2. That prayer may carry proportion with other duties. All the children of God are led by the Spirit of God, Kom. viii. 14 ; as in their whole conversation, so especially in this act of prayer. Look, as in com- mon providence, no creature is exempted from the influence of it ; for in him they all live, move, and have their being. Exempt any creature from the dominion of providence, and then that creature would live of itself ; so as to gracious and special providence, you cannot exempt one action from the Spirit's influence ; for ' we live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit,' Gal. v. 25 ; we sing with the Spirit, and hear in the Spirit, and serve God in the Spirit ; so we pray in the Spirit only. There is a special regard to this duty, because here we have experience of the motions of the renewed soul directly towards God, and so of the comforts and graces of the Spirit, more than in other duties.
3. Because of our impotency. We cannot speak of God without the Spirit, much less to God : 1 Cor. xii. 3, ' No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost ; ' that is, believe on him as the Messiah and redeemer of the world. It was a deadly state the Eedeemer found us in. To lessen man's misery was to lessen the grace of Christ ; so we must not extenuate the honour of our sanctifier ; we can neither live, nor work, nor walk, nor pray, without the Spirit. The help is not need- less if we consider what we are, and what prayer is ; what we are, who are enemies to our own happiness and holiness; and prayer, which requireth such serious work. Surely the setting of our hearts and all our hopes upon an invisible glory, and measuring all things thereunto.
236 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VUI. [SeR. XXXV
is a work too Iiard for a carnal, sensual creature that is wedded to present satisfoctious. And without this there is no praying in a spiritual manner. They that love sin will never heartily pray against it; and they that hate a holy, spiritual, heavenly life, can never seek the advancement of it. Now this is our case : we may babble and speak things by rote, or we may have a natural fervency when we pray for corn, wine, and oil, and justification and sanclification in order there- unto ; we may have a wish, but not a serious volition of spiritual and heavenly things, which is the life and soul of prayer.
4. With respect to acceptance : Ps. x. 17, ' When thou preparest the heart, thou bendest the ear ; ' Kom. viii. 27, ' He knoweth the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.' God knoweth what is a belch of the flesh, and what is a groan of the Spirit; every voice but that of his Spirit is strange and barbarous to him. He puts us upon holy and just requests ; he hath stirred them up in us, as a father teacheth a child to ask what he hath a mind to give him.
fThirdhj, Cautions against some abuses and mistakes in prayer. 1. This is not so to be understood as if the matter and words of prayer were immediately to be inspired by the Holy Ghost, as he inspired the holy men of God in their prophesying and penning the holy scripture.^ We read, 2 Peter i. 21, that ' holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ;' and we may say, holy men pray as they are moved by the Holy Ghost. But yet there is a great deal of difference between both these ; partly because they were immediately moved and infallibly assisted by the Spirit, so moved and extraordinarily borne through, that they could not err and miscarry ; they were free from any fault, failing, or corruption in the matter, form, or words wherein this was expressed ; all was purely divine. But in our prayers we find the con- trary by sad experience. Partly because it had been a sin in the prophets not to have delivered the same message which they received of the Lord, both for matter, manner, and method; but it is no sin in a child of God against the guidance and governance of God's Spirit, to use another method than he used ; to contract and shorten, or to lengthen and enlai-ge his prayers, as opportunity serveth. And yet the prayer is the prayer of the Spirit, that that is directed, ordered, and quickened by the Spirit-
/'2. This is not to be understood as if we should never pray till the Spirit moveth us. The prophets were not to prophesy till moved by an extra- ordinary impulse ; for they were not bound by the common law of God's servants or children to see visions, or to prophesy. But we are not to stay from our duty till we see the Spirit moving ; but to make use of the power we have as reasonable creatures : Eccles. ix. 10, ' Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might ; ' and to stir up the gifts and graces that we have as believers : Isa. Ixiv. 7, ' And there is none that callelh upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee; 'I 2 Tim. i. 6, 'Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee ;' and in the way of duty to wait and cry for the necessary influences of the Lord's Spirit : Cant, iv. 16, ' Awake, 0 north wind ! and come, thou south wind ! blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow forth ; let my beloved