James i. Rom. I. Matt. vi. AN HOMILY OR SERMON Concerning Prayer. THERE is nothing in all man's life, well-beloved in our Saviour Christ, so needful to be spoken of, and daily to be called upon, as hearty, zealous, and devout prayer, the neceffity whereof is fo great, that without it nothing may be well obtained at God's hand. For as the Apostle James faith, Every good and perfect gift cometh from above, and proceedeth from the Father of lights; who is alfo faid to be rich and liberal towards all them that call upon him, not because he either will not or cannot give without asking, but because he hath appointed prayer as an ordinary means between him and us. There is no doubt but he always knoweth what we have need of, and is always moft ready to give abundance of those things that we lack. Yet, to the intent we might acknowledge him to be the giver of all good things, and behave ourselves thankfully towards him in that behalf, loving, fearing, and worshipping him fincerely and truly, as we ought to do, he hath profitably and wifely ordained, that in time of neceffity we should humble ourselves in his fight, pour out the fecrets of our heart before him, and crave help at his hands, with continual, earnest, and devout prayer. By the mouth of his holy Prophet David he faith on this wife: Call upon me in the days of thy trouble, and I will deliver thee. Likewife in the Gofpel, by the mouth of his wellMatt. vii. beloved Son Chrift, he faith, Afk, and it shall be given you; knock, and it shall be opened: for whofoever afketh, receiv eth; whofoever feeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it fhall be opened. St. Paul alfo moft agreeably confent Pfal. 1. Col. iv. ing hereunto, willeth men to pray every where, and to con- 1 Tim. il. tinue therein with thanksgiving. Neither doth the bleffed Phil. iv. Apoftle St. James in this point any thing diffent, but, earneftly exhorting all men to diligent prayer, faith, If James i. any man lack wifdom, let him afk it of God, which giveth liberally to all men, and reproacheth no man. Also in another place, Pray one for another, faith he, that ye may be James v. healed: for the righteous man's prayer availeth much, if it be fervent. What other thing are we taught by these and fuch other places, but only this, that Almighty God, notwithstanding his heavenly wisdom and foreknowledge, will be prayed unto, that he will be called upon, that he will have us no less willing on our part to afk, than he on his part is willing to give? Therefore moft fond and foolish is the opinion and reafon of those men, which therefore think all prayer to be fuperfluous and vain, because God fearcheth the heart and the reins, and knoweth Rom. viii. the meaning of the fpirit before we afk. For if this fleshly and carnal reafon were fufficient to difannul prayer, then why did our Saviour Chrift so often cry to his difciples, Watch and pray? Why did he prefcribe them a Luke xxil. form of prayer, faying, When ye pray, pray after this fort: Matt. vi. Our Father, which art in heaven, &c. Why did he pray fo often and fo earnestly himself before his paffion? Finally, why did the Apostles, immediately after his afcen- A&s i. fion, gather themselves together into one feveral place, and there continue a long time in prayer? Either they muft condemn Chrift and his Apoftles of extreme folly, or elfe they must needs grant, that prayer is a thing most neceffary for all men, at all times, and in all places. Sure it is, that there is nothing more expedient or needful for mankind in all the world, than prayer. Pray always, faith St. Paul, with all manner of prayer and fuppli- Ephef. vi. cation, and watch thereto with all diligence. Alfa in another place, he willeth us to pray continually, without any 1 Theff. v. intermiffion or ceafing; meaning thereby that we ought never to flack nor faint in prayer, but to continue therein to our lives' end. A number of other fuch places might here be alleged of like effect, I mean, to declare the great neceffity and ufe of prayer: but what need many proofs in a plain matter? feeing there is no man fo ignorant but he knoweth, no man fo blind but he feeth, that prayer is a thing most needful in all eftates and degrees of men. For only by the help hereof we attain to those heavenly and everlafting treasures, which God our heavenly Father hath referved and laid up for his children in his dear and John. xvi. well well-beloved Son Jefus Chrift, with this covenant and promise most affuredly confirmed and sealed unto us, that, if we ask, we shall receive. Now, the great neceffity of prayer being fufficiently known, that our minds and hearts may be the more provoked and stirred thereunto, let us briefly confider, what wonderful ftrength and power it hath to bring ftrange and mighty things to pafs. We read in the Exod. xvii. Book of Exodus, that Jofhua, fighting against the Amalekites, did conquer and overcome them, not so much by virtue of his own ftrength, as by the earnest and continual prayer of Mofes, who as long as he held up his hands to God, fo long did Ifrael prevail; but when he fainted, and let his hands down, then did Amalek and his people prevail: infomuch that Aaron and Hur, being in the mount with him, were fain to ftay up his hands until the going down of the fun, otherwife had the people of God that day been utterly difcomfited, and put to flight. Joshua x. Also we read in another place of Joshua himself, how he 2 Chron. XX. 1 Kings xviii. at the befieging of Gibeon, making his humble petition to Almighty God, caufed the fun and the moon to ftay their course, and to stand still in the midst of heaven for the space of a whole day, until fuch time as the people were fufficiently avenged upon their enemies. And was not Jehofaphat's prayer of great force and ftrength, when God at his requeft caufed his enemies to fall out among themselves, and wilfully to destroy one another? Who can marvel enough at the effect and virtue of Elijah's prayer? He, being a man fubject to affections as we are, prayed to the Lord that it might not rain, and there fell no rain upon the earth for the space of three years and fix months. Again, he prayed that it might rain, and there fell great plenty, fo that the earth brought forth her increase most abundantly. It were too long to tell of Judith, Efther, Sufannah, and of divers other godly men and women, how greatly they prevailed in all their doings, by giving their minds earneftly and devoutly to prayer. Let it be fufficient at Aug. Ser. this time to conclude with the fayings of Auguftine and Chryfoftom, whereof the one calleth prayer the key of heaven; the other plainly affirmeth, that there is nothing in all the world more strong than a man that giveth himfelf to fervent prayer. 26. de Temp. Chryf. fup. Now then, dearly beloved, feeing prayer is fo needful a thing, and of fo great ftrength before God, let us, according as we are taught by the example of Chrift and his Apostles, Apoftles, be earnest and diligent in calling on the name of the Lord. Let us never faint, never flack, never give over; but let us daily and hourly, early and late, in season and out of season, be occupied in godly meditations and prayers. What if we obtain not our petitions at the first? Yet let us not be difcouraged, but let us continually cry and call upon God: he will furely hear us at length, if for no other caufe, yet for very importunity's fake. Remember the parable of the unrighteous judge and the poor widow, Luke zviš how the by her importunate means caufed him to do her juftice against her adversary, although otherwise he feared neither God nor man. Shall not God much more avenge his elect, faith our Saviour Chrift, which cry unto him day and night? Thus he taught his difciples, and in them all other true Chriftian men, to pray always, and never to faint or fhrink. Remember alfo the example of the woman of Canaan, how fhe was rejected of Chrift, and called Matth. xv. dog, as one most unworthy of any benefit at his hands: yet fhe gave not over, but followed him ftill, crying and calling upon him to be good and merciful unto her daughter. And at length, by very importunity, the obtained her requeft. O let us learn by thefe examples to be earnest and fervent in prayer, affuring ourselves, that whatsoever we ask of God the Father, in the name of his John xvi. Son Chrift, and according to his will, he will undoubtedly grant it. He is truth itself; and as truly as he hath promifed it, fo truly will he perform it. God, for his great mercies fake, fo work in our hearts by his holy Spirit, that we may always make our humble prayers unto him, as we ought to do, and always obtain the thing which we afk, through Jefus Chrift our Lord; to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen. The Second Part of the Homily concerning Prayer. IN the first part of this Sermon ye heard the great neceffity, and alfo the great force, of devout and earneft prayer declared and proved unto you, both by divers weighty teftimonies, and alfo by fundry good examples of holy Scripture. Now fhall you learn whom you ought to call upon, and to whom you ought always to direct your prayers. We are evidently taught in God's holy Teftament, that Almighty God is the only fountain and wellfpring of all goodnefs; and that whatsoever we have in this world, James i. world, we receive it only at his hands: to this effect ferveth the place of St. James; Every good and perfect gift, faith he, cometh from above, and proceedeth from the Father of lights. To this effect also ferveth the testimony of Paul, in divers places of his Epiftles, witneffing that the fpirit of wisdom, the fpirit of knowledge and revelation, yea, every good and heavenly gift, as faith, hope, charity, grace, and peace, cometh only and folely of God. In confideration whereof, he burfteth out into a fudden Cor. iv. paffion, and faith, O man, what thing haft thou, which thou haft not received? Therefore, whenfoever we need or lack any thing, pertaining either to the body or to the foul, it behoveth us to run only unto God, who is the only giver of all good things. Our Saviour Chrift in the Gofpel, teaching his difciples how they thould pray, fendeth them to the Father in his name, faying, Verily, verily, I Say unto you, whatsoever ye afk the Father in my name, he will give it unto you. And in another place, When ye pray, pray after this fort: Our Father, which art in heaven, &c. And doth not God himself, by the mouth of his Prophet David, will and command us to call upon him? The Apoftle wifheth grace and peace to all them that call on the name of the Lord, and of his Son Jefus Chrift; as doth alfo the Prophet Joel, faying, And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be faved. John xvi. Matt. vi. Pfal. 1. Joel ii. Thus then it is plain, by the infallible word of truth and life, that in all our neceffities we must flee unto God, direct our prayers unto him, call upon his holy name, defire help at his hands, and at no other's; whereof if ye will yet have a further reason, mark that which followeth. There are certain conditions most requifite to be found in every fuch a one that must be called upon, which if they be not found in him unto whom we pray, then doth our prayer avail us nothing, but is altogether in vain. The first is this, that he, to whom we make our prayers, be able to help us. The fecond is, that he will help us. The third is, that he be fuch a one as may hear our prayers. The fourth is, that he understand better than we ourselves what we lack, and how far we have need of help. If these things be to be found in any other faving only God, then may we lawfully call upon fome other befides God. But what man is fo grofs, but he well understandeth that these things are only proper to him which is Omnipotent, and knoweth all |