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we must call upon God. Now tell me with what affection of heart we must come unto him.

Scho. Our hearts must be sore grieved with feeling of our need and poverty, and the miseries that oppress us, so far forth that we must turn with great desire of deliverance from that grief, and of God's help which we pray for. Being thus disposed in heart, it cannot be but that we shall most attentively, and with most fervent affection, with all manner of Prayers and Petitions, crave that we desire.

Mast. I see, then, it is not enough to pray with tongue and voice alone.

Scho. To pray, not applying thereto our minds and attentiveness, without which our Prayers can never be effectual, is not only to take fruitless labour in vain, (for how shall God hear us, when we heed not to hear ourselves?) and not only to pour out vain and fruitless, but also hurtful words, without offending God's majesty; so far off is it that such-Prayers can appease the majesty of God, that is displeased with our offence.

Mast. How know we that it is thus ?

Scho. Sith God is a Spirit, and (as I may so call him) a must pure mind; he both in all other things, and specially in Prayer, whereby men, as it were, talk and commune with God, requireth the soul and mind. And he also testifieth that he will be near to them only that call upon him truly, that is, with their heart, and that their

Prayers please him. On the other side, God doth worthily abhor and detest their Prayers, that feignedly and unadvisedly utter with their tongue that which they conceive not with their heart and thought, and deal more negligently with immortal God, than they are wont to do with a mortal man. Therefore in Prayer the mind is ever needful, but the tongue is not alway ne

cessary.

CHAPTER II.

Of the Form of Prayer.

SECTION I.

In all kinds of adoration-except, perhaps, in the pious ejaculations which are called forth by some unexpected cause for gratitude, some sudden danger, or some sorrowful visitation-it is becoming and expedient to use a premeditated form of address to the great God whom we invoke. In the public worship of the Church, in private oral devotions, and even in the mental unuttered homage, which we are bound to render" without ceasing," on all occasions which call for, and admit of, the lifting up of the heart to God, it is our duty, as sinful and dependant creatures, to shew the reverence and caution with which we approach the Majesty on high, by adhering as nearly as possible to a preconsidered mode of expression; as nearly, at least, as the nature of any peculiar case, and the justifiable impulse of a pious and grateful heart will ordinarily permit.

$2. The Church of God has in all ages, with the ostensible blessing of the Almighty, joined in public

Prayer; and in conformity with the positive and implied directions, and with the example of the Founder of our faith, and his Apostles, the Christian Church has, from her first establishment, adopted a precomposed form in the performance of the public service of the sanctuary, and as a guide to her sous in their private exercises of devotion. In a Liturgy, fitted for general purposes, we may expect to find, that confession is made of the distinguishing tenets of the Christian faith, that prayers, thanksgivings, and praises are furnished, in which all members of a religious communion may unite, and in which they may collectively offer up, with one accord and one voice, a sacrifice which is acceptable to God;-by the tenour and tone of which, faith and devotion may be enkindled, and charity towards our neighbour may be produced and strengthened;-in which the re. collection is kept alive, that we are all brethren suing to one common Father ;-in which, by agreeing together upon what they shall ask, Christians may lay hold on the promise that Christ will be in the midst of their assembly;-in which the words of soberness and truth are adopted, to the exclusion of superstition and fanaticism, and the Deity is addressed in language carefully calculated to convey an impression of the reverence, love, and fear, with which a Christian congregation ought ever to be actuated; -in a tongue understood by all who are to join in the sacred office.

§ 3. Strictly in accordance with these principles, and eminently distinguished by these characteristics, is the Liturgy of the Church of England,-comprehending all the different modifications of Prayer,

which constitute religious intercourse with God. It is as general in its addresses to heaven, as the spi. ritual and temporal wants of men are various, and their subjects for gratitude great and manifold,— particular enough to admit of application to each individual's case,-profoundly humble, and invariably expressive of human unworthiness in its confessions, -earnest and convincing in its exhortations,-fervent and persevering, even to repetition, in its supplications,-devout and cordial in its acknowledgements of spiritual mercies, and in gratitude for temporal benefits,-sublime and constant in its praises,

throughout couched in pure and exalted language, more nearly approaching to that of inspiration, than the production of any pen undirected by immediate and especial guidance of the Spirit,-the language of firm reliance on the promises of the blessed Gospel, and on the prevailing efficacy of that holy Name in which all its appeals to the throne of grace are uniformly concluded.

§ 4. In the private devotions of the closet a premeditated form is still required, upon the same principles of reverence and expediency. Nothing can more evince a want of due awe and respect in the presence of our Father who seeth in secret, than to approach him with the unadvised effusion of our lips; and if we desire that our prayers should be heard, it is but prudent to construct them according to the will of God,—that we offer not the vain sacrifice of fools.

The mental service in which the pious mind never fails to find delight, correction, and support, and in which it is continually exercised, though consisting

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