in the Acts of the Apostles. The prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch fasted before separating Barnabas and Paul as missionaries to the heathen. And when they ordained elders in the churches, they prayed, with fasting. Paul, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, speaks of their giving themselves to fasting and prayer, as though it were a frequent custom. You will find, also, in examining the lives of persons of great spiritual attainments, that most of them were in the habit of observing frequent seasons of fasting and prayer. There is a peculiar fitness in this act of humiliation. It is calculated to bring the body under, and to assist us in denying self. The length of time it gives us in our closets also clearer views of divine things.

enables us to get

But there is great

danger of trusting in the outward act of humiliation, and expecting that God will answer our prayers for the sake of our fasting. This will evidently bring upon us disappointment and leanness of soul. This is the kind of fasting so common among Roman Catholics and other nominal Christians. But it is no better than idolatry.

When you set apart a day of fasting and prayer, you ought to have in view some definite objects. The day should be spent in self-examination, meditation, reading the Scriptures, confession of sin, prayer for the particular objects which bear upon your mind, and thanksgiving for mercies received. Your self-examination should be as practical as possible; particularly looking into the motives of

your prayers for the special objects you are seeking. Your confession of sin should be minute and particular; mentioning every sin you can recollect, whether of thought, word, or deed, with every circumstance of aggravation. This will have a tendency to affect your heart with a sense of guilt, produce earnest longings after holiness, and make sin appear more hateful and odious. Your meditations should be upon those subjects which are calculated to give you a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the abounding mercy of God in Christ. Your reading of the Scriptures should be strictly devotional. Your prayers should be very particular; mentioning every thing relating to the object of your desires, and all the hindrances you have met in seeking it. Carry all your burdens to the foot of the cross, and there lay them down. Your thanksgiving, also, should be very minute and particular, mentioning every mercy and blessing which you can recollect, with your own unworthiness, and every circumstance which may tend to show the exceeding greatness of God's love, condescension, and mercy.

4. Come to the mercy-seat with preparation of heart. The best preparation is to maintain an habitual spirit of prayer, according to the first direction. But this is not all that is necessary. We are unavoidably much occupied with the things of this world. But, when we come before the great Jehovah to ask his favor and seek his grace, our minds should be heavenly. When you go

into your closet, shut out the world, that you may be alone with God. Bring your mind into a calm and heavenly frame, and endeavor to obtain a deep sense of the presence of God, "as seeing him who is invisible." Think of the exalted nature of the transaction in which you are about to engage ; think of your own unworthiness, and of the way God has opened to the mercy-seat; think of your own wants, or of the necessities of those for whom you intercede; think of the exhaustless fulness of Christ; think of the many precious promises of God to his children, and come with the spirit of a little child to present them before him.

5. Persevere in prayer. If you are seeking any particular object which you know to be agreeable to the will of God, and your prayers are not heard, you may be sure of one of two things: (1.) You have been asking amiss. Something is wrong in yourself. Perhaps you have been selfish in your desires; you have not desired supremely the glory of God; you have not felt your dependence; you have not humbled yourself sufficiently to receive a blessing; or perhaps you regard iniquity in your heart in some other way. Examine yourself, therefore, in all these particulars. Repent where you find your prayers have been amiss. Bow very low before God, and seek the influences of his Spirit to enable you to pray aright. (2.) Or perhaps the Lord delays an answer for the trial of your faith. Consider, then, the encouragements

which he has given us to be importunate in prayer. In the eleventh chapter of Luke, our Lord shows us that our friends may be prevailed upon to do us a kindness because of our importunity, when they would not do it on account of friendship. And in the eighteenth chapter, he shows us that even an unjust judge may be persuaded by importunity to do justice. Hence he argues the importance of persevering in prayer; and adds, with emphasis, "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you he will avenge them speedily." Again, look at the case of the Syrophenician woman. She continued to beseech Jesus to have mercy on her, although he did not answer her a word. The disciples entreated Christ to send her away, because she troubled them with her cries; yet she persevered. And even when Christ himself told his disciples that he was only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and compared her to a dog seeking for the children's bread, yet, with all these repulses, she would not give up her suit; but begged even for the dog's portion, the children's crumbs. When by this means our Lord had sufficiently tried her faith, he answered her prayer. So likewise persevere in your prayers, and "in due time you shall reap, if you faint not."

CHAPTER VI.

TEMPTATION.

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation."— MATT.

xxvi. 41.

THAT there is an evil spirit, who is permitted to exert an influence upon the hearts of men, is abundantly evident from Scripture. This truth is referred to in the beginning of the gospel of Christ, where it is said Jesus went up into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. He is often represented in the Scriptures as the father of the wicked. "The tares are the children of the wicked one." "Thou child of the devil." He is also represented as putting evil designs into the hearts of men. And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel." "The devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him." "Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?" Wicked men are spoken of as being carried captive by him at his will. He is also represented as the adversary of the people of God, seeking to lead them into sin, and, if possible, to destroy them. "Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."