Chapter XIX.

Of Inward Prayer, And Of The True Use Of The Lord's Prayer.

Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.—Rom. 8:15.

As God operates eminently in humble souls; so the Holy Spirit particularly works in them the gift of filial prayer. Without the Spirit of God there is no true prayer; for he it is that cries and groans in the soul, being, as it were, its life. Rom. 8:26; Gal. 4:6. For as the soul is the life of our body, so is the Spirit of God the life of the soul, being the source of all its spiritual life and strength. This Holy Spirit is also the witness of our adoption and regeneration; and he who knows how to use these as he ought, relying, by faith in Christ and love of the Holy Spirit, upon the eternal love of his heavenly Father, will ask for, and receive great and heavenly gifts. For so great is the love, so abundant the goodness of God, that he can deny nothing to his children, who ask in faith. But as even faith and prayer are the work and gift of God, so we must daily apply ourselves to Him for the same. Hence arises the true internal prayer of the heart, from a true conversion and inclination of our souls and affections to God. This inward prayer pierces the heavens, whilst a man walking in the steps of his Saviour, freely and cheerfully takes up his cross and follows him; not like Simon the Cyrenian, who bore, indeed, the cross, but it was because he was compelled to do it. Matt. 27:32. So great is the love of God, that he does not stay for our prayers; but comes forth freely to meet us, and courts our friendship, entreating us to ask pardon for our sins, and to practise the same love towards our neighbors which he shows towards us. Happy is he, who truly knows, understands, and meditates on this boundless love of God in Jesus Christ. Such a man prays more effectually in his heart, than if he used the most perfect form of words. One single meditation or devout sigh offered up to God by Jesus Christ, in faith, love, and devotion, is more acceptable to God, than all the parade of external worship.

2. The whole life of a Christian ought to be spent in the exercise of love, and in the imitation of his crucified Lord. He properly is a Christian, who does all things from a principle of divine charity, and is transformed by it into the nature of Christ. And can God deny anything to so dutiful, loving, and obedient a child when he prays? No, surely. But that we might know how and for what we ought to ask, Christ has taught us the Lord's Prayer, a prayer full of petitions for the most exalted blessings. Can there be a greater good than the kingdom of God? For he himself is his own kingdom, extending to all rational creatures. So that when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we pray that God would please to bestow Himself upon us, with all the riches and blessings of his presence. In this kingdom, therefore, God is our Father, manifesting his paternal love and faithfulness to his children, by erecting his kingdom in us, that therein he may perfect his 413 most noble work in us, expressed in this petition, “Hallowed be thy name;” which is done when the dignity and excellency of the divine name and nature are more deeply discovered in the soul.

3. In this kingdom, which is within us, he works his own will, without any impediment. And so his “will is done in earth,” namely, in us, “as it is in heaven,” that is, in God himself. Hence we understand, that what God desires to bestow, and has commanded us to pray for, is nothing less than Himself. This was the promise that he made to Abraham, “I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Gen. 15:1. Moreover, our Heavenly Father gives us “our daily bread;” that is, he appropriates all his creatures to our use, testifying thereby the greatness of his love towards us. For the heart that is truly devoted to God, and in which he freely executes his own will, is capable of receiving the fulness of his grace and blessings. So great are the goodness, love, and mercy of God, that he can deny us nothing that is necessary either for the body or the soul; and he best knows our necessities. For this end he is daily setting our sins and miseries before our eyes, teaching us to abase ourselves before him, and to pray: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us.” For so compassionate is God, that he freely offers us forgiveness of sins, and teaches us how to ask it from the heart; that thereby we may be assured, that he is more ready to forgive, than we are to ask it; and that we may thence learn to exercise the same kindness towards our neighbor, that He exercises towards us. For they that are truly the children of God, exclude no man from their charity, or from the love of God. They have nothing more at heart, than the glory of God, the increase of his kingdom, and the salvation of all men. By this acknowledgment of sin, and petition for pardon, the Christian is taught, that in his natural state he is without God and his kingdom; void of comfort, poor and miserable. And, therefore, he is taught to pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” by which the devil endeavors to draw us from the will and kingdom of God; but that he would “deliver us from evil,” that is, from our own evil will and corrupt nature, which hinder the accomplishment of God's will, and the erecting of his kingdom in us, and deprive him of the honor due unto his name. “For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.” Whilst we receive these as coming from him alone, they still continue to be his. But if we do not ascribe them to Him alone, we exclude ourselves from his kingdom, his power, and his glory, not worthily sanctifying his name, nor obeying his will. And hence it follows, that we also are out of his kingdom, and so have no title to remission of sins and deliverance from evil.