on their beds, and assembling themselves for corn and wine,' Hosea vJi. 14. There is the cry of the creatiu'e, and the cry of the new creature. Every crea- tm-e hath a natural cry for that which suits their nature. Hence, Psa. cxiv. 7, ' The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat of God.' But give the lion flesh, and he will not roar for want of grass ; give the ox grass, and you shall not hear him lowing for flesh ; so give the faithless, graceless person his fill of his carnal food, (sensual enjoyments,) and you shall have little com- plaints of spiritual wants from him. They are therefore spiritual wants you must try your faith by : if thou canst heartily pray for love to Christ, faith on him, or any other grace, feeling the want of them as a hungry man doth of his food, thou mayest conclude safely there is this principle of new life, which, like the veins at the bottom of the stomach, by its sucking, puts thee to pain till it be heard and satisfied ; for these graces being pi'oper to the new creature, can be truly desired of none but one that is a new creature.
Secondly, Faith excites to prayer from an inward delight it hath in commu- nion with God. ' It is good for me,' saith the psalmist, ' to draw near to God.' Now mark the next words : ' I have put my trust in the Lord,' Psa. Ixxiii. 28. We take delight to be often looking where we have laid up our treasure. This holy man had laid up his soul and all he had in God bj^ faith, to be kept safely for him ; and now he delights oft to be with God ; he hath that which invites him into his presence with sweet content. By faith the soul is contracted to Christ. Now, being espoused to Christ, thei-e is no wonder at all that it should desire communion with him ; and prayer being the place of meeting where Christ and the soid can come the nearest on this side heaven, therefore the believer is seen so often walking that v/ay. Canst thou say, poor soul, that this is thy errand when praj-ing to see the face of God ? Can nothing less, and needest thou nothing more, to satisfy and recreate thy soul in prayer, than communion with God ? Certainly God hath thy faith, or else thou couldst not so freely bestow thy love on him, and take delight in him.
Section II. — Secondlj^, Faith puts forth an assisting act of prayer. To instance only in two particulars. First, It assists the soul with importunity. Faith is the wrestling grace ; it comes up close to God, takes hold of God, and will not easily take a denial. It enfires all the affections, and sets them on work : this is the soul's eye, by which it sees the filth, the hell that is in every sin ; and seeing affects the heart, and puts it into a passion of sorrow, when the soul spreads its abominations before the Lord. The creature now needs no onion to make it weep ; tears come freely, as water fi-om a flowing spring. It makes a discovery of Christ to the soul, in the excellences of his person, love, and graces, fio:n the glass of the promise, at the sight of which it is even sick with longing after them ; and such pangs of love come upon it, as to make it send forth strong cries and supplications for that it so impatiently desires ; yea, further, faith doth not barely set the creature's teeth on edge by displaying the excellences of Christ and his grace, but it supplies him with arguments, and helps the soul to wield and use them both valiantly and victoriously upon the Almighty. Never could he tell what to do with a promise in prayer till now that faith teacheth him to press God with it, humbly, yet boldly. ' What wilt thou do unto thy great name?' saith believing Joshua, chap. vii. 9 ; as if he had said. Thou art so fast bound to thy people bj' promise and oath, that thou canst not leave them to perish but thy name will suffer with them. Faith melts promises into arguments, as the soldier doth lead into bullets, and then helps the Christian to send them Avith force to heaven in fervent prayer ; whereas a promise in an unbeliever's mouth is like a shot in a gun's mouth, v/ithout any fire to put to it. O how cold and dead doth a promise drop from him in pra3'er .' he speaks promises, but cannot pray promises, or press promises. And there-, fore try thyself, not by naked praying, but by importunity in prayer ; and that not by the agitation of thy bodily spirits, but the inward working of thy soul and spirit, whether carried out to plead the promise, and urge it upon God with an humble importimity, or not. Secondly, Faith enables the soul to persevere in the work. False faith may shew some mettle at hand, but it will jade at length. ' Will the hypocrite pray always?' Job xxvii. 10. No; as the wheel wears with turning, till it breaks at last, so doth the hypocrite ; he prays himself ^^•eary of praying ; something or other v.ill in time make him quarrel with that
ABOVE ALL, TAKING THE SHIELD OF FAITH. 45 1