The First Sermon

1 Thessalonians 5:17. Pray continually.

The Apostle here, in the latter end of this Epistle, heaps up many precepts together, and therefore we shall not need to seek out the dependence of these words upon those that go before, or those that follow after. Rejoice evermore (says he), pray [reconstructed: without ceasing], in all things give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.

We are [reconstructed: handling] this text [reconstructed: and] this duty of prayer [reconstructed: as] commended to us, and it is a command from God himself delivered [reconstructed: plainly] to be [reconstructed: followed] without any great premises and reasons, and indeed having therefore the more authority in it.

Pray continually.

In the handling of which we will do these three things.

First, we will show you what prayer is.

Secondly, why the Lord requires this at our hands; for a man might object, The Lord knows my wants well enough, he knows my mind, and how I am affected — yes, but yet the Lord will have us to pray, and to ask before he will bestow it upon us.

And lastly, what it is to pray continually.

For the first. If we should define prayer in general to you, I would give you no more but this description of it. It is an expression of the mind to the Lord; sometimes by words, sometimes without words, but yet there must [reconstructed: be words], and some opening of the will to him; [reconstructed: this] is the general.

But now to know what a [reconstructed: righteous prayer] is, what such a prayer is as God accepts; [reconstructed: we] have another [reconstructed: definition] which must have [reconstructed: these] ingredients into [reconstructed: it], and so prayer is nothing else but an [reconstructed: offering] of those holy and good dispositions to God that [reconstructed: arise from the] spirit; [reconstructed: that is] the [reconstructed: re]generate part, in the [reconstructed: name] of [reconstructed: Jesus] Christ. Where you are to observe this: that the prayers that we make are divided into one of these two sorts:

First, some are such prayers [reconstructed: as] are the expression of our own spirits, the voice of our own spirits, and there is nothing but flesh in them; such prayers as any natural man may make to the Lord. And these the Lord regards not — he knows not the meaning of them, that is, he does not accept them.

Secondly, there are prayers that are the voice of God's own Spirit, that is, such as arise from the regenerate part which is within us, which is quickened and enlarged to pray from the immediate help of the Holy Ghost. These prayers are only accepted; and of these it is said, he knows the meaning of the Spirit — that is, he so knows it and sees it that also he accepts it. Therefore you shall see in Hosea 7:14, when they prayed, and prayed earnestly, yes they set a day apart for prayer, they called a solemn assembly, and kept a fast, yet, says the Lord plainly, you did not call upon me when you howled upon your beds; for (says he) you assembled yourselves for corn and for wine, which any natural man may do; and therefore (says he) it is but a howling. It is the voice of beasts to seek for wine and oil and [illegible], but he says plainly, you called not upon me — when, notwithstanding, they spent a whole day in prayer: but the meaning is that the Lord regarded this as no prayer at all.

And therefore, to open a little this description to you: for it is one [reconstructed: thing] we have to do in the handling of this text, to describe to you the meaning of this precept — what the nature of prayer is, that you may know what kind of prayer it is that prevails with God. I say, it is an expression of holy and good [reconstructed: dispositions]. I use that expression, rather of dispositions than desires, because there is some part of prayer that stands in thanksgiving when you desire nothing at God's hands, but give thanks for that you have received. Mark, first, that they must be holy and good — the desires and dispositions must be good: for that is [reconstructed: the] rule; all the affections and desires are good or evil according to their objects — [reconstructed: and] these that [reconstructed: are] fixed upon good [reconstructed: objects are] good desires.

[reconstructed: Question:] what are the good things [reconstructed: and what makes] the desires and dispositions [reconstructed: of the soul] good?

They are temporal things and spiritual both. A man may pray for temporal things in a spiritual manner, and the desire may be good; and [reconstructed: on the other hand] he may pray for spiritual things in a carnal manner, and the desire may be naught. Therefore that must be observed withal, that it is not simply the object, but there is a certain manner of [reconstructed: praying]. For example, if a man pray for [reconstructed: temporal] things, for outward comforts, [reconstructed: the] things [reconstructed: that] belong to the present [reconstructed: need] of his body: if he pray for them with these conditions — that he prays for that which is convenient for him, he prays for such a measure as God sees to be [reconstructed: fitting] — [reconstructed: saying] with [reconstructed: submission], [reconstructed: Lord, this is enough] for me — this prayer is good. But (as in 1 Timothy 6, if any [reconstructed: man] will be rich) it is an inordinate desire when men will have excess of these outward things, and more than is [reconstructed: fitting] for them. And again, if you desire that which is convenient, and spend it upon your [reconstructed: lusts]; if you desire health and long life, that you may live more pleasantly; if you desire wealth, that you may live more deliciously, and not simply that which the creature may desire, and to the end that you may be the more enabled to serve the Lord in these things, your desire is not good. So I say, first it must be for that which is convenient; secondly, you must not spend [reconstructed: it] upon your [reconstructed: lusts], but in God's service.

And lastly, we must pray for them in a right method — first the Kingdom of God, and [reconstructed: then] other things; that is, set a price on them as you ought, not too high a price, but value them aright. We should so pray for outward things as our prayers may be spiritual. On the other side, a man may pray for spiritual things in a carnal manner, as [he may pray] for temporal things in a spiritual manner. A natural man may pray earnestly for faith and for grace and repentance, not out of any beauty that he sees in them, not out of any taste and relish that he has of them, but because he thinks them a bridge to lead him to heaven and that he cannot come there without them: when he considers in his heart that he cannot be [reconstructed: saved] without these things, I say, then he may desire them, and desire them [reconstructed: intensely]. It was the [reconstructed: man] who cried so earnestly for grace, that he might have but a drop of it, because he could not be saved without it — he gives the reason himself, he said withal, he saw no excellence in it, he desired it not for itself; and therefore he thought his prayers should not be heard. Thus you see that prayer is an expression of holy and good desires, and it is an offering them up to the Lord.

I will not dwell upon that (you are well enough instructed in it) that whatever petition is made to the creature, it is not a prayer — they must [reconstructed: only] be offered up to the Lord.

Then I add, they are such as [reconstructed: arise] from the regenerate part — this is, look how much there is of the [reconstructed: regenerate] part in a prayer, look how much [reconstructed: the] Holy Spirit has to do in it, look how much [reconstructed: it comes] from that which is called the [reconstructed: spirit]; so [reconstructed: far] as it is sanctified, so far that prayer is accepted and no further. But, that we may open this a little more fully, we will show you it by some other expressions of prayer that we find in the Scriptures.

It is called a lifting [reconstructed: up] of the heart to God, a pouring forth of the soul to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:15), a [reconstructed: seeking] of him in spirit, so Paul calls it. Now if we open these phrases to you a little, you shall know more fully wherein the nature of right praying to God consists. That phrase the Apostle uses — [reconstructed: who serves] in my spirit (it is the same [reconstructed: word] in the original that [reconstructed: is used] for fasting and [reconstructed: prayer]) — now what is it to pray to God in the spirit? For a man may say, [reconstructed: one] cannot make a prayer but there is an act of his mind goes to it (and every man, whatever service he performs, his spirit must needs have a hand in it, so it cannot be performed without the mind).

I take this to be the meaning of it — the Apostle's scope is to distinguish the true and holy services of God from those that are but shadows and counterfeits, that are but the body and carcass of right service. Therefore, when he says, I serve the Lord in my spirit, or I pray in the spirit — the meaning is this: when the prayer of a man is not only that which the understanding dictates to him, but when the whole soul, the will and affections go together with his petition, and whatever the petition is, a man's heart is affected accordingly. As, for example, if a man come to confess his sins, and yet slights them inwardly in his heart; if a man pray for reconciliation with God, and yet have no longing and sighing in his heart after it; if he earnestly ask grace and the [reconstructed: mortification] of sinful lusts, when the heart does not inwardly seek it — now he prays not in the spirit. To pray in the spirit is as that in John 4:24: He will be worshipped in spirit and in truth. The meaning is, so to pray that the heart goes together with our petition. Also, this is the meaning of that [reconstructed: phrase] — [reconstructed: she] pours forth her soul before the Lord. So [reconstructed: Hannah] says of herself, I am a woman troubled, etc., and [reconstructed: I] poured out my soul before the Lord. That is, when a man delivers to God that which the understanding and mind have devised (for prayer is not a work of [reconstructed: wit] or of memory) but when a man pours forth his whole soul — that is, his will and affections — when they go together, when there is no reservation in his mind, but when all within him is opened and explicit and exposed to the view of the Lord, not as [reconstructed: someone] says of himself, when he came to pray for the mortifying of his lusts — says he, I had a secret inward desire that it should not be done. Therefore when the soul is poured forth, the meaning is that all [reconstructed: is] opened to him; so that when a man will make an acceptable prayer, he must make this account — he must then call in all [reconstructed: his] thoughts and affections, and [reconstructed: collect] them together [reconstructed: as one], [reconstructed: upon] the same [reconstructed: object]; [reconstructed: and that makes] prayer [reconstructed: strong]; whereas otherwise, it is but [reconstructed: a cold] thing that has no strength [reconstructed: in] it.

Now withal, this you must know: that when we say the whole soul must go together with the petition, the meaning [reconstructed: is] that not only the will and affections be employed ([reconstructed: for in a] natural man, in his desire of health when he is sick, or [reconstructed: desire for] assistance and guidance in difficult cases, not only the understanding but the will and affections are [reconstructed: employed] too, it is likely) — and therefore we add [reconstructed: also] that [reconstructed: the] which is called the spirit, which is [reconstructed: at work] in the whole [reconstructed: man], [reconstructed: must] be set [reconstructed: to] work in the performance of this [reconstructed: duty], whenever we seek to him in prayer.

For this you know, that there are two things in a regenerate man (for that you must take for granted by the way, that no natural man is able to make a prayer acceptable to God, seeing there is no spirit in him, but in the regenerate man) — there is, I say, flesh and spirit. Now when we come to pour forth our hearts to the Lord, that which lies uppermost will be ready to be poured forth first; and that which is spiritual, it may be, lies in the bottom, and that is kept in, and so a man may make a carnal prayer, though he be a holy man; that is, when the flesh has gotten the upper hand, as in some fits it may, when the mind is filled with worldly sorrow and worldly rejoicing and worldly desires, and these would be expressed to the Lord — it is a prayer that the Lord regards not, though the man be holy, from where it comes. But right prayer is this: when the regenerate part is acted and stirred up, and the flesh that hinders is removed. For you must know this, that wherever there is a regenerate part in any man, there is a regenerate aptness in that to call upon God; and it cannot be disjoined from it, but that is not always in act. As we see a fountain — it has always an aptness to pour forth water, it is ready to break into a current, but, if it be stopped with stones and mud and other impediments, it cannot break out — so he that is a regenerate man, that has a holy part in him, there is an aptness to prayer. Which is that which our Savior says, Matthew 26:41: The spirit is willing — that is, there is always a willingness that follows the spirit, or the regenerate part in a holy man — but says he, The flesh is backward, that is, it stops this fountain; and therefore (Romans 8:27) the Spirit is said there to help our infirmities and to make requests for us; that is, even as a man removes stones from a fountain with his hands, and when he has done that it breaks out into a current, so the Holy Ghost removes this flesh that stops up the current — the Spirit takes away those carnal impediments that are in us. And not only so, but stirs up the regenerate part; and when that is done, we are able to make a spiritual prayer to God in Christ Jesus. So that is the thing that you are now to observe: that the Spirit must help our infirmities when we come to call upon God, and our prayers are so far acceptable as they are the fruits of the regenerate part. Now we want but one thing to add in the definition: they are such prayers as are offered to God in the name of Jesus Christ.

This is a thing that you all know, that those prayers that are not offered up in Christ are not acceptable, because the person is not regarded. It was the sin of Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26 — he would go to the temple himself, being a king on the throne, and he would offer incense without a priest. We do the very same thing whenever we go to offer up any prayer to God without Christ Jesus. In the old [reconstructed: Testament] men might bring their sacrifices, but still the priest must offer them; so must we here. And the reason is given in Revelation 8, because the prayers that come from us savor of the flesh from which they come, and the Angel of the Covenant mingles much incense with them and makes them sweet and acceptable to God with much incense — that is, as the flesh is more, so there needs more incense, that they may be made acceptable to God the Father. So that we have indeed a double intercessor: one is the Spirit that helps our infirmities, that helps us to make our petitions, that quickens and enlarges our hearts to prayer; the other is the intercessor to make them acceptable to God, that he may receive them and not refuse and reject them. So much shall serve for the first thing, to show you what the duty is — what a right, true, and acceptable prayer is.

Now for the second: why we must pray (for that objection a man may make) — the Lord knows my mind well enough, and what need is there of such an expression of it by prayer? The reasons briefly why the Lord will have us to pray are taken:

Partly from himself.

And partly from us.

1. From himself: though he be willing to bestow mercies upon us, yet he will have us ask his leave before he does it. As you know, fathers do with their children — though they intend to bestow such things upon them as are needful, yet they will have their children ask it; and as it is a common thing among men, though they be willing a man should pass through their ground, yet they will have leave asked, because by that means the property is acknowledged, otherwise it would be taken as a common highway. So the Lord will have his servants come and ask, that they may acknowledge the property he has in those gifts he bestows upon them. Indeed, otherwise we would forget in what tenure we hold these blessings we enjoy, and what service we owe to the Lord. As you know, there is a homage due to the Lord, that the Lord might be acknowledged; so the Lord will have this duty of prayer performed, that we may acknowledge him, that we hold all of him, and that we might remember the service that we ought to do to him — to rise and go at his command, that is, to do his service — which we would be ready to forget if we were not accustomed to the duty of calling on him.

Likewise he will have it done for his honor's sake — he will have men call upon him, that they may learn to reverence him, and likewise that others might be stirred up to reverence him and to honor him and to fear him. The servants of a prince doing honor and reverence to their lord stir up those that are lookers on. And as the schoolmen say of glory: glory is properly this — not when a man has an excellence in him (for that he may have and yet be without glory) but glory is an ostentation, a showing out of that excellence. It is the phrase that is used in the Sacrament: you shall celebrate the Sacrament, that you may show forth the Lord's death; so the Lord will have us come and call upon his name to show forth the duty of prayer, and that we may show forth his glory. This is for the Lord himself.

Now for ourselves, we are to do it, partly, that the graces of his Spirit may be increased in us: for prayer exercises our graces; every grace is exercised in prayer, and they being exercised are increased. See an excellent place for this in Jude 20: 'that you beloved edify yourselves in the holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost' — as if he should say, the way to edify yourselves and build up yourselves is to pray in the Holy Ghost; that is, spiritual prayer made through the power and assistance and strength of the Holy Ghost. Every such prayer it builds us up, it increases every grace in us — faith and repentance and love and obedience and fear — all are increased by prayer.

Partly, because they are exercised and set to work in prayer: for the very exercise increases them.

And partly also, because prayer brings us to communion with God. Now, if good company increases grace, how much more will communion with the Lord himself quicken and increase it.

Moreover, this duty is required, that we may be acquainted with God: for there is a strangeness between the Lord and us when we do not call upon his name. It is the command which you shall find in Job 22:21: Acquaint yourself with the Lord [reconstructed: and] you [reconstructed: shall] have peace with him, and you shall have prosperity. Now, you know how acquaintance grows among men — it is by conversing together, by speaking one to another. On the other side, we say when that is broken off, when they salute not, when they speak not together, a strangeness grows. So it is in this: when we come to the Lord and are frequent and fervent in this duty of calling upon him, we grow acquainted with him, and without it we grow strangers, and the Lord dwells afar off, we are not able to behold him, except we be accustomed to it, and the more we come into his presence, the more we are acquainted with him. Therefore that is another reason why we should use this — that we may get acquaintance with the Lord.

Likewise, that we may learn to be thankful to him for those mercies we have received from him; for, if [reconstructed: he] should bestow mercies upon us unasked, we would forget them, his hand would not be acknowledged in them, and we would not see his providence in disposing those blessings that we do enjoy. But when we come to ask every thing before him, we are then ready to see his hand more and to prize it more, and we are disposed to more thankfulness. So that it is a sure rule commonly: what we win with prayer, that we wear with thankfulness; and that which we get without prayer, we spend and use without any lifting up of the heart to God in praising him and acknowledging [reconstructed: his] hand in [reconstructed: bestow]ing it upon us. [reconstructed: So] you see what [reconstructed: this] duty is. And,

Secondly, why the Lord will have this duty performed.

Now, thirdly (in a word), what is it to pray continually? The word in the original signifies such a performance of this duty that you do not cease to do it, at such times as God requires it at your hands. Compare this with that in 2 Timothy 1:3. The Apostle says there that he has him in continual remembrance, praying for him night and day — from where the same word is used that is here. Now we cannot think that the Apostle had Timothy in continual remembrance, that he was never out of his thought, but the meaning is, when he did call upon God from day to day, he still remembered him. So that to pray continually is to pray very much, to pray at those times when God requires us to pray. For it is the definition that philosophers give of idleness: a man is then said to be idle when he does not that which he ought, in the time when it is required of him. He is an idle man that works not, when he ought to work; so he is said not to pray continually that prays not when he ought to pray. So that I conceive this to be the meaning of the Apostle: rejoice evermore (says he), but when he comes to this exhortation of prayer, he contents not himself to say 'pray very often' but 'pray continually' — as we use [reconstructed: to] express ourselves when we would have a thing frequently done, we say, see that you be always doing of this. So the [reconstructed: point] is to show that it should be exceeding often, and that it should be very much done. Hence we gather this by the way, that we are bound to keep our constant course of calling upon God at the least twice a day, whatever we do more.

But you will say, what ground have you for that — why do you instance in that twice a day?

The ground of it is this: when the Apostle bids us pray continually — do it exceeding much, do it very often — the least we can do it is twice a day; we may do it more often, but that, I say, is the least. When we have such a command as this, when we have such a precept as this, 'Pray continually,' and this rule illustrated by such examples as we have in the Scriptures — why is it recorded, if it be not true of every example in that kind? That is said of the general example in 1 Corinthians 10: they are written for our learning. When it is said that David prayed often, and Daniel expressly in Daniel 6:3 prayed three times a day — that was his constant course. I say, we may think we are bound to do it at the least twice a day. Consider a little the reason of it, why we are bound to do it. In the temple, you know, the Lord was worshipped twice a day — there was [reconstructed: the morning] and [reconstructed: evening] sacrifice. What was the ground of that commandment? There was no reason of it, but that the Lord might be worshipped, and that was [reconstructed: why] it [was] done [reconstructed: twice] a day, morning and evening. But besides that, it was not only that the Lord might be worshipped (wherein we should follow that example of worshipping him morning and evening), but likewise our occasions are such that that is the least we can do — to call upon him constantly morning and evening: for there is no day but we use many blessings, and we take many of his creatures. Now we may not take any of them without his leave; so that you are bound to ask for them before you take them, and pray for a blessing upon them; or else you have no right to them, you have no lawful use of them. That place is plain — 1 Timothy 4: every creature of God is good and ought not to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by prayer. So that, if you take common blessings every day and do not seek them at the Lord's hands before you take them, they are not sanctified to you, you have not a lawful use of them, you have no right to them.

Besides, my beloved, it is that which the Lord commands in every thing: 'Make your requests known in every thing' — that is, whenever you need any thing, make your requests known; so in every thing give thanks. And therefore the least we can do, when we have received and do need so many mercies, is to give thanks and to seek to him so often, from day to day.

Moreover, do not our hearts need it — are they not ready to go out of order, are they not ready to contract hardness, are they not ready to go from the Lord and to be hardened from God's fear? Therefore this duty is needful in that regard, to compose them and bring them back again into order.

Moreover, do not the sins we commit daily put a necessity upon us, of doing this, that they may be forgiven and done away, and that we may be reconciled to God again? Therefore do not think that it is an arbitrary thing to call upon God twice a day, because there is no particular express command; for, if you consider these places that I have named and the reasons, we shall see there is a necessity that lies upon us to do it. So much shall serve for that; I come now to make some use of this that has been delivered.

First, in that such prayers as the Lord accepts are an expression of holy desires, such desires as rise from the regenerate part of a man — hence then we see that all natural men are in a miserable condition when times of extremity come; and when the day of death comes, when there is no help in the world but seeking to the Lord, when all the creatures forsake them and are not able to help them; and there is no way to go to the Lord but by prayer. If prayer be an effect and fruit of the regenerate part of a man, a carnal man is not able to help himself — he is in a miserable condition. Therefore let men consider this, that put all off to times of extremity. Put the case you have warning enough, at such a time. Put the case you have the use of your understanding — yet you are not able to do any good without this: for, if there be not grace in the heart, you are not able to make a spiritual prayer to the Lord that the Lord accepts. Therefore take heed of deferring and putting off. Labor to be regenerate, to have your hearts renewed, while you have time; and if you are not able to call upon God in the time of health, how will you do it when your wits and your spirit are spent and lost, and in the times of sickness and extremity? Therefore let that be considered, which we do but touch by the way briefly.

Secondly, if the Lord commands this, if it be the command of God — 'Pray continually' — then take heed of neglecting this duty; rather be exhorted to be frequent and fervent in it, to continue therein, and watch thereunto with all perseverance. It is a common fault among us: either we are ready to omit it, or to come to it unwillingly, or else we perform it in a careless and negligent manner, not considering what a command lies upon the sons of men to perform it constantly and conscientiously. I beseech you consider this, that it is a privilege purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ — Christ died for this end, it cost him the shedding of his blood, that we through him might have entrance to the throne of grace. And will you let such a privilege as this lie still? If you do, so far as is in you, you cause his blood to be shed in vain: for, if you neglect the privileges gotten by that blood, so far you neglect the blood that procured them; but to neglect this duty is to neglect that. Besides, if we ask you the reason why you abstain from other sins — why you steal not, why you commit not adultery and murder — the reason that you give is because the Lord has commanded you. Has not the Lord commanded you to pray constantly, at all times?

If you make conscience of one commandment, why do you not of another? Consider Daniel in this case (Daniel 6) — he would not omit a constant course of prayer, he did it 3 times a day, and that was his ordinary custom. If he would not omit it to spare his life, if he would not omit it in such a case of danger as that, why will you omit it for business, for a little advantage, for a little gain, for a little wealth or pomp or pleasure, or whatever may draw you from that duty? Do but consider what an unreasonable and how unequal a thing it is, that when the Lord gives us meat and drink and clothes from day to day, when he gives us sleep every night, when he provides for us such comforts as we have need of (as there is not the least creature that does us any service, but as far as he sets it to work to do that service) — for us to forget him, and not to give him thanks, and not to ask these things at his hands, not to seek to him, but to live as without God in the world, as we do when we neglect this duty. I say, it is a profession of living without God in the world; we are strangers to him, it is open rebellion against him. Therefore take heed of omitting it, take heed of neglecting it.

Besides all this, we should do it for our own sakes, if we consider what use we have of this duty for ourselves. Is it not the key that opens all God's treasures? When heaven was shut up, was not this the key that opened it? When the wombs were shut up, was not this it that opened them? You know, Elijah prayed for rain — so we may say for every other blessing. All God's treasures are locked up to those that do not call upon his name; this opens the door to them all, whatever they be that we have occasion to use — this is effectual, it does it better than anything besides. If a man be sick, I will be bold to say it, a faithful prayer is more able to heal his disease than the best medicine. The prayer of faith shall heal the sick (James 5). You know, the woman that had the bloody issue, when she had spent all upon physicians and could do no good — then she comes to Christ and offered faithful prayer to him, and that did it, when so many years of medicine could not do it. Beloved, if there be a prince or a great man whose mind we would have turned toward us, a faithful prayer will do it sooner than the best friends. So it was with Nehemiah — you know his request, that the Lord would give him favor in the sight of the man. If we be in any strait, as it was in Joseph's case; if we have any difficult matter to bring to pass, this prayer and seeking to the Lord will expedite and set us at liberty sooner — it will find a way to bring it about more than all the wits in the world, because it sets [reconstructed: to] God to work. You have no power to do any [reconstructed: thing apart from God]. Certainly a praying Christian that is prevalent and potent with God (that seeks to him) — he is able to do more than all the riches in the world. They set the devil to work; but prayer sets God to work, it sets him to work to do us good, and to heal us, and to deliver us out of extremities. And therefore, I say, for our own sakes — even out of self-love — and for common comforts, you have need to use this. Certainly, if these things were believed (but you hear them, you give us the hearing for the time; but if they were believed) many would be more frequent in this duty, they would not be so negligent in it, or come in so careless a manner to it.

Besides this, I beseech you to consider this: every man desires joy and comfort, and commonly one thing that keeps us off from this duty is sports and pleasures, one thing or other that we take delight in, which damp and hinder us in these things, in spiritual performances. Prayer is the best way of all other to fill your heart with joy, as we see in John 16:24 — he says there, 'In my name you have asked nothing hitherto, but now ask, that your joy may be full.' This is one motive that Christ uses to exhort us to be frequent in this duty, that our joy may be full. That I take to be the meaning of that of James 5: 'If any be sad, let him pray' — not only because prayer is [reconstructed: suitable] to such a disposition, but likewise it will cheer him up; it is the way to get comfort. If any be sad, let him pray. So it is in the 4th [reconstructed: chapter of Philippians] (Philippians 4:6): [reconstructed: be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication] make your requests known; and the peace of God [reconstructed: shall] keep you in the communion of Jesus Christ. That is it that brings peace and quietness; and therefore there is much reason why we should be constant in this duty — it is that which quickens us, it is that which fills us with joy and comfort and with peace, which is that that every one desires.

Moreover, consider it is your buckler — prayer is the helmet that keeps you safe. When a man neglects it, when he ceases to go to God by prayer, when he once shows himself to be a stranger to the Lord by neglecting this duty, then he is out of the pale of his protection, like the rabbits that go out of their burrows. For so is the Lord to those that pray: the Lord is a protection to those that call upon his name. The very calling upon his name is a running under God's wings, as it were — that is, a putting ourselves under his shadow. But when you neglect that, you wander abroad from him. Now do we not need protection from outward dangers from day to day? Do we not need to be kept from the inward danger of sin and temptation? Surely prayer is one part of the spiritual armor, as we see in Ephesians 6. In the complete armor of God, prayer is reckoned up the last, as that that buckles up all the rest. Says the Apostle, 'Continue in prayer, and watch to it with perseverance.' And you have the more reason to do it, because it is not only a part of this armor, but it enables you to use all the rest — to use the word and to use faith; for prayer stirs them up all. What is it to have armor and not to have it ready? Now prayer makes it ready. Therefore you see Christ prescribes the same rule in Matthew 26:41: 'Pray that you enter not into temptation' — as if that were the way to secure us and to shelter us and to keep us safe from falling into temptation. It is a thing I would advise you to, to pray and to seek to the Lord continually. Therefore, if we should use only this reason to you, to be constant in this duty because it is for your safety, it were sufficient. You know when a man is as a city whose walls are broken down, when he lies exposed to temptation, he is in a dangerous case. So I may use this dilemma to you: if you have a good disposition, if you think thus — 'I hope I am well enough; I hope my heart is in a temper good enough, I am not now exposed to any temptation, I fear nothing' — make this argument against yourself: why do I neglect so good a [reconstructed: opportunity], if my heart be so well disposed to pray, why do I then omit it? Again, if there be an indisposition in me, why do I hazard myself? What if Satan should set upon you, what if the world should set upon you, what if a suitable temptation agreeable to your lusts be offered — are you not in danger? And therefore a constant course should be kept in it, we should take heed of being negligent in it. And will a man now profess that he hopes he is the servant of God and in a good estate, although he does not pray so much as others (we speak not of frequency simply, but of such a performance as is required)? I say, to profess that you are a servant of Christ, and that you love [reconstructed: him], and that he is your husband, and that you are his servant, and yet you call not upon him from day to day — this is an idle thing, it is impossible. If you did love him, you would express yourself in calling upon his name. Shall a friend that is but an acquaintance to us, in whom we delight, come to us, and we are willing to spend many hours with him — and shall we profess ourselves to be friends of God, and him to be a friend to us, and that we delight in him, and yet neglect this duty? This is a common thing among you: when you see a man that meditates all his matters himself, or, if he does open his mind and tell them to somebody else, it must be such a one as professes to be a friend to him — now if this friend should never hear from him, nor he should never speak to him, or if he does, it is in such a negligent manner as it may appear he does not trust him, he does not regard what he can do for him, and he does it so shortly that he can scarcely tell what the business is — I say, in such a case, would you not reckon his profession of friendship to be an idle and empty profession? Now apply it to yourself: those that say they have communion with God, and they hope their estate is good enough, they stand in good terms with him — but yet, if they [reconstructed: are] in any necessity, for all the matters and occasions that fall out from day to day, either they think of them in themselves, or they are apt enough to declare them to man, or if they go to God, they do it negligently, they post over the matter, so as they have scarce leisure to express themselves and their doings. Do you think he will take such for friends? And do you think that this is a true, sound, and hearty profession? Therefore (to end this) I beseech you consider it, and take heed of being remiss and negligent in it. You see it is a command from the Lord: 'Pray continually.'

And so much for this time.

Finis.