clotli ; it wastes the soul's strength, so that it cannot look up to God with any hope; ' They made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened,' Neh. vi. 9. Resist, therefore, Satan ; be stedfast in the faith ; never let thy heart suffer the power, mercy, or truth of God to be called into question ; thou hadst as good question whether he can cease to be God. These attributes of the Divine nature are to thy faith, like the stone to Moses, which Aaron and Hur put for him to sit upon ; they will sustain thy spirit, that thou shalt not faint, or grow weary at the work, though God makes thee wait till the going down of the sun. O, this waiting posture highly pleaseth God, and never puts the soul to shame ! Mary, that stayed by the sepulchre, though she missed her Lord there, got at last a happy sight of him. Let us but seek Christ in faith, and he will at last be with us, though we do not presently see him.
Foiu'thly, Some persevere not in prayer, because they have their eye upon some other than God, from whom they expect helj) ; it is no wonder such give over praying. While the carnal heart prays for deliverance, he hath other pro- jects in his head how to disentangle himself out of the briers in which he is caught ; on these he lays more stress than on God ; therefore at last he leaves praying, to betake himself to them : whereas another that looks for all from God, and sees no way to help himself, but by calling in God to his aid, will say, as Peter to Christ, ' Lord, whither shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life.' I know not another door to knock at but thine ; I will therefore never leave thee : 'We know not what to do,' said good Jehoshaphat, 'but our eyes are unto thee.'
Fifthly, It proceeds from a want of inward complacency which the creature should have in God, and communion with him. ' Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call upon God?' Job xxvii. 10. He will not always call upon him, because he never did cordially delight in him. We easily let go what we take no great content to enjoy. The sincere soul is tied to God by the heartstrings ; his communion is founded in love ; and love is stronger than death, many waters cannot quench it. A stranger may have an errand that brings him to a man's house, but that done, his acquaintance cease th ; but a friend comes to sit with him, and the delight he takes in his company will not suffer him to discontinue his acquaintance long. If, therefore, thy aflections be but once placed upon God as thy chief good, thou wilt always be anxious to visit him in prayer. The hypocrite useth prayer, as we use physic, not because he loves the taste of it : the sincere soul useth it as food, it is sweet to his palate. David, from the inward satisfaction he found in the presence of God, cries out, Psalm Ixxiii. 28, ' It is good for me to draw near to God:' never will such a soul part with it ; no, he will say, as the fig-tree in Jotham's para- ble. Shall I forsake my sweetness, and the good fruit that I have found in communion with my God ? I will never do it.
EPHESIANS vi. 18.
^nd supplication for all saints.
These words contain the sixth and last branch in the apostle's directory for prayer ; and that is, the comprehensiveness of the duty, or, the persons who are to be the subject of our prayers, — ' Supplication for all saints.'
But what ! Would he have us pray for none but the saints ? This cannot be his meaning, being so contrary to the mind of Christ, from whom he hath his mes- sage. . Christ both bids us pray for our enemies, and is himself our pattern for it ; yea, Paul himself, 1 Tim. ii. 1, 'I exhort that prayers and supplication be made for all men;' that is, all sorts of men, faithful and infidels, friends and enemies ; so then saints are not here named as the only subject of oiu" pi-ayers, but as a sort of jiersons, whom we are in an especial manner to carry in our prayers to God, whom, if we but remember, we shall not easily forget to pray for others also, because the saints' number is increased and taken out of the number of the wicked. In praying for Babylon, we pray for Jerusalem.
AND SUPPLICATION FOR ALL SAINTS. 'J'y'J'
CHAPTER XVIII.
OF THE PLULIC SPIKIT THAT SHOULD BREATHE IN OUR PRAYERS FOR OTHERS.