That the Spirit hath a great stroke in the prayers of tlie saints, is evident by many other scriptures besides the text ; as Jude 20, ' Pray- ing in the Holy Ghost ; ' that is, by his motion and inspiration. Look, as we breathe out that air which we first suck in, so tiie prayer is first breathed into us before breathed out by us ; first inspired, before uttered ; so Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon them a spirit of grace and supplications ; ' a spirit of grace will become a spirit of supplications^. / Where he dwelleth in the heart, he discovereth himself mostly in prayer ; so Gal. iv 6, ' Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.' The Spirit's gracious operations are manifested especially in fitting us for, and assisting us in, the duty of prayer. Affectionate and believing prayers are ascribed unto him — ' God hath put forth the Spirit of his Son, crying,' &c. Here I shall inquire —
First, In what manner the Spirit concurreth to the prayers of the faithful.
Secondly, What necessity there is of this help and assistance.
Thirdly, Caution against some abuses and mistakes of this doc- taine.
r^ For the first, these three things concur in prayer, as different causes of the same effect — the spirit of a man, the new nature, and the Spirit of God. First, There is the spirit of a man, for the Holy Ghost makes use of our understandings for the actuating of our will and affections ; the Spirit bloweth up the fire, though it be our hearts that burn within us. Secondly, The new nature in a christian is more immediately and vigorously operative in prayer than in most other duties ; and the exercise of faith, love, and hope in prayer doth flow from the renewed soul, as the proper inward and vital principle of these actions ; so that
VeR. 26.] SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIIL 233
■we, and not the 'Spirit of God, are said to repent, believe, and pray. Well then, there is the heart of man, and the heart renewed and sanc- tified ; for the Spirit, as to his actual motions, doth not blow upon a dead coal. But then there is the Spirit of God, who createth and pre- serveth these gracious habits in the soul, and doth excite the soul to act, and doth assist it in acting according to themj as, for instance, the natural spirit of man out of self-love willeth and desireth its own good, and its own felicity in general, and is unwilling of destruction and apparent misery, or whatever may occasion it. But then, as we are renewed, this will to good is sanctified, that God is chosen as our por- tion and felicity, or as tlie principal good to be desired by us. Faith seeth that the favour and fruition of God in a blessed immortality is our true happiness, and love desireth it above all things, and on the contrary, shunneth damnation and the wrath of God, and sin as sin, and all the apparent dangers of the soul. Hope waiteth and expecteth the fruition of God, and the good things which leadeth to him. Accord- ingly, we address ourselves to God, and put forth and act this faith, love, and hope in prayer — this our renewed spirit doth ; but the Holy Ghost himself is the principal cause of all, who doth create this faith, love, and hope, and still preserve it, and order and actuate it. The soul worketh powerfully and sweetly by an earnest motion and inclina- tion towards God.
SEKMON XXXV.
lAheiuise the Spirit also helpetJi oitr infirmities ; for we know not what loe should pray for as ive 02tght ; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for ^ls ivitJi groanings tvhich cannot he uttered. — Kom. viii. 26.
We now come more distinctly to show what the Holy Ghost doth in prayer.
1. He directeth and ordereth our requests so as they may suit with our great end, which is the enjoyment of God. For of ourselves we should pray only after a natural and human affection, which sets up itself instead of God, and self considered as a body rather than a soul, and so asketli bodily things rather than spiritual, and the conveniences of the natural life rather than the enjoyment of the world to come. Let a man alone, and he will sooner ask baits and snares and temp- tations, than graces and helps, a scorpion instead of fish, and a stone rather than bread. We take counsel of our lusts and interests when ■we are left to our own private spirit, and so would make God to serve with our sins, and employ him as a minister of our carnal desires ; as it is said of them in the wilderness, Ps. Ixxviii. 18, ' They tempted God in their hearts by asking meat for their lusts;' our natural will and carnal affections will make us pray ourselves into a snare. In the text it is said, ' We know not what to pray for as we ought ; ' and in
234 SKRMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. XXXV.
ver. 27, 'He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.' KaTo. ©eov, according to God; not only with respect to his will, but his glory and our eternal good ; so that human and carnal aiFection shall neither prescribe the matter nor fix the end. To pray in a holy manner is the product of the Spirit, and the fruit of his oper- ation in us. Faith and love and hope are more at work in a serious prayer than human and carnal affection, which referreth all its desires and inclinations to the bodily life.