16 - Prayer & Enforcement: An Argument

Chapter 16 PRAYER & ENFORCEMENT: AN ARGUMENT "For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory, forever, Amen"

We feel no small degree of reluctance in dismissing our contemplations upon this inimitable prayer. In bringing our meditations upon it to a close, our emotions are not unlike those the Christian feels in the more favored seasons when he has ’’ climbed the mount of prayer," and with lingering and tardy steps turns again to mingle with the noisy and bustling world. Thought crowds upon thought in his supplications; emotion swells upon emotion; and his suppressed, yet reiterated Amen, while it speaks the satisfaction of his heart at the throne of grace, also tells its sadness that he must mingle with other and less hallowed scenes. Our regret at arriving so soon at the close of these meditations, is, however, not a little relieved by the richness and variety of the topics on which we are allowed to dwell in these closing thoughts. When Christ undertakes to teach us, the instruction is complete. He will not have our petitions abrupt in their beginning, nor altogether unceremonious in their conclusion. We should approach the mercy seat recognizing his kindness, his tenderness, his greatness ; and leave it acknowledging our dependence upon him for all we desire and expect. " For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." In attempting to unfold and impress the spirit of this concluding sentence, we may not overlook the force of the conjunctive word, for, with which it begins : this is the true key to the whole passage. "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory." This is the reason urged by the suppliants why the request so comprehensively set forth, and embodying objects of such magnitude, should be granted. In offering them, they solicit no common favors ; they " open their mouth wide, that God may fill it." They ask for nothing less than that the name of their Father who is in heaven may be hallowed — that his kingdom may come — that his will may be done on earth, as it is in heaven — that he would furnish them with the daily supply of all their wants — that he would pardon all their sins — that he would not lead them into temptation — that he would deliver them from evil. There is great compass of thought and desire in such requests. What encouragement, what warrant even, have sinning men for offering them? By what arguments can they urge such petitions, and what reason have they to look for favorable and gracious answers to the voice of their supplication ?

They are weighty reasons, effective reasons : The kingdom, and the power, and the glory, belong to the great and gracious Being addressed, and belong to him forever. They do not pray to the idols of the heathen, who are the work of men’s hands ; nor to men who are as powerless as themselves ; nor to saints, nor angels, nor yet the highly favored mother of the incarnate Jesus, who have neither kingdom, nor glory, nor any power save such as God is pleased to give them. The object of their supplications is their Father who is in heaven. It is not merely to all that is affectionate, and kind, and condescending in his paternal character, that they make their appeal ; but to all that is great and glorious. It is to the " King eternal, immortal, and invisible ;" to the "Lord God Almighty;" to the "Father of glory," as well as the Father of mercies, and " their Father who is in heaven."

Prayer is not the unmeaning utterance of the lips, nor the effort of an unthinking mind. There is strong propriety, there is even importance in urging our requests at the throne of grace, by reason and argument. We are taught by the Apostle James that " the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." With whom does it avail ? Not with the suppliant, for he is the person who prays, and not the person to whom prayer is addressed. It has been more generally believed that the true and proper design of prayer is to produce an effect on the suppliant, by bringing into exercise the graces of his renewed nature, and securing such a state of mind as God shall approve, and to which he will grant that expression of his approbation implied in answers to prayer. No doubt that this is one of the effects of prayer; but the very idea of prayer carries with it the idea that its design is to act upon the Mind of the Being to whom it is addressed. Nor, so far as I can recall the instructions of the Bible, is there a single sentence, or suggestion, that the great object of prayer is to produce a fitting state of mind in the suppliant to receive the blessing he solicits. The Being prayed to is God himself; nor is the language too strong, to say that the design of praying to him is to influence and induce him to give what we ask for. It is not to inform, or change the Deity; for there is " no variableness, neither shadow of turning" with him; he "is of one mind, and who can turn him, and what his soul desireth that he doeth." It is not inconsistent with the doctrine of the divine immutability, that one of the unchanging properties of his nature is that he is the hearer of prayer, and that he is not less immutably a prayer-hearing God than he is a God of rectitude and truth. It is true that his counsels never change ; but it is equally true that no small part of them were formed in the foreknowledge of all those supplications by which He had previously resolved to be influenced, and which were regarded by him as the appointed means by which his purposes are carried into effect, and which as truly enter into, and form a part of his purposes, as the ends themselves which his purposes secure. The duty and the privilege of prayer, therefore, are not embarrassed, but sanctioned and encouraged by the immutability of the divine purposes. There is no mysticism about this plain subject. Prayer itself is just what it purports to be ; its object is just what it purports to be. It is to move the Deity, who from eternity determined to be thus moved, to bestow what the suppliant solicits. The whole field of reason and argument is therefore open to the mind of the petitioner when he goes to the throne of grace ; it is his privilege, with heartfelt sincerity, humility, and urgency, to suggest all those considerations which, in the view of a devout mind, may operate as reasons for obtaining his request. No reasonable man expects to receive a favorable answer to an unreasonable request. We ought not to solicit either of God or man, that which is not fit and proper to be bestowed. Such a request were an insult to him to whom it is presented ; it were a reproach to him who offers it. When a child requests a favor from a parent, or a subject makes a request to his prince, they are interested in making their cause good, and may be expected to set forth the grounds and reasons of their petition. God regards the supplications of men as neither an unnatural nor arbitrary means of procuring the good they crave. He never acts without reason, and has good reasons for requiring them to pray. He is the most reasonable Being in the universe ; and therefore the most easily and certainly influenced by considerations which have weight with a wise and benevolent mind ; so that when requests are urged at his throne by befitting considerations, they are sure to meet with favor unless there are other and stronger considerations known to him why it should be denied.

It is true that men sometimes pray without making use of argument in prayer ; when they do so, it is more generally to be attributed to one of two causes. Either they are shut up and have no enlargement of thought, and no such spiritual perceptions and sensibility as enable them to seize upon and amplify the grounds of their requests ; or they are too full to utter them, and can only comprehend them in those brief and compendious ejaculations which are expressive of intense desire, and those pithy and importunate entreaties which, while they forbid amplification, are instead of volumes of argument. In almost every other state of mind, they suggest the reasons why they pray, and why God should answer. Did they worship an idol god, they might rest satisfied with the unmeaning repetition of their requests, as did the priests of Baal, when " from morning to evening," they cried out, " O Baal, hear us! O Baal, hear us !" This was monotonous, senseless vociferation, and had none of the properties of prayer. The " man of God" who stood by, and listened to this noisy, tumultuous worship, offered a brief and ardent supplication, every word of which was full of thought. " And it came to pass at the time of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah came near and said, Lord God of Abraham Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back again !" The argument is perfect. If God would be known as God in Israel ; if he would be honored for the faithfulness of his promises to Abraham and his seed ; if he would publicly confirm the mission of his own prophet, and reclaim his backsliding people ; the appeal is one which could not be resisted. The power of prayer consists not in vapid and vain repetitions, but in affecting thoughts, presented in all the fervency of desire, and all the simplicity and humility of faith. Such was the prayer of Abraham, when he interceded for Sodom ; such was the prayer of Jacob, when, " as a prince, he had power with God and with man, and prevailed ;" such was the prayer of Moses, when he entreated that the divine anger might be turned away from the congregation of Israel; such was the prayer of Hezekiah, when he received the menacing message of the proud King of Assyria ; such was the prayer of Nehemiah and Daniel, when they interceded for the restoration of the exiled Jews ; and such was that wonderful prayer of the Saviour with, and for his disciples, uttered just before his crucifixion.

If the reader will turn to these supplications, and analyze them, he will be surprised to find how replete they are with thought and argument. They are remarkable for their energy, as well as for their simplicity ; nor is it possible for a devout mind to repeat these impressive and earnest pleadings with God without feeling their force, and perceiving that reason and argument are not out of place in prayer. " O that I knew where I might find him! I would come near even to his seat ; I would order my speech before him, and fill my mouth with arguments I" Here lies the power of prayer. It is to plead with God as a man expostulates with his friend. Who will question that prayer has power with God, when he hears the voice to Moses, as he was about to intercede for idolatrous Israel, " Let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them !" And how has it power? Not by any mechanical force or physical impulse, but by its moral energy; by its spirit, by its reasons and arguments, by the force of all those considerations by which a benevolent mind is moved to express its bounty, a gracious mind the tenderness and riches of its compassions, and the immutable mind to evince itself the prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God. The strong arguments, the prevalent reasons in prayer are drawn from God himself, " For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory." This shuts out all arguments drawn from the creature; from any merit we have, as well as any in those around us. The best of men have no worthiness to plead. " We do not," says the captive suppliant in Babylon, " present our supplications before thee for our righteousness’s." They are rebel men who pray. They may plead their own misery, their wants, their wretchedness, their vileness; but the fulness on which they rely is his fulness ; the merit they plead is his merit; the bounty and grace they ask are his bounty and grace ; and the glory of giving is his, and will redound to him forever. All the divine perfections harmonize in bestowing blessings on the guilty and ill-deserving. "Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." The medium of communication between heaven and earth is one. " Let no man," says the Apostle, "glory in men. For all things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come ; all are yours, and we are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s." The man who ’’orders his cause" wisely, most honors the God of heaven. He makes his appeal to the divine nature, to the divine Providence, to the redemption by his Son. His arguments are drawn from the knowledge and love of God, and from the revealed principles of his government and grace. The divine kingdom and glory furnish him with arguments. His reliance on the promises, furnishes him with arguments. When tempted not to pray, because he himself is so vile ; when his heart is shut up, and his lips are well nigh sealed in silence, by the humbling sense of his own ill-desert and shame; when most depressed and most discouraged, and almost crushed to hopeless despondency, because he can find nothing in his past history, or his present character, that can give him courage and hope ; then it is that the boundless all-sufficiency and illimitable grace of the great Hearer of prayer inspirits his otherwise discouraged heart, and his language is. Give, O Lord; for thine it is to give. I have nothing; but all is thine. I am nothing; but thou are all in all. I am poor, and miserable, and vile; but thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory. All is thine; thou hast all authority. All that is beautiful and great is thine, and from thee. No matter how great the boon we seek, or how undeserved, or how far above our reach; no matter how urgent the necessity, or how wonderful the relief, we pray and hope for; if there are reasons for giving it to be found in the wisdom, goodness, power, mercy, rectitude, and glory of the great God, or in any of the forms of his boundless sufficiency, or in any of the manifestations of his great and glorious name, and if they can be perceived and felt, and presented at the mercy seat, of this one thing we may be assured, that the suppliant shall not be sent away empty. When Abraham interceded for Sodom, his argument rested on the moral rectitude of God. This was the only consideration he urged. It prevailed. God "could not destroy the righteous with the wicked." The prayer of Jacob, on his return to the land of his fathers, when met by his enraged brother, Esau, rested on the divine faithfulness. God had said, " Return to thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee." The " best he could say to God in prayer, was what God had thus said to him in promise." He turned the promises of God into petitions, and was emboldened to say, " I will not let thee go, until thou bless me." The intercession of Moses for the idolatrous Israelites was founded on the divine honor and glory. "If thou smite this people, then the Egyptians shall hear of it, and tell it to the inhabitants of this land." Such, too, was the argument of Joshua, when he rent his clothes, and fell to the earth upon his face, before the ark, and said, "Alas, O Lord God! what shall I say when Israel turneth their back before their enemies? For the Canaanites, and the inhabitants of the land, shall hear of it ; and what wilt thou do unto thy great name?’’ That memorable prayer of Jehoshaphat, when the Israelites were invaded by the allied powers of Moab, Ammon and Edom, rested its expostulations upon God’s supremacy and power, his grant of the Holy Land to Israel, his promise to deliver them out of the hand of their enemies, and upon the patient hope and expectation of his people upon him alone.

These are but specimens of the supplications’, recorded throughout the entire Scriptures, all of which partake of the same high and disinterested character. One cannot read them without seeing, that the urgency and energy of every request rests upon some appeal to the glory of the divine name. Not only are they replete with reason and argument, but with considerations drawn from this high source. They do not consist of rhetorical flourishes, but of weighty and solemn thoughts, uttered in the simplicity, tenderness, and solemnity of true devotion; and while they are expressive of the spirit of adoption, are also expressive of sacred awe of the divine majesty; and while they disclaim reliance on other helpers, take hold of God’s strength, because it is the object and the encouragement of prayer, to honor him.

It is not the strength of the creature, that gives prayer its energy, but his weakness; nor is it the creature’s authority, but God’s; nor is it the work or the worthiness of man, on which it rests, but the work of God; nor is it man’s glory that it seeks, but God’s glory; nor are any of its resources found in man, but in God alone.

It is delightful, also, to observe the strong confidence of prayer, when it rests its pleadings on such arguments as these. While it becomes us to call upon God with an humble and submissive, it is not less our duty and privilege to call upon him with a confiding mind. Requests as large and comprehensive as those expressed in the Lord’s Prayer, demand strong confidence in God. We approach his throne as creatures, and as sinners — in all dependence and poverty — in all emptiness and ignorance — in all weakness and pollution — for blessings which we ourselves can neither deserve nor procure, and which no created being can deserve or procure for us. To approach with holy and joyful confidence, we must acquaint ourselves with God — must ascertain the foundations for confidence that are realized in his all-sufficiency and fulness ; and while we turn away with suspicion and distrust from all others, look beyond them all, to Him, with that affectionate and confiding spirit that is warranted by his infinite and unchanging perfections, and the Sacrifice which has opened a new and living way to his throne. "They that trust in the Lord, shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth forever." " Though He slay me, yet will I trust in him." " How great is thy goodness toward them that fear Thee, to them that trust in thee before the sons of men!" " Hath He said it, and shall he not do it ?" Such is the confidence of prayer. The people of God have sometimes strong confidence and great boldness in this exercise, because " great grace is upon them." There are three things which invigorate and inspirit this confidence. "For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory"

Thine is the kingdom. What we solicit, belongs to God, and he has it to give. We cannot ask too much, we cannot hope too much from him, because universal sovereignty belongs to him ; the essential kingdom of the universe, extending itself over the worlds of matter and of mind, of nature and of grace, is his unborrowed, underived, eternal prerogative. He is "God over all, blessed forever." He stands supreme among the whole intelligent creation ; the ascendency of his nature, and the infinite superiority of all that belongs to it, give him a right to all things, make him their owner and proprietor, and invest him with the natural and moral right, the sovereign and uncontrollable right of giving. This is a reason, alike for our asking, and his giving.

If men claim the right of disposing of what belongs to them, much more has He the " right to do what he will with his own." He has it to bestow in plenteousness which no thought can limit. " Giving does not impoverish him, neither does withholding enrich him." He can satisfy the amplest wishes. His encouraging language is, "Ask and it shall be given you." Let all your wants be upon me. " I am God, all-sufficient." The greater and more valuable the blessings we desire, the more confident may we be of receiving them in answer to prayer. It is related of Alexander the great, that on one occasion he told the philosopher Anaxarchus to go to his treasurer and ask what he wanted. The treasurer was surprised at the greatness of the sum, and refused to pay it without consulting his Prince. "It seemed," said he, " too much for one man to receive." The reply of his sovereign was, " It is not too much for Alexander to give. He does honor to my riches and liberality by so large a request." " Thine is the kingdom!" The princely liberality of the King the universe can no more be exhausted, than his inexhaustible fulness and all-sufficiency. He is not more a boundless ocean of blessedness, than of munificence. He is the great Benefactor, as truly as the great King. He takes a Godlike pleasure in answering the supplications of his people; his kingdom itself is extended and promoted by it; the greater the blessing, the more does his benevolent and liberal heart express itself, and the more is it gratified and honored by the gift.

Thine is the power. His too is the power, as well as the kingdom. That which he is pleased to will he is able to bestow. If his power to bestow were more limited than his right, or his disposition to give, there would be no strong foundation for confidence in prayer. If there were a single blessing he could not give, our confidence in him would be shaken for every blessing. Should his power fail in one instance, it were impossible for us to know that it would not fail in ten thousand instances, and in those in which the spirit of prayer feels the deepest interest. The confidence of the father of the faithful was encouraged by the declaration, " I am the Almighty God ;" Job was comforted with the thought, " I know that thou canst do everything ;" and the devout Psalmist gloried in the truth, "Our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatever he hath pleased.’’ The omnipotence of God hath not a little to do with the spirit of prayer. "Strong is his hand, and high is his right hand." He has a Godlike arm, as well as a Godlike heart. Be the good we crave what it may — spiritual, or temporal — relating to ourselves, or others — be it ever so retired and hidden from the eye, or beyond the reach of creatures — lie can bestow it with infinite ease. " He speaks, and it is done ; he commands, and it stands fast." Nothing can hinder, nothing disappoint, nothing weary him. " Whatsoever his soul desireth that he doeth." Difficulties, enemies, unworthiness, ill-desert, and the constant recurrence of our wants, form no obstacle to his bounty. If the good we crave be found anywhere in the wide universe, he can lay it at our feet; or if it is not in being, his all-powerful word can create it, and give existence to what had no existence before. "He can do all things.’’ What an argument for prayer, to say, "Thine is the power .’" And the result is. Thine is the glory! Here the argument and the ground of confidence become firm and invincible. His is the glory of being the hearer of prayer ; for " this is his name, and this is his memorial to all generations." His is the glory of this wondrous condescension and grace ; for he stoops to man who is a worm, and to sinful man who has provoked his wrath. His is the glory of giving; of giving where there is no merit and no recompense ; of so giving — so variously and so largely. His goodness, wisdom, power, justice, faithfulness, mercy, and sovereignty, all appear in their loveliness, beauty, and divine splendor in answering prayer. He gives what spotless innocence cannot claim ; what a world could not buy ; and by so doing his glory is both secured and advanced.

It is great glory which he spreads over the works of his hands ; but in giving what his people pray for, there is glory beyond all the glories of the natural world. Such a mind as Newton’s, looking out on the fields of space, sprinkled with suns for other systems as a meadow is decked with flowers, beholds in these wondrous works a glory which intelligence and piety delight to contemplate. But the glory of God as the hearer of prayer, as the greatest of all givers, as the author and sustainer of the new creation in the hearts of men and in this apostate world, with all its holiness, all its hopes, all its joys, surpasses it all, shines when the sun has gone out, and the cycles of time have come to a close.

" Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever!" The spirit of prayer is a far reaching spirit; it looks into eternity. The kingdom, and the power, and the glory are thine always; forever shall they shine in growing and augmented splendor. Hereafter and throughout ceaseless ages, "as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end," the God of heaven is exalted as the hearer of prayer. The three great arguments in prayer are therefore the three strong grounds of the suppliant’s confidence. The God we worship commands that confidence for what he is; sustains it by what he has said and done; perpetuates it by what he is still able and willing to do, and will have the glory of doing, in answer to the supplications of his people. Nor is it any reason why that confidence should be shaken, that sometimes he defers our requests, or withholds the solicited blessing. If we ask for what is best, we know that he heareth us; while, if through ignorance, infirmity, or sin, we fail in doing this, we still know that he will not be unmindful of our highest good, though he exercises his own wisdom and discretion in declining, as well as granting our requests. There is no ground for discouragement in prayer, where the Christian casts all his care on God; nor, on the other hand, is there any motive to prayer, or any comfort in this delightful duty, where these divine resources are lost sight of we become wise in his wisdom, mighty in his power, comforted in his all- sufficiency; when his wisdom guides us, when we take hold of his everlasting strength, and when, worms as we are, his all-sufficiency influences our prayers and actuates our conduct.

There is no place for discouragement, no room for despondency, so long as the kingdom, and the power, and the glory are the Lord’s. Thinking of ourselves only, and of our sins, and wants, and dangers, we have good cause for apprehension. But there is One who is God over all, who has all hearts in his hands and all events under his control, whom heaven and earth and sea obey, who is able to save and to destroy, before whom angels bow and devils tremble ; and though we are perfect weakness, yet is his grace sufficient, and his glory our rearward.

Prayer terminates in praise. The Father of mercies and the God of all grace is worthy to be exalted. Those excellencies of the divine nature we most dwell upon in prayer, and those considerations we make use of as our strongest arguments at the throne of grace, the more we contemplate them, become expressive of reverence and honor, kindle into gratitude and joy, and are the themes of admiring song. While we take encouragement in our prayers because the kingdom, power, and glory are the Lord’s, we necessarily desire that he may be exalted and glorified, and ascribe to him the glory due to his holy name. On that great occasion, when the princes and people of Israel offered so willingly for building the Temple, " David blessed the Lord, before all the congregation. And David said. Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all ; and in thine hand is power and might, and thine it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now, therefore, O God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name!" Paul’s ascription was, " Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory, forever and ever!" " Whoso offereth praise," saith God, " glorifieth me." Praise engages him to hear. " Sing praises unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth ; oh, sing praises unto the Lord! Talk of him, speak forth his name ; say of him, "Thine is the kingdom!" — the unbounded, universal kingdom, of nature, providence, and grace, is thine! The visible and the invisible, the kingdom above, and the kingdom below, the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of justice, are thine. " Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and of thy dominion there is no end." Above the heavens, beyond the earth, below the ocean, thy kingdom is prepared, O God, and thou reignest forever. The kingdoms of this world are but little spots of earth, compared with thy vast dominions, O thou sovereign Lord; and the princes of this world are but vanity, compared with thee. Thine, too, is the power. " Who, O Lord, is a strong Lord, like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about thee?" What wonders hast thou done, O thou who art very great, and art clothed with majesty!" Thou layest the beams of thy chambers in the mighty waters; thou makest the clouds thy chariot, and walkest upon the wings of the wind.’" The "Lord God omnipotent reigneth, and let the earth rejoice!" And the glory is thine. The glory of creatures is fallen, and their memory forgotten. The flower of Lebanon, and the beauty of Bashan and Carmel languish; but thy glory is above the earth and the heavens. "Glorious art thou in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders." As a great God, and a great King, decked as he is with light as with a garment, and arrayed in majesty and excellency, we may hope in him, and we may praise him. The kingdom, the power, and the glory, are his forever, " The Lord shall reign forever and ever." What a word is that one word " forever !" Nothing can increase, nothing diminish, nothing terminate the kingdom, power, and glory of God. Always glorious, always reigning in the fulness of his glory, he is God over all, blessed for evermore. And to these ascriptions, the spirit of prayer adds its hearty and emphatic Amen! This is a term of great emphasis. The original word signifies solidity — not to be shaken ; truth that stands firm. " He which testifieth these things saith, I come quickly ; amen. Even so, come. Lord Jesus !" We utter this emphatic term, in testimony of our desire to be heard, and of our assurance of being so. ’’ Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble; thou wilt prepare their heart, for thou wilt cause thine ear to hear." The desire and prayer for blessings always has some measure of assurance of them, in God’s own time and way. Let the kingdom be the Lord’s; let the power and the glory be his forever. Let him be exalted, and all creatures lie low at his footstool ! Prayer and praise may not be given to earth and creatures. We pay no such homage to the painting of the artist, the statuary of the sculptor, nor to any image graven by art or man’s device, nor to hero gods, nor to martyred saints. To God alone give glory. " Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things! And blessed be his glorious name forever! and let the whole earth be filled with his glory, amen and amen !"

Thus it is that ’’ in our prayers we praise him." The spirit of the closet and the sanctuary are closely allied to the spirit of heaven. " At his throne of grace, we are but a little distance from his throne of glory." The nearer we come to God, the more evidence have we that we shall dwell with God. He that would be fitted for heaven, must be much in prayer, while on the earth.

Alas! how little account do even God’s own people make of prayer! The pulse of spiritual life would never become low in the bosom of Christians, did they know more of the power of prayer. The dews of mercy would not be so often and so long restrained, nor the rain of heaven withheld, nor its clouds shut up, did they know what may be so easily known of the power and preciousness of prayer. God would remember his covenant, his church would flourish like the cedar in Lebanon, and grow as the vine, were she more faithful and diligent in thus proving the faithfulness and love of her divine Lord. Come, oh, " come thou north wind, and blow thou south, and breathe upon thy garden, that the spices thereof may flow forth !"

How marvelous, too, is it that wicked men never pray, or pray so little ! What a wonderful foundation is laid for prayer in the nature of the Deity, and at the mercy seat where the blood of Jesus pleads for the chief of sinners ! O that the thoughtless, impenitent reader of these humble pages might be allured by them to the throne of the heavenly grace ! He must live a life of prayer, that would die a death of praise.

They are those who love to pray, to whom the author takes leave to address this last paragraph. Let the Christian reader call to mind what and where he would have been without prayer; let him value the privilege more than the gold of Ophir. If in his more favored seasons of fellowship with his heavenly Father, he seems sometimes to leave these earthly regions behind him, and take his flight almost within the veil; let him "thank God and take courage." The earthly house of his tabernacle will soon be dissolved, and those who here truly call God their Father, will bow with the great multitude which no man can number, and ascribe blessing, and honor, and glory, and thanksgiving, and power, and might, to him who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb. Nothing: is more certain, than that the affectionate appeal, "Our Father who art in heaven," will terminate in the holy ardor of the everlasting song. Wondrous wisdom, wondrous goodness, wondrous grace, are they which are the themes of their song. Wonders still greater must remain untold, uncelebrated. The piety of heaven is progressive, though sinless ; their love is a constant, bright and glowing flame; their joy unspeakable and full of glory. The thoughts they utter and the emotions which swell their song are the most delightful, the most tender, the most pure and elevated, and rapturous. Creatures are forgotten there, and God alone is exalted. Created grandeur fades; the glory of all creatures vanishes. What a joyous, what a ravishing song, when ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, "as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, and as the voice of harpers harping with their harps," unite in the ascription,

" Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, even his father; to him be glory and dominion, forever and ever!" The more the reader is imbued with the spirit of heaven, and the nearer he draws to that unseen world, the less will he think, and feel, and speak of meaner things and meaner joys, and the more will his heart and tongue be filled with praise.

O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children of men! " To thee all angels cry aloud ; the heavens and all the powers that are therein. To thee Cherubim and Seraphim continually do cry. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth; heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory ! The glorious company of the Apostles praise thee, the goodly fellowship of the Prophets praise thee, the noble army of martyrs praise thee." The holy church throughout all the world doth praise thee. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord!

Praise is the appropriate employment of the heavenly world. Or rather, it is the employment which is there inwoven with all other employments. The day is not far distant when those who truly offer this prayer will have less to ask for, than to enjoy ; nothing daily to confess, because they will sin no more; no wants, no trials to spread before the throne of infinite mercy, because every want shall be supplied, and all tears shall be wiped from every eye. His name shall then be everywhere hallowed ; his kingdom shall have come in its glory ; they themselves, " clothed in white robes and with palms in their hands," shall " bow before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple." They shall hear the voice of much people in heaven, and with them shall cry "Hallelujah, glory, salvation, honor and power to the Lord our God!" And again they shall say, Hallelujah ! THE END.