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what it teaches, to do what it commands. This was the fact in ancient Israel, when Isaiah was commanded to cry aloud and spare not-to show the people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek me daily, said the Lord to his Prophet, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinances of their God; they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. They ask for wisdom without intending to follow it-for the path of duty without any purpose to pursue it. Hence the Lord said, should I be inquired of by men, who have set up their idols in their hearth, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face? They ask wisdom of me, and yet are determined to do as they please. So we may act. We may ask to be freed from idols-to have them pointed out, and yet not be wholly willing to part with them when seen. We may look up and ask, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do, and yet not be determined to enter any door of usefulness, which he, in his providence, may open for us. We may pray to be led into all the truth, and yet not be prepared to give up all our preconceived opinions, when shown to be wrong-to lay aside all our prejudices, and to take our place at the feet of Jesus, like little children.

5. We may pray with wrong ends in view, as it respects the use we mean to make of the blessing asked. We may ask amiss in this, that we intend to consume what we ask for upon our pleasures-upon sinister and selfish objects. We may pray, earnestly desiring what we seek, and yet have an end in view to be affected by it, which will be offensive to God. The farmer, for instance, may pray for the early and the latter rain, and for an abundant harvest-he may pray that his barns may be filled with plenty, and yet not with a greater good as the end to be accomplished by it. The mechanic may ask to be prospered in his business for his own comfort and convenience, and not for the sake of greater means with which to bless others. The merchant may pray for success in trade, for the sake of amassing wealth, and not for the sake of feeding the hungry, of clothing the naked, or of sending the word of life to the destitute. We may pray for the success of the Gospel, and yet have a selfish end in view. There are many ways in which the enlargement of Christ's kingdom would affect us beneficially, and free us from much toil and self-denial. We may seek for growth in grace, because we wish to be raised above the perplexity of doubts and fears, and not because we wish to shine in the beauties of holiness, and that God may thereby be glorified. A selfish end can never be pleasing to God. Prayer, with any such object in view, must remain unanswered.

This important point cannot be pressed too much. Many Christians, it is to be feared, do not even suspect anything of this kind in their supplications, and yet, perhaps, there is no exercise in which they are more exposed to, or less free from, the influence of self-seeking. The action of the mind, in its approaches to the throne of Grace, may be, at least, as really prompted by this spirit, as it is in anything else. The

Christian may be as much under the dominion of selfishness in his closet, as he is in his business. He may come as far short of exercising a proper benevolence at the family altar, as he does in his workshop or behind his counter, or in the arrangements of his domestic affairs. He may be moved just as little by the spirit of an enlarged and generous philanthropy in the supplications of the social circle, or of the sanctuary, as he is in the wider range of his other acts. He may pray chiefly for himself, for his family, for his church or denomination. He may invert the order of subjects in the form of prayer given by the Saviour to his disciples, and venture but little into those glowing petitions which respect the will and glory of God. His praying may not extend a whit beyond the littleness that characterizes his other acts. Why should it, if he speaks only as the heart feels? If the heart is filled with benevolence, it will show it in all things. If it fails here in other things, it will in prayer. Our compassions may therefore be as really wanting in prayer, as in anything else. We may feel as little the promptings of a high-born and benevolent sympathy with torn and shattered humanity here, as elsewhere. We may pray for our own comfort, convenience, and ease, and forget the glory of God, and the wants of a perishing world, as really as we do in our thoughts during the day. We may ask and receive not, because we intend to consume it upon our pleasures.

6. We may pray for blessings upon ourselves and others, and yet not do it wholly in the name of Christ and for the glory of God. When we fail here, it affects the whole action of the mind. We live under

an economy of redemption; God in Christ is reconciling the world unto himself. It is, therefore, through Christ that every mercy, temporal or spiritual, comes to us. It is on his account that the thunder of God sleeps in the bosom of the darkened cloud, and falls not upon the head of the sinner. It is because of his death that the sun shines-that the moon gives her light-that the seasons revolve, and the earth yields her increase. Yes, it is through the intercession of his broken body and gushing blood that every blessing comes to us-that pardon is given-that the soul is created anew-is filled with peace and joy, and a way to the Father of our spirits is opened for us. He is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Hence we are commanded to give thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And hence too, we are bidden, whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, to do all to the glory of God, who loved us and gave his Son a ransom for us. The feelings of the heart in prayer should be conformed to these great facts, and flow out in obedience to these high requirements. Our pleadings at the throne of grace should be wholly in his name and for the glory of God. Our prostration of soul before the Infinite One should find its lowest depths in the fact that sin in us affects his glory. Our bitterest lamentations, poured forth to the ear of God, should be moved by the fact that we bear so little of his image-breathe so little of his spirit, and feel so little of gratitude and love to him in view of what he

has done for us. Our highest intercessory plea for others ought to be that in their new creation and holy living, Christ may see the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Oh, for a heart filled with such humilitysuch gratitude-a heart filled with such absorbing regard for the glory of God!

7. We may pray in the name of Christ and for the glory of God, and yet not pray with sufficient faith. We speak here of faith as it respects the answer to prayer. The want of this affects much the action of the mind. It affects the using of means in connection with prayer-affects perseverance in our pleadings-our praying with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and our watching thereunto. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." If we ask for what we know is agreeable to the will of God, and receive it not, it is because we ask amiss-because we ask with doubts in the heart-with unbelief in the soul. Any want of confidence in God to hear our prayer is and must be offensive to him. This is to be our confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he will hear us. Any feeling which comes short of this is offensive to him. Let us then rise to this high assurance. We have not received the spirit of bondage-but that of adoption, whereby we may cry Abba, Father. Let us then, brethren, enlarge our desires and open wide our mouths unto God. Let us take fast hold of the promises of the everlasting covenant and plead like Jacob, when he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. Oh, for Zion's sake let us not rest, and for Jerusalem's sake hold not our peace till the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

Many considerations might be urged to guard us against such faults in prayer; against such "iniquity in our holy things." Such things in prayer are peculiarly offensive to God. Sin in prayer seems exceedingly sinful. In this act we come more immediately into the presence of God. We speak to him who searches the heart, who sees through every disguise, and whose eye is fixed upon the thoughts and feelings of the inner man. How offensive, then, must it be to him when the tongue speaks more than the heart feels; when the order in the objects of prayer is reversed, and our own little, temporal interests are allowed a pre-eminence in our feelings far beyond those which concern his kingdom and glory; when we confess sin without any fixed determination to forsake it, or ask for wisdom without any settled purpose to follow it when given! How displeasing must it be to him for us to ask blessings which we mean to consume upon our pleasures, or to see us moved by motives which are selfish--which are far beneath those that ought to prompt every petition in prayer, or to behold in us, while asking, doubts whether we shall indeed have what he has promised to give us! How offensive must these things be to him!

Again: the consequences of such things are most painful. Wrong action must always be attended with unhappy results. Such action as we have noticed injures the Christian. God works in him in his working. He sanctifies the heart of the Christian as he uses the means of

grace. If he does not pray as he should; if he sins in coming before God, he will not be heard; he will be sent empty away, and hardness will come into his soul. He will reap as he sows. If he regards iniquity in his heart, the Lord will not hear him, and he will sink under all the terrible consequences of unanswered prayer. But this is not all. In thus affecting the Christian, these things greatly injure others. In the economy of grace, whatever touches the Christian touches those around him. If his light is put under a bushel, then they are in darkness. God acts upon others through the Christian, and bestows immense blessings upon them in answer to his fervent supplications. If he comes down, therefore, from the mount of vision -down from the place of holy intercession-and offends God in asking amiss, the windows of heaven will be closed, and no dew will descend upon the mountains of Israel. Men will live on in sin, and perish in their iniquities, and their blood will be required at his hand.

1. Our subject may teach us why prayer is so often unanswered. Much supplication is constantly ascending to God. We have often prayed that God would make us holy; that he would enlighten our minds; that he would fill us with all the fulness of God; and that the eyes of our understanding might be enlightened, and that we might know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. We have often prayed for the prosperity of the Church, for the extension of Christ's kingdom, for the effusion of the Holy Spirit, and the conversion of men. And yet where is the answer to these prayers? Where is our growth in grace and in knowledge? Where is that abounding in every good work, that depth of love, that purity of heart, that beauty of holiness, for which we have prayed? Where is that prosperity of the Church, those outpourings of the Spirit, for which so much prayer has ascended to God? Why, brethren, this sad result? Is there not a hindrance somewhere? And may it not be in the fact, that we ask amiss?

2. Our subject shows us the necessity of great self-examination in times of spiritual declension-in times when the converting influences of the Spirit are withheld from us. It may be taken for certainty, we think, that at such times Christians are not praying as they should, that they ask amiss, and hence "the heaven is made as iron and the earth as brass." Let us search, brethren, and see if this be not the reason at present why we hear of so few revivals of religion in our churches. Let us enter upon this work in serious earnestness, and ascertain whether there is not something in our prayers, or connected with them, which is offensive to God; something which hinders the -blessing, and covers us with darkness and poverty. Let us, above all things, look up and ask, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!"

3. We see, moreover, in view of what has been said, why we should ask, most importunately," Lord, teach us to pray." As so much depends upon the manner and spirit of our supplications; as interests so high

may be affected injuriously by our asking amiss, we ought most fervently to seek assistance in this duty from above. We know not how to pray as we ought. But there is a provision of mercy for us here in the economy of grace. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities, teaches us how to pray, how to frame our petitions, how to come before the Lord, and how to bow ourselves before the high God. He can give us the preparation of the heart, and the answer of the tongue, and work in us that deep and pure spirit of intercession-that fervent, effectual prayer, which availeth much. For this aid, therefore, we ought to pray much. We feel the necessity of the Spirit's influence in conversion, but do we feel the same necessity of his working in us to will and to do in our devotions, in teaching us how to pray as we should?

4. In the light of our subject we see also why the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. They ask amiss-wholly so. The offensiveness is not in the sacrifice, but in the feelings with which it is made; in the motives which prompt them to make it. These are entirely selfish. There is no love in the heart to God. They turn away the ear from hearing the law, hence their prayer is an abomination. They regard iniquity in their hearts; therefore, the Lord does not, and will not, hear them. They must cease to do evil; must put away the evil of their doings from before his eyes, ere they can be heard, ere their sacrifice will cease to be an abomination to the Lord.

We do not say, indeed, as has sometimes been said, that men, while impenitent, should not pray, or, at least, that they should not be urged to do so. They ought to pray, and they ought to be pressed to this, just as really as to any other plain and positive duty. The fact of their impenitence furnishes no excuse for disobedience to any command of God. Sin can never justify sin. But we do say to such men, that they must not expect to be heard while they continue in their impenitence; while they refuse to love God and keep his commandments. They sin if they live without prayer; and they sin also if they engage in this duty with wrong feelings and with improper motives. In either case, they act under a fearful accountability. In view, therefore, of the consequence, in either case, to them, and to those who are affected by their example, we may well exclaim in the words of inspiration, O that they were wise, that they understood this, and that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear God and keep all his commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children for ever!

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