Mat. VL 6-8.] exposition of the lord's prayer. 21
him somewhat that is 3'our own ; and it will be of exceeding profit to yon, and make your communion with him more seasonable and orderly. This will make you careful and watchful how you spend your other hours, that you may not be unfit when times of prayer come. 1 Pet. iii. 7 : ' Husbands, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, that your prayers be not hindered.' But do not propose a task too great for your strength, and perplex yourselves with such an unreasonable allow- ance as will not suit with your occasions. Men create a trouble to themselves, and bind themselves with chains of their own making, when they propose more duty than they can well discharge.
The Second Part of tlie Use.
Do it seriously, with caution, and warily. Here Christ gives direc- tion : ' When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and shut thy door, and then think of thy Father which is in secret.' We need a great deal of caution ; for : —
1. When you shut the door upon all others, you cannot shut the devil out of your closets ; he will crowd in. When you have bolted the door upon you, and shut other company out, you do not lock out Satan ; he is always at hand, ready to disturb us in holy duties ; where- ever the children of God are, he seeks to come at them. When the sons of Grod met together, Satan was in the midst of them : Job i. He meets in congregations, he gets into the closet. When Joshua the high priest was ministering before the Lord, Satan stood at his right hand, ready to resist him : Zech. iii. 1.
2. There needs caution ; because in private duties there may be many failings and evils, which we are apt to be tainted with in our private addresses to God.
[1.] There may be danger of ostentation ; therefore Christ gives direction here, that it should be managed with the greatest secrecy, both as for place, time, and voice. Let none but God be conscious to our drawing aside that we may be alone. Withdraw yourselves out of the sight and hearing of others, lest pride and ostentation creep upon you. The devil will seek to blast this serious acknowledgment to God, one way or other.
[2.] There may be customariness, for fashion sake. It is said of Christ, that ' he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, as his custom was.' We may use accustomed duties ; but we must not do them customarily, and for fashion sake, no more than Christ himself did ; for though this was his custom, yet he was not customary in these his synagogue attendances. We are very apt to do so, because Ave have used it for these many years. Men go on in a tract of duty, and regard not the ends of worship — Zech. vii. 3 — they come with a fond scruple and case of conscience to the prophet : they had an old custom among them to fast for the destruction of the temple ; now when the temple was built again, ' Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done tliese so many j-ears ? '
[3.] Much slightness and perfunctoriness of heart you may be guilty of. Such is the wickedness of men, that they think God will be put off with anything ; and though they would set off themselves with applause in the hearing of others, yet how slight are they apt
22 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE [MaT. VI. 6-8.
to be when they deal with God alone ! Consider, you must sanctify the name of God in private, as well as in public ; you must speak to God with reverence and fear, and not in an overly fashion. Take heed of this slightness ; it is a great wrong to the majesty of God. When they offered a sickly offering, saith God, ' I am a great King, and my name is dreadful among the heathen : ' you do not consider my majesty.
[4.] There may be this evil : resting in the work, in the tale and number of your prayers: Luke xviii. 12, ' I fast twice in the week.' Man is very apt to rest and dote upon his own worth, and to build all his acceptance with God upon it ; to come to God, and challenge him for a debt, as the Pharisee did. It is very natural to rest in those duties, and make them an excuse for other things.
[5.] There may be pride, even in the exercise of our gifts. There is a delight in duties, which seems spiritual many times when it is not ; — as when a man delighteth in the exercise of his own gifts, rather than in communion with God ; when there is a secret tickling of heart with a conceit of our own worth ; as when, in the carriage of a duty, we come off roundly, and parts have their free course and career. This complacency and pride, it may be not only in public, where we have advantage to discover ourselves with applause, but in private, between God and our souls. When a man is conceited of his gifts, they may end in the private exercise of them, to the wrong of God. When invention is quick and free, he may have such a delight as may make him rest in the work, as it is a fruit of parts, rather than as a means of communion wdth God. Therefore there needs a great deal of caution when we are alone with our heavenly Father.