Therefore pray for them, that they may have abilities, that they may have
2 COEINTHIANS CHAP. I, VER. 11. 183
parts and gifts, and tliat they may have a willing mind, a large heart to use them, that thoy may have success in using them, that they may have strength of the outward man, that they may have protection from unreasonable men, ' Pray for us, that we may be delivered from unreasonable and absurd men,' 2 Thess. iii. 1, 2. 'Absurd men;' for none but absurd men will wrong those that God conveys so much good by, as he doth by the ministry. It is their lot to be vexed with such men ofttimes; and, therefore, pray for us.
What is the reason of this, that mean Christiiins may help great Chris- tians by their prayers '?
God will have it thus. Great Christians have not the spirit of prayer alike at all times. Though it be supposed they have it, yet the more help there is, the more hands are put to the work, the sooner it is despatched. As in the removing of a burden, the more join together, the sooner it is removed ; and so in the drawing of anything, the more hands, the speedier despatch.
So when we would draw blessings from heaven, the more prayers there be that offer violence to God, the more we di-aw from him. If it be a judg- ment that hangs over our heads, the more there be that labom- to put away the judgment by prayer, and to remove the cloud that hangs over our heads, the sooner it passeth by. Many help much, as many brands make a great lii'e ; and many little rivers running into a common channel, they make the river swell greater ; so prayer is strong when it is carried by the spirits of many ; yea, those that are not, perhaps, so well experienced.
But, as I said, sometimes men not only great in place, but great in grace, need the helj^ of others. The spirit of prayer is not in a like measure in them. Sometime they are too secure, sometime they are too presumptuous, sometime too negligent and careless, in stirring up the gruco of God in them, sometime they are prone to be lifted up too much, sometime to be cast down too much.
If this be so, what a benefit is this then to have the help of others ? when ofttimes a man meaner in gifts may have as great a measure of the spirit of prayer as another.
Prayer, it is not a work of gifts, but of grace. It is a work of a broken heart, of a believing heart.
And in prayer there be divers gifts which are far more eminent in one than in another, yet all excellent good in their kind. Some have the gift to be fluent, to be large in words, in explication of themselves. Some men have not so much in that, but they have a broken heart. Some again have it in zeal and earnestness of affections. So that there is something in the very action of prayer which helps in many. One helps with his ability, with his large gift of speech ; another wdth his humble and broken spirit ; another with his zeal and ardency to wrestle and strive with God to get a blessing.
Moses was a man of a stammering tongue, and yet Moses was a man for prayer. Aaron and Hur were silent, and were fain to hold up his hands, but Moses must pray ; and yet Moses was no man of eloquence, and he pretends that for his excuse when he was to go to Pharaoh, Exod. iv. 13.
Therefore it is a matter of the heart, a matter of grace, of humility, of strong faith, and not a matter of words, though that be a special gift too.
Reason 1. God will have it thus in his wise dispensation, because he ivill hare even/ man esteemed, aiid because he rvill hare no man to be proud. He will humble his own to let them know that they stand in need of the prayers of the weakest. Every man in the church of God hath some gifts, that
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none should be despised ; and none liavc all gifts, that none should pre- suiuo over-much and bo proud. In the church of God, in the body of Christ, there is no idle member. In the communion of saints there is none unproiitable. Every one can do ^'ood in his kind.
lu'dsoit 2. God will have this, because Jie ivill have voiw despised. It was a fault in St James's time, ' The broth(!r of hifrh degree,' James i. 9, did despise the brother of low degree, that is, the rich Christians despised the poor Christians. But saith Ht James, ' Hath not God chosen the poor in the world, rich in faith '? ' James ii. 5. Now faith is the ground of prayer. It is a fault in all times. Men have swelling conceits against the meaner sort, and undervalue them. God will not have it so. He will have us see that we stand in need of the meanest Christians ; and by this he will raise up the dejected spirit of weak Christians.