to a man, who once held out a petition to him with a trembling hand, "Do not present your request as if I were a bear, ready to devour you." We must set the Lord before us, not only as clothed with awful majesty, but as also waiting to be gracious, and exalted to shew mercy.

3. Sometimes the Christian may fear that his prayers have miscarried and failed.

When the heart is fully set upon some blessing, which is earnestly and repeatedly sought and not received, the fear of failure begins to prey upon the mind, till a painful anxiety gains the ascendency. A merchant, whose vessel richly freighted, is long detained by contrary winds, may exercise his thoughts on the danger, till he persuade himself it is quite lost, and after all behold it come safe into port. Jacob, upon concluding that his son Joseph was torn to pieces by some wild beast, though mistaken as to the fact, mourned for him as much as if he had been really dead. And how often do the people of God bewail the want of those things, which they fully expected prayer to bring down from above! Is it because their petitions were refused? Is it that the rich return of mercy is wrecked and cast away? The conclusion is hasty and unwarranted. No: those prayers are on record in the book of God's remembrance. Perhaps the time is not

come for answering them; or the desired blessings are on their way, and almost arrived at the door.

Let it not be rashly said, the word of God fails of accomplishment. We must remember, that his promises are of two kinds, absolute and conditional: the first relate to spiritual, the second to temporal blessings. Whatever the covenant of grace engages to bestow, we may with full assurance expect. Pardon, peace,

comfort, liberty, inward strength, needful support, and final victory, are freely given. Temporal blessings are promised under a condition which is fitted to our circumstances. As far as health, riches, and friends, shall contribute to our welfare, they will be given. If we importunately seek some earthly good, without a direct reference to the infinite wisdom which is alone capable of choosing our lot, and regulating our present condition, our request must either be denied in mercy, or granted in wrath. The promise of God is a bond which is never broken, but we are too apt to forget what that bond includes.

Our fears, with respect to the answers of prayer, rise generally from the weakness or the want of faith. The foundation of our confidence is firmer than the solid rocks, but our minds are easily and frequently shaken. We are commanded to seek the Lord, and wait for

him. All the riches of grace are in his hand. It should satisfy us to receive them in the season, measure, and manner, which he sees best for us. But we, alas! are soon weary of waiting, and impatiently cry out, How long, O Lord, how long? When parents promise something desirable to their little children, in this way they urge their request hour after hour, and grow fretful from the supposed delay. After all, it may be justly remarked, that fear respecting the returns of prayer has no place where there is no root of piety. They who offer their petitions in a formal manner, never expect an answer to them; and treat the testimonies of God, concerning the acceptance of prayers, with indifference, and the tokens of his favour and love, as chimeras and dreams of fanaticism. But surely God both can and will impart to his people, though not perhaps at the time and in the way they expect, a clear and lively sense of his approbation. Are they laden with guilt? their burden shall be removed. Are they bowed down under trials? deliverance shall be wrought for them. Are they dark and desolate? the sun shall break upon them anew; and their graces revive as the corn and the vine, when the cheering spring returns.

But are there none, it may be said, who have cause to fear the failure and loss of their

prayers? Yes; all ought to be penetrated with

this fear, who are the slaves of lust, and the vassals of the world. The Heathen and the Jews, while rolling in vice, had their lustrations and divers washings; but ceremonial purity avails not those whose hearts and lives are corrupt. "Flagitiis omnibus, inquinati veniunt ad precandum, &c." said Lactantius: "they come to their prayers, polluted with all kind of crimes, and think God will accept their offering, if the body be clean, and clothed in white; as if a river could purify their souls, or a sea wash away their guilt." David reconciles the ceremony with the mystery, saying, “I will wash my hands in innocency, and so will I compass thine altar, O God." It were to be wished, that many could begin to fear, who are resolved to solace themselves with hope; and that some might be animated to hope, who now yield to the depressing influence of fear.

1. Let us weigh well the promises of God, and take heed that our hopes are not illgrounded. It is true, there is a covenant of grace, ordered in all things and sure; but it is by us too often misinterpreted. Sanguine and selfish, we expect God to fulfil not his word alone; but also our own comments on it. If, while we are building our hope, we heap wood, hay, and stubble, upon the basis which supports it, the rock will remain, but the rubbish must perish, or be swept away. The most encou

raging answers to prayer, are not those critical interpositions of Providence, which can be wrought up into a tale of wonders, to surprise and amuse; not those events which respect present deliverances or temporal comforts; but those effusions of divine goodness and grace, which immediately contribute to the best interests of the soul. "God," says one*, "cannot honour a person more, than by communicating to him the spirit of holiness in its higher measures. This spirit cannot be concealed, any more than a lamp inclosed in a globe of crystal, which darts its irradiations all around. And who so likely to have such uncommon degrees of this spirit, as those who frequently converse with God, in the places and duties of his appointment; particularly in secret prayer, turning their eyes from earth to heaven, and imposing silence on their clamorous passions, that they may see the glory of God in his infinite perfections, in his celestial habitation, and, above all, in his eternal Son; and may hear him speaking to their souls in the still whispers of his love?"

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2. Let us wait with resignation. Oratio pura, coelos penetrans, vacua non redibit." (Aug.) The sincere prayer, entering heaven, will not return empty. Yet we are apt to grow

* Rev. Henry Grove.

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