Some may apprehend that these things belong but little, and that very remotely, unto the duty of prayer, and the assistance we re- ceive by the Spirit therein ; but the truth is, those who are so minded, on consideration, know neither what it is to pray nor what doth belong thereunto. There is nothing more essential unto this duty than that, in the performance of it, we address ourselves unto God under the notion of a Father ; that is, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in him our Father also. Without this we cannot have that holy delight in this duty which is required in us, and the want whereof ordinarily ruins our design in it. And this we can have no spiritual, satisfactory sense of but what we receive by and from the Spirit of God.
3. There belongeth thereunto that boldness which we have in our access into the holy place, or unto the throne of grace : " Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith," Heb. x. 19, 22. Where there is on men a " spirit of fear unto bondage," they can never have any delight in their approaches unto God. And this is removed by the Spirit of grace and supplication : Rom. viii. 15, "Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." These things are opposed, and the one is only removed and taken away by the other. And where the " spirit of bondage unto fear" abides, there we cannot cry, " Abba, Father," or pray in a due manner; but " where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," 2 Cor. iii. 17. And this, as we render the word, consists in two things: — (1.) In orandi libertate; (2.) In exauditionis fiducia.
(1.) There is in it an enlarged liberty and freedom of speech in prayer unto God; so the word signifies. Uapf>7js!a is as much as iravptjgia, a freedom to speak all that is to be spoken, a confidence that countenanceth men in the freedom of speech, according to the
294 WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN PRAYER. [BOOK VII.
exigency of their state, condition, and cause. So the word is com- monly used, Eph. vi. 19. Where there is servile fear and dread, the heart is straitened, bound up, knows not what it may, what it may not utter, and is pained about the issue of all it thinks or speaks ; or it cannot pray at all beyond what is prescribed unto it to say, as it were, whether it will or no. But where this Spirit of liberty and bold- ness is, the heart is enlarged with a true, genuine openness and readi- ness to express all its concerns unto God as a child unto its father. I do not say that those who have this aid of the Spirit have always this liberty in exercise, or equally so. The exercise of it may be variously impeded, by temptations, spiritual indispositions, desertions, and by our own negligence in stirring up the grace of God. But believers have it always in the root and principle, even all that have received the Spirit of adoption, and are ordinarily assisted in the use of it. Hereby are they enabled to comply with the blessed ad- vice of the apostle, Phil. iv. 6, " Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." The whole of our concerns in this world is to be committed unto God in prayer, so that we should not retain any dividing cares in our own minds about them. And herein the apostle would have us to use a holy freedom and boldness in speaking unto God on all occasions, as one who concerns himself in them ; to hide nothing from God, — which we do what lieth in us when we pre- sent it not unto him in our prayers, — but use a full, plain-hearted, open liberty with him : " In every thing let your requests be made known unto God." He is ready to hear all that you have to offer unto him or plead before him. And in so doing, the " peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ," verse 7; which is ordinarily the condition of those who are found in diligent obedience unto this command.
(2.) There is also in it a confidence of acceptance, or being heard in prayer ; that is, that God is well pleased with their duties, accept- ing both them and their persons in Jesus Christ. Without this we can have no delight in prayer, or in God as the object of it; which vitiates the whole duty. When Adam thought there was no accept- ance with God for him, he had no confidence of access unto him, but, as the first effect of folly that ensued on the entrance of sin, went to hide himself. And all those who have no ground of spiritual confi- dence for acceptance with Christ do in their prayers but endeavour to hide themselves from God by the duty which they perform. They cast a mist about them, to obscure themselves from the sight of their own convictions, wherein alone thejT suppose that God sees them also. But in such a frame there is neither delight, nor enlargement, nor liberty, nor indeed prayer itself.