which it is offered; and in order to prevent such failures, let us consider, I. The blessings for which we are authorised to petition the throne of grace. II. The manner in which our petitions should be presented; and III. The certainty of gaining our suit. I. The blessings for which we are authorised to petition the throne of grace. 1. Prayer has very properly been defined to be "the offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and a thankful acknowledgment of his mercies." The will of God must be our law and rule in prayer as well as in other duties, desires and practices. In submission to his will we may pray for the continuance of temporal comforts and mercies. Indeed we are taught to do this in the Lord's Prayer. Give us this day our daily bread." 2. But for true repentance, the pardon of our sins, the justification of our persons, the direct witness of the Holy Spirit, a clean heart; or, in other words, a title to, and a meetness for, heaven, we must pray without any restraint whatever. These " are things agreeable to the will of God." These we must have, or we shall be undone. Without repentance there is no pardon; without pardon there is no justification; without justification there is no peace with God, nor any Spirit of adoption; if we have not the Spirit of Christ we are none of his; and if not Christ's, we are the children of the wicked one. Behold, then, the absolute necessity of praying for those good and perfect gifts, upon the attainment of which depends our everlasting life. 3. Spiritual strength and vigour. When sinners have become believers they have still need to pray. It is true, having received the grace of God, they possess the spring and principle of spiritual life and action, but yet they need support. As the body absolutely requires nourishment, in order to live and enjoy health, so does the soul. Hence the apostle prays that the Colossians might " be strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, and that the Ephesians might be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." Believers need a continual supply of the bread of life, of living water, of the sincere milk of the Word, of the wine of the kingdom, i. e. of grace and comfort, of faith, patience, love, zeal, humility, meekness, &c. And for all these things the Lord will be inquired of. 4. Power to overcome enemies, to endure hardness, and to hold out to the end. The opposing powers are strong and numerous. The flesh, with its affections and lusts; the world, with its joys and sorrows, its anxieties, cares and trials; and the devil, with his temptations and buffetings. In order that the believer may be able to vanquish this invisible foe, there is complete armour provided for him. Eph. vi, 13-18. Prayer is no part of this armour, but it is that which brings vigour and nerve to wield and use it. 66 5. We should pray for others as well as for ourselves. For the church. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee." The ministers of the Gospel. Brethren, pray for us." For a wicked world. the wickedness of the wicked come to an end." O let II. The manner in which our petitions should be presented. 1. With a penitent, obedient and sincere heart. Psalm lvi, 18; xxxii, 5; li, 17; Prov. xxviii, 13; Isai. lvii, 15. 2. Prayer is a spiritual exercise, and as such can only be performed acceptably by the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Zech. xii, 10; Rom. viii, 26. 3. All acceptable prayer must be offered in the name of Christ. He is the Mediator between God and men," and through him we have access to the Father, and a gracious hearing and acceptance. John, xvi, 23. In this way must we come humbly but boldly to a throne of grace, and ask in faith, in a believing and expecting frame of mind. Heb. xi, 6; James, i, 6, 8; Matt. xxi, 22. 4. But when we have asked "for things agreeable to the will of God, perhaps we may not immediately receive. Then we must seek, examine first our own hearts, to see if we can find out any cause or reason why our prayer has not been answered; then search the Scriptures to see if we can lay fresh hold of the promise; lastly, seek again at the throne of grace, wait upon the Lord. 5. But perhaps the blessing is still withheld. And the flesh grows weak, the spirit flags, doubts and fears and wandering thoughts obtrude, the evil one insinuates and harasses; and then let the urgency of our case, and the promise of a faithful God, prompt us to knock, to wrestle, and agonize, with resolution and vehemence. See the design of the Saviour's parable, Luke, xviii, 1–9; also the case of the blind men, Matt. xx, 30, &c.; and of the woman of Canaan, Matt. xv, 21-29. See also the example of St. Paul, 2 Cor. xii, 7-10; and, above all, the example of Christ, Luke, xxii, 44. III. The certainty of gaining our suit. 66 1. Contemplation of the Divine character and perfections leads us to this conclusion. The Lord is good,” and he would never have commanded us to pray if he had not designed to answer. He has not said to us, Seek ye my face in vain." Thus saith the Lord: As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." And "can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?" "What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then," &c. (see context, 9—12.) 2. But we have also the positive promise. 64 66 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear their cry, and save them." Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee." All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." Quotations might be multiplied, but these are sufficient. 66 3. The experiment has been tried, and has been found to be successful; hence saith St. John, "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him." Numerous instances of answers to prayer are faithfully recorded in the Scriptures for our encouragement in this duty, e. gr. of Abraham, for the cities of the plain, Gen. xviii, 23-33; and for Abimelech, xx, 17; of Job, for his friends, Job, xlii, 8; of Moses, for the people, Exod. xxxii, 9-15; of Gideon, Judges, vi, 36, &c.; of Hezekiah, Isai. xxxviii, 5; of the Apostles, Acts, iv, 31; of Cornelius, x, 4; of the church, xii, 5, et seq.; and several others. “O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." JEHU'S COMPLIMENT. 2 KINGS, X, 15. "Is thine heart right ?” 66 THE history of our text is as follows :—Jehu, the son of Jehosaphat, and grandson of Nimshi, captain of the troops of Joram, king of Israel, was appointed by Almighty God to reign over Israel, and to avenge the sins and cruelties committed by the house of Ahab. The prophet Elijah received a commission to anoint him, (1 Kings, xix, 15, 16,) but owing to the timely submission of Ahab, the command was not executed until more than twenty years after, when Elisha sent one of the sons of the prophets to him, who took him aside from the officers with whom he was sitting, after the siege of Ramoth-gilead, and poured oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel :-thou shalt extirpate the house of Ahab, and avenge the blood of the prophets which hath been shed by Jezebel:"—and the prophet left him instantly. Jehu returned to the officers, and told them what the prophet had done and said; and they rose up, tendered their allegiance and submission, and sounding the trumpets, proclaimed him, crying "Jehu is king! that time, Joram, king of Israel, the third son of Ahab, was at Jezreel, ill of the wounds which he had received at Ramoth; and Jehu, ordering that no man should leave the army, went away himself to Jezreel, to surprise the king. The watchmen of Jezreel beheld his approach, and gave information to Joram, who sent an officer to meet him, and afterwards a second; but as neither of them returned, being retained by Jehu, Joram himself, with Ahaziah, king of Judah, went forth to meet the chariots, and the parties came up to each other in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. Is it peace, Jehu?" demanded the manifestly suspicious king of Israel. What peace?" replied Jehu: “ How can there be peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her withcrafts are so many?"—And he drew his bow, and smote Joram between his shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he died in his chariot. 66 At Having also despatched Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehu proceeded to Jezreel, and as he entered the city Jezebel was at her window, and he commanded her to be thrown out, and she was trampled to death by the horses, and devoured by dogs, according to the word of the prophet. He then slew the remainder of the sons of Ahab, and all his relations and friends, and all the great men of his court, and the priests that were in Jezreel. On his way to Samaria, he met the friends of Ahaziah, who were going to Jezreel, to salute the children of Ahab's family, of whose recent slaughter they were entirely ignorant; they were forty and two in number, and by his order they were all put to death. Soon after this, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?” 66 Such is the connexion in which our text stands. Let us pause a moment, and take a glance at this furious prince. Jehu was an inconsistent man. He asked Jehonadab, Is thine heart right?”—he said unto him, "Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” Then he resumed his sanguinary course, and slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Samaria, and all the prophets of Baal, and entirely destroyed the image and temple of Baal;—but all this time his own heart was not right in the sight of God, for he followed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin; and in all his zeal, he was actuated more by his own ambition and revenge than by the fear of God, or regard for the purity of his worship. Would to God that Jehu had no imitators; but it is to be feared that there are many whose professed zeal for the Lord of Hosts is merely ambition, bigotry, or sectarianism; and many others who can suspect the motives, and censure the conduct of others, while their own hearts are unsuspected. Now, that we may be kept from evil surmising, on the one hand, and, on the other, from criminal inattention to our own hearts, and the hearts of others, let us consider, I. The nature of the enquiry, or when the heart may be said to be right. II. The persons to whom, and the time when, this question ought to be proposed. |