[2.] For the matter, it must be accordmg to the will of God ; it must be good and lawful, such things as God seeth fit for us ; it must be conformable to his revealed will, and with submission to his secret will ; not contrary to his word, nor against his decrees.
(1.) It must be according to his revealed will. The throne of grace is not set up that we may come and vent our sudden distempered pas- sions before the Lord, or to set God a task to provide meat for our lusts. When the disciples would have called for fire from heaven, Luke ix. 54, 65, Christ saith unto them, ' Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.' We are soon transported into uncomely passion, and we would have enemies confounded. Many times a child of God goes on the devil's errand ; we are his messengers when revenge sets us a-work.
(2.) With submission to his secret will : Mat. xxvi. 39, ' Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.' Christ, as mediator, was subject to his Father's will. So we pray aright when we pray that if God see it good for us, to give the thing w^e deske ; if it be hurtful to us, God will not hear ; in that case denying is a greater mercy than granting. As the heathens observed it too great a facility in their gods to grant men then- wishes to their ruin. Herod was too lavish when he gave his minion leave to ask what she would to the half of the kingdom.
[3.] The will of God falleth upon the manner too ; it must be with fervency, that our hearts may be upon the work ; Mat. vii. 7, ' Ask, and ye shall have ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' We must return upon God with renewed importunity,
[4.] The will of God falleth upon the end too ; James iv. 3, ' Ye ask, and receive not ; because you ask amiss, to consume it upon your lusts.' God will not provide meat for our lusts ; this were to debauch the throne of grace.
3. I answer, that faith is to be acted in prayer for temporal mercies ; for both spiritual and temporal mercies and blessings are promised, and whatever is the matter of a promise is the object of faith. God will be as punctual in the lesser matters which concern the present life, as in the weightier matters that concern thy eternal happiness : so that he will either give them in specie, in kind, or in value. It is fit that God should judge of it, whether a temporal enjoyment will be good for us, or when he will give something in lieu of it ; we are to acquiesce in his good providence for our provision here, as well as our salvation hereafter. He is willing to take our care from us, Phil. iv. 6, 7 ; he in- tends not our loss, but our ease ; he will provide for us, and in the issue will give us a full account of his love and faithfulness.
4. To act faith in prayer for temporal mercies is not to believe that we shall have them in specie, in kind, but faith is to rely upon God's power, submitting to his will ; Mat. viii. 2, ' If thou wilt, thou canst
150 THE LIFE OF FAITH.
make me clean/ Unbelief thinks little of an invisible hand, and saith, 'Can God prejiare a table in the wilderness?' Doubting of God's power is the great thing that unbelief stumbleth at ; we must not con- clude against his will, but refer all things to his will, well knowing that he is a good God, and a wise God, not troubling ourselves about events, but determining that he will cast all things for the best. This is the faith that we are to have in conditional promises.
Secondly, Let me show you the necessity of praying in faith.
1. Without faith prayer is not acceptable to God : Heb. xi. 6, ' With- out faith it is impossible to please God.' God doth not look to the eloquence of a prayer ; carnal men, that have no grace, may have great gifts of speech and flowing of language ; nor doth God look merely to the ardour of affection, for lust may make men earnest, and beget in ua rapid motions ; but he looks to the prayer of faith.
2. No prayer hath life in it but what is made in faith : Rom. x. 14, ' How shall they call on him, in whom they have not believed ? ' It is but a mocking of God, to pray to him. unless we expect good of it ; we do but come and repeat words for fashion's sake if we do not pray in faith. Why should we address ourselves to him, if we make a question of his power and good-will to help us ?
3. Faith is necessary, that we may not be dismayed with the diffi- culties and seeming impossibilities of obtaining what we need and ask according to God's will. Many times mountains must be removed : Mat. xxi. 21, 'If ye have faith, and doubt not ; . . . If ye say unto this mountain. Be thou removed, and cast into the sea, it shall be done.' It is true, not only in the age of miracles, but in all ages, here are still mountains of oppositions, difficulties which seem as impossible to remove as a mountain. Now this would shut up our mouths, and make us languish in despair, if there were not faith to remove these mountains; Zech. iv. 7. 'Who art thou, 0 great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain.' Faith apprehends nothing too hard for God. How contemptible are those difficulties to a lively active fidth ? Who art thou, 0 mountain ?