it be where those little expressions would be more difficultto be understood,and where the metaphorsbeing very com- mon, would more easily convey sufficient ideasinto the minds of children. And it is forthis reason, that where mention ismade of Christ and of the holy Spirit, and of their offices in our salvation, I haveseldom though it sufficient to express these things in the brief, usualforms, viz. through our Lord Jesus Christ, or by the holy. Spirit, but have enlarged the manner of speech, to make the true ideas of those great doctrines appear plainer. VII. I was solicitous to frame the first sentenceof every prayer, in a way suited to the time or occasion, whether of morning or evening worship, or on the Lord's -day ; that so children, by having the first paragraph in memory, might be always directed when to use them properly, and not mis- take the proper times and seasons for each of them, when their book was trot at hand. VIII. I always endeavoured to vary the expressions in every prayer, where the sentiments are repeated ; and especially to begin every sentence, as tar as possible, with a different word, or ina different manner, and not to use any remarkableword twice in the same prayer, where I could avoid it. I must confess, that by reason of the great scarcity of such plain and fami- liar words, as are understood by children, I found this part of my work exceeding difficult : Andyet l have set a further guard upon myself still, so that I have scarce ever used the same three or tour words together ; inany two of all these prayers ; but endeavoured to vary the phrase perpetually ; - because, if the. same words were repeated, children would -be too ready to run out of one prayer into the other, when they repeat them by heart, and they would thereby join two disagreeing parts together, being led by thetrack and sound of the same words again occurring, to them. Besides also, this variety of expression being treasuredup in the memory, will tend to furnish and pre- pare them, in their advancingyears, to pray without a feint, which design I have always kept in view. IX' I thought it proper, also, to cast some of these composures into a method, according to the several parts of prayer, viz. adoration, confession, petition, &c. which are explained more at large, in my book called "A Guide to Prayer :" Hereby two ends will be attained : First, Children will more easily learn by heart what is distinguished into divers paragraphs : And in the next place, they may learn the the nature and parts of prayer by the use of these very forms: And they will hereby easily know when and where to add, or alter any expression, as they grow up to greater understanding. By this means they may be instructed how to frame prayers for themselves, and by the blessing of God on these assistances, they may Obtain that which we call the gift prayer, or an ability to 'pray properly on all occasions. In the . . prayers that are composed for young persons, I have endeavoured for the most part to follow the same rules as before ; except only that I havewith more freedom admitted various modes of expression of a little higher rank ;
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