The Whole Duty of Man Epitomized, Part 5
PARTITION V.
Of Worſhip due to God's Name, of Prayer, and its ſeveral Parts, of Publick Prayers in the Church, of Private Prayers, of Repentance, &c. of Faſting.
THE next great Worſhip.Duty to God is …orſhip, a Duty only peculiar to …mſelf, and therefore of a very …reat Importance; and is to be per…rm'd, Firſt, By our Souls; and …econdly, By our Bodies, the Souls part is Praying, an… of that there are divers Prayer its Parts.Parts, according to the different thing for which we aſk.
Confeſſion is th… firſt, and may be either Confeſſion.general or pa… ticular, the former is a neceſſar… part of our ſolemn Prayers, wh… ther Private or Publick; and th… latter more proper for the Private and the intent of it is, that … ſhould humble our ſelves before God, and with a deep and hear… Sorrow bewail the Sins we confeſs.
The ſecond part … Prayer is Petition, … Petitions for our ſouls and bodies.which we beg of Go… whatſoever we wa… either for our Soul or Bodies. For our Souls, we b… the Pardon of our Sins, and the A… ſiſtance of his Grace to enable … to obey his Will. For our Bodie… we beg the neceſſaries of Life, ſu… outward things I mean, that he his Wiſdom ſees moſt fit and nee… ful for us.
A third part of Prayer is Deprecation, Deprecation of Sin and Puniſhment.by which we intreat God that he would turn away from us the evil of our Sins, and the Puniſhments due to them; that he would prevent us from all Sin, and enable us againſt all Temptations, and that he would forbear to chaſtize us with Spiritual or Temporal Puniſhments.
The next part of Prayer is Interceſſion, Interceſſion.which conſiſt in Praying for others, both for Strangers and Acquaintance, but in a particular Manner for the Governours of the Church and State, and for our Relations and Friends.
Another Part of Prayer is Thankſgiving, Thankſgiving for ſpiritual Mercies and temporal.which is the praiſing and magnifying God for all his Mercies both Spiritual and Temporal; for the bleſſings of our Souls and Bodies, but above all for the ſending his Son to redeem us, and the Holy Ghoſt to comfort us, and for all other his Favours vouchſaf'd to us in his Word and Sacraments.
Theſe are the ſeveral ſorts of Prayer to be uſed both Publick and Private, Publick Prayer in the Church, and in the Family.The Publick uſe of them is firſt in the Church, from whence we muſt not abſent our ſelves without ſome neceſſary Cauſe; and Secondly, In our own Families, where every Maſter is ſtrictly bound to call his Children and Servants to th… daily exerciſe of them.
Private Prayer, is call'd ſo, becauſe we Private Prayer.uſe it in Secret, where we have an oppotunity to be more particular than … convenient in Publick, and upon n… account or pretence whatſoever … to be omitted.
Prayer is a Duty, that require… a frequent performance by none ſeldomer then Evening and Morning; we Frequent Prayer very advantageous.ſhould always begin and end the Day with our Addreſſes to Almighty God, oftner if we have any conveniency, and indeed did we conſider the advantages of Prayer, we ſhould think it great Wiſdom to uſe it as frequently as poſſible.
For Firſt, 'Tis a Its Honour, Benefit and Pleaſantneſsgreat Honour, that ſuch mean and contemptible Wretches as we are, ſhould be admitted but to ſpeak to the great God of Heaven and Earth; and then 'tis a Benefit, the higheſt that can be Imagin'd Prayer being that immediate …ource of all the Advantages we either want or wiſh, beſides 'tis a …leaſant Duty in it ſelf, and to a …ruly Pious and Devout Mind, it …ffords abundance of ſubſtantial De…ight and Satisfaction.
The Carnal Minds indeed can …iſcover none of theſe Advantages, the Pleaſures of the the Fleſh, and the Carnality and want of uſe the Cauſes that makes it ſeem otherways.droſs of the World li… in the way, and thoſe have ſo vitiated their Pallates, that they ca… taſte none of the pleaſantneſs in it; other think it unpleaſant for want of a frequent uſage, and beſide theſe two, there is nothing ca… diſſuade us from the real Pleaſure and Advantage of it.
The next thing is, how well w… perform this Duty, and herein w… are chiefly concern'd for the Matters of our Prayer we are to aſk nothing To ask nothing unlawful, but with Faith, Humility and Attention.unjuſt or unlawfu… but all with Faith, an… Humility, and wit… the moſt profou… and deliberate Atte… tion.
Oppoſite to Attention in Praye… is all wandring thoughts; the Co… ſequence of which are very dang… rous. To ſuppreſs theſe, we ſhould conſider the greatneſs of that Majeſty to Help againſt Wandering the Conſideration of Gods Majeſty and our own needs.whom we are ſpeaking, the worth of thoſe things we aſk for, and our own extraordinary Wants together.
We muſt likewiſe …nvoke God's Aſſi…tance, To pray for God's aid with Watchfulneſs, Zeal Purity; and for proper ends.and ſet a care…ul Watch over our Hearts to keep all …andring thoughts …ut of our Minds, …hilſt we are convering with Him; all …ur Petitions ſhould be put up to …im with the higheſt Zeal and Ar…ency of Soul; Our Prayers ſhould …e abſtracted from all manner of in and Impurity, and be conſtant… directed to right and proper ends.
This is the firſt part of Worſhip, …he next is Bodily Worſhip, and this con…ſt, Bodily Worſhip.in humble and re…erend Geſtures in making our approaches to God, i… ſuch a decent lowlineſs of Body, tha… may beſt declare with what a Pro…ſtration of Soul, we make our Addre…ſes before the Throne of Grace.
Repentance is th… next Duty we owe … Repentance a turning from Sin to God, this Duty to be done daily.God, and is in ſho… nothing elſe but a general Reſolution t… forſake our Sins, an… to implore his Grace the times for th… great Duty are as often as we thin… upon our Sins; every Day at lea… we ought to call our ſelves to a… account.
At ſome particula… times indeed, we a… At ſet times, at the time of Affliction, at Death.oblig'd to redoub… our Repentance, a… thoſe Times we oug… to fix for our ſelve… at leaſt once a Week. We ought … have a ſet time of Evening our Accounts with God and our Conſ… ences, the time of Affliction an… Calamity is a very proper ſeaſo… …or it, and at our Death we are the …oſt ſolemnly oblig'd to renew it.
But 'tis dangerous … defer it till Death, The danger and diſadvantage of Death-bed Repentance.… ſhould not hazard … Souls upon ſuch …certainties; beſide, … Death-bed Repentance muſt conſe…uently want ſeveral Qualifications …hich the Nature of true Repen…nce requires; the …uſtom of Sin is not The Cuſtom of Sin hard to be vanquiſh't. Pain the Cauſe of Inſincerity.… be deſtroy'd in a … days, or hours, …haps moments, …ſides too, our Pains …d Agonies moſt …obably diſturb our …houghts, and then our Repen…nce can never be dreſs'd up with …at ſtrict Sincerity, which God re…ires of us for the Salvation of … Souls.
To Repentance, the Duty of Faſt…g may with great Reaſon be an…ex'd which is a Duty we find ſo…mnly recommended by God himſelf, the Church and the Practice of goo… Faſting, a revenge upon our ſelves, acceptable to God, yet no ſatisfaction for Sin.Men; by Faſting, w… in ſome meaſure r… venge the Injuri… done to God up… our ſelves, and ſu… Holy Revenge upo… our ſelves for o… Sins, is doubtleſs very acceptable t… God, and yet we ought not … think them ſufficient without th… Merits of Chriſt's Blood to atton… for our Offences.
The Scripture h… indeed given no pa… ticular Times of Faſting.Direction, ho… often this great Du… of Faſting is to be perform'd, b… the oftner the better; for being great Inſtrument of our Humilia… on, we ought to take all opportu… ties to perform it, which our Heal… and Circumſtances will admit.
And thus I have paſs'd throu… the the firſt Branch of our Duty … God to wit, the acknowledg i… him to be our God; the ſecond the having no other, and of this I need ſay no more, then that by it we are forbid all kind of Idolatry and Superſtitious Worſhipping of …mages of Creatures, and all in…ard Idolatry of the Mind.