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our daily prayers, Matt. vi. 10. "Thy will "be done on earth, as it is in heaven;" and he exhibited an example of this entire fubmiffion in a scene of the greatest distress to which it is probable that human nature was ever fubjected, I mean in his agony in the garden, when "his foul was exceeding forrowful, even unto death;" when yet he prayed, faying, Matt. xxvi. 39. “O my Father, if it be poffible, let this cup pafs "from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but "as thou wilt." And again, in his fecond prayer on that occafion, v. 42. "O my "Father, if this cup may not pass away "from me, except I drink it, thy will be "done." Laftly, the apostle James makes use of exhortations exactly fimilar to those of our Saviour in the cafe of perfecution, James i. 2. 12. My brethren, count it "all joy when ye fall into divers tempta"tions. Bleffed is the man that endureth "temptation: for when he is tried he shall "receive the crown of life, which the Lord

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hath promifed to them that love him.' And the apostle Peter, on the fame occafion, fays, 1 Pet. iii. 14. "If ye fuffer for righte"oufnefs

"ousness fake, happy are ye: and be not "afraid of their terror, neither be troubled."

The propriety of praying to God is far from being fatisfactorily proved from the light of nature, and much lefs can the obligation of it, as a moral duty, be strictly. demonftrated upon those principles. Had the practice appeared ever fo defirable, the humble and the diffident might have thought it too prefumptuous, as much as others would have thought it unneceffary. It is, therefore, with peculiar fatisfaction, that, in the fcriptures, we find all the indigent and dependent race of mankind encouraged in the freeft and moft conftant accefs to God by prayer. And notwithstanding the infinite diftance that fubfifts between the divine being as our creator, and us as his creatures, in the whole of the fcripture history, he appears in the condefcending and amiable character of our Father, as ready to attend to our wants, as he is able to fupply them; being to us, in reality, what our occafions require him to be; infomuch,

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that though he is reprefented as knowing every thing that we can tell him, even the thoughts of our hearts; yet, because our nature is fuch, that we cannot keep up that conftant regard to him, in the whole of our conduct, which our own improvement and happiness require, without a free and familiar intercourfe with him, fuch as we maintain with our earthly governors and parents (our attachment to whom is greatly ftrengthened, by the genuine and natural expreffions of it) he has been pleafed not only to permit, but abfolutely to require that intercourfe; expecting that we fhould both make acknowledgments to him for favours already received, and alfo apply to him for thofe which we ftill want; not forgetting, however, to exprefs the moft intire acquiefcence in his will, whether he should think proper to grant our requefts or not. Now, this is certainly the very part that a prudent and wife parent would take with a child, though, with refpect to himself, both the acknowledgments and the requests of the child were ever fo unneceflary.

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In the Old Teftament hiftory, we find prayer to be the conftant practice of all good men; and fo far was there from being any doubt concerning the propriety of it, that it is mentioned by Eliphaz as the greateft aggravation of the wickedness which he afcribed to Job, that he even "caft off fear, "and reftrained prayer before God," Job XV. 4. It is mentioned as the characteristic of God, that "he heareth prayer," Pf. lxv. 2. "O thou that heareft prayer, unto thee "fhall all flesh come."

Prov. xv. 8. "That the

Solomon alfo fays,

prayer of the up"right is his delight;" and David, Pf. cxlv. 18. "The Lord is nigh unto all them that "call upon him. He will alfo hear their and will fave them,"

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Our Saviour recommends frequent prayer to his difciples. He also gave them a variety of particular inftructions, and was himself a pattern for them, with respect to it. For we not only read of his praying upon particular occafions (feveral of which prayers are recorded by the Evangelifts) but it is faid, upon one occafion, that he spent

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even a whole night in prayer to God, Luk vi. 12. as if he who received the most from God, and who was therefore the most dependent upon him, thought it neceffary to be more particularly careful to express that dependence. Our Lord even encourages great earneftness and importunity in prayer; one of his parables being particularly calculated to excite men" always to

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pray, and not to faint. Luke xviii. 1. &c. "What man is there of you," fays he, addreffing himself to a great multitude, Matt. vii. 9. &c. “ whom, if his fon afk "bread, will he give him a ftone? Or if he afk a fish, will he give him a ferpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how "much more shall your father who is in "heaven give good things to them that "afk him ?"

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Our Lord is very careful, however, to inculcate a right difpofition of mind in prayer, and particularly cautions his difciples to avoid the oftentation of the Pharifees, and the clamorous repetitions of the heathens

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