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good and virtuous purpofes, as may pro mote his glory and our own good. If we therefore pray with a corrupt intention, we must not expect that God will incline. his ear to us; for the Apoftle affures us, that on this account many afk, and receive not, because they afk amifs, that they may confume it upon their lufts.

To fincerity we must also add humility. This virtue naturally arifes from the duty itself, the performance of which fuppofes want in us who afk, and power in him of whom we afk; dependance on our parts, and fovereignty on God's. This humility confifts not only in being' fenfible of and acknowledging our wants, but alfo in being fenfible of, and acknowledging our unworthiness to have them redreft. The man who is not fenfible of his wants, will not be fenfible of relief; he who feels his

neceffities,

neceffities, and yet is too proud to acknowledge them, will be too proud alfo to acknowledge the hand by which he is relieved; he laftly, who is both fenfible of his wants, and humble enough to acknowledge them, but yet is puffed up with an high opinion of his own worthiness, wil impute the relief of them not to God's free mercies, but to a confideration of his own deferts; instead of coming boldly to the throne of Grace, he will come rafhly to the throne of Judgement; inftead of pleading and relying upon the merits of Chrift, he will plead and rely upon his own. Το make our prayers therefore acceptable to God, and our humility complete, we must acknowledge that our fins and wants are great, but our unworthinefs to have them pardoned and relieved ftill greater; we must confefs that when we have done our beft, we are but unprofitable fervants; we

muft

muft throw ourselves upon the mercy of God, and plead no merits but those of Christ.

This humility of the heart will naturally produce that of the body, or a grave and reverend deportment in our devotions, expreffive of the low opinion which we have of ourselves, and of the high one which we entertain of God. When we are in the prefence of an earthly monarch we place a particular regard on all our words and actions, fo that they may declare the high veneration we have of his majefty and power; and if this is reafonable, furely it is much more fo, that we fhould obferve the fame method when we come into the prefence of the king of Heaven, and exprefs the utmost reverence when we consider that the place we ftand on is holy ground, is fanctified and confecrated

crated by the gracious prefence of God himself.

To thefe qualifications of an acceptable prayer, we must also add that of Confidence, or a firm perfuafion that we shall obtain what we afk for, if it is expedient for us. Upon firft coming into the prefence of God, and confidering his nature and our own, we should naturally be more apt to fear and to defpair, than to repose any confidence in him. To confider him as exalted in majesty and power, ourselves as weak and impotent; him as a moft pure and holy Being, ourselves as stained and polluted with fin, must breed in us apprehenfions far different from those pleafing fenfations which Confidence inspires. But when we confider that he is a God of Mercy, long-fuffering, and of great goodness, that he fo loved the world, as VOL. IV. D

to

to fend his only fon to fuffer for it, that he hath commanded us to pray to him, and promised to hear and grant our requests, the fear which we before felt immediately fubfides, and Confidence, in its higheft fenfe, arifes in it's ftead; Confidence of being heard, forgiven, and relieved. We then find that not to pray to him is to dif obey his authority, and not to believe that our Prayers fhall be heard and granted, is to derogate from his Goodness, and distrust his promifes. We must not therefore let our humility fo far prevail as to plunge us into despair, or abate our Confidence; nor our confidence get so much the better, as to overthrow our humility, and hurry us into prefumption; but let both move in their proper fphere, and keep our fouls in a due temper; when we confider our wants and unworthiness let us be humble, when we confider God's mercies let us be confident,

and

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