3. Our prayers are heard, though never so secret : Mat. vi. 6, * Thy Father which seeth thee in secret shall reward thee openly,' though confined within the closet of the heart: Acts ix. 11, 'And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Strait, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he prayeth.'
4. Our prayers shall be rightly understood. There are many good motions known to God which we either will not or cannot take notice of in ourselves ; as many times large affection to God overlooketh that little good which is in us, but God doth not overlook it. It is well when we can say as Peter, John xxi. 17, ' And he said imto him, Lord thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.' But he owneth sincerity where we can scarce own it ; and many a serious soul hath his condition safe before God, when he cannot count it so himself. This is implied in this place.
Use 2. Caution. Let us take heed of all hypocrisy in prayer, or putting ourselves into a garb of devotion when the temper of our hearts suiteth not ; let not your lips pray without or against your hearts.
[1.] Without your hearts. That may be done two ways —
(1.) When you pray words by rote, and all that while the tongue is an utter stranger to the heart ; as some birds will counterfeit the voice of a man, so many men do that of a saint, saying words pre- scribed by others or invented by themselves, without life and affection; this is to personate and act a part before God, complaining of burdens we feel not, and expressing desires we have not. In these is verified that of our Saviour : Mat. xv. 8, ' This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me ;' or that of the prophet : Jer. xii. 2, ' Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins ; ' they do but compliment God with empty formalities.
(2.) When we pray cursorily, or use a few general words that serve all turns and persons alike, but are not suited and fitted to our case. Unless all your confessions and desires be particular, they do not affect the heart ; for generals are but notions, and pierce not very deep : 1 Kings viii. 38, 'What prayer and supplication shall be made for any man, or by all the people, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart ;' that is the sin whereby his own conscience and heart is smitten, and thereby moved to pray. It is easy to spend invectives against sin in the general ; this doth not come close enough to stir up deep compunction and holy desires. We pray of course, but do not bemoan ourselves, and draw forth our earnest requests for the things we stand in need of. Names are prized when we hate the thing, and names are hated when we love the thing.
VeR. 27.] SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. 249
[2.] Against the heart ; when you are loath to leave the sin which you seem to pray against ; or ask that grace which you have no mind to have : Ps. Ixvi. 18, ' If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.' He that asketh for that grace he would not have, doth but lie to God.
Now, to quicken you to this caution, take these considerations —
(1.) No wandering thought in prayer is hidden from God : Job xlii. 2, 'No thouglit can be withholdea from thee;' from his notice and knowledge : rs. cxxxix. 2, ' Thou knowest my thoughts afar off;' your thoughts are as visible to God as your words are audible to men.
(2.) God most abhorreth our prayers when we pray with an idol in our hearts : Ezek. xiv. 3, ' These men have set up idols iu their hearts, should I be inquired of them ? saith the Lord.' They were resolved what to do, yet would ask counsel of God ; as many now would keep their lusts, yet pray against them ; as if the very complaining were a discharge of their duty, without detesting, without endeavouring.
(3.) Above all things, God looketh to the spirit, what the poise and bent of the heart is: Prov. xvi. 2, 'God weigheth the spirit.' The Spirit puts us in the balance of the sanctuary ; therefore look to prin- ciples, ends, and aims.
(4.) That in covenanting with God there may be a moral sincerity where there is not a supernatural sincerity : Dent. v. 28, 29, ' I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee; they have well said all that they have spoken. Oh that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me, and keep all my com- mandments always ! ' They dissembled not for the time, which may happen in two cases — by some impendent or incumbent judgment, as when people are frightened into a little religiousness, or in a pang of devotion or solemn worship. Now this should make us cautelous. Bring to God the best desires and purposes that you have, but rest not in them, but get them strengthened yet more and more, that our sincerity may be verified and evidenced.