The Nature Parts and Kinds of Prayer, Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. A Queſtion, Whether it be lawfull … uſe ſet forms of prayer; anſwered.
IN the next place it will be neceſſary to anſwer a weighty queſtion ſc. Whether it be lawfull to uſe ſet form of prayer? This queſtion is the more neceſſary, becauſe many there a… that hold it unlawfull; that to rea… a prayer out of a book, is no bette… than praying on beades, a deteſtabl… idoll, a ſacrifice of fools; apocryphall trumpery, Samaritan worſhip the Egyptian Calf, the ſmoak of th… bottomleſſe pit.
Resp. 1. I anſwer, It's lawfull and I prove it, 1. By precept, becauſ… God hath preſcribed it to be uſed i… his Church. 1. God gave Aaron … preſcript form, which he was to uſe and wherewith he was to bleſſe th… children of Iſrael, Numb. 6.23, 2… 25. On this wiſe ſhall ye bleſſe the children of Iſrael, and ſay to them, The Lord …leſſe thee, and keep thee, and make his …ace to ſhine upon thee, &c. 2. They were to uſe a ſet form of confeſſion …nd thankſgiving, when they were …o bring their firſt-fruits to the Temple, Deut. 26.3, 5. Thou ſhalt go unto the Prieſt that ſhall be in thoſe dayes, and ſay unto him; I profeſſe this day unto the Lord thy God, that I am come unto the Countrey which the Lord ſware …nto our fathers to give us; and the Prieſt ſhall take the basket out of thy hand, and ſet it down before the altar of the Lord thy God; and thou ſhalt ſpeak and ſay before the Lord thy God; a Syrian ready to periſh was my father, and …he went down into Egypt, and ſojourned there with a few, and became there a mighty nation and populous, &c. And verſ. 15. they were thus to pray, Look down from Heaven thy holy habitation, and bleſſe thy people Iſrael, and the land which thou haſt given us, &c. 3. God himſelf bids the Church in the time of their defection; Take with you words, &c. and ſay to the Lord, Take away all our iniquity, and receive us graciouſly, ſo will we render the calves of our lips. Aſh…r ſhall not ſave us, & Hoſe. 14.2, 3, 4. John Baptiſt taug… his diſciples a form of prayer; a… Chriſt is ſo far from miſliking … that he teacheth his Diſciples a… ther.
Object. 1. But theſe forms of pra… are preſcribed, not to be uſed as praye… but as patterns and ſamples of prayer.
Resp. 1. That cannot ſtand; ſo Aaron is bidden to bleſſe the peopl… not with conceived prayer of h… own, but with a preſcript form Thus ye ſhall bleſſe the children of Iſra… and ſay unto them, the Lord bleſſe th… &c. uſing this ſet form: and th… the Son of Syrach ſaith;Eccluſ. 36.17. Hear thou t… prayer of thy ſervants according to … bleſsing of Aaron over thy people; ther… by ſignifying, that the bleſſing wher…with Aaron bleſſed the people was ſet form; it was uſed in the Chu… ches of Saxony, ſaith Luther, after th… communion. And whereas ſor… object, that the Lord's Prayer is rule and pattern according to whi… we are to pray, therefore no praye… I anſwer, the reaſon or argument not ſound; it is as if a man ſhou… …ay, the Creed is a pattern of articles of faith, and confeſſion of faith, there…ore it may not be uſed as a confeſſion of faith: the ſtandard is the rule of all meaſures; therefore it ought principally to be regarded and uſed; and the Lords prayer being the pattern of all true prayer, is therefore the beſt prayer; for if meaſures be therefore juſt and true, becauſe they agree with the ſtandard, then the ſtandard is the trueſt: ſo if prayers be good, they are therefore good and acceptable of God, becauſe agreeable to the Lord's prayer.
Object. 2. That the Apoſtles who knew the meaning of our Saviour, and followed Chriſt's commandement, never uſed it as a prayer, but as a rule or pattern to pray by; nor did they teach it others to ſay it over as a prayer, but according to their neceſſities to ſhew their requeſts to God.
Reſp. 1. It's a bold and blind aſſertion, it's an argument negatively from authority; we read not that they uſed it, therefore they did not, nòn ſequitur: if this be good what may it not conclude? we read not that the Apoſtles baptized infa… nor prayed before their Sermons, … prayed in the name of the Fathe… Son, and holy Ghoſt; therefore ſh… we think they did none of theſe.
2. Though it be granted, that t… Apoſtles never commanded it to ſaid as a prayer, it is ſufficient th… Chriſt did, eſpecially conſiderin… that no Apoſtle did ever forbid t… uſe thereof.
3. They contradict the anti… Fathers of the Church;Hieron. contra Pelag. Gregor. Jerom ſait… that Chriſt taught his Apoſtles, orationem dominicam dicerent ſuper ſ… crificio corporis: and Gregory the gr… ſaith it was the cuſtom of the Ap… ſtles, ut ad ipſam ſolummodò oratio… dominicam oblationis hoſtiam conſec… rent: no other liturgy nor praye… but the Lord's prayer.
Object. No man can conceive p… ticulars in the Lords prayer, they a… infinite, ergo the Lords prayer is not to uſed as a prayer.
Reſp. 1. It is true, that there are i… finite things in the Lords prayer, a… that our conceits are finite. Y… 2. It therefore follows not: we m… uſe it as a prayer, though we conceive not particulars of every petition, as when David, Pſal. 51. prayeth to God, waſh me from mine iniquities, it was a true prayer, yet he conceived not all particular ſins, for he knew them not. Pſal. 19.12. Who can underſtand his errors? When Paul wiſheth grace, mercy, and peace to the Churches, he comprehends more in that prayer than he was able particularly to conceive. 3. This makes as well againſt conceived prayer, for when we deſire God to be mercifull to us, to pardon our ſins, to take away our guilt, and to remove our puniſhment, we cannot conceive the hundreth part of thoſe particular mercies for which we pray, nor of thoſe ſins againſt which we pray: if this therefore be good reaſon, then may we not pray at all, becauſe we cannot conceive particulars; nor may we read the Scritures, becauſe we know and underſtand but in part, and cannot reach to the depth of the doctrine delivered.
Sect. 2.
2. TO uſe ſet forms of prayer ha… been the practice of t… Church of God in all ages, both the Old and New Teſtaments: M… ſes uſed a ſet form of prayer at t… removing of the Tabernacle, a… another at the pitching and reſti… thereof. When the Ark went forward, he was to uſe this form … prayer: Ariſe, O Lord, and let thi… enemies be ſcattered, and let them th… hate thee flee before thee: And when reſted, he ſaid, Return, O Lord to t… many thouſands of Iſrael, Numb. 1… 35, 36. The firſt is as if he had ſai… O gracious God who haſt promiſ… to be preſent with us, and given … this Ark, for an outward ſign a… aſſurance thereof, I beſeech thee g… before us, ſcattering and cauſing … flee all thoſe thine enemies, whic… would hinder us from entring in the Land of Canaan. And for th… ſecond, it is thus much in effect: … Lord now thou haſt been mercifu… and gone before us, deſtroying o… enemies, as we prayed:Babingt. in Numb. 10. hear us again, and return to our tents, granting us thy ſervants peace and reſt. When David brought forth the Ark, Aſaph and his brethren, praiſed the Lord in a form of words, and ſang great part of Pſalm 105. and all the 96 Pſalm, and that by the appointment of David, 1 Chron. 16.4, 7. which was Gods Commandment, 2 Chron. 29.25. When King Hezekiah repaired the Temple, he commanded the Levites to praiſe the Lord with the words of David, and of Aſaph the Seer, 2 Chron. 29.30. The 92 Pſalm was penned by the holy Ghoſt to be ſung on the Sabbath-day; and the 22 Pſalm to be ſung every day: and Pſalm 102. is ſtiled, A prayer of the afflicted, or for the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaints before the Lord.
It was alſo the practice of the New Teſtament, for both parts of Invocation,foreign. Petition and Thankſgiving. For Petition: Chriſt uſeth a ſet form of Prayer; Father, if it be poſſible, let this cup paſſe. Then he went again the third time, and ſai… the ſame words, Mark 14.39. The… for Thankſgiving, after his laſt Supper, he and his Diſciples ſang an Hym… or Pſalm, Matth. 26.30. The Gree… Hallelujah conſiſting of ſix Pſalme viz. the 113, and five followin… The fourth Council of Toledo Concil. Toled.decree… Ʋt unus ordo eſset orandi atque Pſa… lendi per totam Hispaniam; tha… there ſhould be one order of pray… and ſinging throughout all Spai… And the Council of Milevi Concil. Milevit.(whe… Auſtin was preſent) decreed, Th… no prayers ſhould be uſed in th… Church, but ſuch as were approve by the Council, giving this reaſo… for it, leſt (ſay they) any thin… in them ſhould be againſt fait… or good manners.
Sect. 3.
I Shall proceed to ſet down dive… Objections made againſt ſet form… of prayer, and anſwer them.
Object. 1. A ſet form limiteth, an… quencheth the Spirit.
Resp. It doth neither: As fire … extinct or put out two wayes, either when no fuel is put to it to feed it, or when water is poured on it to quench it: So the Spirit, that is, the gifts of the Spirit, as knowledge, faith, hope, humility, charity, are extinct either through ſloth, when fuell is not put to the fire, when we doe not foreign, ſtirre up the gifts and graces of the Spirit in us; by reading, prayer, meditation, and conference the billows alwayes blow: or by entertaining heretical opinions and wicked motions, which like water quench them, and like thorns do choak them, but a ſet prayer doth neither, but is a means to kindle ſparks of grace and devotion; as he that preacheth a penned Sermon, or readeth one Chapter, and no more, is not ſaid to quench the Spirit; no more is he that reads a prayer, or ſaith the Lords prayer, or any premeditated prayer committed to memory: He quencheth not the Spirit, that utters not what the Spirit putteth into his heart, but that entertaineth wicked thoughts contrary to the inſpirations of the Spirit.
2. It doth not limit God, his power neither, imagining God cannot do this or that, as the Iſraelites did, Pſalm 78 19. nor preſcribe God what to do; as to yeeld to thi… motion put into the mind, not to that: He that prayeth a ſet praye… limiteth not God: for though h… is tied to ſet words, ſentences an… notions, ſo that he cannot expreſſe the deſire that is happily ſuggeſt … by the Spirit; yet if he pray, an… deſire it in heart, though he expreſſ… it not with his lips, it is no limitin… of God. I ſay the Lords praye… and when I ſay, Give us this day o… daily bread, this motion is ſuggeſte… Give me contentedneſs; it's a particular of the general.
Object. 2. In true prayer, W… know not what to pray as w… ought, Rom. 8.28. But in a ſ… form of prayer we know what to pu… Ergò.
Resp. It's a miſtaking and ab…ſ… of Scripture; the meaning is, w… know not what to pray for as w… ought, neither in ſet forms, nor co… ceived prayer, unleſſe the Spirit make requeſt, that is, prepare and touch our hearts, by giving us the ſpirit of prayer and ſupplication: This therefore is againſt conceived, as well as Book-prayer, whether way ſoever we pray it's true; For we know not what to pray as we ought. Not but that a man of parts knoweth what words and ſentences to uſe, but that we cannot call on God in truth, except he help our infirmities and make requeſt, that is, cauſe us to make requeſt to God.
Object. 3. Thus a man may buy his prayers at a Stationers-ſhop, and fetch cauſe of ſorrow from other mens writings, but abſurd, for prayer cometh from the Spirit of God within us, teaching us to ſay, Abba, Father, Rom. 8.15.
Reſp. If by prayer we mean the form and frame of prayer, the tenor of words and ſentences, we may buy them, as we do Common-prayer Books at Stationers-ſhops: And is this ſtrange? Do we not buy Sermons that we read, and buy the holy Scriptures alſo? If by prayer… you mean groans and deſires of the heart, theſe cannot be bought: thei… money periſh with them, that think t… buy the gifts of the holy Ghoſt; Act. 8.20.ye… are thoſe gifts much excited an… helped by Book-prayer. And whe… you ſay, that we would have me… fetch cauſe of ſorrow from other mens writings, you miſtake and deceive your ſelves; Fallacia nòn cauſae, that is a cauſe that doth bu… manifeſt the cauſe. The cauſe of ſorrow is nothing without us, but our ſins within us, the greatneſſe of which is diſplayed better in ſ… forms, than otherwiſe; as he that is touched in conſcience at the preaching of the Word, doth not fetch his cauſe of ſorrow from the Sermon but from his ſins diſcovered in tha… Sermon.
Object. 4. It's a part of the worſhip of Antichriſt, maintaining ſuperſtition, and a dumb Miniſtry.
Reſp. If outward worſhip be uſed in Popery, true ſet prayers are a part, but not therefore unlawfull▪ for ſo reading the Scriptures, ſinging of Pſalmes, preaching the Word, and conceived prayers themſelves ſhould be unlawfull, becauſe uſed in Popery. If they ſay, that Antichriſt invented it, and brought it into the Church, they erre egregiouſly many wayes: For,
1. Set forms of prayer in the Old Teſtament were appointed by God,As is before proved. and by our Saviour Chriſt in the New Teſtament; and there were Liturgies in Churches before Antichriſt was revealed.
2. But ſuppoſe they had been brought in by Antichriſt, yet not therefore unlawfull. A thing may have a Popiſh original, yet a good and profitable uſe; as the aſſembling of people together to our publick Congregations by the ſound of a Bell, was brought in by Pope Sabinian, an enemy to Gregory the great; if all things that had a Popiſh original, ſhould be taken away, then Bells, Steeples, Temples or Churches that we meet in, ſhould all be demoliſhed and deſtroyed, and we ſhould aſſemble together in private houſes, at the ſound of a Trumpet, as the Jews did,Who knoweth not the matter of many preſcript formes of prayer to be lawfull, good and neceſſary for all men? for all our prayers are not laid open in the prayers which are conceived by the Miniſter or Governor of the Family, and yet no man judgeth them unlawfull, though they be imperfect. He that confeſſeth it poſſible to give thanks aright i… a ſet forme of words deviſed by others, cannot deny the ſame i… requeſts with any ſhew of truth, or colour of reaſon: It is lawfull to ask common bleſſings daily in a ſet forme of words, therefore it is not unlawfull to uſe a ſet forme of prayer, and if to pronounce … be lawfull, then to read it alſo. As pronouncing cannot make a… evil matter good; no more can reading make a good matter evil: pronouncing and reading being adjuncts of prayer both indifferen… Balls Treat. of Prayer. and every Sexton of a Pariſh to be a Trumpeter; or by loud voice of a Stentor, as among the Turkes; and every Clerk to be a Crier. An oath had an impure original, ſc. deceit and double dealing; yet is it Gods ordinance, and the en… of ſtrife; and ſo for a ſet forme of prayer, it had a Popiſh original (which it had not) yet were it not (therefore) unlawfull.
Sect. 4.
YEt all this while I do not ſpeak againſt conceived prayer, i… thoſe to whom God hath given the ſpirit of ſupplication, and are able in ſignificant words to expreſſe th… deſires of their hearts, this is a choice gift, eſpecially in a Miniſter, houſholder, or other that is to be the mouth of the company in prayer: though the uſe of ſet forms of prayer be very lawfull, as I have proved, yet muſt we look to it, that we be not more for form than ſubſtance, more for the outward ornament than the body, and more for the body, than for the ſpirit of prayer and ſupplication; and if there be not the life and power of faith in our prayers, bodily exerciſe will profit us but little. Let us take heed we make not a formal buſineſſe of ſet forms of prayer, reſting on it, becauſe it is more facile and eaſie to perform than conceived prayer; let us not be lazy, but be willing to take pains with our own hearts, to find out the ſtate of our own ſouls; then ſhall we be the better able to draw up our petitions to God, and to lay open our hearts in a cloſe and particular confeſſion of our ſins, which multitudes of men, being ſluggiſh, are unwilling to do, and therefore they reſt on general formes of prayer, and take no further pains with themſelves. Two men may pray, th… one conceiving, the other reading the one may frame words to hi… mind,Vid. Pract. of the faithfull. which is more eaſie, the other may frame his mind to his words, which is not ſo eaſie; yet both the one, and the other prayeth, if they pray with good underſtanding, and godly affections. A man may pray without book and miſſe; he may pray by a book, and obtain; for he that prayes by heart without heart doth nothing but talk; whenas he that prayes by book with his heart, doth both read and pray with devotion. One reads prayers, and prayeth not, who prayeth without underſtanding and affection; and another likewiſe ſpeaks, but doth not pray, that uttereth words raſhly, not pondering what he ſaith, not heartily wiſhing the things he praye… for, or ſpeaks of. Some condemn the uſe of one prayer often at one time; and it deſerveth cenſure, if the heart repeat not with the tongue; but if there be an ingemination of affections, as well as of ſupplications, it is not to be reproved: We can double the ſame ſins in the committing of them, why may we not? Nay, why ought we not ingeminate …urſuits and requeſts for the remiſſion of them?