[2.] An esteem and value of the blessings asked. All such as pray aright must have a high estimation of what they seek ; for if we do not set a value upon it, we shall neither seek it earnestly, nor will God care to give it us ; for he will not thruSt spiritual comforts upon them that despise them. Paul was so earnest to have Christ and his benefits, because he ' counted all things but dung and dross that he might win Christ, and be found in him,' &c., Phil. iii. 7-9. David prized com- munion with God, therefore sought it so earnestly : Ps. xxvii. 4, ' One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.' Temporal things are usually overprized, therefore these things are dispensed with a looser providence, without prayer, and many times to those that never
SERMON UPON 2 SAMUEL VII. 27. 65
pray ; and to the godly by way of overplus, to direct us to value spirit- ual blessings, and to seek them in the first place : Mat. vi. 33, ' Seek first the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, and all these things shall be added to you.' First in our prayers, as well as first ia our endeavours.
[3.] Desire ; that must urge us to ask, and doth both open our mouths wide, and put life and vehemency into our requests and supplications. There is a good rule, that will be of general use to ns : Desire nothing in your hearts but what you can pray for, and pray for nothing but what you desire. The former part checketh both worldly and fleshly lusts. Have I, or can I have, so little reverence for the Godhead as apparently to ask meat for my lusts, so much by the year, such dishes at my table, so much in lands and honours ? But the latter checks formality and deadness in prayer. Desire must go before and all along with the request, and the heart must be the fountain of the words ; otherwise it is but a vain babbling. Much speaking is not praying. Words are but the body, desires are the soul of prayer ; as the body without the soul is dead, so are words without a spirit of desire. There- fore we should be more careful of afi'ections than words : Eccles. v. 1, 2, ' Be not hasty to utter anything before God,' &c. The prayer must be framed in such words as we can ; but our chief business is to awaken and call in our affections from wandering after worldly things, or to set our hearts to seek the Lord. The Spirit's help in prayer is not seen in the flow of words, but in areva'yixoi^ akakrjroi';, ' Groanings that cannot be uttered,' Kom. viii. 26 ; holy ardours and groans to God, and desires of his help. A prayer without life and affection is tliurihulum sine prunis — a censer without fire.
[4.] Prayer must not only come from the present desires, but from the habitual inclination of the mind and heart towards God and heavenly things, which is the great effect of healing and sanctifying grace : Ps. cxix. 36, ' Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.' This is the radical inclination of grace, to be carried out to God, and all things that belong to God, as they more or less lead to him, more than to honours, pleasures, profits. As prayer is not a lip-labour, so it is not a work of the mere human spirit, or a fruit of memory and invention, but an exercise of grace. A man may exercise his natural faculties in prayer, when he doth not exercise the graces of the Spirit in prayer. Grace is given as the remote preparation to ■ prayer : Zech. xii. 10, ' I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication ; and they shall look on him whom they have pierced,' &c. We oftener pray Jrom our memories than our consciences, and from our consciences than our affections, and from our affections as presently stirred, but soon checked and controlled, than from a fixed bent and inclination of heart towards heavenly things. A man may have wit and memory to pray when he hath not a conscience of praying. He may have an enlight- ened conscience when not a renewed heart, which may put us upon asking what we ought rather than what we really desire ; as Augustine speaketh of interlining his prayers with an -^^ noli modo ; timebam enim ne me exaudiret Deus — Not yet. Lord ; and I feared lest the Lord should hear me. Or from a present affection stirring, when yet there
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is not a rooted inclination: John vi. 34, ' Evermore give us of this bread/ compared with ver. 66, ' Many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.' Many desire pardon, desire the Spirit ; but these desires are controlled by other desires, soon put out of the humour, and carried off by other things.