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said, Be ye not slothful, but be followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. The way of duty is marked, not merely by the distinct line of preceptive truth, but also by the footsteps of all who have walked in it. The Apostles of our Lord were remarkable both for the frequency and fervour of their devotions. Neither the multitude of their labours, nor the measure and variety of their sufferings, were pleaded as excuses for the omission of that prayer, without which they knew all labours must be unsuccessful, and all sufferings unsanctified. But the highest example in this, as in every other duty, is that of Christ. How often did he retire from the multitude to pray, and sometimes continued all night in prayer! How earnestly did he pour out his supplications to the Father, with strong crying and tears! If we call him Lord and Master, let us walk as he walked, and act as he acted, and pray as he prayed.

II. I shall now proceed to answer some objections.

1. It has been objected, that prayer opposes the purposes, and dishonours the perfections of God.

The Epicureans, a sect of ancient philosophers, some of whom St. Paul encountered on

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Mars Hill, are said to have maintained that all prayers were visionary and useless, because, according to their views, the gods sat tranquil and at ease in the highest heavens, without either knowing or regarding the actions of men. And, strange as it may appear, there are many even in Christian countries, and in these more enlightened times, whose whole life proceeds upon the same Epicurean principle. wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God; God is not in all his thoughts. From their system, the mighty Maker, Preserver, and Judge of the universe, is wholly excluded; and they are content to think, or rather dream, that they are the inhabitants of a fatherless and forsaken world! Wherefore do the wicked thus contemn God? Men of this cast affirm, that the purposes of God are all fixed, and it is impious to expect or wish any change in them; that natural causes produce their regular effects by certain unalterable laws, which it is vain and foolish to suppose can be influenced by our prayers. They assert, that to spend our breath in supplication, is to cast a reflection on the wisdom and goodness of the Supreme Being. And who are these sages that plead for the honour of God? Whence did they derive their wisdom and their wings to soar so far above prophets, and apostles, and martyrs? Such sentiments are not from the

"philosophy which has been baptized in the pure fountain of eternal love," but from that vain philosophy which is after the tradition of men, and the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. These are the principles of Bayle and Voltaire, Hume and Paine. I shall venture, therefore, to call the objection here raised, an infidel objection, founded on ignorance and misrepresentation. We do not expect or desire to alter the purposes of God, but we know that his purposes and his promises cannot be in opposition; and both are accomplished by his giving answers to prayer. We grant, there is an order of close connexion between natural causes and effects; but many links in the grand chain, and the Divine agency which supports the whole, are invisible to the blind presumptuous philosopher. How the sovereign Ruler of the universe connects and combines the prayers of the righteous with events which fulfil his purposes, we pretend not to explain; but the fact is not less certain because it is inexplicable. Devotion is designed chiefly to affect our own minds, not to change the mind of God." As the plain man only got up and walked to prove there was such a thing as motion, in answer to the caviller who denied it; so the plain Christian, when he is borne down with the assurance that there is no efficacy in prayer, requires no better argument

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to repel the assertion than the good he finds in prayer itself."

2. It has been objected, that though prayer is the duty of Christians, it cannot be the duty of the ungodly, because it is affirmed they have no power to pray.

Our Lord spake a parable, the declared design of which was, to prove "that men ought always to pray." The term here used is not saints, believers, disciples of Christ, but men, a word of the widest and most comprehensive import. Nor is anything said of the qualifications necessary, but simply of the duty; men ought to pray. It has already been observed, that whatever we owe to God is, and necessarily must be, a duty, and it is mere sophistry which tries to evade it. The obligation to obedience is quite distinct from the question, whence comes the power to obey? though they are injudiciously blended and confounded. It has been said, if natural men are unable to pray, it is as absurd and improper to urge them to attempt it, as it would be to urge a dumb man to speak, or a blind man to see, or an idiot to work some mathematical problem. It is admitted, that a want of senses, or of faculties, must set aside all grounds and claims of duty; for as it is said, "where little is given, little will be required;' so, by the same rule, we may be assured, where

nothing is given, nothing will be required. But when we are told carnal men are unable to pray, we ask, is it that kind of inability which will exempt them from blame? Is it not a want of taste for devotion? a deep-rooted depravity, alienating the mind from God, and disinclining the heart to his service? This, instead of furnishing an excuse to the sinner, must aggravate his condemnation.

"We have a wonderful talent," says a pious writer*, " of deceiving ourselves. Our ingenuity on this head is inexhaustible. In matters of religion, men complain that they are weak; a complaint they are not forward to urge in worldly matters. They lament that their reluctance to pray arises from being unable to do what God in his word commands. But is not this virtual rebellion, only with a smooth face, and a soft name? This pretence of weakness, though it looks like humility, is only a mask for indolence, and a screen for selfishness."

But some who employ the objection we are now examining, have endeavoured to support it by alleging the words of Solomon. It is true, indeed, "That he that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Prov. xxviii. 9. But this only proves the folly of attempting to cover a series

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