The Return of Prayers, Part 1 · Chapter 8
Chap. 8.CHAP. VIII.
Seven Obſervations more, from the effects which the accompliſhment of the mercy hath upon the heart, &c.
§. 1. If the thing obtained drawes the heart neerer to God, and to reioyce in his favour in it, more than in the thing.FOurthly, thou mayeſt diſcerne whether they bee in anſwer to thy prayers, by the effects upon thy heart.
As 1. If the thing that is granted upon thy prayers, draw thy heart more neere unto God, it is then certaine, that it was granted as an anſwer to thy prayers. Things granted out of ordinary providence onelyonly, doe increaſe our luſts, and are ſnares to us; as Saul gave David his daughter Michol to be a ſnare to him:Pſal. 69. 22. So their full tables are made ſnares: ſo GOD gave the Iſraelites their will, the things they deſired, but withall gave them up to their luſts, Pſal. 106. 15. hee gave them their requeſts, but ſent leanneſſe into their ſoules; the Quailes might fat ſome of their bodies that ſurvived, yet their ſoules grew leane: there was a curſe upon their Spirits: this new delicate food made their bodies more luſtfull, they did eate and drinke, Exod. 32. 6and roſe up to play. But things obtained by prayer are ſanctified to us, for every thing is ſanctified by prayer, 1. Tim. 4. 5ſo as it ſhall not inſnare nor intangle our hearts: a thing obtained by prayer; as it came from God; ſo a man will returne it to God, and uſe it for his glory: So Hannah having obtained Samuel by prayer, ſhee returnes him unto God, 1. Sam. 1. 27 28. For this childe I prayed, and God gave me my petition, and therefore alſo I have lent him to the Lord as long as hee liveth. If therefore thou findeſt this his dealing with thee, in anſwering thee, to be a kindely motive to cauſe thee to mourne for ſin, and to bee as a reſtraint againſt ſin, it is a ſigne it was the fruit of praier: Thus it wrought with David, Pſal. 6. 8. Away from mee yee that work iniquity: God hath heard the voice of my weeping.
Alſo if thou rejoyceſt in God, more than in the thing obtained: ſo Hannah begins her ſong when ſhe bleſſeth God for her child; My heart rejoyceth in the Lord, &c. 1. Sam. 2. 1. Shee rejoyceth not ſo much in the gift as in the giver; and his favour more in this that her prayer was anſwered, then in the thing obtained: this is a ſigne of having obtained the mercy through prayers, when it is thus ſanctified unto a mans ſpirit.
§. 2. Prayer anſwered enlargeth the heart with thankfulneſſe.2 Prayers anſwered will inlarge thy heart with thankefulneſſe, and thus uſually they doe; ſelfe-love makes us more forward to pray, than to give thankes; for nature is all of the craving and taking hand: but where grace is, there will be no eminent merciemercy gotten with much ſtrugling, but there will be a continued particular thankfull remembrance of it a long while after, with much inlargement: and As prayers abounded, ſo will thankſgiving abound alſo. Hannah, ſhee makes a Song, 1. Sam. 1. 2. Great bleſſings that are wonne with prayer, are worne with thankfulneſſe: ſuch a man will not aſk new, but he will withall give thankes for old. Thankfulneſſe, of all duties, proceeds from pure grace, therefore if the ſpirit ſtirs thee unto it, it is a ſigne he made the prayer; What thankes ſhall I render to God, for the joy I have in you, ſaith S. Paul, 1. Theſſ. 3. 9, 10? So in all his other Epiſtles, all thoſe hee writes to, as he prayes for them, ſo hee tells them, he gives thanks for them, and for their graces which he had prayed for. And if anſwering prayers for others, makes S. Paul ſo thankfull, what when for himſelfe? Prayer and thanks, are like the double motion of the lungs, the ayre that is ſucked in by prayer, is breathed forth againe by thanks: Is thy heart afreſh inlarged, as to mourne for paſt ſins long ſince committed, ſo in like manner, to give thankes for paſt mercies wonne with long prayers, and this for a long while after? it is a ſign that they were obtained by prayer.
§. 3. If this encourageth thee to go to God againe.3 If the mercy obtained doth encourage thee to goe to GOD another time, to pray againe the more confidently and fervently, it is a ſigne thou haſt got the former that way: For the Holy Ghoſt having once ſhewed thee this way of procuring mercy, hence it is, thou art thus ready to take the ſame courſe another time. Pſal. 116. 2. The Lord hath heard mee, and I will call on him as long as I live. I know (ſayes hee) now what courſe to take, if I be in any want, even to call upon him; and he calls upon others to doe ſo too.
§ 4. It makes a man carefull to performe his vows made in prayer, to obtaine it.4 When God having heard thy prayers upon ſolemne vowes made by thee, thy heart is made carefull to pay thoſe vowes, which thou didſt make in the time of thy ſuing to GOD for that mercy, this may be an argument to thee, the thing being granted, that thy prayer was heard. For firſt, it argueth, that thy heart it ſelfe doth ſecretly make ſuch an account, that upon them God did grant the thing, and thou doſt therefore make conſcience to return all again to God in ſervice, as the condition of thy Indentures made with him; and as an homage due, and an acknowledgement for ever, that ſuch a mercy was won by prayer; and by this preſerveſt the memory of the receit of that mercy: vowes being of the nature of homage: and ſecondly, in this alſo it is an evidence, that the thing was obtained by prayer, in that God cals for thoſe vowes from thee, by his Spirit in thy heart, and ſtirs thee up to perform them; it argues that in relation to thy prayers anſwered, He takes them as dues from thee, that having diſpatcht thy ſuite, He now calls for what was agreed to bee given him when it ſhould bee performed. And thirdly, in that alſo he doth accept the payment of theſe thy vows of thee, he acknowledgeth that thoſe vowes and prayers were heard: for as Manoah ſaid in another caſe, If hee meant to have deſtroyed us, Iudg. 13. 23hee would not have accepted a ſacrifice: ſo in this caſe it may be ſaid, if God had not heard thy prayers, hee would not have accepted thy vowes after thy praying. Thus David, Pſal. 66. 13, 14. I will pay thee my vowes, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath ſpoken, when I was in my trouble; the reaſon follows, v. 17, 19. becauſe that Verily God hath heard me, when I cryed to him: and ſo Eliphaz in Iob doth connect and hang theſe two together, Iob 22. 27. Thou ſhalt make thy prayer to him, and he ſhall heare thee, and thou ſhalt pay thy vowes: This which he ſpeakes of paying his vowes, was not onelyonly as it was to be his duty, but alſo as a conſequent that would follow the other, that when his prayers ſhould be heard, he thereupon would performe his vowes: for his ſcope is to move Iob to turne to God, ſhewing what benefit would accrue to him by it, and amongſt others this: The hearing his prayers, and performing his vowes.
5 If a man ſees by faith, and acknowledgeth God … ſole han… in the accompliſhment.5 When thou art inabled by faith, to ſee cleerly Gods hand ſhewed forth in the effecting of that mercy over and above the power of ſecond cauſes, and to acknowledge it to his glory: for the truth is, one maine cavilling reaſon in our blinde hearts, whereby wee are uſually hindred and put by from apprehending our prayers to be anſwered, when yet the thing is done, wee ſhall find to be, that our eyes are terminated and bounded in ſecond cauſes, and not raiſed to ſee Gods hand in the thing: therefore on the contrary, when God inableth thee to ſee that hee hath done thee this kindneſſe, ſo as thy minde is cleere in it, this is a fruit of his hearing thy prayers: And this you will uſually finde to be true, that ſo much faith and dependance as you had upon God in prayer for the obtaining of a mercy, ſo much faith and acknowledgement you will have in the accompliſhment of it. Parallel with this rule is that other, which in another caſe is uſually given, that in performance of duties, ſo much as the ſoul did goe out of it ſelfe to God, for ſtrength to performe them, ſo much, when they are performed, will the heart acknowledge Gods aſſiſtance and be humbled: And this is a ſigne of prayer being heard upon this ground, becauſe Gods end of hearing prayers is, that wee might glorifie him. So Pſal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou ſhalt glorify mee. Therefore when the heart hath prayed much for a mercy, with dependance before the obtaining of it, and then is enabled to exalt God when it is obtained; it is a ſigne that God did it in relation to thoſe prayers. For there is that connexion made betweene theſe, as between the cauſe and the effect, I will heare thee, and thou ſhalt glorifie me. David, when he was delivered out of all his troubles, (as when hee made that 18. Pſal. he was, as appeares by the title of it) then at the 6. verſe, he relates how he had prayed, and how hee was heard; and ſee thereupon how his heart was enlarged to acknowledge God alone to have done all, in the reſt of that Pſalme; ſo from the 27. and alſo from the 31. ver. When wee ſee Angels from God, beyond the power of ſecond cauſes deſcending, it is a ſigne, that prayers, as Angels, firſt aſcended, and obtained that mercy. Thus alſo the Church Eſay 26. having obtained thoſe deliverances by prayer, ver. 17. (for which there ſhe makes that ſong by way of thankfulneſſe) ſhe aſcribes all unto God, ver. 12. Thou haſt wrought all our workes for us, and ver. 18. Verily we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth.
§. 6. With the mercy, ſometimes a ſpeciall evidence comes in, that it is obtained by prayer.6 When with the mercy there commeth the aſſurance of Gods love, and an evidence of his favour, when GOD ſends not a bare token only, but a letter alſo with it, to beare witneſſe of his love, in which the token is wrapt. I need not make that a ſign, for when this comes with a mercy, it carries its owne evidence, you will then know well enough that it is the fruit of prayer.
§. 7. By the evēt; things obtained by prayer, prove reall and ſtable mercies.7 Laſtly, it will be evident by the event; things obtained by prayer have few thornes in them, the curſe is taken out, but what comes but by ordinary providence, comes as it were up of it ſelfe alone, and like the earth untilled, is full of thornes, and bryers, and many vexations: The reaſon is, for what comes in by prayer comes as a bleſſing, and ſo no ſorrow is added to it; and alſo becauſe prayer killeth thoſe inordinate luſts, which is the cauſe of that vanity and vexation which is in the things enjoyed. But when the bleſsing of God maketh rich, he addeth no ſorrow with it, Prov. 10. 22. Things long deferred, at laſt obtained by prayer, prove moſt cō fortable, and in a ſetled manner ſuch; they prove ſtanding and ſtable bleſſings; and what trouble the heart was put to in the deferring, it is recompenced by the more ſetled conſtant immixt ſweetneſſe in the enjoying; prayer having long perfumed it, and the thing being ſteeped therein, it proves exceeding pleaſant. So Prov. 13. 12. Hope deferred makes the heart ſicke, but when the deſire comes, it is a tree of life, and heales that ſickneſſe, and abundantly comforts the heart. Thus Iſaac found Rebekkah a great bleſſing, and a comfortable wife to him, Gen. 24. ult. Such a comfort alſo was Iſaac to Abraham, Gen. 17. 18, 19. A ſonne indeed, a ſonne of laughter, as his name ſignifies: and ſuch was Samuel to Hannah, ſhee had not onelyonly a ſonne of him, but a good ſon, a bleſſed ſon, a Prophet, and the Judge of the people of God: whereas Iacob getting the bleſſing, but without prayer, how imbittered was it to him, (though a bleſſing to him in the event) by twenty yeeres baniſhment from his mothers houſe? When Iſrael themſelves ſet up a King, but not by me, as God ſaies, what a puniſhment was he to them? given in wrath, and taken away in anger: Hoſ. 13. 11.