the Chaldee Paraphrafe renders it) his Hands were stretched out in Prayer unto the going down of the Sun. Again, when the Angel, in the xxxiid of Genesis, with whom Jacob wrestled, (who, indeed, as the ancient Fathers do unanimoufly conclude, was no other than the Angel of the Covenant, the Son of God, that did in the Fulness of Time appear in Human Flesh) I say, this Angel would have been gone from him upon the Breaking of the Day: No, faith Jacob, I will not let thee go unless thou bless me, and accordingly a Blessing he obtain'd. Earnest Prayer doth a Kind of Violence to God, if we may be allowed fo to speak; As a Prince (faith the Angel there to Facob) bast thou Power with God and with Man, and haft prevailed. Again, when God was so grievoufly dif pleased at the People of Ifrael for making the Golden Calf, saith he to Mofes, Let me alone that I may destroy this People, and blot out their Name from under Heaven; intimating, that if Mofes by Prayer interceded for them, he would prevent their Destruction; and this indeed the Event shewed; for notwithstanding what God had before faid of his Purpose to destroy them, yet upon Moses's Prayer he repented of the Evil, and was prevailed upon to spare them. Lastly, How prevalent the Prayers of good Men are with God appears from this, that when God God is absolutely resolved not to haye mercy upon a People, he expresseth his unalterable Purpose to this effect, that though his chiefeft Favourites, such as Noah, and Daniel, and Job, should intercede with him on behalf of that People, yet their Prayers should do them no good, as you have it four times repeated in the 14th Chapter of Ezekiel: Which is as much as to say, that if any thing in the World could prevail with God to spare that People, it should be the Prayers of fuch Men. But, Fourthly and Lastly, to conclude, Let it be farther confidered for the shewing the Efficacy of Prayer, that the Scriptures have declared it so necessary in order to the obtaining the good Things we stand in need of, that if we do not pray for them, we shall not have them. This is sufficiently evident from that Paffage in St. James, Chap. iv. ver. 2. Ve luft (faith he) and have not, ye kill and defire to have, and cannot obtain, ye fight and war, and yet ye have not, and why fo? because (faith he) ye ask not. That is to say, all your coveting and envying, and fighting and contending, bring you in no kind of Profit, you are never a whit by these Means the nearer the obtaining what you defire, and the Reason is because praying to God, which is the chiefeft Means of obtaining, is not practised by you. VOL. IV. All All these Things consider'd, I think every Man in the World, that hath any Sense of Religion, must needs be convinced that serious and folemn Prayer is not only of great use, but of absolute necessity for the obtaining what we want; that there is no profpering in our Affairs without it, and when it is put up devoutly and heartily, and in that manner it ought to be, it never fails to bring down the Blessing of Heaven upon us. I should now proceed to the Third Head proposed to discourse of, and that is of the Requisites or Conditions of Prayer, that we must take care to observe, if we would have our Prayers either acceptable to God, or beneficial to our selves; but this I shall referve for another Time. Now to God, &c. SERMON SERMON III. МАТТН. VII. 7. A Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 1 T a HIS Text is a Part of our Saviour's famous Sermon on the Mount, which may be justly called Summary of all Christian Duties. In these Words he is treating of the great Christian Instrument of obtaining from God whatever we stand in need of, and that is hearty Prayer to him. He had delivered to his Disciples in the former Chapter, a Form of Prayer for them to use, and now he comes to recommend and enforce the constant Practice of that Duty, by giving them Afsurance that if they did practise it, they should not fail of having their Requests granted, and being supplied with every thing they stood in need of. 51 A great and unspeakable Comfort this is, to be able at all times certainly to say, whatever is fit for me, it shall be given me, if I do but ask it, if I do but seek it, if I do but knock at the Gate of Mercy for it. And yet this every Christian may say, if our Saviour's Affirmation may be relied on; for Words cannot be contriv'd to express more plain plainly, or more strongly, the conftant never-failing Efficacy of hearty Prayer, than these are which our Saviour here delivers; Ask, faith he, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Which Promise of his, for the further poffeffing our Minds with a stedfast Belief of it, he repeats again in the next Verse by way of an universal Proposition; for every one that asketh, receiveth, and he that feeketh, findeth, and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened; and the more to enforce this, he doth in the next Words put the Cafe of an ordinary Father, who tho' he may be supposed to be otherwise a churlish or unkind fort of Man, yet if his Son, when he is an hungry, should ask Bread of him, he could not be thought fo hard-hearted as to give him a Stone for Bread, or a Serpent for a Fish; If, therefore, as our Saviour infers, we that are evil know how to give good Gifts unto our Children, when they ask us; how much more will our heavenly Father, (who has nothing of Evil or Churlishness in his Nature, but is perfect |