It is such a thing as all the world cannot take from us. They cannot take God from us, they cannot take prayer from us. If we were convinced of That is, 'be without' = denied. — G. * That is, 'contentment.' — G.
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. I, VKR. 11. 187
this we would be much in prayer, in private prayer, in public prayer, for ourselves, for the church of God.
The church of God now abroad, you see, is in combustion. If the Spirit of God in any measure and degi'ee be in our breasts, we will sympathize with the state of the church. We wish them well, it may be ; but wishes are one thing, and prayer is another. Dost thou pray for the church ? If we could pray for the church, it would be better. We should do more good with our prayers at home than they shall do by fighting abroad ; as Moses did more good in the mount by prayer than they did in the valley by light- ing. Undoubtedly it would be so.
We may fear the less success, the spirits of men are so flat and so dead this way. The time hath been not long since that we have been stirred up more to pray, upon the apprehension of some fears, to pray with earnestness and feeling, expressing some desire in wishing their wel- fare ; but now a man can hardly converse with any that have so deep an apprehension as they have had in former times.
Now therefore, as we desire to have interest in the good of the church, so let us remember to present the estate of the church to God. And let us present the church of God to him as his own, as his turtle, as his love. You know when they would move Christ, they tell him, ' Him whom thou lovest is sick,' Lazarus ' whom thou lovest,' John xi. 3. So, Lord, her whom thou lovest, the church, whom thou gavest thy Son to redeem v/ith his blood ; the church to whom thou hast given thy Spirit to dwell in ; the church wherein thou hast thy habitation amongst men ; the church that only glorifieth thee, and in whom thou wilt be eternally glorified in heaven, that church is sick, it is weak, it is in distress, it is in hazard.
Let us make conscience of this duty, let us help the church with our prayers. St Paul saith, ' I shall be delivered, together with the help of your prayers,' Philem. 22. Without doubt the church should be delivered, if we had the grace to help them with our prayers. And God will so glorify the blessed exercise of calling upon him, that we, I say, shall do more good at home than they shall do abroad. Let us beheve this ; it is God's manner of dealing.
In the book of Judges, in that story of the Benjamites, concerning the wrong done to the priest's concubine, the rest of the tribes of Israel, when they set on the Benjamites, they asked counsel of God twice, and went against them, and were discomfited ; but the third time they come to God, Judges XX. 26, ' Then all the children of Israel came to the house of the Lord, and wept, and sat there before the Lord ; and fasted that day till the evening.' They thought because they had a good cause, they might \vith- out fasting and prayer, and without seeking to the Lord, prevail, and there- fore they went against them twice, and were shamefully foiled, to then- great loss. But when at the last they came and humbled themselves before God, and fasted, and inquired of God the cause of that ill, after that they had a glorious victory.
Christ tells his disciples that there were some kind of de^^ls that will not be cast out by fasting and prayer. Mat. xvii. 21. So there are some kind of miseries, some kind of calamities, some kind of sins, that will not be overcome, and which God will not deliver the church from, but by fast- ing and prayer.
And so for private Christians, they have some sins that are master- sins, personal sins. It is not a slight prayer and a wish that will mortify them. There must be fasting, and prayer, and humiUation ; and that way those
188 COMMENTARY ON
devils are cast out. I would we were persuaded of it, that it is such a pre- vailing thing, holy prayer, to help ourselves in sin, and to help us in misery, to help the church of God.
Use. Well, since the prayers even of the meanest Christians are so pre- vailing, let us learn to respect tlte)ii ; for, as they can pray, so their prayers will prevail. And take heed we grieve not the Spirit of God in any poor saint, that so they may pray for us with willingness and cheerfulness. Do but consider what a blessing it is to have a stock going, to have our part in the common stock. As there is a common stock of prayer in the church, every Christian can pray, and pray prevailingly. What a blessing is it to be a good Christian, to have a portion in the prevailing prayers of others ! That when a man is dead and dull, and unfit himself, this may comfort him, that others have the spirit of zeal, and will supply his want. It is a blessed thing ! Let us consider the excellency of this duty of prayer, from the prevalency of it, to whet us on to the exercise of it. It is a happiness to have a part in it. It is a blessing whereby we can do good to others. We can reach them that are many hundred miles off, those that be at the farthest end of the world. When we cannot reach them other ways, we can reach them by prayer. We cannot speak to them, they are far off, but we can speak to God for them ; and he can convey that good to them that we desire. What a blessed condition is this !