timent and feeling evinced by mankind. Some of these prayers, the offspring of this natural piety, and of an unperverted conscience, are not without pure and sublime conceptions of the Deity, and just views of human wants suitable to be expressed in prayer. Dr. Lowth says of the Hymn of Cleanthes, the Stoic, inscribed to Jove, "It is doubtless a most noble monument of ancient wisdom, and replete with truths not less solid than magnificent. For, the sentiments of the philosopher concerning the divine power, concerning the harmony of nature and the supreme laws, concerning the folly and unhappiness of wicked men, who are unceasingly subject to the pain and perturbation of a troubled spirit, and above all," continues he, "the ardent supplication for the divine assistance, in order to enable him to celebrate the praises of the Omnipotent Deity in a suitable manner, and in a perpetual strain of praise and adoration; all of these breathe so true and unaffected a spirit of piety, that they seem in some measure to approach the excellence of the sacred poetry."* The Mahometan religion is partly derived from Judaism and Christianity, and is less absurd than any form of heathenism. The habit of public prayer among the Mahometans is well known. In such countries, the Mouzeens on the minarets † are accustomed, "to proclaim the hour For prayer appointed, and with sonorous voice, To pronounce the highest name. There is no God Mahommed is the Prophet of the Lord! Come ye to prayer! to prayer! The Lord is great! It cannot be necessary to do more than merely advert, in this connexion, to the frequency and earnestness with which the Jewish and Christian Scriptures enjoin the same duty. Men of all climes, then, of all ages, and of all religions, have concurred in the propriety and the practice of lifting up the mind to God in prayer. This universality is the best of all proofs of the naturalness of Divine worship. * Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews. Lect. XXIX. Gregory's Translation. See Walsh's National Gazette, Nov. 7th, 1835. The reasonableness of Divine worship might be inferred from the mere fact of its being natural, as we have seen; but it may be well to give it some further illustration. Prayer is expressive of our dependence upon God; and, as all our privileges and enjoyments are the effects of his unmerited goodness, it becomes us to ask, if we would receive them. Man is created in God's own image; there must, then, be such a resemblance between the image and the high Original, as to justify us in reasoning analogically, provided we do it with sufficient caution, from the image to the Original. We all know how much men are influenced by a request made in a suitable temper and spirit. And, if this is reasonable in men, made after the image of God, is it not reasonable, that the Great Original should be influenced by prayer proffered before his throne in the spirit of dependence, and in acknowledgment that every good and perfect gift comes from him? It is reasonable, moreover, that we should not only offer up prayer and thanksgiving privately, but also in public. For God is to be regarded as the universal benefactor of mankind, from whom we all have received public blessings, and to whom, therefore, we owe public acknowledgments. Private prayer and thanksgiving are, by no means, adequate returns for public blessings. Convinced, then, that prayer and thanksgiving are both natural and reasonable, and knowing that they are enjoined as an imperative Christian duty, we shall not be moved by the skeptical sophism, "If it be most agreeable to perfect wisdom and justice that we should receive what we desire, God, as perfectly wise and just, will give it to us without asking; if it be not agreeable to these attributes of his nature, our entreaties cannot move him to give it us, and it were impious to expect that they should." More briefly thus ; "If what we request be fit for us, we shall have it without praying; if it be not fit for us, we cannot obtain it by praying."† This is the substance of all that can be said against prayer, and it admits of an answer entirely satisfactory. It is very true, * Gen. i. 27; Col. iii. 10. Paley's Moral and Polit. Phil., p. 231. that God will grant us what is fit; but it is equally true, that it is not fit for him to throw away his favors upon those who will not pray for them with an humble sense of their dependence, and receive them with a grateful sense of his goodness. God is a perfect being, but it is no attribute of a perfect being to be inexorable. God grants our petitions, not merely because we pray, but because prayer, sincere and earnest prayer, though it does not make him more willing to bestow, makes us more fit and more qualified to receive his favors. The fitness of the thing depends upon the qualifications of the individual, and the qualification of the individual to receive, depends upon that holy, humble frame of mind, from which all sincere prayer proceeds. It is not said, that the Deity is changed by our prayers, but that the relation in which we stand to the Deity is changed, when, from living in sin and disregard of God, we come to adore him in sincerity and truth. 2. The subject matter of which prayer and thanksgiving ought to consist. Prayer and thanksgiving, whether written or extemporaneous, are, so far as the matter and style are concerned, governed by the same rules. They should contain just conceptions of the Deity and of his attributes. Unworthy conceptions of God destroy or impair the purity and dignity of public worship, in which all things should "be done decently and in order," * and prevent it from having that moral influence which it is so well calculated to exercise. Men of every condition attend public worship, and erroneous or unworthy conceptions of the Deity thus become the error of multitudes. Again, they should express only those wants, desires, and aspirations, which will probably be felt by the congregation. Ideas in which the congregation can feel no interest, should not be introduced. Those prayers are the most suitable, which are best fitted to keep alive the devotion of the assembly. Confession of sin, humiliation before God for its commission, petitions for forgiveness, acknowledgment of divine mercies, and aspirations after increased holiness, must enter into the prayers of "all orders and estates of men." They should contain, also, as few * 1 Cor. xiv. 40. controverted sentiments as possible. Scriptural ideas, scriptural sentiments, subjects, and even expressions, or such as are closely analogous to them, should be principally, if not exclusively used. The style of prayer and thanksgiving should be calm, solemn, dignified, earnest, and pathetic. Every thing light, and especially all quaintness, affectation, smartness, and prettiness of expression, are inconsistent with every part of divine worship, and most of all with prayer and thanksgiving.* Among the subjects of prayer, we are encouraged in Scripture to pray for national blessings, to intercede for others, to repeat unsuccessful prayer, &c. ;—but we are most particularly encouraged and enjoined to pray for the Holy Spirit, to the influences of whom "all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works" are ascribed. The fruit of the Spirit, for which we are taught to pray, is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, in all righteousness and truth.‡ It would be absurd to deny the operations of the Holy Spirit because we are not sensible of them, and do not know how God influences the soul. We ought rather to reason thus; we know that we have been holden up by God ever since we were born; yet we have not an intimate consciousness and feeling of that influence by which he sustains us, or any knowledge how he upholds our existence ; - in the same manner, we prove from Scripture, that he conveys his grace to us, but are strangers to the manner in which he dispenses it. We are as much dependent on the assistance of God for our spiritual life, as we are for our natural life; and the manner in which this assistance is communicated is as much unknown in the one case as in the other. It is no objection to this doctrine, that the powers of nature and the influences of grace are so blended within us that we cannot easily distinguish them. For, no more can we, in all cases, distinguish our foreign acquirements from the fruits of our own genius. We can no more exactly determine, in every particular, # Paley, Moral and Political Philosophy, pp. 210-214. Luke xi. 13; John xiv. 26; Acts vi. 3; Rom. v. 5. what is natural to us, and what has been acquired by us, than we can what is the effect of our own endeavours, and what is the result of the influences of the Holy Spirit. Those, who disbelieve the assistances of divine grace because they have not an inward sense of them, should consider, that an inward and distinct perception of the motions of the Holy Spirit would be inconsistent with that degree of freedom, which is necessary to a state of probation. If we could trace the inward workings of the Spirit, it would be too great a restraint upon us, and would overpower the will. Such a manifest evidence of the divine presence in us, as the sensible influence of the Holy Spirit, would be overbearing and irresistible, and would impair, if not destroy, the freedom of the will. We walk by faith and not by sight, by faith grounded upon rational and substantial proofs, not by sight, not by any sensible indications of the Spirit dwelling in us, and working distinctly in us. The proof of the indwelling of the Spirit consists in the effects produced upon our hearts and lives. 3. Of the part of divine service which consists in giving instruction by reading the Scriptures, preaching, and catechetical instruction, it does not seem necessary for a moral philosopher to notice any but preaching and catechetical instruction. The object of preaching is, to enlighten ignorance on the most important of all subjects, to rouse indifference, to awaken the careless, to encourage the desponding, and to edify and build up the pious in the holy faith and order of the Gospel. To effect all this, the preacher has peculiar advantages. He is invested with a commission from the King of kings; and, by virtue of this commission, he proclaims truth of transcendent importance. The pastoral relation, too, by which the preacher is connected with his flock, is one of the most interesting which exists on earth. The preacher publishes truth, also, in the most effective of all ways, by the living voice. He announces it, moreover, to an assembly withdrawn from the business, the amusements, and the perplexities of the world, and on a day set apart for this peculiar, this holy purpose. With a view to effect and impression, he may select any subject within the wide range of theology and morals. One of the strongest passions of mankind is love |