on of mind, hour after hour, day after day, and year ter year. They have an earthly mind, and love earthly ings. Seek you to have a spiritual mind, and then you 11 thus pursue spiritual things. All the lines of your aftion should unite here; all the radii of the circle should eet in this centre in a fixedness of heart of God in his rship. The circumstances of our prayers often lead our minds m God. We have to think of our sins, and their cirmstances, when we confess them, and of our wants en we pray for what we need, and of our mercies when thank God for them, and of our friends when we interle for them; but if the mind were in a spiritual state, se things would rather be the means of drawing our rts nearer to God, than of drawing them from him. r thoughts should not so run out on the particulars worship, as to forget the presence of Him whom we ship. Persevere in prayer, notwithstanding distractions. In path of duty, every obstacle gives way to the faith of Christian. When the Israelites were come to the Red , and to the waters of Jordan, they were directed to go vard. It might have been objected, If we go forward, 1 we not be drowned? But still their duty was to go ward; and so shall we go in the path of a plain comd, leaving to our God the removal of all obstacles. reluctance and the discouragement of prayer will be come in the performance of the duty. When their -t is in this distracted frame, in private prayer, by givmore time to the duty, and dwelling on the petitions you are able to attend to what you say, you will often nabled to overcome your difficulties. Patience is a e as necessary sometimes in devotion, as in afflictions; the want of patience does as often make our devotions ctive as the want of recollection." anainiso he difficulty of praying without distraction, and the that distractions do mingle with our holiest services, d inculcate many practical lessons; such as humility, enness of spirit, and, as has been already noticed, endependence on Christ for righteousness and strength, hings after the influence of the Spirit, and a longing in heaven, where all our services will be pure and A TREATISE ON PRAYER. effects. Nay, if a distracted prayer do but deeply humble us, it may be one of our most profitable prayers. And when our distractions are lamented, and our desire after spiritual blessings unfeigned, it may encourage us to remember that we pray to a Father. finds a difficulty in expressing its wants to an earthly faA little child often, ther; yet he, being desirous to meet the wishes of the child, will be ingenious, and patient, to discover and supply those wishes: so shall our 66 heavenly Father give good things to them that ask him." Our incapacity, indeed, is not physical, but moral; yet God, notwithstanding these many sins, considers those who trust in his Son as children, and pities them, and spares them, 66 as a man spareth his son." 99 CHAPTER XII. On Devotional Feelings merely. THERE are a number of persons whom we have no reason to believe to be under the influence of real religion; their tempers are frequently unsubdued and irritable; their affections, in the main, are worldly; and their pride of heart is evident; that yet express themselves in a devout way, and talk as if they found pleasure in devotion. Lies of creation, the charms of nature, the fancied pictures The beau which they draw of the goodness of the Deity, fill their minds with lively ideas of the benevolence of the Creator. They love to contemplate these things, and to converse bout them in a strain of devout admiration and praise. Deists and idolaters sometimes express themselves in this way; and Socinians often talk as if their view of religion ncouraged real devotion. What then are the great defects of the kind of devotion -hich has been described? It is accompanied by some one - other of the following marks. With respect to those who profess to have it, it has litor no bearing on the temper, which still remains unsane Fied, either self-indulgent or fretful, and exposed to buss passion. It puff the mi men to it is of pensive sations templa state o pleases With justice ter, and his han totally, draw ne by Him And tion fro practices out from and touch ing of th a father u saith the In the munion Men of t nothing that inhal "I dwell of a contr humble, a This de from a sp on the wo ings, or fo out the sc real devot gone off i Let us in a of devotio lis he mind with self-conceit, and self-sufficiency. It leads en to court rather than shun the admiration of others; or, is often a mere indulgence of natural imagination, of a ensive disposition, of taste, and the like. Pleasurable sentions are excited by the idea of the dignity of such conemplations, and it is supposed that they indicate a superior ate of mind to the common class of persons: and this leases and satisfies the carnal mind. With respect to God, it has no regard to his holiness or ustice; it overlooks the Scripture account of his characr, and those sorrows and evils of life which visibly mark s hand and the sinfulness of man. It greatly, if not tally, disregards the only mediator by whom we may aw near to God. "No man cometh unto the Father but Him." And with respect to others, there is little or no separaon from vain and sinful company, from worldly habits, actices, and maxims; no fulfilling of the precept, "Come t from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, d touch not the unclean thing;" and therefore no obtaing of the promise, "and I will receive you, and I will be ather unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, th the Lord Almighty." In the feelings to which we allude, there is no real comnion with God: that is ever humbling and purifying. en of the description which has been mentioned, know hing of the character of God as "the high and lofty one t inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy;" who says, dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the mble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." This deceptive appearance of devotion sometimes arises na spurious sentimentality; from notions not founded the word of God, but on human fictions and vain reason, or foolish imaginations, assuming the character withthe scriptural reality of religion. Sometimes men of devotion, (like Law in his Spirit of Prayer,) have e off into that which is mystical and unintelligible. us in all things adhere to the written word. This sort evotion is not that plain, simple, home, and every-day religion which so eminently marks the discourses of Savior, and of his Apostles. It has its seat more in onlight ened and humbled by Divine Truth, and, under the teaching of the Spirit, brought to a real knowledge of the excellence and glory of the Divine Being, of our great corruption, our inestimably precious Redeemer, our entire dependence on His grace, and a filial confidence in a reconciled Father. At other times such feelings may arise from mere animal sympathy. In a social meeting, or in a congregation, both he who offers up the prayers, and they who join, will be deeply affected and moved by the solemnity of the place, by the number assembled, by the manifestation of their feelings, or by the sacred music which they may hear; these things naturally have, and ought to have, an impressive effect, on every mind; we do not object to this effect, but to the mind's resting satisfied with it, as the sum of devotion. It is possible that the whole effect of such a service may be the mere excitement of the animal frame, apart from all those really devotional principles which come from above; a mere impression on the senses, quite distinct from communion with God himself, and all that holy state of mind which God alone bestows and regards. That corrupt church which in its devotional exercises, in direct contradiction to the plain testimony of Scripture,* uses a language not understood by the common people, cultivates much among its adherents, by show, pomp, music, and outward solemnity, this mere impression on the mind and senses of the worshippers. You may also behold among them, persons with the greatest appearance of devotion, satisfying their conscience by numerous repetitions f prayers counted by beads. Our Lord decidedly condemns 11 such worship.† There are those also in the Protestant churches, whose hole aim seems to be, merely to be deeply affected, hile in prayer, and who consider that the being much imessed and excited, is the highest degree of devotion. Let the reader, then, be on his guard, and not suppose at every thing of a contemplative, or sensitive, or exciting ture, with a devotional cast, is real devotion and acceptae to God. Yet there is a true devotional feeling, essential to our ell-being and happiness, of the greatest value and im * 1 Cori portance which h temper, firm; w which and suff and hap says, "t Son Jes have sh the follo ing it. DIRECTIO THE du course of rtance, and producing the most blessed effects, a devotion ich humbles and yet raises, which softens asperities of mper, and yet makes the self-indulgent self-denying and m; which changes the worldly into the heavenly mind; ich heightens every enjoyment, mitigates every trial d suffering, gives peace within, and spreads cheerfulness d happiness without. St. John describes it, when he 7s, "truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his n Jesus Christ." The former part of this treatise will ve shown the reader the nature of this devotion, and following directions are added to assist him in attainit. THE duty and privilege of the various kinds of prayer e now been brought before the reader. They should be attended to; they are each beautiful, and needful in r season. A Christian will not attend public and negfamily worship; he will not pray in his family, and lect his secret devotions; he will not pray statedly in et, and neglect social or habitual prayer. Each will e regularly in its fit place and time, without interfering the other; each not hindering, but succeeding, and ually helping the other. Nor will he count all this se of prayer burdensome and wearisome. To enjoy presence of God is his happiness, and therefore he longs ve in the continual practice of prayer. Your views of tional exercise as a task or privilege, are a test by h you may judge of your progress in religion, if not of eality. nd while there will, in the advanced Christian, be a cant attention to all these kinds of prayer, he will eslly attend to the spirit in which each is performed. It not be sufficient to satisfy his mind that he has gone |