" Ye shall call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart1'."
Of the instances of such gracious communications there would be no end, if I were to attempt to enumerate all that are recorded in the Scriptures. Let one suffice, even that of Daniel, when he set himself, by prayer and supplication, to obtain of God an insight into the prophecies of Jeremiah re- lative to the termination of the seventy years' captivity in Babylon. He gives us the account of himself: " While I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin, and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God ; yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth : and I am come to shew thee ; for thou art greatly beloved : therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision'." And again, in the following chapter, the angel says to him, " Fear not, Daniel ; for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard ; and I am come for thy words V
And speaks not the New Testament the same language also? Were these privileges so richly enjoyed under the Jewish dispensation ; and are they denied to us ? No : we may " ask what we will ;" and be sure of being heard1. Both God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will esteem them- selves "glorified" in granting our petitions, and doing for us whatsoever we askm. We have only to " believe that the petitions shall be granted," and not one of them shall be offered in vain". Of this, I say, we may possess the fullest confi- dence ° : and if, " our joy be not full," the fault is altogether our ownp; since God, by repeated asseverations, has assured us that we shall not ask in vainq. Even at the moment that we are praying, will he often manifest the acceptance of our prayers r, and " do for us exceeding abundantly above all that we either ask or think s." What wilt thou that I should do for thee ? is, in fact, our Lord's address to us all ; and he only waits to see the desire of his blessings formed in our hearts, as the signal for pouring out upon us all the riches of his grace.]
h Jer. xxix. 12, 13. ' Dan. ix. 20 — 23. k Dan. x. 12,
1 John xv. 7. m Johnxiv. 13, 14. n Mark xi. 24.
0 1 John v. 14, 15. P John xvi. 24. ^ Matt. vii. 7, 8.
r Acts iv. 31. s Eph. iii. 20.