158. Naturally, men labour to put out all checks of conscience by sen- sualit}'. Men are loath to know themselves to be as they are. They are of the devil's mind, they would not be ' tormented before their time,' Mat. viii. 29. Such men, when they are alone, are afraid of themselves. As the elephant will not come near the waters because he hath an ill shape, he would not see himself, so men, by nature, will not come near the light, lest they should see their ill deformities. For nature is so foul, that when a man sees himself, unless he be set in a better con- dition, it will drive him to despair.
159. We ought to have especial high conceits of the lordship of Christ, as lord paramount over all our enemies, the fear of death, and wrath of God; yea, whatsoever is terrible indeed. He hath freed us from the fear of it.
160. No sin is so great, but the satisfaction of Christ and his mercy is greater. It is beyond comparison of father or mother. They are but beams and trains to lead us up to the mercy of God in Christ.
161. The greatest spite of a carnal man is, that he cannot go to heaven with his full swing; that he cannot enjoy his full liberty; and therefore he labours to suppress all the ordinances of God as much as he can.
162. The quintessence and the spirits of the things we ask in prayer are in God, as joy, and peace, and contentedness ; for without this joy and peace, what are all the things in the world? and in the want of these out- ward things, if we have him we have all, because the spirits of all is in him.
163. Praj'er is a venting of our desires to God, from the sense of our own wants, and he that is sensible of his own M'auts is empty. • A poor man speaks supplications,' Prov. xviii. 23.
164. It is not so easy a matter to pray as men think, and that in regard of the unspiritualness of our naturejcompared with the duty itself, which is to draw near to a holy God. We cannot endure to sever ourselves from our lusts. There is also a great rebellion in our hearts against anything
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that is good. Satan also is a special enemy; for when we go to God by prayer, he knows we go to fetch help and strength against him, and there- fore he opposeth all he can. But though many men do mumble over a few praj-ers, yet indeed no man can pray as he ought, but he that is within the covenant of grace.
165. A child of God may pray and not be heard, because at that time he may be a child of anger. If any sin lie unrepented of, we are not in a case fit to pray. Will a king regard the petition of a traitor that purposeth to go on in his rebellion ? Therefore, when we come to God, we should renew our purposes of better pleasing him, and then remember the Scrip- ture, and search all the promises as part of our best riches ; and when we have them, we should challenge God with his promise, and this will make us strong and faithful in our prayers, when we know we never pray to him in vain.
166. When we pray, God oftentimes refuseth to give us comfort, because we are not in good terms with him ; therefore we should still look back to our life past. Perhaps God sees thee running to this or that sin, and before he will hear thee, thou must renew thy repentance for that sin : for our nature is such, that it will knock at every door, and seek every corner before we will come to God; as the woman in the Gospel, she sold all before she came to Christ, Mat. ix. 20, seq. So that God will not hear before we forsake all helps, and all false dependence upon the creature ; and then he gets the greatest glory, and we have the greatest sweetness to our souls. That water that comes from the fountain is the sweetest ; and so divine comforts are the sweetest, when we see nothing in the creature, and he is the best discerner of the fittest time when to give us comfort.
167. When God means to bestow any blessing on his church or children, he will pour upon ihem the Spirit of prayer ; and as all pray for every one, so every one prays for all. This is a great comfort to weak Christians ; when they cannot pray, the prayers of others shall prevail for them.
168. A fool's eye is in every corner, and fools' atiiictions are scattered. The only object of the soul is that 'one thing needful,' Luke x. 42, and this will fill all the corners of it. When a man hath sucked out the pleasure of worldly contentments, they are then but dead things ; but grace is ever fresh, and always yields fresh and full satisfaction.
169. Desires are the spiritual pulse of the soul, always beating to and fro, and shewing the temper of it ; they are therefore the characters of a Christian, and shew more truly what he is than his actions do.