Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

79

ON PRAYER IN GENERAL

"Pray without ceasing *."

IF gratitude be due from the dependent creature to the all powerful Creator, in what manner can it be better evinced, than by sincere and uniform devotion? And of all the privileges of humanity, surely that of prayer, of making our wants and uecessities known to the great Disposer of all events, of being permitted to offer up to God our praise and adoration, should be most suitable to the fallen state and capacity of man. Where public or private prayer is seldom regarded, or put aff till a more convenient season, may we

1 Thess. v. 17.

not pronounce such domestic arrange ment to be unstable, and without foundation, and liable to be disturbed by any strange or divers doctrines ?

Family prayer, and private devotion, contribute to check the hope of the presumptuous, and to rouse the humble mind to a reasonable confidence in God. Want of time is too general an excuse for the neglect of prayer, of that holy communion with God, without which, the duties of Religion can only be performed as an oppresive or laborious task. But, if the nominal Christian cannot find time to pray for a continuance of the blessings, which he finds time to enjoy, how can he expect that any casual repetition of a prayer, or even any occasional fervor of the heart will reach the throne of grace, in an adverse or afflicted hour! If private and public prayer were more generally attended to, and if every head of a family

[ocr errors]

instructed his dependents by example as well as precept; if the cares, the pleasures, and the business of this world were never put in competition with the concerns of futurity, how many might. be gently led from the evil of their ways; and prejudice and habit would necessarily decrease in power! It is the union of piety and morality-which constitutes the beauty of holiness; the one without. the other often encourages, in weak: or uninstructed minds, the delusions of en-thusiasm ; and unassisted morality sinks: into a cold and abstracted sentiment,. perverting truth and leading to a danger- ous system of vain philosophy. Prayer,. or a constant intercourse with the Deity,. softens the heart of man and renders it: less vulnerable to the petty, discords of. life, more indulgent to the failings of others, and more rigid in the judgment of its own. That self-controul, which:

[ocr errors]

is gained by prayer, is neither dependent on learning nor riches.

To commune with our heart is a pri vilege granted to all, and temporary seclusion from the world elevates the ideas, regulates the passions, and gives higher zest to the enjoyment of rational society. The neglect of prayer sometimes proceeds from other causes than, that supposed and contemptible one, want of time. Misapprehension of its importance has led some to imagine, that to 16 pray without ceasing;" to dictate as it were to the Almighty our wants and necessities, is inconsistent with the dependent state of man; and the scriptural sentence, "be not righteous over much,” is opposed against the more rigid precepts of the Gospel. But, be it remembered, that to pray without ceasing" is to pray in thoughts as well as in words, and to deal uprightly in the most trivial

[ocr errors]
« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »