The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3 · Chapter 20
The .xx. Chapter. ¶ Of prayer, which is the chiefe exercise of faith, and whereby we dayly receiue the benefites of God.
OF these thinges that hauehave ben hetherto spoken, we plainely perceyue how needy and voyde mā is of al good things, and how he wanteth al helpes of saluation. Wherfore if he seke for relefes whereby he may succour his needinesse, he must goe out of himselfe and get them els where. This is afterward declared vntounto vsus, that the Lord doth of his owne free will and liberally geue himself to vsus in his Christ, in whom he offreth vsus in stede of our miserie all felicitie, in stede of our neede welthinesse, in whome he openeth to vsus the heauenly treasures: that our whole faith should behold his beloued sonne, that vponupon him our whole expectatiō should hang, in him our whole hope should sticke fast and reste. This verily is the secret and hidden Philosophie, whiche can not be wrong out with Logiciall argumentes: but they learne it whose eyes God hath opened that they may see light in his light. But sins that we are taught by fayth to acknowledge that what so euer we hauehave neede of, whatsoeuer wāteth in vsus, the same is in God and in our Lord Iesus Christ, namely in whome the Lorde willed the whole fulnesse of his largesse to rest, that from thense we should all drawe as out of a most plentifull fountaine: now it remayneth that we seke in him, and with praiers craue of him that which we hauehave learned to be in him. Otherwise to know God to be the Lord and geuer of all good things, which allureth vsus to pray to him: and not to goe to him & praye to him: shold so nothing profit vsus, that it should be alone as if a man should neglect a treasure shewed him buried and digged in the ground. Therfore the Apostle, to shewe that true fayth can not be idle from callyng vponupon God, hath set this order: that as of the Gospell spryngeth faith, so by it our heartes are framed to cal vponupon the name of God. And this is the same thyng which he had a litle before sayd,Rom. viii.xxvi. that the Spirit of adoption, which sealeth in our heartes the witnesse of the Gospell, rayseth vp our spirites that they dare shewe forth their desires to God, stirre vp vnspeakable gronynges, and crie with confidence Abba, Father. It is mete therefore that this last poynt, bycause it was before but only spoken of by the waye and as it were lightly touched, should nowe be more largely entreated of.
This therefore we get by the benefit of prayer, that we atteyne to those richesses whiche are layed vp for vsus with the heauenly father. For there is a certayne communicatyng of men with God, whereby they entryng into sanctuarie of heauen do in his owne presence cal to him touchyng his promises: that the same thyng whiche they beleued him affirmyng only in word not to be vayne, they maye when neede so requireth finde in experience. Therefore we see that there is nothing set forth to vsus to be loked for at the hande of the Lord, whiche we are not also cōmaunded to craue with praiers: so true it is that by prayer are digged vp the treasures, which our fayth hath loked vponupon beyng shewed to it by the gospell of the Lord. Now how necessarie and how many wayes profitable this exercise of prayer is, it can by no wordes be sufficiently declared. Undoutedly it is not without cause that the heauenly father testifieth, that the only fortresse of saluation is in the callyng vponupon his name, namely whereby we call to vsus the presence bothe of his prouidence, by whiche he watcheth to take care of our matters: and of his power, by which he susteineth vsus beyng weake & in a manner fayntyng: and of his goodnesse, by which he receiueth vsus into fauor beyng miserably loden with sinnes: finally whereby we cal him al whole, to geue himself present to vsus. Hereby groweth singular rest and quietnesse to our consciences. For when we hauehave disclosed to the Lord the necessitie whiche distressed vsus, we largely rest though it were but in this onelyonly that none of our euels is hidden from him, whō we are persuaded bothe to be most well willyng toward vsus, and most able to prouide well for vsus.
But (will some man saye) did not he know without any to put in minde of it, bothe in what part we be distressed, and what is expedient for vsus: so that it maye seme after a certayne manner superfluous, that he should be troubled with our prayers, as though he winked or slept, vntill he were awaked with our voice? But they which so reason, marke not to what ende the lord hath instructed them that be his to pray: for he ordeined it not so much for his owne cause as rather for oures. He willeth in deede, as right it is, yt his due be rendred to him, when they acknowledge to come from him whatsoeuer men require, or doe perceiue to make for their profit, and doe testifie the same with wishynges. But the profit also of this sacrifice wherewith he is worshipped, commeth to vsus. Therefore how much more boldly the holy fathers gloriously talked bothe to thēselues and other of the benefites of God, so much the more sharply they were pricked forward to pray. The only example of Elias shalbe enough for vsus, whiche beyng sure of the counsell of God, after that he not rashely had promised raine to Achab,i. kin. xviii xiii. yet busily prayeth betwene his knees, and sendeth his seruant seuen times to espie it: not for that he dyd discredit the oracle of God, but bycause he knew that it was his dutie, least his faith should waxe drowsy and sluggish, to laye vp his desires with God. Wherefore although while we lye senslesse & so dull that we perceiue not our owne miseries, he waketh and watcheth for vsus, and somtime also helpeth vsus vndesired, yet it much behoueth vsus, that he be continually called vponupon of vsus, that our heart maye be enflamed with earnest and feruent desire to seke, louelove, and worship him, while we accustome our selues in eueryevery necessitie to s…ee to him as to our shoote anchare. Againe, that no desire and no wishe at all maye entre into our minde, whereof we should be ashamed to make him witnesse, while we learne to present our wishes, yea & to poure out our whole heart before his eyes. Then, y• we may be framed to receiue al his benefites with true thākfulnesse of minde, yea & with outward thankesgeuyng, of which we are put in minde by our prayer yt thei come to vsus frō his hād. Moreouer, yt when we hauehave obteined yt whiche we desired, beyng persuaded that he hath answered to our prayers, we may be therby ye more feruētly caried to thinke vpō his kindenesse, & therewithal embrace wt greater pleasure those thinges which we acknowledge to hauehave ben obteined by prayer. Laste of all, that very vse and experience maye accordyng to the measure of our weakenesse assure our mindes of his prouidence, when we vnderstand that he not only promiseth that he will neuer faile vsus, and that he doth of his owne accord open vsus the entrie to cal to him in the very point of necessitie, but also hath his hand alway stretched out to help them that be his, and that he doth not feade them with wordes, but defendeth them with present help. For these causes, the most kinde Father, although he neuer slepeth or is sluggishe, yet oftentimes maketh a shew as though he slept & were sluggish, that so he maye exercise vsus, which are otherwise sloughtfull & sluggish to come to him, to aske of him, to require him to our owne great benefit. Therfore they do to foolishly, which to cal away the mindes of men frō prayer, babble that the prouidence of God, which maketh for the safekeping of al thinges,Psa. …xiii.xviii. is in vaine weried with our callinges vponupon him: Whereas the lord cōtrariwise not in vaine testifieth that he is …e to al thē that call vpō his name in truth. And of none other sort is that which other do triffingly say, that it is superfluous to aske those thinges whiche the Lord is of his owne will ready to geue: whereas euen the very same thinges which flowe to vsus from his owne free liberalitie, he wil hauehave vsus acknowlege to be graunted to our prayers. Whiche thing that notable sentēce of the Psalm doth testifie, wherwith many like sayenges do accord.Ps. xxxiiii.xvi. The eyes of the Lord are vponupon the righteous, & his eares vntounto their prayers. Which sayeng so setteth out the prouidence of God bent of his own accord to prouide sor the safetie of the godly, that yet he omitteth not the exercise of faith, wherby sloughtfulnesse is wiped frō the mindes of men. The eyes of God therfore do wake, that he may succour the necessitie of the blinde: but he will againe on our behalues heare our groninges, that he maye the better proue his louelove toward vsus.Psa. xxxi.iiii. And so bothe are true, that the watcheman of Israell slepeth not, nor slombreth, and yet that he sitteth still as hauynge forgotten vsus when he seeth vsus dull and dumme.
Now, to frame prayer rightly & well, let this be the first rule, that we be no otherwise framed in minde and heart, than becōmeth them that entre into talke with God. Whiche verily we shall atteyne as touchyng the minde, of the same beyng free from fleshely cares and thoughtes wherwith it may be called away or withdrawe frō ye right & pure beholding of God, do not only bend it self wholly to prayer, but also so much as is possible be lifted vp & caried aboue it self. Neither do I here require a minde so at libertie, that it be pricked & nipped wt no …are, wheras cōtrariwise the feruētnesse of praier must by much carefulnesse be kindled in vsus (as we see yt the holy seruāts of God do som…e declare great tormentes, much more carefulnesses, when they … …hat thei vtter to the lord a bewayling voice out of the depe depth, … out of the middest of the iawes of death) But I say that al strāge …d foreyne cares must be driuen away, wherwith the minde it selfe wandring hether and thether is caried about, and beyng drawen out of heauen is pressed downe to the earth. I meane by this that it must be lifted vp aboue it selfe, that it maye not bryng into the sight of God any of those thinges whiche our blinde and foolish reason is wont to imagine, nor may holde it self bound within the compasse of her owne vanitie, but rise vp to purenesse worthy for God.
Bothe these thinges are specially worthy to be noted, yt whosoeuer prepareth himself to pray, shold thereto applie al his senses and endeuors, & not (as men are wont) be diuersly drawen with wandering thoughtes: bicause there is nothyng more contrarie to the reuerēce of God, thā such lightnesse which is a witnesse of to wāton licētiousnesse and lose from al feare. In which thing we must so much more earnestly labor, as we find it more hard, for no man can be so bent to praye, but that he shal fele manye biethoughtes to crepe vppon him, either to breake of, or by some bowing and swaruing to hinder the course of his praier. But here let vsus cal to minde, how great an vnworthines it is, when God receiueth vsus vntounto familiar talke with him, to abuse his so great gentelnesse, with minglyng holy and profane thinges together, when the reuerence of him holdeth not our mindes fast bounde vntounto him: but as if we talked with some meane man, we do in the middest of our praier, forsaking him, leape hether and thether. Let vsus therfore know that none do rightly and wel prepare thēselues to prayer, but they whom the maiestie of God pearceth, that they come to it vncumbred of earthly cares and affections. And that is ment by the ceremonie of lifting vp of handes, that men should remēber that they be farre distant from God, vnlesse they lifte vp their senses on hie. As also it is said in the Psalm.Psa. xxv. … To thee hauehave I lifted vp my soule. And the Scripture oftentimes vseth this maner of spech, to lift vp praier: that they which desire to be hard of God, should not sit stil in their dregges. Let this be the summe: that how much more liberallye God dealeth with vsus, gently alluring vsus to vnlode our cares into his bosome, so muche lesse excusable ar we vnlesse his so excellent and incomparable benefit do with vsus ouerwey al other thinges and draw vsus vntounto it self, that we may earnestly apply our endeuors & senses to pray: which can not be done vnlesse our mind be strōgly wrastling with the hinderances do rise vp aboue thē. An other point we hauehave set forth▪ yt we aske no more than God geueth leaue. For though he biddeth vsus to poure out oure hartes, yet he doth indiffērently geue loose reynes to folyshe and froward affections: and when he promiseth that he will do according to the wil of the Godly,Psa. ixii.ix he procedeth not to so tender bearing with them that he submitteth himself to their wil. But in both these pointes men do commonly much offend. For not onelyonly the most part of mē presume without shame, without reuerence, to speake to God for their follies, and shamelesly to present to his throne whatsoeuer liked thē in theyr dreame: but also so great folishenes or senlesse dulnesse possesseth thē, that they dare thrust into the hearing of God, euen al their most filthy desires, wherof they would greatly be ashamed to make men priuie. Some profane men hauehave laughed to scorne, yea and detested this boldnesse, yet the vice it selfe hath alwaye reigned. And hereby it came to passe that ambitious men hauehave chosen Iupiter to be their Patrone: couetous men, Mercurie: the desirous of learning, Apollo and Minerua: warri…rs Mars: and Lechorous folke, Uenus. Like as at this day (as I hauehave euen now touched) men do in prayers graunt more licence to their vnlawful desires, than when they sportinglye talke with their Egalles. But God suffreth not his gentlenes to be so mocked: but claiming to himselfe his right, maketh our praiers subiect to his aucthorite,i. Ihon. v.x…. & restraineth thē with a bridle. Therfore we must kepe fast this saying of Ihon, This is our affiance, yt if we aske any thynge according to his wil, he heareth vsus. But forasmuch as our abilities ar far frō being sufficient to performe so great perfection, we must seke a remedie to helpe vsus. As we ought to bend the sight of our mind to god so the affection of the heart ought also to followe to the same ende. But bothe doe staye far benethe it, yea rather doe faynt and fayle or be carried a contrarie waye. Therefore God, to succour this weakenesse, in our prayers geueth the spirite to be our Scholemaister, to instruct vsus what is right, and to gouerne our affections. For bicause we knowe not what we ought to praye as we ought,Rom. viii.xxvi. the spirit commeth to our succour, and maketh intercession for vsus with vnspeakeable groninges, not that it in deede eyther prayeth or groneth, but stirreth vp in vsus affiance, desires, and sighynges, whiche the strength of nature were not able to conceyue. And not without cause Paule calleth them vnspeakeable groninges which so the faithful send forth by the guidyng of the Spirit, bicause they whiche are truely exercised in prayers, are not ignorant that they be so holden in perplexitie with blinde cares, that they scarcely finde what is profitable for them to speake: yea while they goe about to vtter stammeryng wordes, they sticke fast encombred. Wherupon it foloweth, that the gift of prayeng rightly is a singular gift. These thinges are not spoken to this purpose, that we fauoryng our owne slouthfulnesse should geue ouer the charge of prayeng to the Spirit of God, & lie dull in that carelesnesse, to whiche we are to muche enclined: (as there are heard the wicked sayenges of some, that we must lie negligently gapyng to wayte vntill he preuent our mindes occupied els where) but rather that we lothyng our owne slouthfulnesse and sluggishnesse, should craue suche helpe of the Spirit.ii. Cor. xiiii xxvi. Neyther doth Paule, when he biddeth vsus to pray in Spirit, therefore cesse to exhort vsus to wakefulnesse: meanyng that the instinct of the Spirit so vseth his force to frame our prayers, that it nothyng hindereth or slacketh our owne endeuor: bicause God will in this behalf proue how effectually fayth moueth our heartes.
Let also an other law be, that in prayeng we alway fele our owne wante, and that earnestly thinkyng howe we stande in neede of those thinges that we aske, we ioyne with our prayer an earnest yea feruent affection to obteine. For, many do slightly for manners sake recite prayers after a prescribed forme, as though they rendred a certayne talke to God: and although they confesse that this is a necessarie remedie for their euels, bicause it is to their destructiō to be without the help of God which they craue: yet it appereth that they do this dutie for custome, for asmuch as in the meane time their mindes are colde, and do not weye what they aske. The generall and confuse felyng in deede of their necessitie leadeth them hereunto: but it dothe not stirre them as it were in a present case to aske relefe of their neede. Nowe what thynke we to be more hatefull or more detestable to God than this faynyng, when a manne asketh forgeuenesse of sinnes, in the meane tyme eyther thynkynge that he is not a sinner, or not thynkyng vponupon this that he is a sinner: euen where with God himselfe is playnely mocked? But of suche peruersnesse (as I hauehave sayde) mankinde is full, that for manners sake they many tymes aske many thynges of God, whyche they certaynely Iudge that without his liberalitie to come to them from some other where, or that they hauehave them already remaynyng with them. The faulte of some other semeth to bee lighter and yet not tolerable, that they whiche hauehave only conceyued this principle that we muste sacrifice to God with prayers, doe mumble vp prayers without any musyng of minde vponupon them. But the Godly muste principally take heede, that they neuer co…e into the sight of God to aske any thyng, but bycause they doe both boyle with earnest affection of heart, and do therewithall desire to obteyne it of him. Yea and also though in those thinges which we aske only to the glorie of God, we seme not at the first sight to prouide for our owne necessitie, yet the same ought to be asked with no lesse feruentnesse and vehementnesse of desire. As, when we praye that his name be hallowed, we must (as I maye so speake) feruently hunger and thirst for that hallowyng.
If any man obiect, that we are not alway dryuen with like necessitie to praye, I graunt the same in deede: and this difference is profitably taught vsus of Iames:Iac. v.xiii. Is any man heauy amonge you? Let him praye. Whoe so is mery, let him sing. Therefore euen common felyng teacheth vsus, that bicause we are to slouthfull, therfore as ye matter requireth we are the more sharply pricked forward of God to pray earnestly. And this Dauid calleth the fit time,Psa. xxxii.…. bicause (as he teacheth in many other places) how much more hardly troubles, discommodities, feares, and other kindes of tentations do presse vsus, so much freer accesse is open for vsus,Ephe. vi.xviii. as though God did call vsus vntounto him. But yet no lesse true is that sayeng of Paule, that we muste pray at all times: bicause howsoeuer things prosperously flowe according to our heartes desire, and matter of mirth doth compasse vsus on eueryevery side, yet there is no minute of time wherein our neede doth not exhorte vsus to praye. If a man hauehave abundance of wine and wheate: yet sithe he can not enioye one morsel of bread but by ye cōtinual grace of God, whole cellars or barnesful shal be no let why he should not craue dayly bread. Nowe yf we call to minde howe many daungers doe eueryevery moment hange ouer vsus, the very feare it selfe wil teache vsus yt we hauehave no time free from prayer. But this we may better perceiue in spiritual things. For, when shall so many sinnes, whereof we knowe our selues gilty, suffer vsus to sit still without care and not in humble wise craue pardon bothe of the fault and the peine? When do tentations graunt vsus truce, so that we neede not to hast vntounto helpe? Moreouer the desire of the kingdome and glorie of God ought so to plucke vsus to it selfe, not by fittes but continually, that it should alwaye bee fit time for vsus. Therefore not without cause we are so oft commaunded to pray continually. I doe not yet speake of perseuerance in prayer, wherof mention shalbe made herafter: but when the Scripture warneth vsus that we ought to pray continually, it accuseth our slouth…ulnesse, bicause we do not perceiue howe necessarie this care and diligence is for vsus. By this rule all hypocrisie & craftinesse of lyeng to God, is debarred, yea driuen far away from prayer. God promiseth that he will be nere to al them that cal vponupon him in truth, & he pronounceth that thei shal finde him which seke him with their whole heart. But they aspire not thether which please themselues in their owne filthinesse. Therfore a right prayer requireth repētāce. Wherupō this is cōmonly said in the scriptures, yt God heareth not wicked doers, & yt their prayers are accursed, like as their sacrifices also be: bicause it is rightful yt thei find ye eares of God shut, which do lock vp their own hearts: & that they shold not finde God easy to vow, which do with their own hardnesse prouoke his stiffenesse. In Esaie he threatneth after this māner.Esa. v.xv When ye shal multiplie your praiers, I will not heare you: for your hands are full of bloode. Againe in Ieremie:Ier. xi.vii & xi. I hauehave cried, & they hauehave refused to heare: thei shall likewise crie, and I will not heare: bycause he taketh it for a most hie dishonoure, that wicked men shold boast of his couenant, whiche do in al their life defile his holy name. Wherfore in Esaie he cōplayneth,Esa. xxix.xxxix. that when the Iewes come neare to him with their lippes, theyr heart is farre from him. He speaketh not this of only praiers, but affirmeth that he abhorreth fayninge in al the partes of whorshipinge him: To which purpose maketh that saieng of Iames.Iam. iiii.iij. Ye ask, & receiue not: bicause ye aske il, that ye may spende it vponupon your pleasures. It is true in dede (as we shal againe shewe a little herafter) that the praiers of y• godly which thei poure out, do not rest vponupon their own worthinesse: yet is not y• admonition of Ihon superfluous:i. Ihon. i… xxii. If we ask any thing, we shal receiue it of him, bicause we kepe his commaundements: forasmuch as an euel conscience shutteth the gate againste vsus. Wherevpon foloweth that none do rightly praie, nor are hearde, but the pure worshippers of God. Therefore whosoeuer prepareth himself to praie, let him be lothful to himself in his own euels, & (whiche can not be done wt out repentance) let him put on the person and minde of a begger.
Hereunto let the third rule be ioyned, that whosoeuer presenteth himself before God to praie, shold forsake al thinking of his own glorie, put of al opinion of worthinesse, & finally geue ouer al trust of himselfe, geuing in the avacing of himself ye glorie wholi to God: least if we take any thing be it neuer so little to our selues, we do wt our own swellinge fal away from his face. Of this submission which throweth downe all heighth, we hauehave often exaumples in the seruantes of God: amonge whom the holyer y• eueryevery one is, so much the more he is throwē downe when he commeth into the sight of the Lord. So Daniel, whome the Lord himself commended wt so great a title of praise,Daniel. ix.xviii. saide: Wee poure not out our praiers before thee in our righteousnesses, but in thy great mercies. Heare vsus Lord, Lord be mercifull to vsus: Heare vsus, & doe these things that we aske, for thine owne sake: bycause thy name is called vpō ouer the people, & ouer thy holy place. Neither doth he by a crooked figure (as men sometime speake) mingle him selfe wt the multitude as one of the people, but rather seuerally confesseth his owne gyltinesse & humbly fleeth to the sanctuarie of forgeuenesse, as he expresly sayth: When I cōfessed my sinnes & the sinnes of my people. And thys humblenesse Dauid also setteth out with his own example, when he saith: Entre not into iudgement with thy seruant, bicause in thy sight eueryevery one that liueth shall nat bee iustified.Ps. c.xiiii.ij. In suche manner Esaie prayeth: Loe, thou art angry bicause wee hauehave sinned: the worlde is founded in thy waies,Es. lxxiiii.v. therefore we shalbe sa…ed: And we hauehave been all filled with vncleannesse, & al our righteousnesses as a defiled cloth: and wee hauehave al withered away as a leafe, & our iniquities do scatter vsus abroade as the winde: and there is none that calleth vponupon thy name, that rayseth vp himselfe to take holde of thee: bycause thou hast hidde thy face frō vsus, and hast made vsus to pine awaie in the hande of oure wyckednesse. Now therfore O Lord, thou art our father, we are claye, thou art our fasshioner, & we are the worke of thy hand. Be not angry O Lord, neither remembre wickednes for euer. Behold, loke vponupon vsus, we ar al thy people. Loe, how thei stand vpō no affiance at al, but vponupon this onelyonly, that thinking vponupon this that thei be Gods, thei despire not that he wil hauehave care of them. Likewise Ieremie:Ie. xiiii.…. If our iniquities answer against vsus, do thou for thy names sake. For it is bothe most truely & most holyly written, of whome soeuer it be, which being written by an vnknowē author is fathered vponupon ye Prophet Baruch: A soule heauy & deosolate for ye greatnes of euel, croked, & weake, a hungrye soule, & fainting eies geue glorie to thee O Lord. Not according to ye righteousnesses of our fathers doe we poure out praiers in thy sight, & aske merciemercy before thy face O Lord our God: but bicause thou art merciful, hauehave merciemercy vponupon vsus, bicause we hauehave sinned before thee.
Finally the beginning & also ye preparing of praieng rightly, is crauing of pardō, wt an humble & plaine confession of fault. For neither is it to be hoped, that euen ye holiest man may obteine any thinge of God, vntil hee bee freely reconciled to him: neither is it possible that God may be fauourable to any but thē whom he pardoneth. Wherfore it is no maruel if the faithful do wt this keie opē to thēselues ye dore to pray. Which we learne out of many places of ye Psalmes. For Dauid whē he asketh an other thing,Psa. xxv.vi. &. xviii. saith: Remembre not ye sinnes of my youthe, remember me according to thy merciemercy for thy goodnesses sake O lord. Again, Loke vpō my afflictiō, & my labore, & forgeue al my sinnes. Wher we also see yt it is not enough, if we eueryevery seuerall day do cal our selues accōpt for our new sinnes, if we do not also remēbre those sinnes which might seeme to hauehave been long agoe forgotten.Psa. li.vii. For, ye same Prophet in an other place, hauing cōfessed one haynous offense by this occasiō returneth euē to his mothers wombe wherin he had gathered ye infectiō: not to make ye faulte seme lesse by ye corruptiō of nature, but ye heaping together ye sinnes of his whole life, how much more rigorous he ys in cōdemning himself, so much more easy he maye finde God to entreate. But although ye holy ones do not alwaye in expresse woordes aske forgeuenesse of sinnes, yet if we diligently weie their praiers whiche the Scripture rehearseth, we shal easily finde yt which I say, yt thei gathered a minde to praie of ye only mercy of God, & so alwaye toke their beginning at appeasing him: bicause if eueryevery man examine his owne conscience, so far is he frō being bold to open his cares familiarlie wt God, y• he trembleth at eueryevery cōming toward him, except yt he standeth vpō trust of merciemercy & pardon. Ther is also an other special confession, wher thei aske release of peines, that thei also praie to hauehave their sinnes forgeuen: bicause it weare an absurditie to will that the effecte to be takē awaye while the cause abideth. For we muste beware that God be fauourable vntounto vsus, before that he testifye hys fauoure wyth outwarde signes: bycause boothe hee hymselfe wyll keepe thys ordre, and yt should lytle profyte vsus to hauehave hym benefytiall, vnlesse oure conscience feelynge hym appeased shoulde througely make hym louelye vntounto vsus. Whyche wee are also taughte by the aunswere of Christe. For when hee hadde decreed to heale the manne sycke of the Palsey.Mat. ix.ii hee sayde, Thy sinnes are forgeuen thee: lifting vp our mindes therby to yt which is chefely to be wisshed, that God first receiue vsus into fauoure, and then shew forth the frute of reconciliation in helping vsus. But byside yt speciall confession of present gyltynesse, wherby the faithful make supplication to obteine pardon of eueryevery speciall faulte & peine, that general preface, which procureth fauour to praiers, is neuer to be omitted, bicause vnlesse thei be grounded vponupon the free merciemercy of God, they shall neuer obteine any thing of God. Whereunto maye be referred that sayeng of Ihon:i. Ihon. i.ix. If we confesse oure sinnes, he is faithfull & righteous to forgeue vsus, and cleanse vsus from al iniquitie. For which cause it behoued praiers in the time of the law to be hallowed with expiatiō of bloode, that they might be acceptable, and that so the people sholde be put in minde that thei are vnworthy of so great a prerogotiue of honour, til being cleansed from their defilinges thei shold of the onelyonly merciemercy of God conceiue affiance to praye.
But wheras ye holy ones seme somtime for ye entreating of God to allege ye helpe of their owne righteousnes (as when Dauid saith:Ps. lxxxv….ii. kin. xx.ii. Kepe my soule, bicause I am good. Again Ezechias: Remēbre lord I beseche thee, yt I hauehave walked before thee in truthe, & hauehave done good in thyne eyes) by such formes of speaking thei meane nothing els than by their very regeneratiō to testifie thēselues to be ye seruants & childrē of God, to whom he himselfe pronounceth yt he wil be mercifull.Ps. xxxiiii.xvi. i. Ihō. iii. He teacheth by yt prophet (as we hauehave already seen) yt his eies are vponupon ye righteous, & his cares vntounto their praiers. Againe by ye apostle, that we shal obteine whatsoeuer we ask, if we kepe his cōmaundemēts. In which sayenges he doth not value praier by ye worthines of works: but his will is so to stablish their affiance, whose own cōsciēce wel assureth thē of an un…ayned vprightnes & inocenci, such as al ye faithful ought to be. For ye same is taken out of ye very truth of God, which ye blindeman yt had his sight restored, saith in Ihon,Ih. ix.xxi. yt God heareth not sinners: if wee vnderstād sinners after ye cōmō vse of ye scripture, for such as wtout al desire of righteousnesse do altogether slepe & rest vpō their sinnes: forasmuch as no heart can euer breake forth into vnfained calling vpō God which dothe not also aspire to godlines. Therfore wt such promises accord ye praiers of ye holy ones, wherin thei make mentiō of their own purenes or innocency yt thei may fele yt to be geuen thē which is to be loked for of al the seruants of God. Again it is then cōmōly found yt thei vse this kinde of praier, when thei do in ye presence of ye lord cōpare them selues wt theyr enemies, frō whose vniust dealing thei wished themselues to be deliuered by his hande. In this comparison it is noe maruel if thei broughte forth their righteousnesse & simplicitie of hearte to moue hym ye rather by ye rightfulnes of their cause to helpe thē. This therfore we take not away frō the godli heart of a good man, but y• he may vse the purenesse of his conscience before the Lord, to strengthen himself in the promises wherwith the Lord comforteth & vpholdeth his true worshippers: but our meaning is, that the trust of obteining stand vponupon the only mercye of God, laieng away al thincking of their owne deseruing.
The fourth rule is, yt being so throwen down & subdued wt true humilitie, we shold neuerthelesse wt certain hope of obteining be encouraged to praie. These be things in dede contrarie in shew, to ioyne wt the feeling of ye iust vengeāce of God sure affiance of fauour: which things do yet very wel agree together, if ye onelyonly goodnesse of God raise vsus vp being oppressed wt our own euels. For, as we hauehave before taught that repentance & faith are knite as companiōs together wt an vnseparable bond: of whiche yet ye one afraieth vsus, ye other chereth vsus: so in praiers thei must mutually meete together. And this agrement Dauid expresseth in fewe words:Ps. v.viii. I (saith he) wil in ye multitude of thy goodnesse enter into thy house: I wil worship in the temple of thy holinesse wt teare. Under ye goodnes of God he cōprehendeth faithe, in ye meane time not excluding feare: bicause not only his maiestie driueth vsus to reuerence, but also our own vnworthinesse holdeth vsus in feare forgetting al pride & assurednesse. But I meane not such an affiance which shoulde stroke ye minde losed from al feling of carefulnesse wt a swete & ful quietnesse. For, to rest so peasably is the doing of thē which hauing al thinges flowing as thei wold wishe it, are touched wt no care, are kindled with no desire, do swel wt no feare. And it is a very good spurre to ye holi ones to cal vponupon God, whē being distressed wt their owne necessitie, thei ar vexed wt most greate vnquietnesse▪ & are almost dismaied in themselues, til faith come in fit time to their succours, bicause in such distresses ye goodnesse of God so shineth to them, that they do in dede grone being wearied wt weight of presēt euels, thei ar also in peine & greued wt feare of greater, yet being so vpholdē by it, thei bothe releue & cōfort ye hardnes of bearing thē, & do hope for escape & deliuerance. Therfore ye praier of a godly man must arise out of both affections, & must also conteine and shewe bothe: namly to grone for present euels, & to be carefully afraide of newe, & yet thet wtal to fle to God, not douring yt he is read… to reache his helping hande. For God is maruelously prouoked to wrathe by our distrustfulnes, if we aske of him ye benefites whiche we hope not to obteine. Therfore ther is nothing more agreable wt ye nature of praiers, thā yt this law be prescribed & apointed to thē, yt thei breake not forthe rashli, but folow faith going before thē. To this principle Christ calleth vsus all with this saieng:Matth. xi.xxiiii. Matt. xxi.xxii. I say vntounto you, whatsoeuer things ye require, beleue yt ye shal receiue them, & thei shal happen to you. The same also he cōfirmeth in an other place. Whatsoeuer ye aske in praier beleuing, ye shall receiue. Wherewith agreeth Iames saieng, If any nede wisedome, let hym aske yt of hym whyche geueth to al men freely,Iam. v.xv. and vpbraydeth not: butte let hym aske in faithe not doubtinge. Wherein setting doubtinge as contrarie to faithe, he dothe moste fitly expresse the nature of it. And no lesse ys that to bee noted which he addeth, yt they obteyne nothynge whyche call vponupon God in waueringe and doubte, and doe not determine in their heartes whether they shal be hearde or noe. Whome hee also compareth to waues whyche are dyuersly tossed & driuen about of the winde. Wherupon in an other place hee calleth a right praier, the praier of faith. Againe when God so oft affirmeth that he wil geue to eueryevery one accordinge to his faith, he signifieth that wee obteine nothing without fayth. Finally it is faith that obteineth what soeuer ys graunted by prayer. Thys ys meante by that notable sayenge of Paule, whyche the foolyshe menne doe take noe heede vntounto. Howe shall any manne call vponupon hym,Ro. x.xiiii in whome hee hathe not beleued? Butte whoe shall beleue, vnlesse hee hauehave hearde? But faith commeth of hearing, and hearing of the worde of God. For, conueying by degrees the beginning of praier from faithe, hee plainely affirmeth that God can not be syncerely called vponupon of any other, than thē to whom by the preachinge of the Gospell his merciefulnesse & gentilenesse hath ben made knowen, and familiarly declared.
This necessitie our aduersaries do not thinke vponupon. Therfore when we bidde ye faithful to holde wt assured cōfidence of minde yt God is fauourable & beareth good wil to thē, thei thinke that we speake a most great absurditie. But if thei had any vse of true praier, thei wold truely vnderstand yt God can not be rightly called vpō wtout ye stedfast feeling of Gods good wil. Sith no mā can wel perceiue ye force of faith, but he which by experiēce feleth it in his heart: what may a man profit by disputting wt such men which do openly shew, yt thei neuer had any thinge but a vaine imagination? For of what force, & how necessarie is yt assurednes which we require, is chefely learned by inuocation. Which who so seeth not, he bewraieth yt he hath a very dul cōscience. Let vsus therefore, leauing this kinde of blindemen, stick fast in ye saienge of Paule, yt God can not be called vpō of any other, but thē yt know his merciemercy by ye Gospel, & ar surely perswaded yt it is ready for thē. For what manner of saieng shold this be? O Lord, I am verily in doubt whether thou wilt heare me: but bicause I am distressed wt carefulnes, I flee to thee, that ye maiest help me if I be worthy. This was not ye wonted māner of al ye holi ones, whose praiers we reade in ye Scriptures. Neither hath ye Holy ghost thus taught vsus by ye Apostle which biddeth vsus to goe to ye heauenly throne wt cōfidence,Heb. iiii.xvi. Ep. iii.xii yt we may obteine grace: & when in an other place he teacheth yt we hauehave boldnesse & accesse in cōfidence by the faith of Christ. We must therfore holde fast wt bothe handes thys assurednesse to obteine what we ask (sith both ye lord wt his own voice so cō maūdeth vsus, & al ye holy ones teache it by their example) if we wil praie wt frute. For, ye only praier is pleasing to God, whiche springeth oute of such a presumptiō of faith (as I may so call it) & is groūded vpō a dredlesse certaintie of faith. He might hauehave ben cōtent with ye bare name of faithe, but he not onelyonly added cōfidence, but also furnished ye same with liberty or boldnesse, by this marke to put differēce betwene vsus & vnbeleuers, which do in dede also praie to God as we do, but at aduenture. For which reasō ye whole Church praieth in ye psalme:Ps. xxxiii. Let thi mercy be vpō vsus, as we put our trust in thee. The same cōdition is also spoken of in an other place by ye prophet:Ps. lxvi.x Ps. v.xv. In what day I shal crie, this I know yt God is wt me. Again, In ye morning I wil direct my self to thee, & I wil watch. For of these words we gather, yt praiers ar in vaine cast into the ayre, vnlesse hope be adioyned, frō whense as out of a watchtoure wee may quietli waite for ye lord. Wherwt agreeth ye order of Paules exhortatiō. For before yt he moue ye faithful to praie in spirit at al times with wakefulnes & diligence,Eph. vi, xvi. he first of al biddeth thē to take ye sheld of faith, yt helmet of saluatiō, & ye swerd of the spirit, whiche is the word of God▪ Now let ye readers here cal to remēbrance which yt I hauehave before said, yt faith is not ouerthrowē where it is ioyned with acknowledging of our miserie, nedinesse, & filthines. For wt how heauy weight so euer of euell doings ye faithful fele thēselues to be ouerloden or greued, & ye thei bee not only voide of al things which may procure fauoure with God, but also yt thei be burdened wt many offenses which may woorthily make him dreadful to thē: yet thei cesse not to present thēselues, neither doth this feling make thē so afraide but yt thei still resort to him, forasmuche as ther is no other waie to come to him. For, praier was not ordeined, wherby we shold arrogantli aduance our selues before God, or esteme at great value any thing of our own, but wherbi cōfessing our giltines, we shold bewaile our miseries to him, as childrē do familiarli opē their cōplaints to their parēts. But rather ye vnmeasurable heape of our euels ought to be ful of spurres or prickes to prick vsus forward to praie. As also ye prophet teacheth vsus by his exāple,Ps. lxiiii.v saieng. Heale my soule, bicause I hauehave sinned against thee. I grant in dede that in such saiengs shold be deadli prickings vnlesse god did helpe: but ye most good father of his incōparable tender kindnes hath brought remedie in fit season, wherby appeasing al troble, assuaging al cares, wiping awaye feares, he mighte gently allure vsus to hym, yea and takinge awaie all doubtes (much more all stoppes) he might make vsus an easy waie.
And first whē he cōmaundeth vsus to pray, he doth by ye very same commaundement accuse vsus of wicked obstinacie, vnlesse we obey him. Nothing could be more precisely cōmaunded, than yt which is in ye psalme: Cal vpō me in ye day of troble.Ps. l.xv. But forasmuch as amonge all ye dueties of godlines, ye scripture cōmendeth none more often, I nede not to tarry longer vpō this point.Mat. vii.vii. Ask (saith our master) & ye shal receiue: knock, it shal be opened to you. Howbeit here is also wt ye cōmaundement ioyned a promise as it is necessarie. For though all men cōfesse yt the commaundement ought to be obeied, yet the most part would flee frō God when he calleth, vnlesse he promised yt he wold be easy to be entreated, yea & wold offer himself. These two thinges being stablished, it is certaine yt whosoeuer make delaies yt thei come not streight to god, ar not only rebellious & disobedient, but also are proued gilty of infidelitie, bicause thei distrust ye promises. Which is so muche more to be noted, bycause hypocrites vnderunder ye color of humilitie & modesty do as wel proudly despise ye cōmandemēt of God, as discredit his gentile callinge, yea & defraud him of ye chefe part of his worship. For after yt he hath refused sacrifices, in which at ye time al holines semed to stande, he declareth yt this is ye chefe thing & most precious to him, aboue al other, to be called vpō in ye day of nede. Therfore wher he requireth his owne, & encourageth vsus to cherefulnesse of obeing, ther ar none so gay colors of doubtting yt may excuse vsus. Wherfore how many testimonies ar cōmōly foūd in ye scriptures wherby we ar cōmaūded to cal vpō God, so many stāddardes ar set vp before our eies to put affiance into vsus. It were rushenesse to rushe into ye sight of God, vnlesse he did preuēt vsus wt calling vsus. Therfore he openeth vsus ye way wt his own voice saieng:Zach. xiii.ix. I will saye to them, Ye ar my people: & thei shal say to me, ye art our God. We se how he preuenteth them ye worship him, & willeth them to follow him, and therefore it is not to bee feared that this shoulde not bee a very swete melodie which he tuneth. Specially let this notable title of God come in our minde, whervpon if we staye, wee shall easily passe ouer al stoppes. Thou God that hearest prayer,Ps. lxv.iii. euen to thee shall all fleshe come. For what ys more louely or more allurynge, than that God bee granyshed wyth thys tytle whyche maye ascertayne vsus that nothynge ys more propre to hys nature, than to graunte the desire of humble suters? Hereby the prophet gathereth that the gate standeth open not only to a fewe, but to all men: bicause he speaketh euen to all in this saieng:Psa. l.xv. Cal vponupon me in the day of trouble: I wil deliuer thee, & yu shalt glorifie me. According to this rule Dauid laieth for himself that a promise was geuen him,ii. Sa. vii.xxvii. that he may obteine what he asketh: Thou lorde hast reueled into the eare of thy seruant: therefore thy seruaunt hath found his heart to pray. Wherupon we gather yt he was feareful, sauing in so much as the promise had encouraged him. So in an other place he armeth himselfe wt this general doctrine.Ps. c.xlv.xix. He wil do ye will of them that feare him. Yea & this we may note in ye psalmes, yt as it were breaking his course of praieng he passeth ouer sometime to ye power of God, somtime to his goodnesse, somtime to ye truth of his promises. It might seeme that Dauid by vnseasonable thrusting in of these sentences, made mangled praiers: but ye faithful know by vse & experience, yt feruentnesse fainteth vnlesse thei put new nourishmentes vntounto it, and therfore in praieng ye meditatiō bothe of ye nature of God, & of his word is not superfluous. And so by ye example of Dauid, let it not greue vsus to thrust in such things as may refresh fainting heartes with new liuely strength.
And it is wonderful that wt so great swetenesse of promises we are either but coldly or almost not at all moued, that a great parte of men wandring about by compasses had rather leauing these fountaine of liuing waters, to digge for themselues drie pittes, than to embrace the liberalitie of God freely offered thē. An inuincible tour is ye name of the lord,Pro. xviii.x. (saith Salomon) to it the righteous man shal flee, & he shalbe saued. And Ioel, after that he had prophecied of that horrible destructiō which was at hand,Ioel. ii.xxxii. added this notable sentence. Whosoeuer calleth vpō ye name of the lord, shalbe safe: which sentence we know to perteine proprely to the course of the Gospel.Psa. xxlv.xxiii. Scarcely eueryevery hundreth man is moued to go forward to meet God. He himself crieth by Esaie: Ye shall cal vpō me, & I wil heare you, yea before that ye crie I wil answer you. And this same honor also in an other place he vouchesaueth to geue in cōmon to ye whole Church, as it belongeth to al the mēbres of Christe. He hath cried to me,Ps. xci.xv I wil heare him, I am in trouble wt him, yt I maie deliuer him. Neither yet (as I hauehave already saide) is it my purpose to recken vp al the places, but to choose out the chefe, by whiche we may take a taste how kindely God allureth vsus vntounto him, & wt how streight bonds our vnthankfulnes is bound, when among so sharp prickinges our sluggishnesse stil maketh delay. Wherfore let these saienges alway sound in our eares:Ps. c.xlv. The lord is nie to al thē that cal vponupon him, that cal vponupon him in trueth: also these saiengs which we hauehave alleaged out of Esaie & Ioel, by which God affirmeth that he is hedeful to heare praiers, yea & is delited as wt a sacrifice of swete sauoure, when we cast our cares vpō him. This singular frute we receiue of the promises of God, whē we make our praiers not doubtingly & ferefulli: but trusting vponupon his word, whose maiestie wold otherwise make vsus afraide, we dare cal vponupon him by the name of Father, forasmuch as he vouchesaueth to put this most swete name into our mouthes. It remaineth that we hauing such allurementes shold know that we hauehave thereby matter enoughe to obteine our praiers: forasmuch as our praiers stand vponupon no merite of our own, but al their worthines & hope of obteining ar groūded vpō the promises of God, and hang vpō them: so that it nedeth none other vnderproppinge, nor loketh vpwarde hither or thether. Therefore we must determin in our minds, yt although we excel not in like holines as is praised in ye holy fathers, prophtes & Apostles, yet bicause ye cōmādemēt of praier is cōmō to vsus, & faith is also cōmon, if we rest vpō ye word of God, in this right we ar fellowes wt thē. For, God (as we hauehave before shewed) promisīg yt he wil be gētle & merciful to al, geueth cause of hope to al euē ye mos… miserable yt thei shal obtein what thei ask. And therfor ye general formes ar to be noted, frō which no mā (as thei sai) frō ye first to ye last is excluded: onli let ther be presēt a purenes of heart, misliking of our selfes, humility, & faith: let not our hypocrisy vnholily abuse the name of God wt deceitful callīg vponupon it: ye most good father wil not put back thē, whō he not only exhorteth to com to hī, but also moueth thē by al the meanes yt he cā. Herupō cometh yt māner of prayīg of Dauid which I hauehave euē now rehersed.…. vii xxvii. Lo yu hast promised, Lord, to thy ser…t: for this cause thy seruāt at this dai gathereth courag, & hath foūd what prayer he might make before the. Now therfore O Lord God, ye art god, & thy words shalbe tru. Thou hast spokē to thi seruāt of these benefits:Ps. ….xix.lxivi. begin therfore, & do thē. As also in an other place, Perform to thy seruāt according to thy word. And al ye Israelits together, so oft as thei arme thēselues wt remēbrance of the couenāt, do sufficiētly declare yt we shold not prai fearfully,…e. xxxii.…. wheras ye lord so apoiteth. And herin the… folowd ye exāples of ye fathers, specially of Iacob, which after yt he had cōfessed yt he was vnworthy of so many mercies which he had receiued at ye hād of God, yet he saith yt he is ēcoraged to require greater things bicause God had promised yt he wold do thē. But whatsoeuer colors yt vnbeleuers do pretēd, whē thei flee not to God so oft as necessitie presseth thē, whē thei seke not him nor craue his helpe, thei do as much defraud hī of his due honor as if thei made to thēselfs new gods, & idols: for by this mean thei deny yt he is to them y• author of al good things. On ye other side ther is nothing strōger to deliuer ye godly frō al dout, thā to be armed wt this thought, yt no stop ought to stay thē while they obey ye cōmandmēt of God, which pronoūceth y• nothing is more pleasing to him thā obediēce. Here again yt which I said before more clerel… appereth, yt a dredles spirit to pray agreeth wel wt fear, reuerēce, & carefulnes: & that it is no absurdity to say yt God raiseth vp ye ouerthrowē. After this māner those formes of speach agree well together which in seming ar contrary. Ieremie & Daniel say yt thei throw down prayers before god.Iere. xiii.i…. Dani. ix.xviii. Ie. xlii. ii.li.….xx.…. Psa. ….xli. In an other place Iereme saith. Let our praier fal down in ye sight of God, yt he may hauehave merciemercy on ye remnant of his people. On the other side, ye faithful are oftentimes said to lift vp praier. So speaketh Ezechias, requiring ye prophete to make intercession for him. And Dauid desireth yt his praier may ascende as incense. For although thei being perswaded of ye fatherly louelove of God, cherefully cōmitt thēselues into his faithful keping, & dout not to craue the helpe whiche he freely promiseth: yet doth not an idle carelesnesse lift them vp, as though thei had cast away shame, but thei ascend so vpward by degrees of promyses, yt thei stil remaine humble suppliants in ye abacemēt of thēselues.
Here ar questiōs obiected more thā one. For ye scripture reporteth yt ye lord grāted certain desires which yet brake forth of a minde not quiet nor wel framed. Uerili for a iust cause: Ioatham had auowed ye inhabitāts of Sichē,Iu. ix.xx. to ye destructiō which afterward cāe vpō thē: but yet god kindled wt feruētnes of anger & vēgeāce folowing his execratiō semeth to alow iltēpered violēt passiōs.Iud. vi.xxviii. Such heat also caried Samsō whē he said, Strengthē me O god, yt I may take vengeāce of ye vncircumcised. For though ther were some pece of good zele mīgled wt it: yet a hote, & therfore faulti gredines of vengeāce did beare rule therin. God grāted it. Wherupō it semeth yt it mai be gathered, yt although ye praiers be not framed accordīg to ye prescribed rule of ye word, yet thei obteine their effect. I answer first yt a general law is not takē away by singular examples: again, yt sōtime special motiōs hauehave ben put into a few mē, wherby it came to passe yt ther was an other cōsideratiō of thē thā of ye cōmō people.Luk. ix.… For ye answer of Christ is to be noted, whē ye disciples did vndiscretly desire to coūterfait ye exāple of Elias, yt thei knew not with what spirit thei were endued. But we must go yet further, & say yt the praiers do not alwai please god which he grāteth: but yt, so much as serueth for exāple yt is by clere praise made plaine which ye scripture teaceth namely y• he succoureth ye miserable, heareth ye gronings of thē which being vniustli trobled do craue his help: yt therfor he executeth his iudgmēts, whē ye cōplaints of ye poore rise vp to hī, although thei be vnworthy to obtein anithīg be it neuer so litle. For how oft hath he taking vēgeance of ye cruelties, robberies, violēce, silthi lustes & other wicked doings of ye vngodly, subduīg their boldnes & rage, & also ouerthrowīg their tyrā nous power, testified yt he helpeth ye vnworthili oppressed, which yet did beat ye aire wt praieng to an vncertaine godhed?Ps. c.vii. And one psalme plainly teacheth yt the praiers want not effect, which yet do not pearce into heauen by faith. For he gathereth together those praiers which necessitie wringeth no lesse out of ye vnbeleuers thā out of ye godly by ye very felīg of nature: to which yet he proueth by ye effect yt god is fauourable. Is it bicause he dothe wt such gentlenes testifie yt that thei be pleasing to him? No. but to enlarge or to set out his merciemercy by this circumstance, for y• euen to vnbeleuers their praiers ar not denied: & then ye more to pricke forward his true worshipers to pray, when thei see that profaine wailīgs somtime wāt not their effect. Yet ther is no cause why ye faith ful shold swarue frō ye law laid vpō thē by God, or shold enuie ye vnbeleuers, as though thei had gotten som great gaine, whē thei hauehave obteined their desire.i. king. xxi.xxxix. After this māner we hauehave said, yt the lord was bowed wt ye repētance of Achab, yt he might shew by this exāple how easy he is to entreat toward his elect, when true turning is brought to appease him. Therfore in ye psalme he blameth ye Iewes,Psa. c.… yt thei hauing bi experiēce proued him so easy to grant their praiers, yet wtin a litle after returned to ye stubbornes of their nature. Which also plainely appeareth by ye historie of ye Iudges: namely yt so oft as thei wept, although their teares were deceitful▪ yet thei were deliuered out of the hands or their enemies. As therfore ye lord indifferently bringeth forth his sunne vpō the good & the euel: so doth he also not despise their weepinges, whose cause is righteous & their miseries woorthy of helpe. In ye meane time he no more heareth these to saluation, thā herein ministreth foode to ye despisers of his goodnes. The questiō semeth to be somwhat harder of Abrahā & Samuel:…e. xviii.xiij. i. Sam. x… of whom ye one being warrāted by no word of god, praied for ye Sodomites: ye other agaīst a manifest forbiddīg praied for Saul.…. Likewise is i… of Ieremie, which praied yt the citie might not be destroied. For though their requestes were denied, yet it semeth harde to take faith from them. Butte this solution shall (as I truste) satisfie sober readers: yt t…ei being instructed wt ye general principles, whereby God cōmaūdeth thē to be merciful euē also to ye vnworthy, wer not altogether wtout faith, although in a speciall case their opinion deceyued thē.…. Augustine writeth wisely in a certaine place. How (sayth he) do the holy ones praie by faith, to ask of God contrarie to yt which he hath decreed? Euen bicause thei pray according to his wil: not yt hidden an vncheāgeable wil, but ye wil which he inspireth into them, yt he mai heare them after an other māner: as he wisely maketh differēce. This is wel said: bicause after his incōprehensible coūsel he so tēpereth ye successes of things, yt the praiers of ye holy ones be not voide which ar wrapped both wt faith & errore together. Neither yet ought this more to auayle to be an exāple to folow, thā it excuseth ye holy ones thēselues, whome I denie not to hauehave passed measure. Wherfore wher appeareth no certaine promise, we must ask of God wt a cōditiō adioined. To which purpose serueth ye saieng of Dauid.Psa. vii.vii. Watch to ye iudgment which yt hast cō maunded: bicause he telleth that he was warranted by a special oracle to aske a temporall benefite.
This also it is profitable to note, yt those things which I hauehave spokē of ye fower rules of right praier, are not so exactly required wt extreeme rigor, yt God refuseth ye praiers in which he shal not finde either perfect faith or perfect repentāce together wt a feruentnesse of zele & wel ordered requestes. We hauehave said yt although praier be a familiar talke of ye godly wt God, yet we must kepe a reuerence & modestie, yt we geue not loose reines to all requestes whatsoeuer thei be, & yt we desire no more thā God geueth leaue: & thē, least ye maiestie of God shold growe in contempt wt vsus, yt we must lift our mindes vpward to a pure and vndefiled worshiping of him. This no mā hath euer performed wt such purenesse as it ought to be. For (to speak nothing of ye cōmon sort) how many cō plaintes of Dauid do sauore of vntēperance: not yt he meant of purpose to quarel wt God, or carpe against his iudgments: but bicause he fainting for weakenesse, found no other better comfort, than to cast his sorrowes into his bosome. Yea & God beareth wt our childish speache and pardoneth our ignorāce, so oft as any thing vnaduisedly escapeth vsus: as truely wtout this tēder bearing, ther shold be no libertie of praieng. But although Dauids mind was to submit himself wholly to ye wil of God, & he praied wt no lesse patiēce thā desire to obteine: yet there arise yea boile out somtimes troublous affections, which are much disagreing from ye first rule yt we hauehave set. Specially we maye perceaue by the conclusion of ye xxxix. psalme, wt how great vehemence of sorrow yt holy man was carried away, yt he cold not kepe measure. Cesse (saith he) frō me, til I go away & be not. A man wold saye yt he like a desperate man desireth nothing els but yt the hand of God cessing, he might rot in his euels. He saith it not for that he wt an auowed minde runneth into such outrage, or (as ye reprobate ar wont) wold hauehave God to depart frō him: but only he cōplaineth yt the wrath of God is to heaui for him to beare. In these tentatiōs also ther fal out oftentimes requestes not well framed according to the rule of the word of God, & in which the holy ones do not sufficiently weie what is lawful & expedient. Whatsoeuer prayers are spotted wt these faultes, thei deserue to be refused: yet if ye holy ones do bewaile, correct thēselues, & by & by come to thēselues againe, God pardoneth them. So thei offend also in the second rule, bicause thei are oftentimes driuen to wrastle wt their own coldenesse, & theyr nede & miserie dothe not sharply enoughe pricke thē to praie earnestly. And oftentimes it happeneth yt their minds do slippe aside, & in a manner wander away into vanitie. Therefore in this behalfe also there ys nede of pardon, least our faint, or vnperfect, or broken and wanderinge praiers hauehave a deniall. This God hath naturally planted in ye mindes of men, y• praiers are not perfect but wt mindes lifted vpwarde. Herevpon came ye ceremonie of lifting vp of hands, as we hauehave before said, which hath ben vsed in al ages & nations, as yet it is in vre. But howe many a one is ther, which whē he lifteth vp his handes, doth not in his own cōscience finde himself dul, bicause his heart resteth vpō ye groūd? As touching ye asking of forgeuenesse of sinnes, althoughe none of the faithful do ouerpasse it, yet thei which ar truely exercised in praiers do fele yt thei bring scarscely ye tenth part of that sacrifice, of which Dauid speaketh.Ps. xv.xi…. An acceptable sacrifice to God is a troubled spirit: a broken & humbled heart O God yu wilt not despise. So ther is alway doble pardon to be asked, bothe bicause thei knowe thēselues gilty in cōsciences of many faultes, wt feeling wherof thei ar not yet so touched, that the… mislike themselues so much as thei ought: & also yt, so much as it is geuen them to profite repentance & in the feare of God, thei being throwē downe wt iust sorrowe for their offenses, shold pray to escape ye punishement of ye iudge. Chefely ye feblenesse or imperfectiō of faith corrupteth ye praiers of ye faithfull, vnlesse ye tendre merciemercy of God did helpe them. But it is no maruell yt God pardoneth this default, which doth oftentimes exercise them yt be his wt sharpe instructions, as if hee woulde of purpose quench their faith. This is a most harde tentation, when the faithful are cōpelled to crie:Psa. lxxx. How long wilt y• be angry vpō the praier of thy seruāt? as though ye very praiers made God more angry. So whē Ieremie saith.Lam. iii.viii. The lord hath shut out my praier, it is no dout yt he was shakē wt a violent pange of troble. Innumerable such exāples are cō mōly found in ye scriptures, by which appeareth yt the faith of the holiones was oftētimes mingled & tossed wt doutinges, y• in beleuing & hoping thei bewraied yet some vnfaithfulnesse: but bicause thei come not so far as it is to be wished, thei ought to endeuor so much ye more that their faults being amended, thei maie daily com nerer to ye perfect rule of praying, & in ye meane time to fele in how great a depth of eueis thei be drowned, which euē in ye very remedies do get to thēselues new diseases: sith there is no praier, which ye lord doth not worthily lothe, vnlesse he winke at ye spottes wherwt thei ar al besprinkled. I reherse not these things to this end yt the faithful shold carelesly pardō themselues any thing, but y• in sharply chastising thēselues thei shold trauaile to ouercome these stoppes, & although Satan laboure to stoppe vp al the waies, y• he may kepe them from praieng, yet neuerthelesse thei sholde breake through, bring certainly perswaded, yt although thei be not vncombred of all hinderances, yet their endeuors do please God, & theyr praiers are allowed of him, so yt thei trauaile & bende themselues thetherward, whether thei do not by and by atteine.
But forasmuche as there is no man woorthy to present himselfe to God, & to come into his sight: the heauenly Father himselfe to deliuer vsus bothe from shame and feare whiche sholde hauehave throwen downe al our courages, hath geuen to vsus his sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde, to be an aduocate & Mediator with him for vsus,i. Tim. i.v. i. Ioh. ii.i. by whose leading we may boldly come to hym, trusting that we hauehave such an intercessor, nothing shall be denied vsus which we aske in his name, as nothing can be denyed him of the Father. And here vntounto muste all bee referred whatsoeuer we hauehave heretofore taught concerning faithe: bycause as the promise setter out vntounto vsus Christ for our Mediator, so vnlesse our hope of obteining stay vponupon him, it taketh from it selfe the benefite of praieng. For so sone as the terrible maiestie of God commeth in our minde, it is impossible but that we shoulde tremble for feare, & the acknowledging of our owne vnworthinesse sholde driue vsus far away, tyll Christe come meane betwene vsus & him,…e. iiii.xv which may change the throne of dreadefull glorie into the throne of grace: as also ye Apostle teacheth that we may be bolde to appeare withal cōfidence which shal obteine merciemercy & finde grace in help cōming in fit seasō. And as ther is a law set yt we shold cal vpō God like as ther is a promise geuen, that thei shalbe heard which cal vponupon him: so ar we peculiarly cōmaunded to cal vpō him in ye name of Christ, & we hauehave a promise set forth, yt we shal obteine ye whiche wee shal aske in his name.Ihō. xiiii.xiii. & xvi.xxvii. Hetherto (saith he) ye hauehave not asked any thing in my name: aske & ye shal receiue. In ye day ye shal aske in my name, & whatsoeuer ye ask, I wil do, yt ye father may be glorified in ye sōne. Hereby it is plaine without controuersie, yt thei which cal vpō God in any other name than of Christ, do stubbornly breake his cōmaundemēnts, & regarde his wil as nothing, & that thei hauehave no promise to obteine any thing.ii. Cor. i.xx. For (as Paul saith) al the promises of God ar in Christ, yea and Amen, that is to say, thei are confirmed and fulfilled.
And ye circūstance of ye time is diligentli to be marked, wher Christ cō maundeth his disciples to fle to intercessiō to him after yt he is gone vp into heauē.Ioh. xvi.xxvi. In ye houre (saith he) ye shal aske in my name. It is certain yt euen from ye beginning none wer hearde yt praied, but by meane of ye Mediator. For this reason ye lorde had ordeined in the lawe, ye the pres… alone entring into ye sanctuarie,Ex. xxviii.ix. & xii.xxi. shold beare vpō his sholders ye names of the tribes of Israel, & as many precious stones before his breast: but the people shold stand a far of in the porche, & from thense sholde ioyne their praiers with the prest. Yea and the sacrifice auailed hereto, that the praiers shold be made sure and of force. Therefore that shadowish ceremonie of the lawe taught that wee are all shutt oute from the face of God, and that therefore wee neede a Mediator, whyche maye appeare in oure name, and maye beare vsus vponupon hys sholders, and holde vsus fast bounde to his breast, that we may be hearde in his person: then that by sprynkeling of bloode our praiers are cleansed, whiche (as wee hauehave already saide) are neuer vorde of filthinesse. And wee see that the holy ones, when thei desyred to obteyne any thynge, grounded theyr hope vponupon sacrifices, bycause they knewe them to be the stablishinges of all requestes. Lett hym remembre thy offrynge (sayeth Dauid) and make thy burnt offringe fatt. Herupon is gathered that God hath ben frō ye beginning appeased by ye intercessiō of Christ, to receiue ye praiers of the godly. Why then doth Christe apoint a new heire, when his Disciples shall beginne to praie in his name, but bicause this grace, as it is at this daye more glorious, so deserueth more commendation wi…h vsus. And in this same sense he had said a little before. Hetherto ye hauehave not asked any thinge in my name: nowe aske. No: that thei vnderstode nothing at all of the office of the Mediator (whereas all the Iewes were instructed in the principles) but bicause thei had not yet clerely knowen that Christ by his ascending into heauen shold be a surer patron of the Church than he was before. Therefore comfort their greefe of the abscence with some speciall frute, he claimeth to himselfe the office of an aduocate, & teaceth that thei hauehave hitherto wanted the che…e benefite, which it shalbe graunted them to enioye, when being a…ded by his mediation, thei shal more frely cal vponupon God:Heb. x.xx▪ as the Apostle saith that his newe waie is dedicate in his blood. And so much lesse excusable is oure frowardnes, vnlesse we do with both armes (as the saieng is) embrace so inestimable a benefite, whiche is proprely apointed for vsus.
Nowe whereas he is the onelyonly waie, and the onelyonly entrie by which it is graunted vsus to come in vntounto God: whoe so doe swarue from this way and forsake this entrie, for them there remayneth no waie nor entrie to God: there is nothinge left in his throne but wrath, iudgment, & terroure. Finally sithe the Father hathe marked him for oure heade, & guide thei which do in any wise swarue or go awaie from him, do labore as much as in them lie…h to race out & dysfigure the marke which God hath imprinted. So Christ is set to be the only Mediator, by whose intercession the Father may be made to vsus fauourable and easy to be entreated. Howe be it in ye meane time the holy ones hauehave theyr intercessions left to them,i. Ti. ii.i. wherby thei do mutually cōmend the safetie one of an other to God, of which the Apostle maketh mention: but those be such as hange vponupon that one only intercession: so farre is it of, that thei minish any thing of it. For as thei springe out of the affectiō of louelove, wherwith we embrace one an other, as the membres of one body: so thei are al…o re…erred to the vnt…ie of the heade. Sythe therefore they also are made in the name of Christe, what doe they els butte testifie that noe manne canne be holpen by any prayers at al, butte wyth the intercession of Christe? And as Christe wythe hys intercession wyth standeth not, butte that in the Churche wee maye wyth prayers bee aduocates one for an other: so lette thys remaine certayne, that all the intercessors of the whole Churche oughte to bee directed to that onelyonly one. yea and for this cause we ought specially to be beware of vnthankfulnesse, bycause God pardoning oure vnworthinesse, doth not onelyonly geue leaue to eueryevery one of vsus to praie for himselfe, but also admitteth vsus to be entreaters one for an other. For, where God appointeth aduocates for his Churche which deserue worthily to be reiected if they praie pryuately eueryevery one for himselfe: what a pride were it to abuse this libertie to darken the honoure of Christe?
Nowe yt ys a meare trifelynge, whyche the Sophisters bable, that Christe ys the Mediatoure of redemption, butte the faythefull are Mediatoures of intercession. As thoughe Christe hauynge perfourmed a Mediation for a time, hathe geuen to hys seruauntes that eternall Mediatoreshippe whyche shall neuer dye. Full courteouslye forfoothe they handle hym, that cutte awaie so little a portion of honor from hym. But the Scripture saythe farre otherwise, wyth the symplicitie whereof a godly man ought to be contented, leauinge these deceyuers. For where Ihon saithe,…. Iohn. ii. …. that yf any doe synne, we hauehave an aduocate wyth the Father, Christe Iesus: dothe he meane that he was ones in olde tyme a patrone for vsus, and not rather assigneth to hym an euerlastinge intercession?Iho. viii.xxxii. i. Ti. ii.v. Ro. xv.xxx Howe saye we to thys that Paule also affirmeth, that he sitteth at the right hande of God the Father and maketh intercession for vsus? And when in an other place he calleth hym the only Mediatoure of God and men: meaneth he not of prayers, of whych he had a little before made mention? For when he hadde before said that intercession muste be made for all men: for proofe of that sayeng, hee by and by addeth, that of all menne there is one God and one Mediatore. And none otherwise doth Augustine expounde it,Lib. contra Par. 2. Ca. 8. when he saith thus: Christian menne dothe mutually commende themselues in their prayers. But he for whom none maketh intercession, but he for al, he is the onelyonly and true Mediatoure. Paule the Apostle, though he were a principall membre vnderunder the heade (yet bycause hee was a membre of the bodye of Christe, and knewe that the greatest and truest preeste of the church entred, not by a figure, into ye inward places, of ye vaile, to ye holy of holy places, but by expresse and stedfast trueth into the innermost places of heauen,Rom. xv.xxx. Eph. vi.ix. Colo. iiii. i. Cor. xii.xxv. …o a holynesse not shadowish but eternal) cōmendeth hymself also to ye prayers of the faithful. Neither doth he make himself a Mediatore betweene ye people & God, but prayeth yt al ye mēbres of the bodye of Christe shoulde mutually praye for hym: bycause the membres are carefull one for an other: and if one membre suffer, the other suffer with it. And that so the mutuall prayers one for an other of all the membres yet trauayling in earthe, may ascende to the head which is gone before into heauen, in whome is appeasement …or our synnes. For yf Paule were a Mediatoure, the other Apostles shoulde also bee Mediatores: and if there were many Mediatoures, then neither shold Paules owne reason stande faste, in whych he hadde saide, For ther is one God,Eph. iiii.iii. one Mediatoure of one God and menne, ye manne Christe, in whome wee also are one if wee keepe the vnitie of faithe in the bonde of peace. Againe in an other place. But if thou seke for a Preest he is aboue ye heauens,In psa. 94. wher he maketh intercessiō for thee, whiche in earth died for thee. Yet do we not dreame yt he falleth downe at the fathers knees & in humble wise entreateth for vsus: but we vnderstand wt the Apostle, that he so appeareth before the face of God, that the vertue of hys deathe auayleth to be a perpetuall intercession for vsus: yet so that beinge entred into the sanctuarie of heauen, vntounto the ende of the ages of the world he alone carrieth to God the prayers of the people abiding a farre of in the porche.
As touchinge the Saintes, whiche being deade in the fleshe do liue in Christ, if we geue any praier at all to them, lette vsus not dreame that they themselues hauehave any other waye of askynge, than Christe whyche onli is the way or that their praiers be acceptable to God in any other name. Therefore sithe the Scripture calleth vsus backe from all to Christ only: sith the heauenly fathers wil is to gather together al in him: it was a point of to much dulnesse, I wyll not say madnesse, so to desire to make for oure selues an entrie by them, that wee shoulde bee ledde a waie from hym wythoute whome euen they them selues hauehave no entrie open. But, that this hath been usually done in certaine ages past, & yt it is at this day done whersoeuer Papistrie reigneth, who can denie? Their merites ar frō time to time thrust in, to obteine ye good wil of God: & for ye moste part, Christ being passed ouer, God is praied to by their names. Is not this, I beseche you to cōuey away to thē ye office of yt only intercession, which we hauehave affirmed to belong to Christe alone? Againe, what Angel or Deuel euer reueled to any mā any one syllable of this their intercession whiche these men fame? For in the Scripture is nothinge of it. What is the reason therefore of inuentinge it? Trueli, when the witte of man so seketh for it selfe succoures, wherwith we are not sertified by ye word of God, it plainli bewraieth his own distrustfulnesse. If we appeale to al their cōsciences yt are delited wt ye intercession of saintes, we shal finde yt the same cōmeth frō no other ground, but bicause thei ar greued wt carefulnes, as though Christ wer in this behalf either to weake or to rigorous. By whiche doubtfulnesse firste thei dyshonoure Christe, and robbe him of the title of onelyonly Mediatoure, whiche as it is geuē him of the Father for a singular prerogatiue, so oughte not also to be conueied away to any other. And in this very doinge thei darken the glorie of hys byrth, thei make voide hys crosse, finally what soeuer hee hathe done or suffered they spoyle and defraude of the due praise thereof: for all tende to thys ende that he maie bee in deede and be accompted the onelyonly Mediatoure. And therewith they caste awaye the goodnesse of God, whiche gaue hymselfe to be their Father. For he is not their father, vnlesse thei acknowledge Christ to be their brother. Which thei vtterly denye vnlesse thei thinke that he beareth a brotherly affection towarde them, than which ther can nothing be more kinde or tender. Wherfore the Scripture offereth only him to vsus, sendeth vsus to him,Lib. de Isa▪ & ani. …. and stayeth vsus in hym. He (saythe Ambrose) ys oure mouthe, by whyche wee speake to the Father: oure eye, by whyche we see the Father: oure ryghte hande, by whyche we offer vsus to the Father, otherwise than by whole intercession neyther we nor all the Saintes hauehave any thing with God. If thei aunswer that the common praiers which thei make in churches, ar ended wt this conclusion adioyned, Through Christ our Lord: this is a trifeling shifte: bicause ye intercessiō of Christ is no lesse profained when it is mingled wt ye praiers & merites of dead men, than if it were vtterly omitted & only dead mē were in our mouth. Again, in al their Letanies, Hymnes, & Proses wher no honor is lefte vngeuen to deade saintes, there is no mention of Christ.
But their folysh dulnesse proceded so far, yt here we hauehave ye nature of Superstitiō expressed, whiche when it hath ones shaken of ye bridle, is wont to make no end of running a stray. For after yt men ones begone to loke to ye intercessiō of Saintes, by litle & litle ther was geuē to eueryevery one his special doing, yt according to ye diuersitie of busines, somtime one a somtime an other shold be called vponupon to be intercessor: then they to them selues eueryevery one hys peculiar Sainte, into whose faythe they cōmitted thēselues as it wer to ye keping of safgarding Gods. And not only (wherewt ye prophet in ye olde time reproched Israell) Gods were set vp according to the nūbre of cities,Iere. …. xviii. …, xiii. but euē to ye numbre of persons. But sith the Saintes referre their desires to the only wil of God, & behold it & rest vponupon it: he thinketh foolishly, & fleshly, yea & sclaūderously of them, which assigneth to them any other praier, then whereby they praie for the cōming of the kingdome of God: from which that is moste far distant whiche thei faine to them, ye eueryevery one is wt priuate affection more partially bent to his owne worshipers. At length many absteined not frō horrible sacrilege, in calling now vpō thē not as helpers but as principal rulers of their saluatiō. Lo wherunto foolish men do fal whē thei wander out of their true stāding, yt is, ye word of God. I speake not of ye grosser mounstruousnesses of vngodlines, wherin although thei be abhominable to God, Angels, & men, thei are not yet ashamed nor wery of thē. Thei falling down before ye image or picture of Barbara, Catharine, & such other, do mūble Pater noster, Our father. This madnes the Pastors do so not care to heale or restraine, yt beinge allured wt the swe…e sauour of game thei allow it wt reioising at it. But although thei turne frō themselues the blame of so haynous an offense, yet by what colore wil thei defende this ye Loy or Medard are praied vntounto to looke down vpō & helpe their seruants frō heauē? yt the holy Uirgin is praied vntounto, to cōmaūd her sonne to do yt which thei ask? In y• old time it was forbidden in the Councell at Carthage, yt at the alter no directe prayer shold be made to Saintes. And it is likely yt whē ye holy men could not altogether suppresse ye force of ye naughty custome, yet ye added at least this restraīt yt the publike praiers shold not be corrupted wt this forme: Saint Peter praie for vsus. But how much further hath their deuellish importunacie ranged, whiche stick not to geue away to deade men that which proprely belonged only to God and Christ?
But wheras thei trauaile to bring to passe ye such intercessiō may seme to be groūded vponupon ye authoritie of scripture, therin thei labor in vaine. We reade oftētimes (saye they) of the praiers of Angels: and not ye only: but it is said that the praiers of the faithfull are by their hands caried into the sight of God. But if thei liste to cōpare holy men departed out of this present life,De. i.xiiii Esa. xcxi.xi Ps. xxxiiii viij. to Angels: thei shold proue yt thei ar ministring spirits, to whom is comitted ye ministerie to loke to our safetie, to whōe ye charg is geuē to kepe vsus in al our waies, to go about vsus, to admonish & counsel vsus, to watch for vsus: al which things are geuē to Angels, but not to thē. How wrongfully they wrappe vp deade holy mē wt Angels, appeareth largly by so many diuers offices, wherbi ye scripture putteth difference betwene some & other some. No man dare execute the office of an aduocate before an earthely iudge, vnlesse he be admitted, from whense then hauehave wormes so great libertie, to thruste vntounto God those for patrons to whome it is not read yt the office is enioyned? Gods wil was to appoint ye Angels to loke vntounto our saftie, wherfore thei do both frequēt holy assēbles, & ye Church is a stage to thē, wherin thei wander at ye diuers & manifold wisdom of God. Who so cōuey away to other yt which is peculiar to thē, verily they confounde & peruert ye ordre set by God, which ought to hauehave ben inuiolable. With like hādsomnesse they procede in alleging other testimonies.Iere. xv.i. God said to Ieremie: If Moses & Samuel shold stād before me, mi soule is not to this people. Now (saithe…) coulde hee hauehave spoken thus of deade men, vnlesse he knewe that they made intercession for the liuinge? Butte I on the contrarye syde gather thus, that sythe yt therby appeareth that neither Moses nor Samuel made intercession for the people of Israel, there was then no intercession at al of dead men. For which of the Saintes is to be thought to be careful for ye safetie of ye people, whē Moses cesseth, which in this behalfe farre passed al other when he liued? But if they folowe such flight suttelties, to say that the dead make intercessiō for the liuing, because the Lord sayd If they shold make intercessiō: I will much more colorably reason in thys maner: In the extreme necessitie of the people Moses made not intercession, of whom it is sayd, if he shal make intercession. Therfore it is likely that none other maketh intercession, sithe they are al so farr from the gentlenesse, goodnesse, and fatherly carefulnesse of Moses. Thys forsoth they get with cauilling, that they be woū ded with the same weapons, wherwith they thought themselues gaylye fensed. But it is very fonde that a simple sentence should so be wrested, because the Lord pronounceth only yt he wil not spare the offenses of ye people, although they had seen Moses to be their patron, or Samuel, to whose prayers he had shewed hymselfe so tender. Which sense is moste clerely gathered out of a like place of Ezechiel.Eze. xi…i.xiiii. If (saith the Lord) these three men were in the citie, Noe, Daniel, and Iob, they shal not deliuer their sonnes and daughters in their righteousnesse: but they shal deliuer only their own soules. Where it is no dout that he meant if twoo of thē should happen to reuiue againe, for the thirde was then aliue, namely Daniell, who (as it is knowen) did in the first flouring of hys youth shewe an incomparable example of godlinesse: let vsus then leaue them whom the Scripture plainly sheweth to hauehave ended their course.Act. xiii.xxxvi. Therfore Paule, when he speaketh of Dauid, teacheth not that he doth wyth prayers helpe hys posteritie, but onelyonly that he serued his own tyme.
They answere againe: shall we then take from them all prayer of charitie, which in ye whole course of their lyfe breathed nothing but charitie and merciemercy? Uerily as I wil not curiously searche what they doe, or what they muse vponupon: so it is not likely, that they are carried aboute hether and thether with diuerse and particular requestes: but rather ye they do with a staied and vnmoued wil, long for the kingdome of God, which standeth no lesse in the destruction of the wicked than in the saluatiō of the godly. If this be true, it is no dout that their charitie is cō teined in the communion of the body of Christ, and extēdeth no further, than the nature of that communion beareth. But now though I graūt that they pray in thys maner for vsus yet they do not therfore depart frō their owne quietnesse, to be diuersly drawen into earthly cares: and muche lesse muste we therefore by and by call vponupon them. Neither doth it thereby followe that they muste so doe, because men whiche lyue in earth may commende one an other in their prayers. For thys doing serueth for nourishing of charitie among them, when they do as it were part and mutually take vponupon them their necessities amōg themselues. And thys they do by the commaundemēt of the Lord, and are not without a promise,Eccl. ix.v &. vi. which twoo things hauehave alway the chefe place in praier. All suche considerations are farr from the dead, whom when the Lorde hath conueyed from our companye, he hath left to vsus no enterchange of doinges with them, nor to them with vsus, so farr as we may gather by coniectures. But if any man allege ye it is impossible but ye thei must kepe the same charitie towarde vsus, as they be ioyned in one Faith with vsus: yet who hath reueled ye they hauehave so lōg eres to reach to our voices▪ and so pearcing eyes to watch our necessities? They prate in their shadowes I wote not what of the brightnesse of the countenance of God extending his beames vponupon them, in which as in a mirror they maye from on hye beholde the maters of men beneath. But to affirme that, specially with such boldnesse as thei dare, what is it ells but to go about by the dronken dreames of our own braine,Rom. viii vi. without his word to pearce and breake into the hidden iugementes of God, & to treade the Scripture vnderunder fete which so oft pronounceth that the wisdome of ye fleshe is enemie to the wisdome of God, which wholly condemneth the vanitie of our naturall witt, which willeth al our reason to be throwen downe, and the onelyonly wil of God to be loked vntounto of vsus.
The other testimonies of Scripture which they bring to defēde this their lye, they most noughtily wrest. But Iacob (say they) prayeth yt hys name & the name of his fathers Abraham & Isaac be called vponupon ouer his posteritie.…. xlviii xvi. Firste let vsus see what forme of calling vponupon this is amōg the Israelites. For they call not vponupon their Fathers, to helpe them: but they beseche God to remember his seruantes Abraham, Isaac, and Iacob. Therfore their example maketh nothing for them that speake to ye Saintes themselues. But because these blockes (such is their dulnesse) neither vnderstande what it is to call vpō the name of Iacob, nor why it is to be called vponupon: it is no maruell if in the very forme also they so childishly srumble. Thys maner of speche is not seldome founde in the Scriptures.Esa. iiii.i. For Esaie sayth that the meane of the men is called vppon ouer the w…men, when they hauehave them as their husbandes vnderunder whoes charge and defense they liue. Therfore the calling vponupon of the name of Abraham vponupon the Israelites, stādeth in this when they conuey their pedegree from hym, and doo with solemne memorie honor him for their author and parent. Neither doth Iacob this because he is careful for the enlarging of the renome of hys name: but for asmuch as he knew that the whole blessednesse of his posteritie consisted in the enheritance of the couenant which God had made wt him: he wisheth that which he seeth should be ye chefe of al good thinges to them, that they be accompted in hys kynred: For, that is nothing ells but to cōuey to them the succession of the couenant. They againe when they bryng suche remembrance into their prayers, do not flee to the intercessions of deade mē: but do put ye lord in minde of his couenant, wherby the most kynde father hath promised that he wil be fauourable & beneficial to them for Abrahās, Isaacs, & Iacobs sakes. How litle the holy ones did otherwise leane vponupon the merites of their father, the common sayeng of the Chirch in the Prophet testifieth, Thou art our Father, and Abraham knew vsus not,Esa. …ii.…vi. & Israel was ignorant of vsus. Thou Lord art our Father and our redemer. And whē they thus, they adde therwithal, Returne O Lord for thy seruāts sakes: yet thinking vpō no intercessiō, but bending their minde to the benefite of the couenant. But now sith we hauehave the Lord Iesus, in whoes hand ye eternal couenant of mercy is not only made but also cōfirmed to vsus: whoes name shoulde we rather vse in our praiers? And because these good maisters wil hauehave the Patriarches so …e by these wordes made intercessors. I woulde sayne know of them why in so great a route Abrahā the Father of the Chirch hath no place at al amōg them. Out of what sinke they fetch their aduocates, it is not vnknowē. Let them answere me, how fit it is ye Abrahā, whō God preferred aboue al other, and whom he aduan̄ced to the hyest degree of honor, should be neglected and suppressed. Uerily whē it was euident that such vse was vnknowē to ye old Chirch, they thought good for hiding of the newnesse to speake nothing of the olde Fathers: as though ye diuersitie of names excused the new and forged maner. But whereas some obiect yt God is prayed vntounto, to hauehave mercy on the people for Dauids sake, it doth so nothing at al make for def̄se of their error, yt it is a most strōg profe for ye confutation therof. For if we cōsider what person Dauid did beare: he is seuered from al ye assēbly of ye Saintes, ye God should stablish ye couenant which he hath made in hys hande. So both ye couenāt is rather considered thā ye man, & vnderunder a figure ye only intercessiō of Christ is asfirmed. For it is certaine ye yt which belōged only to Dauid, in so much as he was the image of Christ, accordeth not wt any other.
But this forsothe moueth some, yt it is oftentimes red yt the prayers of Saints hauehave ben heard. Why so? Euen because they prayed. They trusted in thee (sayth the Prophet) and they were saued: they cried, and they were not confounded.Psal xxii.v. Therefore let vsus also pray as they did, yt we maye be heard as they were. But these men, otherwise than they ought, doe wrongfully reson, that none shalbe heard but they that hauehave ones ben heard. How much better doth Iames say? Elias (sayeth he) was a man like to vsus: and he prayed with prayer that it should not raine,Iam. v xvii. and it rained not vppon the earth in three yeares and six monethes. Againe he prayed, and the heauē gaue raine, and the earth gaue her frute. What? doth he gather any singular prerogatiue of Elias, to which we oughte to …ee? No. But he teacheth what is the continuall strength of godly & pure prayer, to exhorte vsus likewise to pray. For we do niggardly costrue the redinesse and gentlenesse of God in hearing them, vnlesse we be by such experiences cōfirmed into a more sure affiance of his promises, in which he promiseth that his eare shalbe enclined not to one, or two, nor yet to a fewe, but to al that call vponupon hys name. And so much lesse excusable is this foolishnesse, because they seme as it were of set purpose to despise so many admonitions of Scripture. Dauid was oft deliuered by the power of God.Psa. cxiii viii. Psa. lii.viii. Psalme. xxxiiii.vii Was it that he should draw that power to hymselfe, that we shoulde be deliuered by hys helpe? He himselfe affirmeth farr otherwise: The righteous loke for me, til thou render to me. Agayne, The righteous shall see and they shall reioyse, and truste in the Lorde. Behold, thys poore man hath cryed to God, and he hath answered him. There be in the Psalmes many suche prayers, in whiche to craue that whiche he requireth, he moueth God by this maner, that the righteous be not made ashamed, but may by his example be raised vp to hope wel. Lett vsus nowe be contented with thys one example. Therefore eueryevery holy one shall praye to thee in fitt tyme. Whiche place I hauehave so much the more willingly rehearsed, because the lewde babblers whiche doe lett out to hire the seruice of their waged tong hauehave not ben ashamed to allege it to proue the intercession of the dead. As thoughe Dauid meant any thing ells, than to shewe the frute that shall come of the mercifulnesse and gentlenesse of GOD, when he shall be heard. And in thys kynde we muste learne, that the experience, of the grace of God, as wel towarde our selues as other, is no sclender helpe to confirme the credit of hys promises. I leaue vnrehearsed many places, where Dauid setteth before hymselfe the benefites of God for mater of confidence, because the reders of the Psalmes shal commonly fynde them without seking. This selfe same thing had Iacob before taught by hys own exāple:Ge. xxxii.x. I am vnworthy of al thy mercies, and of the truthe which ye hast performed to thy seruante. I wyth my staffe hauehave passed ouer thys Iordan, & now I come fourth with twoo …andes. He allegeth in dede the promise, but not alone: but he also ioineth the effect, that he may the more couragiously in tyme to come trust that God will be the same towarde hym. For he is not like to mortall men, whiche are wery of their liberality, or whoes abilitie is wasted: but he is to be weyed by hys own nature,Psa. xxxi.vi. as Dauid wisely doth where he sayth, Thou hast redemed me, O God that speakest truth. After yt he hath geuē to God ye prayses of his saluation, he addeth that he is a true speaker: because vnlesse he were cōtinually like himselfe, there could not be gathered of his benefites a sufficiently strong reason of affiance and callyng vponupon hym. But when we knowe that so oft as he helpeth vsus▪ he sheweth an example and profe of hys goodnesse, we nede not to feare that our hope shalbe put to shame or disapoint vsus.
Let thys be the summe. Wheras the Scripture setteth out thys vntounto vsus for ye chefe point in ye worshipping of God, (as refusing al sacrifices, he requireth of vsus thys dutye of godlynesse) prayer is not wythout manifeste sacrilege directed to other. Wherefore also it is sayed in the Psalme. If we stretch fourth our handes to a strange God, shall not God require these things?Psa. xl…iii xxi. Againe, wheras God wil not be called vponupon, but of Fayth, and expresly cōmaundeth prayers to be framed according to the rule of hys worde: finally whereas Fayth founded vpō the word, is the mother of right prayer: so sone as we swarue from the worde, our prayer must nedes be corrupted. But it is alredy shewed, that if ye whole Scripture be sought, thys honor is therin chalenged to God onelyonly. As touching the office of intercession, we hauehave also shewed that it is peculiar to Christ, and that there is no prayer acceptable to God, but whiche that mediator halloweth. And though the faythfull do one for an other offer prayers to God for their brethren, we hauehave shewed that thys abaeth nothing from the onelyonly intercession of Christ: because they altogether standing vponupon it do commende both themselues and other to God. Moreouer we hauehave taught that this is vnfittly drawen to dead men, to whom we neuer rede that it hath ben commaunded that they shoulde pray for vsus. The Scripture doth oftentimes exhorte vsus to mutuall doinges of thys dutie one for an other: but of dead mē there is not so much as one syllable: yea and Iames ioyning these twoo thinges together, that we should confesse our selues among our selues, and mutually pray one for an other, doth secretly exclude dead men. Therfore to condemne thys error,Iame. v.viii. thys one reason sufficeth, that the beginning of prayeng rightly, spryngeth out of Fayth, and that Fayth cometh of the hearing of the worde of God, where is no mention of the fained intercession, because superstition hath rashly gotten to it selfe patrones whiche were not geuen them of God. For whereas the Scripture is ful of many formes of prayer, there is no example founde of thys patroneshyp▪ without which in the papacie thei beleue that there is no praier. Moreouer it is certaine that this superstition hath growē of distrustfulnesse: either because they were not content with Christ to be their intercessor, or hauehave altogether robbed him of this praise. And thys later point is easily proued by their shamelessnesse: because they hauehave no other stronger argument to proue that we hauehave nede of the intercession of Saintes, than whē they obiect that we are vnworthy of familiar accesse to God. Which we in dede graunt to be most true: but therupon we gather, that they leaue nothing to Christe, whiche esteme his intercession nothing worth, vnles there be adioyned George, Hyppolite, or such other visors
But although praier properly signifieth only wishes & petitions: yet there is so great affinitie betwene petitiō & thankesgeuing, yt they maye be fittly comprehended both vnderunder one name. For, the speciall sortes which Paul rehearseth, fal vnderunder the first part of this diuision. With asking and crauing we poure fourth our desires before God, requiring as wel those thinges that seme to sprede abrode his glorie and set foorth hys name, as the benefites that are profitable to our vse. With geuing of thankes, we do with due prayse magnifie his good doinges towarde vsus, acknowleging to be receued of his liberalitie whatsoeuer good thinges do come to vsus. Therfore Dauid cōprehended these twoo partes together, sayeng:Psa. i xv. Cal vpō me in the day of necessitie: I wil deliuer thee, & thou shalte glorifie me. The Scripture not in vaine commaundeth vsus to vse both. For we hauehave sayd in an other place that our nedinesse is so greate, and the experience it selfe cryeth out that we are on eueryevery syde pinched and pressed with so many and so great distresses, that all hauehave cause enough why they shoulde both sighe to God, and in humble wyse call vponupon hym. For though they be free from aduersities, yet the gyltynesse of their wicked doinges, and their innumerable assaultes of tentations ought to pricke forwarde the most holy to aske remedie. But in the sacrifice of prayse and thankesgeuing there can be no interruption without haynous synne, forasmuch as God cesseth not to heape vppon diuerse men diuerse benefites to dryue vsus though we be slack and slow, to thākfulnesse. Finally so great and so plentuous largesse of hys benefites doth in a maner ouerwhelme vsus: there are so many and so greate miracles of hys seen on eueryevery syde which way soeuer thou turne thee, yt we neuer want grounde and mater of prayse and thankesgeuing. And, that these things may be somwhat plainlier declared: sith al our hopes and wealth stande in God (which we hauehave before sufficiently proued) yt neither we nor all our things can be in prosperitie but by his blessing: we must cōtinually cōmit our selues & al our things to him.Ihon. iiii.xiiii. Esa. xxx &. xxxi.i.i. Thē, whatsoeuer we purpose, speake, or do, let vsus purpose, speake, & doe vnderunder hys hand & wil, finally vnderunder ye hope of hys helpe. For, al are pronoūced accursed of God, which deuise or determine any purposes vpō trust of thē selues or of ani other, which wtout his wil, & wtout callig vpō him do enterprise or attēpt to begin any thīg. And wheras we hauehave diuerse times alredy said, yt he is duely honored when he is acknowleged ye author of al good things: therupon foloweth that al those things are so to be receiued at his hāde, ye we yelde cōtinual thāks for them: & ye there is no other right way for vsus to vse his benefites, which flow and procede frō his liberality to no other end, but ye we shold be cōtinually busied in cōfessing his prayse & geuing of thanks.i. Timo. iiii.v. Metonymia. Ps. xl.iiii. For Paul, when he testifieth yt they are sanctified by the worde & prayer, doth therwithal signifie that they are not holy and cleane to vsus without the worde and prayer, vnderstanding by ye worde, fayth by figure. Therfore Dauid sayth very well, when hauing receiued the liberalitie of the Lorde, he declareth that there is geuen hym into hys mouth a new song: wherby verily he signifieth that it is a malitious silence, if we passe ouer any of hys benefites without prayse: sithe he so ofte geueth vsus mater to say good of hym, as he doeth good to vsus. As also Esaie setting out the singular grace of God, exhorteth the faythfull to a new and vnwonted song.Esa. ii.x. Psal. li.xvii. Esai. xxxviii.xx Ion. xi.x. Psa. cxvi.iii. Psa cvi.x…vii. Psa. cx.xviii. In which sense Dauid sayth in an other place, Lord opē thou my lippes, & my mouth shal shew fourth thy prayse. Likewise Ezethias and Ionas testifie that thys shalbe to them the ende of their deliuerance, to celebrate the goodnesse of God with songes in the tēple. Thys same Law Dauid prescribeth to al the godly. What shal I repay to the Lord (sayth he) for all the thynges that he hath bestowed vponupon me? I wil take the cup of saluations, and wil cal vponupon the name of the Lord. And ye same law ye Chirch foloweth in an other Psalme, Saue vsus our God, yt we may cōfesse to thy name and glory in thy prayse. Againe, He hath loked vntounto the prayer of the solitarie, and he hath not despised their prayers. Thys shalbe wrytten to the generation that shal folow, & the people created shal prayse ye Lord, that they may declare hys name in hym and his prayse in Hierusalem. Yea so oft as the faithful beseche God to do for hys names sake: as they professe themselues vnworthy to obteine any thing in their own name, so they binde themselues to geue thankes, & they promise that this shalbe to them the right vse of the bountifulnesse of God yt they shalbe publishers of it. So Osee speaking of the redemptiō to come of the Chirch, sayth:Ose. xiiii.iii. Take away iniquitie O God, and lift vp good: and we will paye the calues of lyppes. And the benefites of God doe not onelyonly clayme to themselues the prayse of the tong, but also do naturally procure louelove. I hauehave loued (sayth Dauid) because the Lord hath heard the voice of my praier.Ps. cxvi.i Ps. xviii.i Againe in an other place, rehearsing yt helpes which he had felt, he sayth: I wil louelove thee O God my strength. Neither shall the prayses euer please God, which shal not flow out of thys swetenesse of louelove. Yea and also we muste holde fast thys sayeng of Paule,Phil. iiii.vi. that all prayers are wrongful & faulty to which is not adioyned geuing of thākes. For thus he sayth, in al prayer & beseching with thankesgeuing, let your petetions be knowen with God. For, sithe testinesse, tediousnesse, impatiēce, bitternesse of grefe, and feare do moue many in prayeng to murmure, he commaundeth that our affections be so tempered, that the faythfull …re they hauehave obteyned ye which they desire, should neuerthelesse cherefully blesse God. If thys knot ought to hauehave place in things in a maner cōtrary, wt so much more holy bād doth God bind vsus to sing his praises, so oft as he maketh vsus to enioy our requestes. But as we hauehave taughte yt our prayers are hallowed by ye intercessiō of Christ, which otherwise should be vncleane: so ye Apostle, where he cōmaundeth vsus to offer a sacrifice of praise bi Christ, putteth in mind yt we hauehave not a mouth cleane enough to praise ye name of God,Heb. …iii.xv. vnlesse ye presthode of Christ become ye meane. Wherupō we gather yt mē hauehave ben mōstruously bewitched in ye papacie, where ye greater part marueleth yt Christ is called an aduocate. This is the cause why Paule commaundeth bothe to praye and to geue thankes without cessing:i. Tess. v.xiii. namely for that he willeth that with so great continuing as may be, at eueryevery tyme, in eueryevery place, in all maters and businesses, the prayers of all men shoulde be lifted vp to God, whiche may bothe loke for all thinges at hys hande, and yelde to him the praise of all thinges, as he offreth vsus continuall matter to prayse and praye.
But this cōtinual diligēce of prayeng, although it specially cōcerne to ye propre & priuate praiers of eueryevery man, yet somwhat also perteineth to the publike prayers of the Chirch. But those can neither be continuall, nor ought otherwise to be done thā according to the politike order that shall by commō consente be agreed vponupon among all. I graunt the same in dede. For therefore certayne houres are set and appointed, as indifferent with God, so necessarie for the vses of men, that the commoditie of all men may be prouided for, and all thinges (according to the sayeng of Paul) may be comlyly and orderly done in the Chirch.i. Cor. x….xl. But this maketh nothing to the contrarie but that eueryevery Chirch ought bothe from tyme to tyme to stirre vp it selfe to often vse of prayers, and when it is admonished by any greater necessitie, to be feruent with more earneste endeuor. As for perseruerance which hath a great affinitie with continuall diligence, there shalbe a fitt place to speake of it aboute the ende. Nowe these make nothing for the much babbling whiche Christe willed that we shold be forbidden.Math. vi.vii. For he forbiddeth not to continue long, nor oft, nor with much affection in prayers, but that we should not trust that we maye wryng any thing oute of God, by dulling his eares with much babbling talke, as if he were to be persuaded after the maner of men. For we knowe that Hypocrites, because they do not consider that they hauehave to do with God, do no lesse make a pompous shewe in their prayers than in a triumph. For, the Pharisee which thanked God that he was not like to other men, without dout reioysed at hymselfe in the eyes of men, as if he would by prayer seke to get a fame of holynesse. Hereupon came that much babbling▪ which at this day vponupon a like cause is vsed in the papacie, while some do vainly spende the tyme in repeting the same prayers, and other some doe set out themselues among the people with a long heape of words. Sith thys babbling childishly mocketh God, it is no maruell that it is forbidden out of the Chirche, to the ende that nothing should there be vsed but earnest and proceding from the bottome of the hart. Of a nere kinde and lyke to this corruption is there an other, which Christ cōdēneth wt thys: namely ye Hypocrites for bosting sake do seke to hauehave many witnesses, & do rather occupy ye market place to pray in, than their prayers should want ye prayse of ye world. But wheras we hauehave alredy shewed that thys is the marke that prayer shooteth at, that our myndes may be caryed vpwarde to God, bothe to cōfessiō of prayse & to crauing of helpe: therby we may vnderstand yt the chefe duties therof do stand in ye minde & the hart, or rather ye prayer it self is properly an affectiō of ye inward hart, which is poured fourth and layed opē before God ye searcher of harts. Wherfore (as it is alredy said) the heauenly scholemaister, when he minded to set out the best rule of prayeng,mat. vi.v▪ commaunded vsus to goe into our chamber, and there the dore beyng shutt to pray to our Father whiche is in secrete, that our Father which is in secret may heare vsus. For whē he hath drawē them away frō the example of hipocrites, which with ambicious bosting shewe of praiers sought the fauor of mē, he therwithall addeth what is better, namely to entre into our chamber, and there to pray the dore being shut. In which words (as I expounde them) he willed vsus to seke solitarie being. whiche may helpe vsus to descende and to entre throughely wyth our whole thoughte into our hart, promising to the affections of our harte that God shalbe nere vsus whoes temples our bodyes ought to be. For he meant not to deny but that it is expediente also to pray in other places: but he sheweth that prayer is a certaine secrete thing, whiche bothe is chefely placed in the soule, and requireth the quiet therof farr from all trobles of cares. Not wtout cause therfore ye lord himselfe also, when he was disposed to apply himselfe more earnestly to prayer cōueied himself into some solitarie place farr frō ye troblesome cōpany of mē: but to teach vsus by his exāple yt these helps ar not to be despised, by which our minde being to slippry of it self is more bēt to earnest applyeng of praier. But in the meane time euē as he in the middest of the multitude of men, absteined not from praying, if occasion at any tyme so serued: so should we in al places where nede shalbe,…. tim. ….…. lift vp pure handes. Finally thus it is to be holden, that whosoeuer refuseth to praye in the holy assemblie of the godly, he knoweth not what it is to pray apart, or in solitarinesse, or at home. Againe, that he that neglecteth to pray alone or priuatly how diligently soeuer he haūt publike assemblies, doth there make but vaine prayers: because he geueth more to the opinion of men thā to the secrete iugement of God. In the meane time, that the common prayers of the Chirch shoulde not growe into contempte, God in olde tyme garnished them with glorious titles,Esa. ….7. specially where he called the temple the house of prayer. For, by thys sayeng he both taught that the chefe part of the worshipping of hym is the dutie of prayer: and that to the ende that the faythful should with one consent exercise themselues in it, the tēple was set vp as a standard for them.Psa. … There was also added a notable promise: There abideth for thee, O God, prayse in Sion: & to thee the vow shalbe payed. By which wordes the Prophet telleth vsus, that the prayers of the Chirch are neuer voyde: because the Lord alway ministreth to hys people mater to sing vponupon with ioy. But although the shadowes of the law are cessed: yet because ye Lordes wil was by thys ceremonie to nourish among vsus also the vnitie of fayth, it is no doute that the same promise belongeth to vsus, which both Christ hath stablished with hys owne mouth, and Paule teacheth that it is of force for euer.
Now as the Lord by hys worde commaundeth the faithful to vse cō mon prayers: so there must be common temples appointed for the vsing of them: where whoso refuse to communicate their prayer with ye people of God, there is no cause why they should abuse thys pretense, that they enter into their chamber that they may obey the commaundemente of the lord.Mat. 18.…. For he that promiseth that he wil do whatsoeuer twoo or three shall aske being gathered together in hys name, testifieth that he despiseth not prayers openly made: so yt bosting and seking of glory of mē be absent, so that vnfained & true affectiō be present which dwelleth in the secret of the hart. If this be the right vse of temples (as truely it is) we must againe beware that neither (as they hauehave begon in certayne ages past to be accōpted) we take them for the propre dwelling places of God from whense he may more nerely bende hys eare vntounto … …ayne to them I wote not what secrete holinesse, whiche maye … prayer more holy before God. For sith we our selues be the … tēples of God, we must pray in our selues if we wil cal vponupon God in his own holy temple. As for that grossenesse, let vsus which hauehave a commaundement to call vponupon the Lord in Spirite and truth without difference of place, leaue it to the Iewes or the Gentiles.Iob 4.…. There was in dede a temple in olde time by the commaundemente of God for offring of prayers and sacrifices: but that was at such tyme as the truth lay hydde figured vnderunder suche shadowes, which being now liuely expressed vntounto vsus doth not suffer vsus to sticke in any materiall temple. Neither was the temple geuen to the Iewes themselues with this condition, that they shold enclose the presence of God, within the walles therof,Esa. …. but wherby they myght be exercised to beholde the image of the true temple. Therefore they, which in any wise thought that God dwelleth in temples made with handes,Actes. …. were sharply rebuked of Esay and Stephen.
Here moreouer it is more than euident, that neither voice nor song, if they be vsed in prayer, hauehave any force, or do any whit profite before God, vnlesse they procede from the depe affectiō of the hart. But rather they prouoke his wrath against vsus, if they come only frō the lippes and out of the throte: forasmuch as that is to abuse his holy name, and to make a mockerie of his maiestie: as we gather out of the wordes of Esay, which although they extende further, yet perteine also to reproue thys fault.Esa. 9.…. Mat. …5.…. Thys people (sayth he) cometh nere to with their mouth and honoreth me with their lippes but their hart is farr frō me: & they hauehave feared me with the commaūdement and doctrine of men. Therfore beholde I will make in this people a miracle great and to be wondred at: For, wisedome shall perish from their wise men, and the prudence of the Elders shal vanishe away. Neither yet doo we here condemne voice or singyng, but rather doo hyely commende them, so that they accompany the affection of the mynde. For so they exercise the mynd and hold it intentiue in thynkyng vponupon God: which as it is slippery and rollyng, easily slacketh and is diuersly drawen, vnlesse it be stayed with diuers helpes. Moreouer wheras the glorie of God ought after a certaine maner to shine in al the partes of our body, it specially behoueth that the tong be applyed and auowed to this seruice both in singing and in speaking, which is properly created to shew fourth and display the praise of God. But the chefe vse of the tong is in publike prayers, which are made in the assemblie of the Godly: which tend to thys ende, that we may all wt one common voice, and as it were with one mouth together glorifie God, whō we worship with one Spirite and one Faith: and that openly, that all men mutually, eueryevery one of hys brother, maye receiue the confession of Fayth, to the example wherof they maye be bothe allured and stirred.
Is for the vse singyng in Chirches (that I may touche this also by the waie) it is certaine that it is not onelyonly most aunciēt: but that it was also in vse among the Apostles,1. Cor. …. 12. we maye gather by these wordes of Paule. I will syng in Spirite, I will syng also in mynde. Agayne to the Colossians, Teachyng and admonishing you, mutually in hymnes, psalmes, and spirituall songes, singyng with grace in your harts to the Lorde. For in the first place he teacheth that we should syng with voice and harte: in the other he commendeth spirituall songes, wherewith the godly doo mutually edifie themselues.confess. lib. 9. cap. 7. Yet that it was not vniuersal, Augustine testifieth, which reporteth that in the time of Ambrose the Chirch of Millain first began to sing, when while Iustina the mother of Valentin…an cruelly raged against the true Faith, the people more vsed watchinges than they were wont: and that afterwarde the other westerne Chirches folowed. For he had a litle before sayed that this maner came from the Easterne Chirches. He telleth also in his seconde boke of Retractations that it was in his time receiued in Africa. One Hilarie (sayth he) a ruler did in eueryevery place wheresoeuer he could, with malicious blaming raile at the maner which then began to be at Carthage, that the hymnes at the altar should be pronounced out of the boke of Psalmes, either before the oblation, or whē that which had ben offred was distributed to the people. Him I answered at the commaundement of my brethren. And truely if song be tempered to that grauitie which becommeth the presēce of God and Angels, it both procureth dignitie and grace to the holy actions, and muche auaileth to stirre vp the myndes to true affection, and feruentnesse of prayeng. But we muste diligently beware that our eares be not more hedefully bente to the note,Confess. lib x. ca. xxxiii. than our myndes to the spiritual sense of the wordes. Wyth which peril Augustine in a certaine place sayth that he was so moued, that he sometime wished yt ye maner which Athanasius kept shold be stablished, which commaunded that the reder shoulde sounde hys wordes with so small a boowing of hys voice, that it should be liker to one that readeth than to one that singeth. But when he remembred howe muche profite he hymselfe had receyued by syngyng, he inclined to ye other side. Therfore vsyng this moderation, there is no dout that it is a most holye and profitable ordinance. As on the other side what songes so euer are framed only to swetenesse and delite of the eares, they both become not the maiestie of the Chirch, and can not but hyely displease God.
Whereby it also playnly appereth that common praiers are to be spoken not in Greke among Latine men, nor in Latine among Frenchemen or Englishemen (as it hath heretofore ben eche where commonly done) but in the peoples mother tongue, which cōmonly may be vnderstoode of the whole assembly: forasmuche as it ought to be done to the edifiyng of the whole Chirch, whiche receiue no fruite at all of a sound not vnderstanded. But they which hauehave no regarde neither of charitie nor of humanitie, shold at least hauehave ben somwhat moued with the authoritie of Paule,i. Cor. xiiii.xvi. whoes wordes are nothyng doutfull. If thou blesse (saieth he) in Spirite, howe shall he that filleth the place of an vnlerned man answer Amen to thy blessing, sith he knoweth not what thou saiest? For thou in dede geuest thankes, but the other is not edified. Who therfore can sufficiently wonder at the vnbridled licentiousnesse of the Papistes, which, the Apostle so openly crying out againste it, feare not to roare out in a strange tongue moste babblyng prayers, in whiche they themselues sometyme vnderstand not one syllable, nor wold hauehave other folkes to vnderstand it? But Paule teacheth that we ought to do otherwise. How then? I will pray (sayth he) with spirit, I will praye also with mynde: I will syng with spirite, I will sing also with mynde: signifieng by the name of Spirite, the singular gifte of tonges, which many being endued with abused it, when they seuered it from the mynde, that is, frō vnderstāding. But this we must altogether thīk, that it is by no meane possible, neither in publike nor in priuate praier, but that the tong without the hart must hyely displease God. Moreouer we muste thinke that the mynde ought to be kyndled with feruentnesse of thoughte, that it maye farre surmounte all that the tong maye expresse with vtterance. Fynally that the tong is not necessarie at all for priuate prayer, but so farre as the inwarde felyng either is not able to suffice to enkindle it selfe, or the vehemence of enkindlyng violently carieth the woorke of the tong with it. For though very good prayers sometyme be without voyce, yet it oftentymes betydeth, that when the affection of the mynde is feruent, bothe the tong breaketh foorthe into voice, and the other membres into gesturyng without excessiue shew. Hereupon came the mutteryng of Hanna,i. Sam. i.xiii. and such a like thing all the holy ones alway fele in themselues, when they burst out into broken and vnperfect voices. As for the gestures of the body which are wont to be vsed in praier (as knelyng and vncoueryng of the hed) they are exercises by which we endeuor to ryse vp to a greater reuerencing of God.
Now we must learne not onelyonly a more certaine rule, but also the very forme of prayeng: namely the same, which the heauenly Father hath taught vsus by his beloued Sonne:Math. vi.ix. wherin we may acknowe his vnmesurable goodnesse and kyndenesse. For besyde this he warneth and exhorteth vsus to seke hym in al our necessitie, (as children are wont to flee to their fathers defence,Luc. xii ii. so oft as they be troubled with any distresse) because he saw yt we did not sufficiently perceiue this, how sclender our pouertie was, what were mete to be asked, & what were for our profite: he prouided also for this our ignorāce, & what our capacitie wāted, he supplied & furnished of his own. For he hath prescribed to vsus a form wherin he hath as in a Table set our whatsoeuer we may desire of him, what soeuer auaileth for our profit, & whatsoeuer is necessary to ask. Of whiche his gentlenesse we receaue a great fruit of comfort yt we vnderstand yt we aske no inconuenient thyng, no vnsemyng or vnfit thyng, finally nothyng that is not acceptable to hym, sith we aske in a maner after his owne mouthe. When Plato sawe the folly of men in making requestes to God,Alcil, ii. vel de. vo…. whiche beyng graūted, it many tymes befell much to their owne hurt: he pronounced that this is the best maner of prayeng taken out of the olde Poete, Kyng Iupiter geue vntounto vsus the beste thynges bothe when we aske them, and when we doo not aske them, but commaunde euell thynges to be away from vsus euen when we aske them. And verily the heathen man is wyse in this, that he iudgeth howe perillous it is to aske of the Lorde that whiche our owne desire moueth vsus: and therwithal he bewrayeth our vnhappy case,Rom. viii vi. that we can not ones open our mouthes before God without danger, vnlesse the Spirite do instructe vsus to a right rule of praying. And in so muche greater estimation this priuilege is worthy to be had of vsus, sithe the onelyonly begotten Sonne of God ministreth wordes into our mouthe which may deliuer our mynde from all doutyng.
This whether you call it forme or rule of praying is made of six petitions. For, the cause why I agree not to them that diuide it into seuen partes, is this that by puttyng in this aduersatiue word (But) it semeth that the Euangelist men to ioyne these two peces together, as if he had sayd:August. in Enchirid ad Laurent. cap. 116. Chrysos. au…. o… per imperf. Suffer vsus not to be oppressed with tentation but rather helpe our weakenesse, & deliuer vsus, that we faynt not. The olde writers also think on our syde, so that nowe that whiche is in Mathew added in the seuēth place, is by way of declaration to be ioyned to the sixt petition. But although the whole praier is such that in eueryevery parte of it regarde is specially to be had of the glorie of God, yet the three first petitions are peculiarly appoynted to Gods glorie, whiche alone we ought in them to loke vntounto without any respect (as they say) of our owne profite. The other thre hauehave care of vsus, and are proprely assigned to aske those thinges that are for our profite. As when we pray that the name of God be halowed: because God will proue whether he be loued and honored of vsus freely or for hope of reward, we must thē think nothyng of our own commoditie: but his glorie must be sett before vsus, which alone we must beholde with fixed eies: and no otherwise ought we to be mynded in the other praiers of this sort. And euen this tourneth to our great profite, that when it is sanctified as we pray, it is also likewise made our sanctification. But our eyes (as it is saied) must winke and after a certayne maner be blinde at suche profite, so as they may not ones loke at it: that if all hope of our priuate benefite were cut of, yet we should not ceasse to wishe and pray for this sanctification and other thynges which perteine to the glorie of God.Exo. xxxii xxxii. Rom. ix.iii. As it is sene in the examples of Moses and Paule, to whom it was not greuous to turne away their myndes and eies from themselues, & with vehement and enflamed zele to wish their owne destruction that though it were with their owne losse they might auaunce the glorie & kyngdome of God. On ye other side when we pray that our dayly bread be geuen vsus: although we wyshe that which is for our owne commoditie, yet here also we ought chefely to seke the glorie of God, so that we would not aske it vnlesse it might turne to his glorie. Now let vsus come to the declaryng of the praier it selfe.
Our Father whiche art in heauen.
First in the very entrie we mete with this which we said before that all prayer ought none otherwise to be offred of vsus to God than in the name of Christe, as it can by no other name bee made acceptable vntounto him. For sins we call him Father, truely we allege for vsus the name of Christ. For by what boldnesse myght any man call God, Father? who should burst foorth into so great rashnesse, to take to hymselfe the honor of the Sonne of God, vnlesse we were adopted the children of grace in Christ? Which being the true Sonne, is geuē of him to vsus to be our brother: that that which he hath propre by nature,Iohn. i.xii. i. Iohn. iii.i. Psalme. xxvii.x. Ps. xxvii.x. Esa. lxiii.xvi. ii. Tim. ii xiii. may by the benefit of adoptiō be made oures, if we do with sure faith embrace so great bountifulnesse. As Iohn saith, yt power is geuē to thē which beleue in ye name of the only begottē Sonne of God, yt they also may be made the childrē of God. Therforē he both calleth himself our Father, & will be so called of vsus, by this swetenesse of name delyuering vsus from all distrust, sithe there can no where be found any greater affection of louelove than in a Father. Therfore he coulde by no surer example testifie his vnmeasurable deere louelove towarde vsus than by this that we are named the sonnes of God. But his louelove is so much greater & more excellent toward vsus than all louelove of our parentes, as he passeth all men in goodnesse and mercy: that if all the fathers that are in the earth, hauing shaken of all feling of fatherly naturalnesse, wold forsake their children, yet he wyll neuer faile vsus,Mat. vii.xi. Esa. xlix.xv. because he can not denie hymselfe. For we hauehave his promise, If you beyng euell can geue good giftes to your children, howe muche more can your Father which is in heauen? Agayn in the Prophet, Can a mother forget her children? Though she forget them, yet I will not forgett thee. If we be his children: then as a childe can not geue hymselfe into the tuition of a stranger and forein man, vnlesse he complain either of the crueltie or pouertie of his father: so we can not seke succors from ells where than from him alone, vnlesse we reproche hym with pouertie and wante of abilitie, or with crueltie or to extreme rigorousnesse.
Neither let vsus allege that we are worthily made fearefull with conscience of sinnes, whiche may make a Father be he neuer so mercyfull and kynde, daily to be displeased. For if among men the sonne can with no better aduocate pleade his cause to his father, & by no better meane gett and recouer his fauor beyng loste, than if he hymselfe humbly and lowly, acknowlegyng his fault, doo beseche his fathers merciemercy (for then the fatherly bowels can not hide themselues but must be moued at such prayers) what shall that father of mercies do,ii. Cor. i.iii. and the God of all comfort? shall not he rather heare the teares and gronynges of his children intreatyng for themselues (specially sith he dothe call and exhorte vsus to do so) than any other intercessions whatsoeuer they be: to the succor wherof they do so fearefully flee, not withoute some shewe of despeire, because they distrust of the kyndnesse and mercifulnesse of their father? This ouerflowyng plentie of fatherly kyndnesse he depainteth and setteth out vntounto vsus in the parable,Luc. xv.xx. where the Father louyngly embraceth the sonne that had estranged hymselfe from him, that had riotously wasted his substance, that had eueryevery way greuously offended against him: and he tarieth not till he do with wordes craue pardon, but he hymselfe preuenteth hym, knoweth hym afarre of returnyng, of his owne wyll goeth to mete hym, comforteth him, and receiueth hym into fauor. For, settyng out in a man this example of so great gentlenesse, he mynded to teache vsus howe muche more plentifull kindnesse we ought to loke for at his hande, who is not only a Father, but also the best and most mercyfull of all Fathers, howsoeuer we be vnkynde, rebellious, and noughty children: so that yet we cast our selves vppon his merciemercy. And that he myght make it to be more assuredly beleued, that he is suche a Father to vsus, if we be Christians: he willed not only to be called Father, but also by expresse name Our father: as if we myght thus talke with hym, O Father which hast so great naturall kyndnesse towarde thy chyldren, so great easynesse to pardon, we thy children call to thee and pray to thee, beyng assured and fully persuaded, that thou bearest no other affection to vsus than fatherly, howsoeuer we be vnworthy of suche a Father. But because the small capacities of our hart conceiue not so great vnmeasurablenesse of fauor, not onelyonly Christe is to vsus a pledge and earneste of our adoption, but also he geueth vsus the Spirite for witnesse of the same adoption,Gal. iii, vi. through whom we may with a free and lowde voyce crie. Abba, Father. So ofte therfore as any delay shal with…arde vsus, let vsus remembre to aske of hym, that correctyng our fearefulnesse, he will sette before vsus that Spirite of coragiousnesse to be our guide to pray boldly.
Whereas we are not so taught that eueryevery one shoulde seuerally call hym his owne father, but rather that we should all in common together call hym Our Father: therby we are put in mynde, howe great affection of brotherly louelove ought to be among vsus, whiche are altogether by one same right of mercy and liberalitie, the children of suche a Father, For we all hauehave one common Father, from whom cometh whatsoeuer good thyng may betide vntounto vsus:Mat. xxiii ix. there ought to be nothyng seuerall among vsus, whiche we are not ready with great cherefulnesse of mynde to communicate one to an other, so muche as nede requireth. Now if we be so desirous, as we oughte to be, to reache our hande and helpe one to an other, there is nothyng wherin we may more profite our brethren, than to commende them to the care and prouidence of the most good Father, who beyng well pleased & fauoring, nothing at al can be wāted. And verily euen this same we owe to our Father. For as he that truely & hartily loueth any Father of household, doth also embrace his whole housholde, with louelove and good will: likewise what louelove & affection we beare to this heauenly Father,Ephes. i.xxiiii. we must shewe towarde his people, his householde and his inheritance, which he hath so honored, that he hath called it the fullnesse of his only begotten Sonne. Let a christian man therfore frame his prayers by this rule, that they be common, and may comprehend all them that be brethren in Christe with hym: and not onelyonly those whom he presently seeth and knoweth to be suche, but al men that lyue vponupon earth: of whom, what God hath determined, it is out of our knowlege: sauyng that it is no lesse godly then naturall to wish the best to them, and hope the beste of them. Howbeit we ought with a certayne singular affection to beare a special inclination to them of the household of faith,Gal. vi.x. whom the Apostle hath in eueryevery thing peculiarly commended vntounto vsus. In a sūme, Al our praiers ought to be so made, that they hauehave respect to that communitie which our Lord hath stablished in his kyngdome and his house.
Yet this withstandeth not, but that we may specially pray both for our selues and for certaine other: so that yet our mynde depart not from hauyng an eye to this communitie, nor ones swarue from it, but applie all thynges vntounto it. For though they be singularly spoken in forme, yet because they are directed to that marke, they cesse not to be common. All this may be easily vnderstoode by a like example. The commaundemēt of God is generall, to relieue the nede of all poore: and yet they obey this commaundement which to this ende do helpe their pouertie whom they knowe or see to be in nede, although they passe ouer many whome they see to be pressed with no lesse necessitie: either because they can not know all, or be not able to helpe all. After this maner they also doo not against the will of God, which hauyng regard vntounto and thinkyng vppon this common felowship of the Chirche, doo make suche particular prayers, by whiche they doo with a common mynde in particular wordes, commende to God themselves or other, whoes necessitie God willed to be more nereiy knowen to them. Howbeit all thyngs are not like in praier and in bestowyng of goodes. For, the liberalitie of geuing can not be vsed but toward them whoes nede we hauehave perceyued; but with prayers we may helpe euen them that are most strange and moste vnknowen to vsus, by howe greate a space of ground soeuer they be distant from vsus. This is done by that generall forme of praier, wherin all the children of God are conteined, among whom they also are. Hereto we may applie that which Paule exhorteth the faithfull of his tyme,i. Tim. ii.viii. that they lift vp eueryevery where pure handes without stryfe: because when he warneth them y• strife shutteth the gate against praiers, he willeth them with one mynde to lay their petitions in common together.
It is added, that he is in heauen. Wherupon it is not by and by to be gathered that he is bounde faste enclosed and compassed with the circle of heauen, as within certayne barres. For Salomon also confesseth that the heauens of heauens can not conteyne hym.i. Kin. viii xxxvii. Esa. lxvi.i. Acte. vii.xlix. et xvii.xxiiii And he hymselfe faith by the Prophet that heauen is his seate, and the earthe his footestoole. Wherby verily he signifieth that he is not limited in any certaine coaste, but is spread abroade throughout all thynges. But because our mynde (suche is the grossenesse of it) coulde not otherwyse conceiue his vnspeakable glorie, it is signified to vsus by the heauen, than which there can nothing come vnderunder our sight more ample or fuller of maiesty. Sith therfore wheresoeuer our senses comprehende any thyng, there they vse to fasten it: God is sett out of all place, that when we will seke hym we should be raised vp aboue all sense bothe of body and soule. Agayne by this maner of speakyng he is lifted vp aboue all chaunce of corruption and change: finally it is signified that he comprehendeth and cōtemeth the whole worlde and gouerneth it with his power. Wherfore this is al one as if he had ben called of infinite greatnesse or height, of incomprehensible substance, of vnmeasurable power, of euerlastyng immortalitie. But while we hauehave this, we must lift vp our mynde hier when God is spoken of, that we dreame not any earthly or fleshly thyng of hym. that we measure hym not by our small proportions, nor drawe his will to the rule of our affections. And therwithall is to be raysed vp our affiance in him, by whose prouidence and power we vnderstande heauen and earth to be gouerned. Let this be the summe, that vnderunder the name of Father is sett before vsus that God which hath in his owne image appeared to vsus, that he may be called vponupon with assured faith: and that the familiar name of Father is not onelyonly applied to stablishe affiance, but also auaileth to holde fast our myndes that they be not drawen to doutfull or fained Gods, but shoulde from the onelyonly begotten sonne clymbe vp to the onelyonly father of Angels and of the Chirche: then, that because his seate is placed in heauen, we are by the gouernance of the worlde put in mynd that not without cause we come to hym which with present care cometh of his owne will to mete vsus. Who so come to God (saith the Apostle) they must first beleue that there is a God:Hebr. xi.vi. then, that he is a rewarder to all them that seke hym. Bothe these thyngs Christ affirmeth to be propre to his Father, that our Faith may be stayed in hym: then, that we may be certainly persuaded that he is not carelesse of our safetie: because he vouchesaueth euen to vsus to extende his prouidence. With whiche introductions Paule prepareth vsus to pray rightely. For before that he hiddeth our petitions to be opened before God he sayth thus, Be ye carefull for nothyng,Philip. iiii.vi. the Lorde is at hande. Wherby appeareth that they doutefully and with perplexitie tosse theyr prayers in their mynde, whiche hauehave not this well settled in them,Psalme. xxxiii.xviii. that the eie of God is vponupon the righteous.
The firste Petition is, That the name of God be hallowed, the neede wherof is ioyned with our greate shame. For what is more shamefull, than that the glorie of God should be partly by our vnthankefulnesse, partly by our maliciousnesse, darkened: and (so muche as in it lyeth) by our boldenesse and furious stubbornesse, vtterly blotted out? Though all the wicked wolde burst themselues with their wylfulnesse full of sacrilege, yet the holynesse of the name of God gloriously shineth. And not without cause the Prophet crieth out, As thy name O God, so is …hy praise into al the endes of the earth.Psalme. xlviii.xi. For wheresoeuer the name of God is knowen, it can not be but that his strengthes, power, goodnesse, wisdome, righteousnesse, merciemercy, and truthe must shewe foorth themselues, whiche may drawe vsus into admiration of him, and stirre vsus vp to publyshe his praise. Sithe therfore the holynesse of God is to shamefully taken from hym in earth, if we be not able to reskue it, we be at the least commaunded to take care of it in our prayers. The summe is, that we wishe the honor to be geuen to God whiche he is worthye to hauehave, that men neuer speake or thinke of hym without moste hye reuerence: wherunto is contrarie the vnholy abusyng, whiche hath alway been to common in the worlde, as at this day also it rangeth abroade. And hereuppon commeth the necessitie of this petition, whiche if there liued in vsus any godlynesse, though it were but little, oughte to hauehave ben superfluous. But if ye name of God hauehave his holynesse safe, when being seuered from all other, it breatheth out nothyng but glorie, here we are commaunded not only to pray that God wil deliuer that holy name from al contempt & dishonor, but also that he wil subdue al mankind to the reuerēce of it. Now wheras God discloseth hymself to vsus partly by doctrine, partly by workes, he is no otherwise sanctified of vsus, than if we geue to him in both behalfes yt which is his, & so embrace whatsoeuer shal come from hym: and that his seueritie hauehave no lesse praise among vsus than his mercifulnesse, forasmuche as he hath in the manifolde diuersitie of his workes emprinted markes of his glorie which may worthily drawe out of all tonges a confession of his praise. So shall it comme to passe that the Scripture shall hauehave full authoritie with vsus, and that no successe shall hynder the blessyng whiche God deserueth in the whole course of the gouernyng of the worlde. Agayne the petition also tendeth to this purpose, that all vngodlynesse whiche defyleth this holy name, may be destroyed and taken away: that whatsoeuer thynges doo darken and diminishe this sanctifieng, as well sclaunders as mockynges, may be driuen away: and when God subdueth al sacrileges, his glorie may therby more and more shine abroade.
The seconde petition is, that The Kyngdome of God may come: which although it conteyne no newe thyng, is yet not withoute cause seuered from the fyrst: because if we consyder our owne drewsynesse in a thyng greatest of all other, it is profitable that the thyng whiche oughte of it selfe to hauehave ben most well knowen, be with many wordes ofte beaten into vsus. Therfore after that we hauehave ben commaunded to pray to God to bryng into subiection, and at length vtterly to destroye whatsoeuer spotteth his holye name: nowe is added a like and in a maner the same request, that his kingdome come. But although we hauehave alredy sett fourth the definition of this kingdome, yet I now brefely rehearse, that God reigneth when men as wel with forsaking of themselues as with despising of the world and of the earthly life, do so yelde themselues to his righteousnesse, that they aspire to the heauenly lyfe. Therfore there are twoo partes of this kyngdome: the one, that God correcte with the power of his Spirite all corrupt desires of the fleshe, which do by multitudes make warre against hym: the other, that he frame all our senses to the obedience of hys gouernement. Therfore none do kepe right order in thys prayer, but they which beginne at themselues, that is to say, that they be cleansed from all corruptions which troble the quiet state of the kingdome of God, and infect the purenesse therof. Now because the worde of God is lyke a kyngly scepter, we are here commaunded to pray that he wil subdue the myndes and hartes of al men to willing obedience of it. Which is done, when with the secret instinct of hys Spirite he vttereth the effectuall force of hys worde, that it may be auaunced in such degree as it is worthi. Afterward we must come down to the wicked which do obstinatly and with desperate rage resist his authoritie. God therfore setteth vp hys kyngdome by humbling the whole world: but that in diuerse maners: because he tameth the wantonnesses of some, and of other some he breaketh the vntamed pride. Thys is daily to be wished that it be done, that it may please God to gather to hymselfe Chirches out of all the coastes of the worlde, to enlarge and encreasce them in number, to enriche them with his giftes, to stablishe right order in them: on the other side to ouerthrowe all the enemies of pure doctrine and religion, to scatter abrode their counsels, to cast down their enterprises. Wherby appeareth that the endeuor of daili proceding is not in vaine commaunded vsus: because the maters of men are neuer in so good case, that filthinesse bring shaken away and cleansed, full purenesse florisheth and is in liuely force.i. Cor. xv.xxviii. But the fulnesse of it is differred vntounto the last comming of Christ, when Paule teacheth that God shalbe al in al. And so thys prayer ought to withdrawe vsus from all the corruptions of the world, which do seuer vsus from God that hys kyngdome should not florishe in vsus, and also to kindle our endeuor to mortifie the flesh, finally to instruct vsus to the bearing of the crosse: forasmuch as God will in this wise hauehave hys kyngdome spred abrode. Neither ought we to take it miscontentedly that the outward man be destroyed, so that the inwarde man be renewed. For thys is the nature of ye kingdome of God, when we submitt our selues to the righteousnesse therof, to make vsus partakers of his glorie. Thys is done whē brightly setting fourth his light and truth with alway new encreasces, wherby ye darkenesse and lyes of Satan and hys kyngdome, may vanish away, be destroyed, and perish, he defendeth them that be his, with the helpe of hys Spirite directeth them to vprightnesse and strengtheneth them to cō tinuance: but ouerthroweth the wicked cōspiracies of hys enemies, shaketh abrode their treasons and deceites, preuenteth their malice, and beateth downe their stubbornnesse, til at length he kill Antichrist with the Spirite of hys mouth and destroy all vngodlinesse with the brightnesse of his comming.
The third petition is, That the wil of God be done in earth as it is in heauen. Which although it hangeth vponupon his kingdome, and can not be seuered from it, is not in vaine added seuerally, for our grossnesse, whiche doth not easily or by and by conceiue what it is that God reigne in the world. It shal therfore be no absurditie if this be taken by waye of plainer exposition: that God shal then be king in the world when al things shal submitt themselues to his will. Now here is not meant of hys secret will, wherby he gouerneth al thinges and directeth them to their ende. For though Satan and men are troblesomly caried againste him yet he can by hys incomprehensible counsell not only turne aside their violent motions, but also driue them into order that he may do by them that which he hath purposed. But here is spokē of an other wil of God, namely that whereunto answereth willing obedience: and therefore the heauen is by name compared with the earth: because the Angells, as it is sayd in the Psalme,Psal. ciii.xx. do willingly obey God, and are diligently bent to do his commaundements. We are therfore cōmaunded to wish that as in heauen nothing is done but by the becke of God, and the Angels are quietly framed to al vprightnesse: so the earth, al stubbornnesse and peruersenesse being quenched, may be subiect to such gouernemēt. And when we require this, we renounce the desires of our owne fleshe: because whosoeuer doth not resigne and yelde his affections to God, he doth as much as in hym lyeth set himself against him, forasmuch as nothing cometh out of vsus but faulty. And we are againe by thys prayer framed to the forsaking of our selues, that God may gouerne vsus after his wil: and not that only, but that he may also create in vsus new mindes and new hartes, our olde being brought to nought: that we may fele in our selues none other motion of desire than a mere cōsent with his wil: summarily that we may wil nothing of our selues, but that his Spirite may gouerne our hartes, by whō inwardly teaching vsus we may learne to louelove those thinges that please hym, and to hate those thinges that displease him. Wherupon this also foloweth, that whatsoeuer affections fyght against his wil, he may make them vaine and voide. Loe here be the first three chefe pointes of thys prayer, in asking wherof we oughte to hauehave the onelyonly glorie of God before our eyes, leauing the respect of our selues, and hauing no regarde to any of our owne profit, whiche although it come hereof largely vntounto vsus, yet we ought not here to seke it. But albeit al these thinges, though we neither thinke of them, nor wish them, nor aske them, must neuerthelesse come to passe in their due time, yet we must wishe them and require them. And thys to doe is no smal profit for our trauaill, that we may so testifie and professe our selues to be the seruantes and childrē of God, as much as in vsus lyeth endeuoring and being truely and throughly geuen to set fourth hys honor, which is due to hym being bothe a Lord and a Father. Whoso therefore doe not with affection and zele of auauncing the glorie of God, pray that the name of God be hallowed, that hys kyngdome come, that hys wyll be done: they are not to be accompted among the childrē and seruantes of God: and as all these thinges shalbe done agaynst their willes, so they shal turne to their confusion and destruction.
Now foloweth the seconde part of ye prayer, in which we come down to our own commodities: not that bidding farewel to the glorie of God (which as Paul witnesseth,i. Cor. x, xxxi, is to be regarded euen in meate and drink) we shold seke only what is profitable for our selues: but we hauehave alredy geuen warning that there is thys difference, that God peculiarly claiming three petitions to hymselfe doth draw vsus to hymselfe wholly, that he may in thys wise proue our godlinesse. Then he graunteth vsus also to hauehave an eye to our own commodities, but with this condition that we aske nothīg for our selues but to this ende that whatsoeuer benefites he bestoweth vpō vsus, they may set fourth his glorie: forasmuche as nothing is more rightfull than that we lyue and dye to hym. But in thys petition we aske of God generally al thinges whiche the vse of the body nedeth vnderunder the elementes of this world, not only wherwith we may be fed and clothed, but also whatsoeuer he foreseeth to be profitable for vsus, that we may eate our bred in peace. By which prayer brefely we yelde our selues into his care, and commit vsus to his prouidence, that he may fede, cherishe, and preserue vsus. For the most good Father disdayneth not to receiue also our body into hys faythfull sauegarde and keping, to exercise our Fayth in these smal thinges, when we loke for all thinges at hys handes euen to a crumme of bred and a droppe of water. For wheras it is come to passe I wote not how by our iniquitie, that we be moued and vexed with greater care of the fleshe than of the soule: many which dare trust to God for their soule, are yet carefull for their fleshe, are yet in doute what they shall eate, and wherewith they shalbe clothed: and if they hauehave not plenty of wyne, wheate, and oyle aforehande, they tremble for feare. So muche more do we esteme the shadow of this lyfe which lasteth but a moment, than that euerlasting immortalitie. But whoso trusting to God hauehave ones cast away y• carefulnesse for the prouision of the fleshe, do also by and by loke for saluatiō and euerlasting lyfe at hys hand, which are greater things. It is therfore no smal exercise of Fayth, to hope for those thinges of God, whiche otherwise do so much holde vsus in care: and we hauehave not smally profited, when we hauehave put of thys vnbeleuingnesse whiche s…cketh fall within the bones almost of all men. As for that whiche some doe here teache of transubstantiall bred, it semeth but smally to agree with the meaning of Christ: yea but if we did not euen in thys frayle lyfe geue to God the office of a nourishing Father, our prayer should be vnperfect. The reason whiche they bryng is to muche profane: that it is not mete that the children of God, which ought to be spiritual, should not only cast their minde to earthly cares, but also wrappe God therin wt them. As though his blessing & fatherly fauor doth not also appeare in y• sustenāce of our lyfe, or as though it were written in vaine yt godlinesse hath promyses not only of the life to come, but also of this presēt lyfe. But although the forgeuenesse of synnes is of much greater value than the sustenances of the body yet Christ hath set the inferior thing in the first place,i. Timo. iiii.viij. to the entent to lift vsus vp by degrees to y• other twoo petitions which do properly belong to the heauenly lyfe, wherin he had regarde to our grossenesse. We are commaunded to aske Our bred, that we shoulde be contente with the quantitie which our heauenly Father vouchesaueth to geue to vsus, and shoulde not seke for gayne by vnlawful crafty meanes. In the meane tyme we muste learne that it is made Ours by title of gifte,Leu. xxvi ix. because neither our diligence, nor our trauaill, nor our handes (as it is sayed in Moses) doe by themselues gett vsus any thing, vnlesse the blessing of God be presente: yea the plentie of bred shoulde nothing at al profit vsus, vnlesse it were by God turned into nourishmente. And therefore thys liberalitie of God is no lesse necessarie for the riche than for the poore: because hauing their cellers & their barnes full, they should yet fainte for drynesse and emptinesse, vnlesse they did by hys grace enioy their bred. The word This day, or EueryEvery day as it is in the other Euangelist, and also the adiectiue Daily, doe bridle the to muche gredines of fraile thinges, wherwith we are wont to burne out of measure, and wherunto are ioyned other euells: sithe if we hauehave plē tifull abundance, we do gloriously poure it out vppon pleasure, delites, boasting, and other kindes of riotous excesse. Therefore we are commaunded to aske only so much as is enough for our necessitie, and as it were from day to day, with this affiance that whē our heauenly Father hath fed vsus thys day, he wil also not faile vsus to morrow. Therfore how great plentie of thinges so euer doe flowe vntounto vsus, yea whē our barnes be stuffed and our cellers ful: yet we ought alway to aske our daily bred: because we must certainly beleue that al substance is nothing, but in somuche as the Lord doth by pouring out of his blessing with continuall encreasce make it frutefull: and that the very same substance that is in our hand, is not our own, but insomuch as he doth eueryevery houre geue vsus a portion and graunt vsus the vse of it.Deu. viii.iii. Math. iiii iiii. This whereas the pride of men doth most hardly suffer it selfe to be persuaded: the Lord testifieth that he hath shewed a singular example therof for all ages, when he fed hys people with Manna in the wildernesse, to teache vsus that mā liueth not in bred onelyonly, but rather in the worde that cometh out of hys mouth. Whereby is declared, that it is his power alone by which our lyfe and strengthes are susteined, although he doe minister it vntounto vsus vnderunder bodily instrumentes. As he is wont also to teache vsus by the contrarie exā ple, when he so oft as he wil,Leu. xxvi xxvi. breaketh the strength and (as he calleth it) the staff of bred, that men eating may pine with hunger, and drynkyng may be dried vp with thirst. But whoso not being cōtēted wt daily bred, but with vnbrideled gredinesse are gaping for endlesse store, or whoso being ful with their abundance, and carelesse by reason of the heape of their richesse, doe neuerthelesse sue to God with this praier, they do nothing ells but mocke hym. For, the firste sorte of suche men aske that whiche they woulde not obteine, yea that whiche they moste of all abhorre, that is, to hauehave only daily bred, and so much as in them lyeth they dissemblingly hide from God the affection of their couetousnesse: wheras true prayer oughte to poure out before him the very whole mynde it selfe, and whatsoeuer inwardly lieth hydden. But the other sort do aske that whiche they loke not for at his hande, namely that whiche they thinke that they hauehave with themselues. In this that it is called Oures the bountifulnesse of God (as we hauehave sayd) so muche more appeareth, which maketh that oures that is by no righte due to vsus. Yet that exposition is not to be reiected whiche I hauehave also touched, that by our bred is meante that whiche is earned with rightfull and harmelesse trauail, and not gotten with deceites and extorcious: because that is alwaye Other mens which we get to our selues with any yl doing. Wheras we praye that it be geuen vsus, thereby is signified that it is the only and fre gifte of God, from whense soeuer it come to vsus, yea when it shall moste of all seme to be begotten by our owne policie and trauail, and earned with our own handes: forasmuch as it cometh to passe by his only blessing, that our labors prosper wel.
Nowe foloweth, Forgeue vsus our dettes: in whiche petition and the nexte folowing, Christe hath brefely conteined whatsoeuer maketh for the heauenly lyfe:Ier. xxxi.xxxiii. &. xxxiii.viii. as in these twoo partes aboue standeth the spirituall couenant whiche GOD hath made for the saluation of hys Chirche, I will wryte my lawes in their hartes, and I will be mercyfull to their iniquitie. Here Christ beginneth the forgeuenesse in sinnes: after this, he will by and by adioyne the seconde grace, that God defende vsus with the power of hys, Spirite, and susteine vsus with hys helpe, that we maye stande vnouercome againste all tentations. And sinnes he calleth dettes, because we are dett bounde to pay the penaltie of them, and were by no meanes able to satisfie it, vnlesse we were acquited by thys forgeuenesse. Whiche pardon is of hys free merciemercy, when he himselfe liberally wypeth out these dettes, taking no payment of vsus, but with his own merciemercy satisfieng himselfe in Christe,Rom. iii.xxix. which hath ones geuen himselfe for recompense. Therfore whoso trust that God shalbe satisfied by their owne or other mennes merites, and that with such satisfactiōs the forgeuenesse of sinnes is recompensed and redemed, they hauehave no parte of communicating of thys free forgeuenesse: and when they call vppon GOD in thys manner, they doo nothing but subscribe to their owne accusation, yea and seale their owne condemnation with their owne witnesse. For they confesse themselues detters, vnlesse they be acquited by the benefit of forgeuenesse, whiche yet they doo not receiue, but rather refuse, when they thrust vntounto God their owne merites and satisfactions. For, so they doo not beseche his merciemercy, but doe appeale to his iugement. As for them that dreame of a perfection in themselues, whiche taketh away nede to craue pardon, lett them hauehave suche disciples whome the itching of their eares driueth to errors: so that it be certaine that so many disciples as they gett, are taken away from Christ: forasmuche as he instructing all to confesse their giltinesse, receiueth none but synners: not for that he cherisheth sinnes with flatteringes, but because he knewe that the faythful are neuer throughly vnclothed of the vices of their fleshe, but that they alway remayne subiect to the iugement of God. It is in dede to be wished, yea and to be earnestly endeuored, that we hauing performed all the partes of our dutie may truely reioyse before God that we are cleane from all spott: but forasmuch as it pleaseth God by litle and litle to make againe his image in vsus, that there alwaye remayneth some infection in our fleshe, the remedie ought not to hauehave been despised. If Christ by the authoritie geuen to him of hys Father, commaundeth vsus throughout the whole course of our life, to fle to crauing of pardō of our giltinesse who shalbe able to suffer these new maisters, which goe about with this imagined ghost of perfect innocēcie to dasel ye eyes of ye simple,i. Ioh. i.…. to make them to trust yt they may be made free frō all fault… Which, as Ihon witnesseth, is nothing ells but to make God a lier. And withal one worke these lewde men by cancilling one article do feare in sonder and by that meane do weaken from the very fundation ye whole couenant of God, wherin we hauehave shewed yt our saluatiō is cōteined: so as they be not only robbers of God, because they seuer those thinges so cōioyned, but also wicked & cruel because they ouerwhelme poore soules with despeire: and traytors to themselues and other, yt be like them, because they bryng themselues into a slouthfulnesse directly contrary to ye mercy of God. But wheras some obiect, that in wishing the coming of ye kyngdome of God, we do also aske the putting away of synne: that is to childishe, because in the firste table of thys prayer is set forth vntounto vsus most hye perfection, but in this part is set fourth our weakenesse. So these twoo thinges do fittly agree together, that in a spring toward the marke we despise not the remedies which our necessitie requireth. Finally we pray that we may be forgeuen as we our selues doe forgeue our dettors, that is, as we do forgeue and pardon al of whomsoeuer we hauehave ben in any thing offended, either vniustly handled in dede, or reprochefully vsed in worde. Not that it lyeth in vsus to pardō the giltinesse of the fault and offense, which perteineth to God alone: but thys is our forgeuing, of our owne willingnesse to lay away out of our mynde wrath,Esa. xliii.xxix. hatred, and desire of reuengement, and with voluntarie forgetfulnesse to treade vnderunder fote the remembrance of i…iuries. Wherefore we may not aske forgeuenesse of synnes at the hande of God, if we doe not also forgeue their offenses towarde vsus which either do or hauehave done vsus wrong. But if we kepe any hatreds in our hartes, and purpose any reuengementes and imagine by what occasion we may hurt, yea and if we do not endeuor to come into fauor againe with our enemies, and to deserue well of them with all kynde of frendly doinges, and to winne them vntounto vsus: we do by thys prayer beseche God that he do not forgeue vsus. For we require that he graunt to vsus the same forgeuenesse whiche we graunt to other. But this is to pray that he graunt it not to vsus, vnlesse we graunt it to them. Whoso therfore be such, what doe they obtein by their prayer but a more greuous iugemēt? Last of al it is to be noted, that this condition that he forgeue vsus as we forgeue our dettors, is not herefore added for that we deserue his forgeuenesse by ye forgeuenesse which we graunt to other, as if yt cause of forgeuenesse to vsus were there expressed: but by thys worde partly the Lordes will was to comforte the weakenesse of our Fayth, for he added this as a signe whereby we may be assured that he hath as surely graūted to vsus forgeuenesse of our synnes, as we surely knowe in our conscience that we hauehave graūted thesame to other, if our mynde be voyde and cleansed of al hatred, enuye & reuengement and partly by thys as it were by a marke, he wipeth them out of the number of his children that they may not be bolde to call vpō him as their Father, which being hedlong hasty to reuenge, and hardily entreated to pardon, doe vse stiffly continuing enmites, and doe cherishe in themselues the same displeasure towarde other which they pray to be turned from themselues. Whiche is also in Luke expresly spoken in the wordes of Christ.
The sixt petitiō (as we hauehave sayd) answereth to the promise of engrauing the lawe of God in our hartes. But because we doe not without continual warrfare and hard and great striuinges obey to God, we do here pray to be furnished with such wepons and defended with suche succor, that we may be able to get the victorie: whereby we are warned that we stande in nede not only of the grace of the Spirite, whiche may soften, how, and direct our hartes to the obedience of God, but also of hys helpe, wherby he may make vsus vnuicible against bothe al the trayterous entrappinges and violēt conflictes of Satan. But now of tentations there are many and diuerse sortes. For, both the peruerse thoughtes of minde prouoking vsus to trespassing against the law,Iam. i.ii. &. xiiii. Mat. iiii.i &. ii… which either our owne luste doth minister vntounto vsus, or the deuell stirreth vp, are tentations: and also those thinges which of their owne nature are not euell, yet by the craft of the deuel are made tentations, whē they are so set before our eyes, that by the occasion of them we be drawen awaye or do swarue from God. And these tentations are either on the ryghte hande or on the left. On the righte hande, as richesse, power, honors, which commonly do with their glistering and shewe of good so dasel the sight of men,ii. Thesa. iii.v. and catche them with the bayted hoke of their flatterings, that beyng entrapped with suche deceites, or dronke with suche swetenesse, they may forget their God. On the left hande, as pouertie, reproches, despisinges, trobles, and suche other: that they being greued with the bitternesse and hardnesse therof may be vtterly discouraged, caste away Fayth and hope, and finally be altogether estranged from God. To these tentations of both sortes, which fighte with vsus eyther being kindled in vsus by our owne luste, or being set against vsus by the craft of Satan, we pray to our heavenly Father that he suffer vsus not to yelde. But rather that he vpholde vsus and rayse vsus vp with his hande, that being strong by his strength, we may stande fast against all the assaultes of the malicious enemie, whatsoeuer thoughtes he put into our mynde: then, that whatsoeuer is sett before vsus on either side, we maye turne it to good, that we neither be puffed vp with prosperitie, nor throwen downe with aduersitie. Neither yet doe we here require that we may fele no tentations at al, with which we hauehave great nede to be stirred vp, pricked, and pinched, least by to muche reste we growe dull. For not in vaine did Dauid wishe to be tempted:Psa. xxvi.ii. Ge. xxii.i. Deu. viii.ii. &. xii….iii and not without cause the Lord daily tempteth hys electe, chastising them by shame, pouertie, troble, and other kyndes of crosse. But God tempteth after one maner and Satan after an other: Satan, to destroy, damne, confounde and throwe downe hedlong: but God, that by prouing them that be hys he may hauehave a tryall of their vnfainednesse, and by exercising them may confirme their strength, to mortifie, purge by fier, and seare their fleshe, whiche vnlesse it were in thys wise restrained, woulde waxe wanton and woulde wildly outrage aboue measure.i. Cor. x.xiii. Moreouer Satan assaileth men vnarmed and vnredy, that he may oppresse them vnware: God euen with tempting worketh the effecte, that they whiche be his maye paciently beare whatsoeuer he sendeth vponupon them. By the name of the Euell, whether we vnderstande the Deuell or synne, it maketh litle mater.ii. Pet. ii.ix. i Pet. v.viii. Satan in dede himselfe is the enemie that lyeth in wayte for oure lyfe: but with synne he is armed to destroye vsus. Thys therefore is our request, that we may not be ouercome or ouerwhelmed with any tentations, but may by the power of the Lorde stande strong against all contrary powers wherwith we are assailed: which is, not to yelde vsus vanquished to tentations, that being receiued into his keping and charge, and being safe by hys protection we may endure vnouercome ouer sinne, death, the gates of hel, and the whole kingdome of the deuil: which is to be deliuered from euel. Where it is also to be diligently marked, that it is aboue our strength to matche with the deuil so greate a warrier, and to beare his force and violence. Otherwise we should but vainely or as it were in mockage aske that which we had alredy in our selues. Surely, they whiche prepare them to such a battell with trust of themselues, do not sufficiently vnderstāde with how ferce and wel armed an enemy they hauehave to do. Now we pray to be deliuered from his power, as out of ye mouth of a mad and raging Lyon, wheras we should be torne in peces with his teeth and pawes, and swallowed with his throte, vnlesse the Lord do deliuer vsus out of ye middest of death:Psalme. lx.xiiii. yet therewithal knowing thys that if the Lorde shall stande by vsus, and fight for vsus when we are ouerthrowen, we shal in his strength shew strēgth. Let other trust as they list to their own abilities and strengthes of free will, which they thinke that they hauehave of themselues: but let it suffice ve ye we stand and are strong by the only strēgth of God. But thys prayer cōteineth more thā at the first sight it beareth in shewe. For if ye Spirite of God be our strēgth to fight out our cōbate with Satā, we shal not be able to get ye victorie vntil we being filled wt that Spirite shal hauehave put of al the weakenesse of our fleshe. Whē therfore we pray to be deliuered from Satan and the Deuel, we pray to bee from tyme to tyme enriched with new encreases of the grace of God▪ til being fully stuffed with them we may triūph ouer all euel. It semeth hard and rough to some, yt we craue of God that he leade vsus not into tetatiō, forasmuch as it is cōtrary to his nature to tempt, as Iames witnesseth. But this question is alredy partly assoiled, where we sayd that our own lust is properly the cause of al the tentations wherwith we are ouercome,Iames. i.xiii. and therfore worthily beareth the blame therof. Nether doth Iames meane any thing ells, but that the faultes are without cause & wrongfully layed vponupon God, whiche we are dryuen to impute to our selues, because we knowe our selues in our conscience qyltye of them. But thys withstandeth not but that God maye when it pleaseth hym make vsus bonde to Satan, caste vsus awaye into a reprobate sense, and to filthy lustes, & so leade vsus into tentation by his iugement which is righteous in dede but yet oftentymes secret: forasmuche as the cause of it is often hidde from men, which is yet certainly knowen with hym. Wherupon is gathered that this is no vnfit manner of speaking, if we be persuaded that he doth not without cause so oft threaten, yt when the reprobate shalbe striken with blindnesse and hardening of harte, these shalbe sure tokens of his vengeance.
These three petitions, wherwith we do peculiarly cōmende vsus & our things to God, do euidētly shew this which we hauehave before said, that the pr…yers of Christians ought to be cōmon & to tend to ye cōmon edifieng of ye Chirch▪ & to the encrease of the communiō of the faithful. For there doth not eueryevery man pray to hauehave any thing priuatly geuen, but al in cō mō together do pray for Our bred, for forgeuenesse of sinnes, yt we may not be led into tētatiō, ye we may be deliuered frō euil. There is furthermore adioyned a cause why we hauehave both so great boldnesse to aske, & so great trust to obteine: which although it be not in ye latine copies, yet it agreeth more fittly in thys place thā yt it shold seme worthy to be omitted, namely yt his is ye kingdome, & the power & the glorie for euer. This is ye perfect & quiet rest of our soule. For if our praiers were to be commēded to God by their own worthinesse, who shold be so bolde, as ones to opē hys mouth before hym? Now howsoeuer we be moste miserable, howsoeuer most vnworthy of al men, howsoeuer voyde of al cōmendaciō yet we shal neuer wāt cause to pray, & neuer be destitute of cōfidēce: forasmuch as our father cā not hauehave his kingdom, power, & glorie takē away frō hym. At ye end is added Amen ▪ wherby is expressed our feruētnesse of desire to obteine those thīgs yt we hauehave asked of God, & our hope is cōfirmed yt al such things are alredy obteined & shal surely be geuē vsus because they are promised of God, which cā not deceiue. And thys agreeth wt that maner of prayer which we hauehave here before rehearsed. Do it Lord for thy names sake, not for our sakes or our righteousnesse: wherby the holy ones do not only expresse ye end of their prayers, but also cō fesse yt they are vnworthy to obteine vnlesse God fetch ye cause frō hymselfe▪ and that their trust to spede cometh of the onelyonly nature of God.
Thus hauehave we whatsoeuer we oughte yea or in any wise may aske of God,Mat. xvii.v. set fourth in this forme and as it wer a rule of prayeng taught by the best scholemaister Christ, whom the Lorde hath set ouer vsus to be our teacher,Esa. xi.ii. and whom alone he hath willed to be harkened vntounto. For he bothe alway hath ben his eternall wisedome, and beyng made man is geuen to men the Angell of great counsell. And this prayer is in all pointes so fully perfect, that whatsoeuer foreyn or strange thyng is added which can not be referred to it, it is vngodly and vnworthy to be allowed of God. For in this summe he hath sett foorth, what is mete for hym,See Augustine. Of praier to Proba. what is pleasyng to hym, what is necessarie for vsus, finally what he will graunt. Wherfore who so dare go further, and to aske any thing of God beside these, firste they will adde of their owne to the wisdome of God (which can not be done without mad blasphemie) then they hold not themselues vnderunder the wil of God, but despising it do with gredynesse wander further: finally they shal neuer obteine any thyng, forasmuche as they pray without faith. And there is no doute that all suche praiers are made without faith, because here wanteth the woorde of God,De fuga in perse… cut. vponupon which vnlesse faith be grounded, it can in no wise stande. But they which forsaking the maisters rule, doo folowe their owne desires, are not onelyonly without the worde of God, but also so much as they be able with their whole endeuor, are against it. Therefore Tertullian no lesse fitly thā truly hath called this a lawful prayer, secretely signifyeng that all other are lawlesse and vnlawfull.
We woulde not hauehave these thynges so taken as though we were so bounde with this forme of prayer, that we may not change a worde or a sillable. For there are echewhere red many prayers in the Scriptures. farre differyng from this in woordes, yet written by the same Spirite, and which are at this day profytable to be vsed of vsus. Many are continually put into the mouthes of the faithful by the same Spirite, which in lykenesse of wordes do not so muche agree. This onelyonly is our meanyng in so teachyng, that no man shold seke, loke for, or aske any other thyng at all than that which is summarily comprehended in this praier, and whiche thoughe it moste differ in wordes yet differeth not in sense. Like as it is certaine that all the praiers which are found in the Scriptures, and which do come out of godly hartes, are applied to this, so verily none can any where bee founde, whiche maye matche, muche lesse passe, the perfectnesse of this praier. Here is nothing left out, that might be thought vponupon to the praises of God, nothyng that ought to come into the mynde of man for his owne profites: and the same so fully that all hope is worthily taken away from all men to attempt to make any better. In a summe, let vsus remembre that this is the doctrine of the wisedome of God, which hath taught what he willed, and willed what was nedefull.
But although we hauehave aboue saied, that we ought alway to breathe vpwarde with myndes lifted vp to God, and pray without ceassyng: yet forasmuche as suche is our weakenesse, as nedeth to bee vpholden with many helpes: suche is our dullnesse, as needeth to be pricked forwarde with many spurres: it is good that eueryevery one of vsus appoynt to hymselfe priuately certaine houres whiche may not passe away without prayer, and which may hauehave the whole affectiōs of our mynd throughly busied to that purpose: as, when we rise in the mornyng, before that we go to our daies worke when we sitt down to meate, when we hauehave ben fedde by the blessyng of God, when we take vsus to rest. Only let this not be a superstitious obseruyng of houres, by which, as payeng a taske to God, we may think our selues discharged for the other houres: but a trayning of our weake…s, wherby it may so be exercised & from time to time stirred vp. Specially we ought carefully to loke that so oft as either we our selues are in distresse, or we se other to be in distresse with any hardnesse of aduersitie, we runne streight waye to hym, not with feete but with hartes: then, yt we suffer not any prosperitie of our owne or other mens, to passe but that we testifie that we acknowlege it to bee his with praise and thankesgeuyng. Finally, this is diligentlye to bee obserued in all prayer, that we goe not about to bynde God to certaine circumstances, nor to appoynt to hym, what he shal do, at what time, in what place, and in what maner: as by this prayer we ar taught to make to hym no law, nor to appoynt to him any condition, but to leaue to his will that those thynges which he will do he may do in what maner, at what tyme, and in what place it pleaseth him. Wherfore ere we make any prayer for our selues, we first praie that his will be done: where we do already submitt our will to his: with which when it is restrained as with a bridle put vppon it, it maye not presume to bryng God into rule, but make hym the iudge and gouernor of all her desyres.
If we do with myndes framed to this obedience, suffer our selues to be ruled with the lawes of Gods Prouidence, we shall easily learne to continue in praier, and with longyng desires paciently to waite for the Lord: beyng assured that although he appeare not, yet he is alway present with vsus, and will when he seeth his tyme declare howe not deaffe eares he gaue to the praiers whiche in the eyes of men semed to be despised. And this shalbe a most present comfort, that we faint not and fall downe by despaire, if at any time God do not answere at our firste requestes. Like as they are wont to do, whiche while they are caried with their sodeyne heate, do so call vponupon God, that if he come not to them at their fyrst bruntes and bryng them present helpe, they by and by imagine hym to be angry and hatefully bent agaynst them, and castyng away all hope of obteynyng do cesse to call vponupon him. But rather differ…yng our hope with a well tempered euennesse of mynde, let vsus goe forwarde in that perseuerance which is so much cōmended to vsus in Scriptures. For in the Psalmes we may oftentymes see howe Dauid and other faithfull men, when they seme in a maner weried with prayeng, did beate the aire, because they threwe away their words to God that heard them not, and yet they cesse not from prayeng: because the word of God hath not his full authoritie manteined, vnlesse the credite therof bee set aboue all successes of thynges. Moreouer let vsus not tempte God and prouoke him against vsus beyng weried with oure importunacie, whiche many vse to doo, which do nothing but indent with God vponupon a certain condition, and binde him to the lawes of their couenantyng as though he were seruant to their desires: which if he doo not presently obey, they disdayne, they chafe, they carpe against hym, they murmure, they turmoile. Therfore to such oftentymes in his furor he beyng angry graū teth that, which to other in his merciemercy he beyng fauorable denieth. An example hereof are the children of Israell,Num. xi.xviii. for whome it had ben better not to hauehave ben heard of the Lord, than with flesh to eate vp his wrath.
But if yet at length after long lokyng for it our sense do not perceiue what we hauehave preuailed with prayeng, and feleth no fruite thereof: yet our faith shall assure vsus of that, whiche can not bee perceiued by sense, namely that we hauehave obteined that which was expedient for vsus, forasmuche as the Lord dothe so ofte and so certainly take vponupon him that he will hauehave care of our greues, after that they hauehave ben ones laide in his bosome. And so he will make vsus to possesse abundance in pouertie, comfort in affliction. For howsoeuer all other thynges do faile vsus, yet God will neuer faile vsus, which suffereth the waityng and patience of them that be his to be disappoynted. He alone shall suffice vsus in steede of all thynges: forasmuche as he conteineth in hymself al good thyngs, which he shall one day disclose vntounto vsus at the day of iudgement when he shall plainly shew… foorth his kyngdome. Besyde this although God graunt to vsus, yet he dothe not alway answer accordyng to the expresse forme of our request, but holdyng vsus after outwarde semyng in suspense, yet by a meane vnknowē he sheweth yt our praiers wer not vain.i. Iohn v.iv. This is meant by the words of Iohn, If we know yt he heareth vsus when we aske any thing of him, we know that we hauehave the petitions which we aske of him. This is meant by the words of Iohn. If we know, that he heareth vsus, whē we aske any thyng of hym. This seemeth a weake superfluousnesse of wordes: but it is a singularly profitable declaratiō, namely that God euen when he doeth not folowe our desires, is yet gentle and fauorable to our prayers, that the hope which resteth vponupon his worde may neuer disappoynt vsus. But with this patience the faithfull doo so farre nede to be susteyned, that they should not long stand vnlesse they dyd stay vponupon it. For the Lorde dothe by not light trailles proue them that be his, and not tenderly dothe exercise them: but oftentymes driueth them into the greatest extremities, and when they are driuen thether he suffreth them long to sticke fast in the myre, ere he geue them any taste of his swetenesse: and,i. Sam. ii vi. as Hanna saith, he slayeth, and quickneth: he leadeth down to the helles, and bringeth backe againe. What coulde they here dou but be discouraged, and fall hedlong into despaire: vnlesse when they are in distresse and desolate & already halfe dead, this thought did rayse them vp, that God doth loke vponupon them, and that there shall be at hande an ende of their euels? But howsoeuer they stande fast vppon the assurednesse of that hope, they ceasse not in the meane tyme to pray: because if there be not in prayer a stedfastnesse of continuance, we nothyng preuayle with prayeng.