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but men slight God when they do not need him : Jer. ii. 31, ' We are lords, and will not come at thee.' In sickness or extreme danger, hypocrites will pray : Job xxvii. 10, ' Will he delight himself in the Almighty ? will he always call upon God ? ' The sincere cannot be long away from God ; for they delight in his company ; and they look not to things seen, but to God's invisible conduct, upon which all their happiness dependeth ; and are sensible of their own weakness and frailty, and therefore their commerce with God is constant. They need daily pardon, daily grace, as well as daily bread. Bat hypo- crites never care for prayer, till extreme necessity put them upon it. At other times they are secure and careless. Their duties are forced from them, like water out of a still, not like water out of a fountain : Isa. xxvi. 16, 'In trouble they will visit thee, they will pour out a prayer when distress is upon them.' In their straits, then they howl ; when God visits them, then they visit God. A drop of prayer is much at other times ; then they pour it out by buckets : as where water is precious, they spare it not to quench a fire : Hosea v. 16, * In their afflictions they will seek me early ; ' at other times they turn back upon the mercy-seat. Carnal men use their duties, as we do strong waters, not for a constant drink or diet, but to help in a pang, after long neglects, or upon some great trouble. But a gracious heart is sensible of its constant necessity ; and they that are carried on with a constant delight in God, do not run to him, as men do to a tree in a storm, which otherwise they would pass by and take no notice of. Surely those that have felt the weight, and smart, and sting of sin, will cry for mercy and healing. They know that the soul is a tender thing, like the eye, soon offended and out of order ; they know it is more exposed to danger than the body, though generally it be less cared for. Though man's body be never so strong, and of such an athletic constitution, yet no man will follow his labour so as to omit to take his necessary food, or necessary rest, that he may keep it in good plight. So whatever good estate the soul is in, we must not omit to pray, to keep the soul in good plight.
3. Out of coldness in religion, and weariness of God, as in the latter clause ; and then his service groweth burdensome. Man is an unstable creature, and loveth shift and change ; for a while zealous, but when his first heats are spent, falletli clT ; and religion is laid by ; closet duties are thi'own out of doors, iamily duties go next after, and then public duties are little regarded, or used only for custom and fashion's sake. They lose their first love, and then leave off their first works. Rev. iii. 3, 4. It is base ingratitude, since God gives us so little cause for it : Jer. ii. 5, ' What iniquity did you find in me ? ' What hurt did the worship of God do you and your families ? So Micah vi. 3. But men are of another spirit, and so God is neglected. Certain it is, carnal pleasures will make men weary of prayer, or prayer will make men weary of carnal pleasures. They take the worse choice.
4. Want of peace breeds loathness and backwardness, as David hung off, Ps. xxxii. 3, till he had recovered his peace. Men have no comfort in God when they come to him as an angry judge rather than a gra- cious father, 1 John iii. 27. Every duty is a new arraignment, a very
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penance, and a reviving of their fears. Certainly you should have more comfortable thoughts of God. Get a conscience better established; improve the death and intercession of Christ more, that you may come with boldness, Heb iv 16, and x. 19.
5. Want of spiritual strength. He that hath lame joints cannot de- light in exercise, which is a pleasure to them that are strong and healthy. Prayer growetli a burden to men of weak and wandering thoughts, lean and barren understandings, and dead affections. You should get the distemper removed, but not neglect the duty. God hath provided help for prayer, and fitness cometh by use. You should rouse up yourselves : Isa. Ixiv. 7., ' There is none that calleth upon thy name that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee,' If you will not stir up yourselves, this dulness, deadness, and barrenness will increase upon you.
Use. Oh ! then, let us begin to bethink ourselves. It is a dangerous ease when men begin to slacken in prayer, and this daily commerce with God, when there is less frequency and less complacency in this work. Time was when thou couldst not be content until thou hadst given God a visit, and must consult with him upon all occasions ; but now thou beginnest to lose thy tenderness, thou art a stranger to thy- self, and therefore grown a stranger to thy God, as it thou hadst no business with him. Thou Avert wont to keep a continual correspond- ence with the God of heaven, and to maintain a sweet intercourse be- tween him and thy soul. How came these fervours to be spent ? ' Ye ran well, who hindered you?' Have you found any discouragement in God that your delight in him is lessened, and your care of duty lost ? Many do it out of carnal affection — their affections leak out to the world ; others out of rotten, corrupt^ and base prmciples. As for instance —