an example of his holy perseverance, when he himself, in the garden of Gethsemane, persevered in repeatedly asking, with the same words, that help which he needed. We ought, then, to pray with restless importunity and perseverance. The same duty is brought before us in the following parable:* "Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him; and he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend; yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh findeth: and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. How gracious is that merciful Father, who by these examples teaches us to continue praying; and how inexcusable will we be, if after such an encouragement, we do not persevere in asking for his blessing! 10. Be humbled and self-abased. This spirit should mark all your prayers. "The foundation of prayer," says Paley, "in all cases, is a sense of want. No man prays in earnest, or to any purpose, for what he does not feel that he wants. Know, then, and feel the weakness of your nature." "The great mistake of prayer," says the Rev. Mr. Adam, " is, not praying as poor and destitute creatures; but thinking that we are and have already in some degree what we pray for." God "forgetteth not the cry of the humble." Even when the wicked king Manasseh "humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him," we read that God "was entreated of him." The Savior himself says, "Not my will but thine be done." If one grace more than another has God's special approbation, and is attended with multiplied spiritual advantages, it is that of humility. The humble man, being 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, 13. *Luke xi. 5-10. + Ps. ix. 12; x. 17. An old writer, commending humility in prayer as advantageous in prosperity as well as affliction, thus illustrates it "Vogel ha deeply more! mercy necess smalle of hur to con our ut Let us is, and fied sp God.* yoursel up."t heart." When is said come w them." hills, lea are satu Go to th ceited but in t ful to n most e fruit of consequ looked that inh him tha in this cession eeply sensible of his own need, the more he receives, the ore he feels his indigence; he expects all from mere ercy, and pleads nothing, but his own worthlessness and ecessity; and, having a broken and contrite spirit, he aits with patience till God have mercy, thinking the mallest blessing above his deserts. Cultivate, then, a spirit 'humility. When we pray for any grace, let us be ready confess our faultiness in that particular, and acknowledge r utter inability of ourselves to work it in our hearts. et us remember what an awfully great and holy being He and how sinful we are at the best! and how the gloried spirits veil their faces, fall down, and worship before od. Many are the advantages of humility; "Humble urselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you ." "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken art." The tears of the penitent avail much with him. Then "Hezekiah wept sore," his prayer was heard. It said of the people of God returning to Zion, "They shall me with weeping, and with supplications will I lead em." The showers of heaven run off the high and steep ls, leaving them dry and barren, while the lowly valleys saturated with the refreshing rain, and become fruitful. to the throne of grace, not in the spirit of the self-conted Pharisee, fancying yourselves better than others; in the humility of the publican, crying, "God be mercito me a sinner." Bishop Wilkins justly observes, "our st enlarged devotions are nothing worth without the it of humble and upright conversation, and with this sequent, our coldest and most restrained prayer may be ked upon as successful." “The High and Lofty One t inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, dwells with that is of a contrite and humble spirit." It is by going his spirit, relying on the merits, obedience, and intersion of the Savior, that we shall find acceptance with God. Observe how humble are the prayers of God's ser- In conclusion, we are led to remark, that even a cursory view of these rules is calculated to show us how defective, in every one of them, our prayers have been and still are. If we examine our past prayers by them, we may learn the reason why we have derived so little benefit from prayer; we may see more of our fallen condition; and be led to apply, without delay, for an interest in the only atonement for sin, and for that divine strength which alone can enable us to overcome sin and serve God acceptably. But be not discouraged by the strictness here recommended, and think that the work of prayer is altogether impracticable, because you cannot discharge it perfectly. Aim high, and you are more likely to attain to a good degree in Christian grace, with that humility which ever marks the Christian character; besides, let us never forget *Heb. xii. 28. Having given the preceding general rules as principally necessary to be attended to, I sum up in a note what might farther be said, by extracting from an old writer the following Rules of Practice. I. Before Prayer.-Meditate on the promises and presence of God.-Ask his gracious help, and the evidence of his Spirit.-Lay aside all malice, guile, envy, hatred, and seek to have thy heart filled with heavenly love.-Remember thy own vileness, and God's awful majesty.-Disburthen thy mind of worldly thoughts and cares. II. In Prayer. Lift up thy heart with thy hands, and place before thee Christ and his merits.-Watch over thy thoughts. Recover thyself from distractions, and improve them to thy further humiliation and watchfulness. III. After Prayer.-Thank the Lord for any degree of liberty or enlargement.-Pray for pardon and the sprinkling blood of atonement. Wait God's leisure.-Mark answers to prayer when God gives thee greater confidence in his love; more cheerfulness of spirit; grace to persevere in the face of many denials; a spirit of selfexamination what a and gl the col hat a fountain of spiritual life, what a powerful, gracious, ad glorious Savior we have; a sun whose rays can warm Le coldest heart, and whose beams can enliven the dullest irit. Let us never forget what a mighty and gracious elper we have in the blessed Spirit, who "helpeth our inmities." You will find, that nothing is impossible to those ited to Christ by living faith, and abiding in him, and reiving the daily supply of his Holy Spirit. AN EXHORTATION TO CONSTANT PRAYER. PRAYER being at the root of every other good, marking e commencement of the Christian life, being the pulse which its strength and vigor may be known, or the hands which its daily nourishment is obtained and ministered, e reader will bear with me while I attempt still farther press this duty on the conscience. There are two things which will ever bring the Chrisn to the throne of grace:-A sense of his own wants; 1 a desire to enjoy the presence of God. God having promised to supply all his wants, his prayers the importunate wrestling of the soul with God for ssings of infinite moment. And God being the portion his soul, he finds in his presence the sweet and unspeakarepose of the soul on God, his exceeding great reward. Prayer," says Bishop Taylor, "is the effect and the rcise, the beginning and the promoter of all graces. A y life is a continual prayer. Prayer is the peace of our Fit, the stillness of our thoughts, the rest of our cares, calm of our tempest." . Yet there are many who have neglected prayer, and in all, or at least in some of its branches. Such pers will often be dissatisfied, complaining of others; and ugh in the midst, perhaps, of abundance of earthly good gs, yet would they declare their real state, they would ound discontented and unhappy. And is this to be woned at? God is your Creator. He is the Governor of the they are miserable; and yet you neglect to seek him. You do not pursue his plans. You do not follow the directions which he has given you for obtaining his blessings, and therefore you have them not. But can you think that you will always have an opportunity of seeking him? O no!" remember, that there is an "accepted time, a day of salvation," and that it is our highest duty and our plainest interest to "seek the Lord, while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near." But, perhaps, you defer seeking God to the close of life, or to a period of sickness. O most dangerous delusion! To be careful about the temporal enjoyment of a day, and to suspend eternal happiness on the most improbable of all chances! It is almost certain that if you do from day to day put off the duty of prayer, deceiving yourself with the intention of calling on God in such a period, God will not, in that day, give you either grace or ability to pray to him. You will perish in your sins. There is neither safety nor happiness but in constant prayer. If you would obtain the waters of life, you must come to the fountain. If you would drink of the streams, you must come to the banks of that "river which maketh glad the city of our God." Perhaps you think prayer to be needless or useless. But is not this sad folly? You think it necessary to inquire, "What shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and wherewithal shall we be clothed?" necessary to seek after the provision of more temporal wants; and yet you can be careless about the pardon of your sins, the salvation of your soul, the eternal ruin of hell, and the everlasting glory of heaven. Prayer is no more to be esteemed needless, than eternal bliss is needless. No man ever repented of prayer. Baxter says, "I often repent that I have prayed to him so coldly, and communed with him so negligently, and served him so remissly; but I never repent of the time, care, affection, or diligence employed in this holy work." 2. Some are ashamed of prayer.-They think that it is the mark of a weak, or superstitious mind. They are afraid of being laughed at and ridiculed by their ungodly companions; and perhaps they have no place to which they can retire to be alone. But is it not the grossest ignorance, weakness, and delusion, to be afraid of the ridicule of a perishing, guilty man, and regardless of the di--1. and shar fest nes: voti thro littl deu wit the a da 3 and Som dan you ers lige How light eyes for your and to o says it c ligh * also A ciate cred muc cam room any put thou pray |