Chapter 4

Other Evidences of Thoughts about Spiritual things, arising from an Internal Principle of Grace, whereby they are an Evidence of our being Spiritually Minded. The abounding of these Thoughts, how far, and wherein such an Evidence.

II. THe second Evidence that our Thoughts of Spiritual things do proceed from an Internal Fountain of sanctified Light and Affections, or that they are Acts or Fruits of our being Spiritually minded, is, that they abound in us, that our minds are filled with them. We may say of them as the Apostle does of other Graces; If these things are in you and abound, you shall not be barren. It is well indeed, when our minds are like the Land of Egypt in the years of Plenty, when it brought forth by handfulls; when they flow from the Well of Living Water in us with a full Stream and Current. But there is a measure of abounding, which is necessary to evidence our being Spiritually minded in them.

There is a double Effect ascribed here to this Frame of Spirit; First Life, and then Peace. The Nature and Being of this Grace depends on the former Consideration of it, namely, its procedure from an Internal Principle of Grace, the Effect and Consequence whereof is Life. But that it is Peace also, depends on this Degree and measure of the Actings of this part of it in our Spiritual Thoughts. And this we must consider.

It is the Character of all men in the state of depraved Nature and Apostasie from God, that every Imagination of the Thoughts of their Hearts, is only evil continually, Gen. 6:5. All Persons in that condition are not Swearers, Blasphemers, Drunkards, Adulterers, Idolaters, or the like. These are the vices of particular Persons, the effects of particular Constitutions and Temptations. But thus it is with them, all and every one of them, all the Imaginations of the Thoughts of their Hearts are evil, and that continually. Some as to the Matter of them, some as to their End, all as to their Principle; for out of the evil Treasure of the Heart can proceed nothing but what is evil. That infinite multitude of open sins which is in the World, does give a clear Prospect or Representation of the Nature and Effects of our Apostasie from God. But he that can consider the numberless number of Thoughts which pass through the minds of every individual Person every day, all evil, and that continually, he will have a farther Comprehension of it.

We can therefore have no greater Evidence of a change in us from this State and Condition, than a change wrought in the course of our Thoughts. A Relinquishment of this or that particular sin, is not an Evidence of a Translation from this state. For as was said, such particular sins proceed from particular Lusts and Temptations, and are not the immediate universal Consequence of that Depravation of Nature which is equal in all. Such alone is the vanity and wickedness of the Thoughts and Imaginations of the Heart. A change herein is a blessed Evidence of a change of State. He who is cured of a Dropsie, is not immediately healthy, because he may have the prevailing seeds and matter of other Diseases in him, and the next day die of a Lethargy: But he who from a state of Sickness, is restored in the Temperature of the Mass of Blood and the Animal Spirits, and all the Principles of Life and Health, to a good Crasis and Temperature, his state of Body is changed. The Cure of a particular sin may leave behind it the seeds of Eternal Death, which they may quickly effect. But he who has obtained a change in this Character which belongs essentially to the state of depraved Nature, is spiritually recovered. And the more the stream of our Thoughts is turned, the more our minds are filled with those of a contrary Nature, the greater and more firm is our Evidence of a Translation out of that depraved state and condition.

There is nothing so unaccountable as the Multiplicity of Thoughts of the minds of men. They fall from them like the Leaves of Trees, when they are shaken with the Wind in Autumn. To have all these Thoughts, all the several Figments of the Heart, all the conceptions that are framed and agitated in the mind, to be evil and that continually, what an Hell of Horrour and Confusion must it needs be? A deliverance from this Loathsom hateful state, is more to be valued than the whole World. Without it neither Life, nor Peace, nor Immortality, or Glory, can ever be attained.

The design of Conviction is to put a stop to these Thoughts, to take off from their Number, and thereby to lessen their Guilt. It deserves not the name of Conviction of Sin, which respects only outward Actions, and regards not the inward Actings of the mind. And this alone will for a season make a great change in the Thoughts, especially it will do so when assisted by Superstition directing them to other Objects. These two in Conjunction are the rise of all that Devotional Religion which is in the Papacy. Conviction labours to put some stop and bounds to thoughts absolutely evil and corrupt; and Superstition suggests other Objects for them, which they readily embrace; but it is a vain Attempt. The Minds and Hearts of men are continually Minting and Coining new Thoughts and Imaginations. The cogitative Faculty is always at work. As the streams of a mighty River running into the Ocean, so are the Thoughts of a natural man, and through self they run into Hell. It is a fond thing to set a Damme before such a River, to curb its streams. For a little space there may be a stop made, but it will quickly break down all Obstacles, or overflow all its bounds. There is no way to divert its Course, but only by providing other Channels for its Waters, and turning them thereinto. The mighty Stream of the evil Thoughts of men will admit of no Bounds or Dammes to put a stop to them. There are but two ways of Relief from them; the one respecting their moral Evil, the other their natural Abundance. The first by throwing Salt into the Spring, as Elisha cured the Waters of Jericho; that is, to get the Heart and Mind seasoned with Grace; for the Tree must be made good before the Fruit will be so. The other is, to turn their Streams into new Chanels, putting new Aims and Ends upon them, fixing them on new Objects; so shall we abound in Spiritual Thoughts; for abound in Thoughts we shall whether we will or no.

To this Purpose is the Advice of the Apostle, Ephes. 5. 18, 19. And be not drunk with Wine wherein is Excess, but he filled with the Spirit, speaking to your selves in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs. When men are drunk with Wine to an Excess, they make it quickly evident, what Vain, Foolish, Ridiculous Imaginations it fills their minds withall. In opposition hereto, the Apostle adviss Believers to be filled with the Spirit, to labor for such a Participation of him as may fill their Minds and Hearts, as others fill themselves with Wine. To what End, to what Purpose should they desire such a participation of him, to be so filled with him? It is to this end, namely, that he by his Grace may fill them with Holy Spiritual Thoughts, as on the contrary men Drunk to an Excess, as filled with those that are Foolish, Vain and Wicked. So the words of ver. 19. do declare, for he adviss us to express our abounding Thoughts, in such Duties as will give an especial vent to them.

Wherefore, when we are Spiritually minded, we shall abound in Spiritual thoughts, or Thoughts of Spiritual Things. That we have such Thoughts will not sufficiently Evidence that we are so, unless we abound in them. And this leads us to the principal Inquiry on this Head; namely, what measure we ought to assign hereof, how we may know when we abound in Spiritual Thoughts, so as that they may be an Evidence of our being Spiritually minded.

I answer in general, among other Scriptures read over Psal. 119. with understanding. Consider therein what David expresss of himself, as to his constant Delight in, and continual Thoughts of the Law of God, which was the only means of Divine Revelation at that season. Try your selves by that Pattern; Examine your selves whether you can truly speak the same words with him; at least if not in the same Degree of Zeal, yet with the same sincerity of Grace. You will say, that was David. It is not for us, it is not our Duty to be like to him, at least not to be equal with him. But as far as I know, we must be like him, if ever we intend to come to the place where he is. It will ruine our Souls, if when we read in the Scripture, how the Saints of God express their Experience in Faith, Love, Delight in God and constant Meditations on him, we grant that it was so with them, that they were Good and Holy men, but it is not necessary that it should be so with us. These things are not written in the Scripture to show what they were, but what we ought to be. All things concerning them were written for Admonition; Cor. 10:11. And if we have not the same Delight in God as they had, the same Spiritual mindedness in Thoughts and Meditations of Heavenly things, we can have no Evidence that we please God as they did, or shall go to that place whither they are gone. Profession of the Life of God passs with many at a very low and easie Rate. Their Thoughts are for the most part vain and earthly, their Communication unsavoury, and sometimes corrupt, their lives at best uneven and uncertain, as to the Rule of Obedience; yet all is well, all is Life and Peace. The Holy men of old, who obtained this Testimany, that they Pleased God, did not so walk before him. They meditated continually in the Law; thought of God in the night seasons; spoke of his Ways, his Works, his Praise; their whole Delight was in him, and in all things they followed hard after him. It is the Example of David in particular that I have proposed. And it is a Promise of the Grace to be administred by the Gospel, that he who is feeble shall be as David, Zech. 12:8. And if we are not so in his being Spiritually minded, it is to be feared we are not Partakers of the Promise. But that we may the better judge of our selves therein, I shall add some few Rules to this Direction by Example.

1. Consider, what proportion your Thoughts of Spiritual Things bears with those about other things. Our principal Interest and Concern, as we profess, lyes in things Spiritual, Heavenly and Eternal. Is it not then a foolish thing to suppose that our Thoughts about these things, should not hold some proportion with those about other things, nay that they should not exceed them? No man is so vain in earthly things, as to pretend that his Principal concern lys in that whereof he thinks very seldom in comparison of other things. It is not so with men in reference to their Families, their Trades, their occasions of Life. It is a truth not only consecrated by the Testimony of him who is Truth, but evident also in the Light of Reason, That where our Treasure is there will our Hearts be also. And the Affections of our Hearts do Act themselves by the Thoughts of our minds. Wherefore, if our principal Treasure be as we profess, in things Spiritual and Heavenly, and wo to us if it be not so, on them will our Affections and consequently our Desires and Thoughts be principally fixed.

That we may the better Examine our selves by this Rule, we must consider of what sorts mens other Thoughts are; and as to our present purpose, they may be reduced to these heads.

1. There are such as are exercised about their Callings and lawful occasions. These are numberless and endless; especially among a sort of men who rise early and go to bed late, and eat the Bread of carefulness, or are particularly industrious and diligent in their ways. These thoughts men approve themselves in, and judge them their Duty, as they are in their proper place and measure. But no Heart can conceive the Multitude of these Thoughts, which partly in Contrivances, partly in Converse, are ingaged and spent about these things. And the more men are Immersed in them, the more do themselves and others esteem them diligent and Praise-worthy. And there are some who have neither necessity nor occasion to be ingaged much in the Duties of any especial Calling, who yet by their Words and Actions declare themselves, to be confined almost in their thoughts to themselves, their Relations, their Children, and their self concerns, which though most of them are very Impertinent, yet they justifie themselves in them. All sorts may do well to Examine what proportion their Thoughts of Spiritual things do bear to those of other things. I fear with most it will be found to be very small, with many next to none at all. What evidence then can they have that they are Spiritually minded, that their principal Interest lyes in things above? It may be it will be asked, whether it be necessary that men should think as much and as often about things Spiritual and Heavenly, as they do about the lawful Affairs of their Callings. I say more, and more often, if we are what we profess our selves to be. Generally it is the best sort of men, as to the things of God and Man, who are busied in their Callings, some of one sort, some of another. But even among the best of these, many will continually spend the strength of their Minds and vigour of their Spirits, about their Affairs all the day long; and, so they can pray in the Morning and Evening, with some Thoughts sometimes of Spiritual things occasionally administred, do suppose they acquit themselves very well. As if a man should pretend that his great Design is, to prepare himself for a Voyage to a far Country, where is his Patrimony and his Inheritance: But all his Thoughts and Contrivances are about some few Trifles, which if indeed he intend his Voyage he must leave behind him; and of his main Design he scarce thinks at all. We all profess that we are bound for Heaven, Immortality, and Glory: but is it any Evidence we really design it, if all our Thoughts are consumed about the Trifles of this World, which we must leave behind us, and have only occasional Thoughts of things above? I shall elswhere show, if God will, How men may be Spiritually minded in their earthly Affairs. If some Relief may not be thence obtained, I cannot tell what to say or answer for them, whose Thoughts of Spiritual things do not hold Proportion with, yea exceed them which they lay out about their Callings.

This whole Rule is grounded on that of our Savior, Math. 6:31, 32, 33, 34. Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewith we shall be cloathed? But seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Take therefore no thought for to morrow. When we have done all we can, when we have made the best of them we are able, all earthly things, as to our Interest in them, amount to no more, but what we eat, what we drink, and wherewith we are cloathed. About these things our Savior forbids us to take any Thought, not absolutely, but with a double Limitation. As first, that we take no such Thought about them, as should carry along with it a disquietment of mind, through a distrust of the Fatherly Care and Providence of God. This is the design of the Context. Secondly, No Thought that for Constancy and Ingagement of Spirit, should be like to those which we ought to have about Spiritual Things. Seek first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness. Let that be the chief and principal thing in your Thoughts and Consciences. We may therefore conclude, that at least they must hold an exceeding Proportion with them.

Let a man industriously ingaged in the way of his Calling, try himself by this Rule every Evening. Let him consider what have been his Thoughts about his earthly Occasions, and what about Spiritual things; and thereon ask of himself whether he be Spiritually minded or no. Be not deceived; as a man thinks, so is he. And if we account it a strange thing, that our Thoughts should be more exercised about Spiritual things, than about the Affairs of our Callings, we must not think it strange if when we come to the trial, we cannot find that we have either Life or Peace.

Moreover it is known, how often when we are engaged in Spiritual Duties, other Thoughts will interpose, and impose themselves on our minds. Those which are about mens secular Concernments will do so. The World will frequently make an inroad on the ways to Heaven, to disturb the Passengers and wayfaring men. There is nothing more frequently complained of, by such as are awake to their Duty, and sensible of their weakness. Call to mind therefore, how often on the other hand Spiritual Thoughts do interpose, and as it were impose themselves on your minds, whilest you are engaged in your earthly Affairs. Sometimes, no doubt, but with all that are true Believers it is so. Or ever I was aware, saith the Spouse, my Soul made me as the Chariots of Amminadab, Cant. 6.12. Grace in her own Soul surprised her into a ready willing Frame to Spiritual Communion with Christ, when she was intent on other Occasions. But if these thoughts of Heavenly things so arising in us, bear no proportion with the other sort, it is an Evidence what Frame and Principle is predominant in us.

2. There are a multitude of Thoughts in the minds of men, which are vain, useless, and altogether unprofitable. These ordinarily through a dangerous mistake are looked on as not sinful, because as it is supposed, the matter of them is not so. And therefore men rather shake them off for their Folly, than their Guilt. But they arise from a corrupt Fountain, and wofully pollute both the Mind and Conscience. Wherever there are vain Thoughts, there is Sin. Jerem. 4.14. Such are those numberless Imaginations, whereby men fancy themselves to be what they are not, to do what they do not, to enjoy what they enjoy not, to dispose of themselves and others, at their pleasure. That our Nature is liable to such a pernicious folly, which some of tenacious Fancies have turned into Madness, we are beholding alone to our cursed Apostasie from God, and the vanity that possessed our minds thereon. Hence the Prince of Tyrus thought he was a God, and sate in the Seat of God, Ezek. 28:2. So it has been with others; And in those, in whom such Imaginations are kept to some better order and bounds, yet being traced to their Original, they will be found to Spring some of them immediately from Pride, some from sensual Lusts, some from the Love of the World, all from self and the old Ambition to be as God, to dispose of all things as we think meet. I know no greater Misery or Punishment in this World, than the debasing of our Nature to such vain Imaginations; and a perfect freedom from them is a part of the Blessedness of Heaven. It is not my present work to show how sinfull they are, let them be esteemed only fruitless, foolish, vain and ludicrous. But let men examine themselves, what number of these vain useless Thoughts night and day, do roave up and down in their minds. If now it be apprehended too severe, that mens Thoughts of Spiritual things should exceed them that are employed about their Lawful Callings, let them consider what proportion they bear to those which are altogether vain and useless: Do not many give more time to them, than they do to holy Meditations, without an endeavor to mortifie the one, or to stir up and enliven the other? Are they not more wonted to their seasons, than holy Thoughts are? And shall we suppose that those with whom it is so, are Spiritually minded?

3. There are Thoughts that are formally evil; they are so in their own Nature, being corrupt contrivances to fulfil the desires of the flesh in the lusts thereof. These also will attempt the minds of Believers. But they are always looked on as professed Enemies to the Soul, and are watched against. I shall not therefore make any comparison between them and Spiritual Thoughts, for they abound only in them that are carnally minded.

2. The second Rule to this purpose is, That we would consider, whether Thoughts of Spiritual things do constantly take possession of their proper seasons. There are some times and seasons in the course of mens Lives, wherein they retire themselves to their own Thoughts. The most busied men in the World have some times of Thinking to themselves. And those who design no such thing, as being afraid of coming to be wiser or better than they are, do yet spend time therein whether they will or no. But they who are wise will be at home as much as they can, and have as many seasons for such their Retirements as is possible for them to attain. If that man be foolish who busis himself so much abroad in the concerns of others, that he has no time to consider the state of his own House and Family; much more is he so, who spends all his Thoughts about other things, and never makes use of them in an Inquiry, how it is with himself and his own Soul. However men can hardly avoid, but that they must have some seasons, partly stated, partly occasional, wherein they entertain themselves with their own Thoughts: The Evening and the Morning, the times of waking on the Bed, those of the necessary cessation of all ordinary Affairs, of walking, journeying, and the like, are such seasons.

If we are Spiritually minded, if Thoughts of Spiritual things do abound in us, they will ordinarily and that with Constancy possess these seasons, look upon them as those which are their due, which belong to them. For they are expresly assign'd to them in the way of Rule, expressed in Examples and Commands. See Psal. 16:7, 8. Psal. 92:2. Deut. 6:7. If they are usually given up to other ends and occasions, are possessed with Thoughts of another Nature, it is an open Evidence that Spiritual Thoughts have but little Interest in our minds, little prevalency in the conduct of our Souls. It is our Duty to afford to them stated times taken away from other Affairs that call for them. But if instead thereof we rob them of what is as it were their own, which no other things or business can lay any just claim to, how dwells the Love of Spiritual things in us? Most Professors are convinced that it is their Duty to pray Morning and Evening, and it is to be wished that they were all found in the Practice of it. But if ordinarily they judge themselves, in the performance of that Duty, to be discharged from any further Exercise of Spiritual Thoughts, applying them to things worldy, useless, or vain, they can make no pretence to be Spiritually minded.

And it must be observed, which will be found to be true, that if the seasons which are as it were due to such Meditations be taken from them, they will be the worst employed of all the Minutes of our lives. Vain and Foolish Thoughts, corrupt Imaginations, will make a common haunt to the minds of men in them, and habituate themselves to an Expectation of Entertainment; whence they will grow Importunate for Admission. Hence, with many, those precious moments of time which might greatly influence their Souls to Life and Peace if they were indeed Spiritually minded, make the greatest provision for their trouble, sorrow and confusion. For the vain and evil Thoughts which some persons do accustome themselves to in such seasons, are or ought to be a Burden upon their Consciences more than they can bear. That which Providence tenders to their good is turned into a snare; and God does righteously leave them to the fruits of their own folly, who so despise his gracious Provision for their good. If we cannot afford to God our spare time, it is evident that indeed we can afford nothing at all. Micah 2:1. They devise iniquity upon their beds. The seasons proper for holy Contemplation, they make use of to fill their minds with wicked Imaginations, and when the Morning is light they practise it; walking all day on all occasions, suitably to their Devices and Imaginations of the Night. Many will have cause to complain to Eternity, of those leasure times which might have been improv'd for their advantage to Eternal Blessedness.

If we intend therefore to maintain a Title to this Grace of being Spiritually minded, if we would have any Evidence of it in our selves, without which we can have none of Life or Peace, and what we pretend thereof is but an effect of security, we must endeavor to preserve the claim and right of Spiritual Thoughts to such seasons, and actually put them in possession of them.

3. Consider how we are affected with our Disappointments about these seasons. Have we by Negligence, by Temptations, have we by occasional Diversions or Affairs of Life been taken off from Thoughts of God, of Christ, of Heavenly things, when we ought to have been engaged in them; how are we affected with a review hereof? A carnal mind is well enough satisfied with the omission of any Duty, so it have pretence of a necessary Occasion. If it has lost a temporal Advantage, through Attendance to a Spiritual Duty, it will deeply Reflect on it self, and it may be like the Duty the worse afterwards. But a gracious Soul, one that is truely Spiritually-minded, will mourn under a review of such Omissions, and by every one of them is stirred up to more watchfulness for the future. Alas, will it say, how little have I been with Christ this day? How much time has passed me without a thought of him? How foolish was I, to be wanting to such or such an Opportunity? I am in Arrears to my self, and have no rest untill I be satisfied.

I say, if indeed we are Spiritually minded, we will duely and carefully call over the consideration of those times and seasons, wherein we ought to have Exercised our selves in Spiritual Thoughts; and if we have lost them, or any of them, mourn over our own negligence. But if we can omit and lose such Seasons or Opportunities from time to time, without regret or self-reflections, it is to be fear'd that we wax worse and worse. Way will be made hereby for further Omissions, untill we grow wholly cold about them.

And indeed that woful loss of time that is found amongst many Professors, is greatly to be bewail'd. Some lose it on themselves, by a continual track of fruitless Impertinent Thoughts about their own concerns. Some in vain converse with ohers, wherein for the most part they edifie one another to vanity. How much of this time might, nay ought to be redeemed for holy Meditations? The Good Lord make all Professors sensible of their loss of former seasons, that they may be the more watchful for the future, in this great concernment of their Souls. Little do some think what Light what Assurance, what Joy, what readiness for the Cross or for Heaven, they might have attained, had they laid hold on all just seasons of exercising their Thoughts about Spiritual things which they have enjoyed, who now are at a loss in all, and surprized with every fear or difficulty that does befall them.

This is the first thing that belongs to our being Spiritually minded; for although it does not absolutely or essentially consist therein, yet is it inseparable from it, and the most undeceiving Indication of it. And thus of abounding and abiding in Thoughts about Spiritual things, such as arise and spring naturally from a living Principle, a Spiritual Frame and Disposition of Heart within.

Outward means and occasions of thoughts about spiritual things that do not prove a person to be spiritually minded. The preaching of the Word. The exercise of gifts. Prayer. How we can know whether our thoughts about spiritual things during prayer are truly spiritual thoughts that prove we are spiritually minded.

First, one such means is the preaching of the Word itself. The Gospels record that many people heard it gladly, received it with joy, and did many things willingly in response to its preaching. We see the same thing happening with many people every day. None of this can occur without many thoughts in such people's minds about the spiritual content of the Word. For such responses are the effects of such thoughts, and once stirred up in the mind, they produce more thoughts of the same kind. Yet those the Gospels describe in this way were all hypocrites — they were never spiritually minded.

Our Savior explains the reason for this failure in Matthew 13:20-21: "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary." The good thoughts such people have do not arise from any principle within themselves. Neither their affections nor their thoughts about these things have any inner root from which to grow. This is how it is with many who live under the present preaching of the Gospel. Spiritual thoughts are continually suggested to them, and they stay with those thoughts to varying degrees depending on how deeply they are affected. I am not speaking of those who despise what they hear, or of those who hear it as if by the roadside — who understand nothing and immediately lose all impression of it. I am speaking of those who listen with some attentiveness and receive the Word with some joy. These people gradually grow in knowledge and understanding, and so they cannot help having some thoughts about spiritual things. Yet for the most part, as was said, their thoughts are like water running after a rainstorm. They pour out as if flowing from a strong living spring, but in fact there is no spring at all. Once the rainwater is spent, the channel is dry — nothing remains but stones and dirt. When the teaching of the Word falls on such people like rain showers, it gives a current — sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker — to their thoughts toward spiritual things. But they have no well of water in them springing up to eternal life. After a while their minds dry up from such thoughts; nothing remains but earthiness — and perhaps a fouler kind at that.

It must be noted that the best of men — the most holy and spiritually minded — may and indeed should have their thoughts about spiritual things stirred up, multiplied, and confirmed by the preaching of the Word. This is one of the purposes of preaching, one of its chief uses for those who truly receive it. It does this in two ways: first, as the spiritual food of the soul, by which the principle of life and grace is sustained and strengthened. The more this happens, the more we will grow in spiritual-mindedness. Second, as it provides occasion for the exercise of grace. By presenting to the soul the proper objects of faith, love, fear, trust, and reverence, it draws all those graces into active exercise. Therefore, although vigorous spiritual thoughts may be prompted by the Word — being more active during and after its preaching than at other times — this is nothing more than the natural effect of the ordinance working exactly as God designed it. And it is no evidence that those in whom this happens are not spiritually minded; on the contrary, it is evidence that they are. Yet where people have no thoughts of spiritual things except those prompted by the outward preaching of the Word, such thoughts do not prove them to be spiritually minded. Their efforts in these things are like those of a person struggling in a dream. Under some oppression of spirit, the imagination seizes on something urgently desired or feared. The dreamer seems to strive with all his strength — to run or push or press forward — but all in vain; everything fails, and there is no relief until he wakes up. So these people, under impressions received from the Word, seem to strive and contend in their thoughts and resolutions to comply with what is put before them; but their strength fails, they find no success — for lack of a principle of spiritual life — and after a time they give up their effort until it is occasionally revived again. Now the thoughts that arise from an inward principle of grace during the preaching of the Word, aroused to its proper exercise, are distinguishable from those that are merely suggested to the mind by the external preaching. First, genuine spiritual thoughts are specific acts of faith and love directed toward the very things being preached — they belong to our receiving the truth in love for it. Love attaches to the goodness of the things themselves, not merely to the truth of the statements in which they are expressed. The other kind of thoughts are only the mind's response to light and truth, without any heartfelt love for the things themselves. Second, genuine spiritual thoughts are accompanied by a settled contentment of soul, arising from love and some experience — greater or lesser — of the power of those things and their suitableness to the new nature or principle of grace within. When our minds discover that what the Word describes is actually true in us — that this is what we most want to be conformed to — it gives a quiet satisfaction and contentment to the soul. The merely occasional thoughts have none of these accompanying marks or effects; they are dry and barren, except perhaps for a few empty words or passing conversation. Third, the genuine thoughts are means of spiritual growth. Some have observed that the natural growth of plants is not gradual and imperceptible, but comes in bursts and noticeable spurts of increase. Both patterns exist in spiritual growth — and the latter kind consists largely in those thoughts that the principle of the new nature is stirred up to by the Word.

Second, the duty of prayer is another means of a similar kind. One of its chief purposes is to stir up, arouse, and draw out the principle of grace — of faith and love — in the heart, to its proper exercise in holy thoughts about God and spiritual things, with affections suited to them. Those who do not intend this end in prayer do not know at all what prayer is. Now all kinds of people have frequent occasion to join with others in prayer, and many are under the conviction that it is their own duty to pray every day — perhaps in their households and otherwise. It is hard to imagine how people can regularly join with others in prayer, much less how they can pray themselves, without having thoughts about spiritual things every day. Yet it is possible that they have no living root or spring of such thoughts in themselves — those thoughts are merely occasional impressions on the mind produced by the outward performance of the duty. I will give some examples of how this happens, since on many grounds it demands our careful consideration.

Spiritual thoughts can be raised in a person during their own time of prayer through the exercise of their gifts, when there is no acting of grace in them at all. Gifts guide and direct the mind to the subjects of prayer — that is, to spiritual things. But gifts are nothing more than a spiritual development of our natural faculties and abilities. A person cannot speak or express anything without engaging the rational faculties — through invention or memory, or both — working through thoughts. Whatever therefore proceeds from a person's rational faculty in the exercise of their gifts, their thoughts must be engaged in that.

A person may read a long prayer full of spiritual content and never have a single spiritual thought arise in his mind about any of it. Reading in this way requires no real engagement of any mental faculty beyond attention to the words being read. I say this may happen — I do not say it always does, or that it must. But as noted in the exercise of gifts, it is impossible not to have some exercise of reason — through invention, judgment, and memory — and therefore some thoughts about spiritual things. Yet all of this may be merely occasional, arising from the external performance of the duty, with no living spring or exercise of grace. People with tolerable gifts may continue in this course all their days, to their own satisfaction and others', deceiving both them and their own souls.

Since this is evident both from Scripture and experience, it calls for inquiry as to how it concerns us personally — especially those who have spiritual gifts of their own, and also to some degree those who regularly benefit from the gifts of others in this duty. The question may be asked: how can we know whether the thoughts we have about spiritual things in and through prayer arise only from gifts — whether our own or others' — providing the occasion, or whether they are influenced by a living principle and spring of grace in our hearts? This is a matter of great importance, whatever some may think, and would require a great deal of time to fully resolve. For there is nothing by which refined hypocrites deceive themselves and others more completely, and nothing by which some people give themselves more permission to indulge their lusts, than this form of godliness that denies the power of it. Beyond that, this is an area where the best of believers ought to keep a diligent watch over themselves in every particular instance of this duty. They are especially called to watch in preparation for prayer. If they are ever careless here, they may rest satisfied with a bare exercise of gifts — when on honest examination, they would find no evidence of grace actually operating in what they have done. I will therefore give a resolution to this inquiry as briefly as I can. To that end, observe:

First, it is an old complaint that spiritual things are filled with great obscurity and difficulty — and it is true. Not that there is any such thing in the things themselves, for they all come from the Father of lights and are full of light, order, beauty, and wisdom. Light and order are the only means by which anything makes itself known. The ground of all darkness and difficulty in these things lies in ourselves. We can see the moon and stars more clearly and steadily than we can look at the sun when it shines at full brightness. This is not because there is more light in the moon and stars than in the sun, but because the sun's light is greater than our visual faculty can directly bear. In the same way, we can more clearly grasp the truth and distinct nature of moral and natural things than heavenly and spiritual ones. See John 3:12. Not because there is less substance or reality in spiritual things, but because our understanding is better suited to comprehend the former. The latter are above us. We know only in part, and our minds are liable to be hindered and confused in their grasp of heavenly and spiritual things by ignorance, temptations, and all kinds of biases. In nothing are people more prone to error than in applying these things to themselves and judging their own standing in them. Fear, self-love, and the pull of temptations and corruptions all work together to darken the mind's light and corrupt its judgment. In no area does the deceitfulness of the heart — or of sin, which amounts to the same thing — act more powerfully. Hence many say peace to themselves when God speaks no peace to them; and some who are children of light walk in darkness. Hence the apostle's fervent prayer for help in this matter, Ephesians 1:16-19. There is also a great similarity between temporary faith and saving, enduring faith — and between gifts and grace in their operations, which is the very thing under consideration. It must therefore be acknowledged that without the special light and guidance of the Spirit of God, no one can form a sound judgment about his own state and his own duties that will be a stable foundation either for glorifying God or for obtaining peace in his own soul. This is why the great majority of people constantly deceive themselves in these things.

But ordinarily, under this blessed guidance in the search of ourselves and our duties, we can come to a settled assurance about whether our prayers are shaped by faith and animated by grace, or whether they derive only from the power of our natural faculties strengthened by knowledge and spiritual gifts — and consequently whether our spiritual thoughts in prayer spring from a vital principle of grace or are merely occasional impressions made on the mind by the performance of the duty itself.

If people are willing to deceive themselves — to hide from themselves, to walk carelessly with God, to leave everything to chance, to put off all examination until judgment day, and so never hold themselves accountable for the true nature of their duties in any particular instance — it is no wonder that they neither do nor can make any distinction in this matter about the true nature of their thoughts in spiritual duties. Two things are required.

First, we must honestly and rigorously examine and test the condition and activity of our minds in holy duties by the Word of truth — and then not be afraid to say plainly to our own souls what the Word says to us. This diligent examination should cover our principles, aims, ends, and actions — the whole conduct of our souls in every duty. See 2 Corinthians 13:5. If a man receives a large sum of money and only looks at the outward appearance and markings, he may think he has a great store of genuine gold and silver — when in fact he has only piles of lead and copper. But a person who depends on money as the support of his daily life will test everything he receives — by the scale and the touchstone — especially in a time when much counterfeit money is in circulation. If a person measures his duties only by count and number, he may be utterly deceived — spiritually poor and bankrupt — while imagining himself rich, well-stocked, and in need of nothing. Some duties may appear to hold up on the scale by weight, but will not hold up on the touchstone as to worth. Both tests must be used if we do not want to be wrong in our accounting. God himself, even in the midst of a multitude of duties being performed, calls the people to test and examine themselves to see whether those duties contain faith and grace, and whether they are likely to be accepted by Him. Isaiah 58:2-5.

Second, we must add to our own diligent inquiry fervent prayers to God, asking Him to search and test us — to examine our sincerity and reveal to us the true state of our hearts. We have an explicit example of this in Psalm 139:23-24: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." This is the only way we can have the Spirit of God bearing witness to our sincerity, together with our own conscience. Both the importance and the difficulty of this matter call for divine assistance — since God alone fully and perfectly knows what is in the hearts of people.

I have no doubt that through the honest use of these means, a person can come to genuine assurance in his own mind — an assurance that will not deceive him — about whether he truly animates and enlivens his thoughts of spiritual things in duties with inward vital grace, or whether those thoughts are merely impressions made on his mind by the occasion of the duty itself.

This is a duty of great importance and urgency, now that hypocrisy has made such great inroads into the Christian profession, and gifts have crowded out grace in its primary operations. No people are in greater danger of walking carelessly with God than those who live in the exercise of spiritual gifts in duties, to their own satisfaction and others'. For they may reassure themselves with the appearance of everything that should be in them as a reality and a power — when in fact there is nothing of it at all. And so it has happened. We have seen many who were earnest in the exercise of this gift and who later turned into vile and corrupt apostates. Some have been known to live in sin and indulge their lusts while continuing steadily in their duties. Isaiah 1:15. And we sometimes hear prayers that reveal plainly to any spiritually sensitive ear that they are the product of the brain — worked out through the gifts of memory and invention — without any evidence of humility, reverence, or godly fear; without any acting of faith and love. They flow like wine, yet smell and taste of the foul cask they come from. It is therefore necessary that we submit ourselves to the most rigorous examination, lest we be found not to be spiritually minded even in our spiritual duties.

Gifts are gracious gifts of Christ, given to make grace useful to ourselves and others — and they may even make grace useful to others who have no grace in themselves. But as to our own souls, they are of no benefit except to stir grace up to its proper exercise and to serve as a vehicle carrying it into its proper use. If we do not always keep this in view when exercising our gifts, we would be better off without them. If instead, gifts begin to impose themselves on us in practice — so that we rest satisfied with spiritual light acting through our inventions, memories, and judgments, with whatever ready expression comes — then no form of prayer can be more damaging to our souls. Wine taken moderately and at the right time helps the stomach digest, quickens the natural energy, and strengthens the body's functions — it is useful and beneficial. But taken in excess, it does not help the body but burdens it; it takes on itself what nature should only be assisted in doing, and it fills people's bodies with disease as well as their souls with sin. So while spiritual gifts are used only to excite, aid, and assist grace in its operations, they are immeasurably useful. But if they substitute for grace — taking on themselves everything that grace should do — they are harmful and destructive. We therefore need to be very diligent in this inquiry: whether our spiritual thoughts, even in our prayers, are not more the product of the duty itself than they are the natural spring of a gracious principle in our hearts — whether they are the genuine operations of saving grace.

Second, where spiritual thoughts in prayer are merely occasional in the way described, such prayers will not be a means of spiritual growth for the soul. They will not make the soul humble, holy, watchful, and diligent in universal obedience. Grace will not thrive under even the most consistent practice of such duties. It is a striking thing to see how, despite frequent prayer and an apparent fervency in it, many of us make no visible progress in the fruits of grace — and it is to be feared, no growth in the root of grace either. God's hand is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. He is the same as in days of old, when our fathers cried to Him and were delivered, when they trusted in Him and were not put to shame. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever; prayer is the same as it ever was and will not lose any of its effectiveness as long as this world endures. Why then is there so much prayer among us and so little result? I am not speaking about the outward circumstances of God's providence — afflictions or persecutions — in which God always acts in sovereignty and often gives the most beneficial answer to our prayers by denying our requests. I mean what the psalmist describes from experience: "On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul," Psalm 138:3. Where prayers are truly effective, they will bring in spiritual strength. But many people's prayers seem very spiritual — they express every kind of need for grace that could be conceived — and they are continued with constancy. God forbid that we should judge them all to be hypocritical and entirely insincere. Yet there is a deficiency somewhere, and it needs to be examined. For those prayers are not being answered in such a way that those who pray them are being strengthened with strength in their souls. There is not the spiritual thriving and growth in grace that might be expected to accompany such supplications.

I know that a person may pray often, sincerely and persistently for a particular mercy, grace, or deliverance from a specific temptation, and yet experience no spiritual supply of strength coming in as a result. Paul prayed three times for the removal of his affliction, and yet the experience of it continued. In such a case there may be no failure in prayer, and yet the specific grace sought may not be attained. For God has other holy ends to accomplish in the soul by that experience. But how people can continue in prayer generally, in a manner that appears outwardly consistent with God's will, and yet not grow at all in spiritual strength in their souls — that is hard to understand.

And what is more astonishing still: some people continue in the duty of prayer — consistently, in their households and otherwise — and yet live in known sins. Whatever spiritual thoughts such people have in and through their prayers, they are not spiritually minded. Shall we then say that all such people are gross hypocrites — people who know they are only mocking God and men, who know they have no real desires or aims after the things they mention in their own prayers, and who go through the motions either for some corrupt purpose or at best to quiet their convictions? If we could resolve it that simply, the whole difficulty would be gone. For such double-minded people have no reason to think they will receive anything from the Lord, as James says in chapter 1:7. And indeed they do not. They never exercise faith with reference to their own prayers. But not all of this sort are in that category. Some judge themselves sincere and in earnest in their prayers, not without some hope and expectation of an answer. I will not say of all such people that they are among those of whom the wisdom of God says, "Because I called and they refused... then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me," Proverbs 1:24-28. And although we may say to such people generally — citing Psalm 50:16-17 — either stop sinning or stop praying (with respect to the present scandal and the certain failure of both if they continue together), yet in particular I would not advise any such person to give up praying until he has given up his sin. That would be like advising a sick man to stop taking remedies until he is well. Who knows but that the Holy Spirit, who works when and how He pleases, may choose a time to bring life to those lifeless prayers and make them a means of deliverance from the power of that sin? In the meantime the fault and guilt are entirely their own, belonging to those who have managed to make sinning and praying compatible in their lives. This arises from the fact that they have never labored to fill up their requests with grace. Whatever earnestness or diligence there has been in them has come from a force exerted by their convictions and fears. For no one was ever ultimately overcome by sin who prayed for deliverance according to the mind of God. Every praying man who perishes was a hypocrite. The faithfulness of God in His promises allows us to draw no other conclusion. Therefore, the thoughts about spiritual things that such people have even in their duties do not arise from within, and are not a natural outflow of the condition of their hearts and affections.

Third, outward earnestness and apparent fervency in prayer — in the delivery of the words, and even where the mind is inwardly affected to some degree — will not by itself prove that a person's thoughts in prayer arise from an internal spring of grace. There is a fervency of spirit in prayer that is one of its finest qualities — it is the earnest exercise of love, faith, and desire. But there is also a fervency by which the mind itself may be moved that can arise from other causes.

First, it may arise from the engagement of natural affections to the object of the prayer or the things being prayed for. A person may be intensely earnest and focused in praying for a dear loved one, or for deliverance from a pressing trouble or imminent danger — and yet all this fervor may arise from the powerful stirring of natural affections about the things prayed for, heightened by the occasion of the duty. This is why God calls the earnest crying of some people for material things not prayer to Him but howling, Hosea 7:14 — the cry of hungry, desperate animals that want to be fed.

Second, this kind of fervency can arise from the sharpness of conviction, which may cause people to cry out in their prayers from profound distress of heart. And this may happen where no true grace has yet been received — and where it may never be received. For the distressing work of conviction comes before genuine conversion, and as it produces many other changes and effects in the mind, so it may produce this: great fervency in vocal prayer, especially when accompanied by outward affliction, pain, or trouble. Psalm 78:34-35.

Third, sometimes the mind and affections are very little involved in the fervency and earnestness that appears in the outward performance of the duty. Rather, in the exercise of gifts and through their own expression, people put their natural affections into such a state of agitation that it carries them into great vehemence in their expressions. This has been true of a number of people who were later exposed as rotten hypocrites and who afterwards became hardened apostates. Therefore all these things may be present where there is no gracious spring or vital principle acting from within in spiritual thoughts.

Some may want to use all this as ammunition for irreverence and mockery. If these evils can exist alongside the exercise of the gift of prayer — in constancy and with fervency — and if all true grace can be entirely absent from it; then perhaps everything claimed about this gift and its use is nothing but hypocrisy and empty talk. But I say: first, by the same reasoning one could argue that because the sun shining on a dunghill produces foul and offensive vapors, everything said about its effect on spices and flowers — causing them to release their fragrance — must be entirely false. No one ever supposed that spiritual gifts changed or renewed the minds and natures of people. Used alone, gifts only help and assist the useful exercise of natural faculties and powers. Therefore, where the heart is not savingly renewed, no gifts can stir up a saving exercise of faith. But where the heart is so renewed, gifts become a means of causing that faith's fragrance to flow out. Second, even if there are some evils found in the exercise of the gift of prayer, what remedy is proposed? Is it that people should give up this gift and resort only to reading written prayers? First, the same could be said of all spiritual gifts whatsoever, for they are all liable to abuse. And shall we reject all the powers of the age to come — the entire range of gospel gifts, for the communication of which the Lord Christ has promised to continue His Spirit with His Church until the end of the world — because some abuse them? Second, not merely the same, but far greater evils may be found in and under the reading of written prayers — this needs no further proof than what every day provides for itself. Third, it is hard to understand how any benefit at all could come from this proposed remedy, when the advantages of the other way are so evident.

The inquiry therefore remains: how can we know to our own satisfaction that the thoughts we have of spiritual things in the duty of prayer are from an internal fountain of grace, and thus are evidence that we are spiritually minded — which is the goal of everything discussed here? I will offer a few things toward answering this.

First, I take it as established from the evidence already given that people who have any spiritual light, and who will diligently examine and test their own hearts, will be able to discern what genuine actings of faith, love, and delight in God are present in their duties — and consequently what is the true source of their spiritual thoughts. In general, we are assured that "he who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself," 1 John 5:10. Sincere faith will be its own evidence. And where there are sincere actings of faith, they will make themselves evident, if we test everything honestly by the Word. But if people do what most people do — content themselves with the performance of a duty without examining their principles, their inner state, and their actings of grace within it — it is no wonder if they walk in complete uncertainty.

Second, when the soul finds a sweet spiritual contentment in and after its duties, this is evidence that grace has been at work in its spiritual thoughts and desires. Jeremiah 31 gives an example. The prophet receives a long, gracious message from God, filled with excellent promises and moving exhortations to the church. The whole is summed up, as it were, at its close. Verse 25: "For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes." The prophet then adds: "At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me." God's gracious message had so calmed his spirit and freed his mind from distress that he rested quietly in himself, like a man at sleep. But when it was over, he roused himself to review and consider what had been spoken to him — he woke up and paid attention — and said: my sleep was pleasant to me. He found a gracious contentment and refreshment in his soul from what he had heard and received. So it is often with a soul that has had real communion with God in the duty of prayer. Both during prayer and afterward, when it reflects on what has passed, it finds itself spiritually refreshed — it is sweet to him.

This holy contentment — this rest and sweet repose of mind — is the foundation of the delight believers have in this duty. They pray not only because it is their duty, nor merely because they need it and cannot live without it — they actually take delight in it, and to be kept from it is like being kept from their daily food and refreshment. Now we cannot delight in anything unless we have found some sweetness, rest, and satisfaction in it. Without that experience we may do or use something, but we cannot do it with delight. This delight arises first from the approach made to God in prayer. Prayer is by its own nature an access to God at the throne of grace, Ephesians 2:18 and Hebrews 10:19-20. When this access is animated by the actings of grace, the soul has a spiritual experience of nearness in that approach. God is the fountain and center of all spiritual refreshment, rest, and contentment — and in this kind of access to Him, the soul receives a refreshing taste of them. Psalm 36:7-9: "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light." God is set before us in the excellence of His lovingkindness, which encompasses His goodness, grace, and mercy. He is also set before us as the spring of life and light — of all spiritual power and joy. Those who believe are described as taking refuge in the shadow of His wings. In His worship — in the abundance of His house — they draw near to Him. The fruit of this is that He gives them to drink from the river of His pleasures — the satisfying, refreshing streams of His grace and goodness. They approach Him as the fountain of life, drinking from that fountain in renewed communications of life and grace; and in the light of God, in the light of His face, they see light in satisfying joy. In these things does the spiritual contentment of believers in their duties consist, and from them it arises. It arises second from the due exercise of faith, love, and delight — the graces in which the life of the new creature principally consists. There is a suitableness to our natural constitution, and a secret satisfaction in our natures, in the proper actings of natural life for its own preservation and increase. The same is true of our spiritual constitution: in the proper actings of the powers of spiritual life for its preservation and increase. These graces, in their due exercise, compose and refresh the mind as things that are perfecting its condition — they quiet and drive out whatever troubles it. From this a blessed satisfaction and contentment befalls the soul. In this, he who believes has the testimony in himself. Beyond this, faith and love are never truly exercised on Christ without preparing and making the soul ready to receive communications of love and grace from Him — which the soul never fails to receive, even if it is not always aware of it. Third, this contentment arises from the testimony of conscience, bearing witness to our sincerity in our aims, ends, and performance of the duty. From this there follows a gracious repose of mind and great satisfaction.

If we have no experience of these things, it is plain that we are walking aimlessly in even the best of our duties. For these are among the chief things we pray for and ought to pray for. And if we have no experience of the effects of our prayers in our hearts, we neither benefit from them ourselves nor give glory to God in them.

Yet here, as in most spiritual matters, one of the worst of vices is ready to substitute itself in the place of one of the best of graces. That vice is self-pleasing in the performance of duty. Instead of a grace steeped in humility — as all true grace is — this is a foul product of spiritual pride, or the offering of sacrifice to one's own net and drag. It is glorying in the flesh, for whatever a person glories in concerning himself is nothing but flesh. When people have had freedom of expression in prayer, and especially when they sense that others are satisfied or moved by it, they are prone to a secret self-satisfaction in what they have done, which — before they know it — turns into pride and a harmful inflation of spirit. The same can happen to people in their most private duties, carried out outwardly with the aid of spiritual gifts. But this is completely contrary to and far from that spiritual contentment in duty that we are speaking of — though it will pretend to be that contentment until it is carefully examined. The language of true spiritual contentment is: "I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours alone," Psalm 71:16. The language of spiritual pride is: "God, I thank You that I have done thus and thus" — as the Pharisee expressed it. True contentment is rooted in God alone; spiritual pride is rooted in self. True contentment draws out the fragrance of all graces; spiritual pride immediately covers and buries them all, if any exist in the soul. True contentment fills the soul with humility and self-abasement; spiritual pride fills it with a lifted spirit and proud self-conceit. True contentment wipes away all memory of what we have done ourselves, retaining only a sense of what we have received from God — the impressions of His love and grace. Spiritual pride wipes away all memory of what we have freely received from God and retains only what we have done ourselves. Wherever spiritual pride is present, there is no proper sense either of God's greatness or His goodness.

Some may respond by saying that if this is the standard, they are completely cut off. They have no experience of any such spiritual rest and contentment in God in or after their prayers. At best they begin with tears and end in sorrow; and sometimes they hardly know what has become of their prayers, but fear that God has not been glorified by them and their own souls have not been benefited.

I answer: first, there is great spiritual refreshment in the godly sorrow that works itself out in our prayers. Where the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of grace and supplication, He causes mourning — and in that mourning there is joy. Second, the quiet encouragement we receive by praying, which keeps us adhering to God steadily in prayer, arises from some experience of this holy contentment, even when we have no clearly felt awareness of it. Third, some of those who make this complaint, if they would awaken and consider, will find that their souls have at least sometimes been refreshed in this way and brought to a holy rest in God. Fourth, "You will know the Lord if you press on to know Him." Keep pressing after this contentment and satisfaction in God, and you will attain it.

Third, it is a sure sign that our thoughts of spiritual things in our supplications come from an internal spring of grace — and are not merely produced by the duty itself — when we find their daily fruit and benefit in our lives; especially in the preservation of our souls in a holy, humble, and watchful frame.

The advantages, benefits, and effects of prayer are countless and are commonly discussed. Growth in grace and comfort is the substance of them. Where there is persistence in prayer, there will be some measure of spiritual growth. For a person to be earnest in prayer and yet make no progress in grace is a certain sign of dominant corruption and a lack of being spiritually minded in prayer itself. If a man eats his daily food — no matter how much or how often — and is not nourished by it, his body is under the power of a serious disease. The same is true of a person's spiritual constitution when he does not thrive on the food of the new creature. But what I focus on with respect to the present inquiry is the frame of soul that genuine prayer preserves. It will keep the soul humble and on careful watch over its dispositions and activities. He who prays as he ought will endeavor to live as he prays. No one can do this who does not diligently attend to the things he has prayed about. To pray earnestly and live carelessly is to announce that a man is not spiritually minded in his prayer. This then is how we will know what is the source of those spiritual thoughts our minds are exercised with in our prayers. If those thoughts are influencing us toward a constant daily watch — for the preservation of the frame of spirit, the dispositions and inclinations toward spiritual things, that we have prayed for — they are from an internal spring of grace. If there is generally a mismatch between our minds and what we seem to be contending for in our prayers, the gift may be in exercise but the grace is absent. If a man is at the stock exchange every day, talking eagerly and earnestly about merchandise and trade, but when he gets home thinks no more about it — because he truly has nothing to do with it, no stake in it — he may be a very poor man despite his pretending. And a person may be very poor spiritually who is sometimes fervent in prayer, if when he is by himself he gives no careful attention to the matters he prayed about.

Fourth, when spiritual affections and genuine preparation of heart for the duty stir up and direct the gift of prayer — rather than the gift making impressions on the affections — then we are spiritually minded in our praying. Gifts are servants, not rulers, in the mind; they are given to serve grace, not to lead it, but to follow it and stand ready to assist when grace is exercised. For the most part, when gifts are leading everything, they are acting alone. This is the natural order of these things. Grace habitually inclines and disposes the heart to this duty. God's providence and circumstances provide the occasion for its exercise; a sense of duty calls for preparation. As grace comes into active exercise, gifts come in with their assistance. When gifts are leading everything, everything is out of order. It may sometimes be otherwise. A person who is cold and lifeless may enter into prayer in simple obedience, out of a sense of duty, and may through the gift have their affections stirred up and their graces engaged in their proper work. This can happen, I say — but let people be careful about trusting this order and method. For when it is so, there may be little or no genuine exercise of grace in all the fervency and commotion of affections. But when the genuine actings of faith, love, holy reverence, and gracious desire stir up the gift to its exercise — calling on it to assist in expressing those graces — then the heart and mind are in their proper order.

Fifth, it is so when all other duties of religion are equally valued and attended to alongside prayer itself. The person whose entire religion consists in prayer and hearing sermons has no religion at all. God values all other duties equally, and so must we. This is illustrated in the example of giving: Acts 10:31. And James places all true religion in this — because without it there is none: James 1:27. I will place no value on a person's prayers, no matter how earnest and frequent, if he does not give generously according to his ability. And this is required of us who are ministers in a special way: that we not be like a signpost at a crossroads, directing others which way to go while staying behind itself.

This digression about the source and spring of spiritual thoughts in prayer seemed to me necessary in a time and season when we ought to be very watchful, lest gifts substitute themselves for grace — and careful that they are employed only for their proper end, which is to serve grace in its exercise, and nothing else.

Third, there is another occasion for thoughts about spiritual things that do not spring from a living principle within and are therefore no evidence of being spiritually minded. This is the conversation of others. Those who fear the Lord will speak with one another about the things in which His glory is involved (Malachi 3:16). To declare the righteousness and glory of God is the delight of His saints. Psalm 145:3-8: "Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wonderful works, I will meditate. Men shall speak of the power of Your awesome acts, and I will tell of Your greatness. They shall eagerly utter the memory of Your abundant goodness and will shout joyfully of Your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness." Accordingly, there are some who are ready on all occasions to speak and make mention of things divine, spiritual, and holy — and it is to be wished there were more of them. All the flagrant sins with which the world is filled are no greater evidence of the decline of Christianity than the fact that it has become unusual — even a source of shame or mockery — for people to speak together about the things of God. It was not so when religion was in its original power and glory; nor is it so with those who truly fear God and are aware of their duty. There are some, I say, who embrace every opportunity for spiritual conversation. Those with whom they converse, if they are not completely hardened, if they have any spiritual light at all, cannot help engaging at least somewhat with what is said — thinking about the spiritual things being spoken of. But often the track and course of people's thoughts runs so far away from such things and so contrary to them that they seem strange — the thoughts receive no welcome. Such conversations only briefly interrupt these people's path, causing them to pause for a moment and then move on. Some people's faces will actually change at such conversation, and they retreat into an unsatisfied silence until they can steer the talk elsewhere. Some will offer hollow replies that reveal how far their hearts are from the things being raised. But with others, such occasional conversations will make enough of an impression on their minds to stir up present thoughts about spiritual things. Yet even if such occasions are renewed frequently, these thoughts give no evidence that any such person is spiritually minded. For they are not genuine — they do not come from an internal spring of grace.

This is why, for many people, thoughts about spiritual things are like guests at an inn rather than children in a house. They arrive occasionally, and there is a great stir to provide them proper welcome. After a while they are settled in, and then they depart to their own affairs — never looked for or inquired after again. Matters of a different kind take over; new occasions bring new guests for a season. Children belong to the house — they are missed when they are absent, and their daily provision is consistently made for them. This is how it is with merely occasional thoughts about spiritual things. By one means or another they enter the mind and are entertained there for a time. Suddenly they depart, and they are heard of no more. But genuine thoughts — those that are natural and arising from a living spring of grace in the heart, which dispose the mind toward them — are like the children of the house. They are expected in their proper places and at their proper times. When they are missing, they are searched for. The heart calls itself to account over why it has been so long without them, and draws them back into their usual communion.