A Treatise of Prayer, Treatise · Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII. And fift Querie.
Q. V. WHether John the Baptiſt taught his Diſciples to pray by giving them formes of prayer to ſay? And, (which may be queried thereupon) Whether a Parent can teach his child to pray, by ſetting formes of prayer before him whereafter to pray? As thus (for wee would be cleare, as to the holding-forth our meaning, and perſwaſion, in this matter) here, Child, is a forme of prayer, when you pray ſay as you ſee here is preſcribed unto you.
That this ought to be, we meane, That a child may and ought be taught to pray by formes of prayer ſet before him, is affirmed and argued from Johns practiſe with his Diſciples. Now our perſwaſion is, That John did not give his Diſciples, nor ſhould a parent give his child any forme of prayer whereafter to pray. And if he ſhall ſo doe, we are inclined to thinke, he hath not by ſo doing, taught his child to pray, we meane, by giving the child a forme whereafter to pray.
We will heare, as hitherto we have don, what we have heard ſaid, for the holding forth the Affirmative; and
Firſt, This is forced againſt us, without any ſhew of reaſon, as we conceive, That we allow not a parent to teach his child to pray.
Truely we would not ſay it for a world, for we know it is a parents Duty to teach his Child to pray, and to make it their very worke and their buiſineſſe, that their Child may be ſtill Learning at that high worke.
Secondly, But this cannot be done, but by giving them a forme of words wherebyto pray.
We think, yes; it may, by Gods bleſſing upon the Parents faithfull and Conſtant endeavour, this way; and that a forme of prayer preſcribed will rather hinder than further the worke, as was ſaid before.
Thirdly, But ye, in ſo ſaying, doe Croſſe, I verily beleive, the practiſe of moſt the Godly all over the world.
It is but your Faith, and it is quickly ſaid, and impoſſible to be Proved, That moſt of the Godly give their Children formes of prayer, to teach them to pray; though you doe ſo, you will not conclude that others ſo doe. You may be, as was ſaid, norma publica, as a patterne or ſtandard to your owne people and Children, not ſo to others.
Fourthly, We are ſure we have a ſure patterne for it, John Baptiſt himſelfe.
We had rather, you had ſaid, we have a ſure word for it from the Lord God Himſelfe: Yet we refuſe not this patterne; As farre from Deſpiſing what John the Baptiſt did, as we are from rejecting what John the Baptiſt ſaid; And this you ſay John did, he Luke 11. 1.taught his Diſciples to pray; we yeild it; and that every Godly parent is to make him his patterne, in teaching his Child to pray.
Fifthly, The… he muſt give his Child a forme of prayer, not poſſible elſe to teach him to pray. Beſides ſo taught John his Diſciples to pray, as worthy Hild: ſayes, by giving them formes of prayer to ſay.
We move heavily here, becauſe againſt the Streame, even of the Learned in this very matter; John's teaching his Diſciples to pray. Yet if we have the Mind of Gods Spirit, and the tide of the Scriptures with us, we ſhall hold-on our courſe, and attaine our end anon. To this wee ſay then; That it is very poſſible to teach a child to pray, without giving them formes of prayer to ſay; And ſo wee are perſwaded John taught his Diſciples to pray; wee would be rightly underſtood here, ſpeaking after the manner of men, and according to the poſſibilitie, our heavenly Father, for his onelyonly Sonnes ſake, hath made poſſible unto men. It is not cleare to us, nor doe wee thinke it poſſible for any man to make it cleare to himſelfe from the word of God, That John taught his Diſciples to pray by giving them formes of prayer to ſay; He taught them to pray, that is out of all queſtion, for ſo wee read, and ſo he did his dutie, and full-up to his charge. But that he gave them formes of prayer to ſay, this is of mans adding, and upon an ungrounded ſuppoſition, as wee conceive; That it was not poſſible for John, but by thoſe formes to teach his Diſciples to pray. Wee conceive, yes; And that John in thoſe dayes, and that a godly parent in theſe our dayes, can skill better to teach his child to pray without formes of prayer, than with them.
Surely John did teach his Diſciples, To Whome they were to addreſſe themſelves in prayer, after he had told them firſt what a ſolemne and ſacred worke it was; And then acquainted them with the New and living way unto the Father, through Whome and John 14. 6. Heb. 7. 19. 10. 19, 20. Eph. 2. 18.by Whoſe hand, introduction, or hand-leading they have acceſſe unto the Father. He manifeſted unto them, as he could, for that was his great worke to doe, The Meſſias; he ſhewed Him openly before them; and what loſt ones they were without Him. And what glorious creatures they are, being found in Him, not having their owne righteouſneſſe, which more inſnareth the ſoule, and indangereth it alſo, than the groſſeſt ſins doe. It is a grave and weightieDr G trial. gr. 1. 53. ſpeech which that excellent man hath; There is no danger to be lifted-up hy the righteouſneſſe of another, for it is without us, wee can't vainly boaſt of it, for that faith, that apprehends it, emptyes us firſt of our ſelves, and goeth out to another for it. But ſanctification being a worke wrought in us, wee are apt to doate on that, as too much upon any excellency in our ſelves.
Surely John beate them off from their owne righteouſneſſe, the putting any confidence in their fleſh; he clubbed downe that Monſter, for ſo Luther calls it; he treated much with them, as wee reade, about Repentance towards God, and faith in the Lord Jeſus▪ Chriſt; and dealt with them much, ſpecially with his Diſciples, in this, what blind, poore, naked, emptie ones they muſt be in their owne ſenſe and feeling, before it can ever enter into their thoughts to pray for the anoynting with eye-ſalve, that they may ſee a far-off, or before they will looke after faith, which pitcheth the ſoule upon Chriſt, and then fetcheth in all that maketh truly rich, and putteth upon the ſoule the glorious cloathing of the Saints, emptieth the ſoule, and then fills it with the fulneſſe of God, through Jeſus Chriſt.
Thus wee conceive, and by no other meanes did John teach his Diſciples to pray; Wee cannot reach to his words, and may ſeeme too bold in making offer that way; But thus wee conceive, and wee ſay it againe, John taught his Diſciples to pray. And not by preſcribing them certain formes of prayer to ſay, when they come before their God. And this wee conceive to be the ready way a godly parent takes now to teach his childe to pray to his God. What way muſt he take? This he may know better than wee. But he muſt teach the childe to know God firſt; or, if to pray firſt, then to pray, that he may know Him, beleeve in Him and obey Him; And this the parent cannot well teach the childe till he hath taught the poore ſimple creature to know it ſelfe firſt in ſome meaſure, and what need he hath of a God in Chriſt (for ſo the parent dropps into the childe, as he can, a little veſſell, and a leſſe mouth to receive in, and how much falls by, and how little is in when it is there in ſuch matters as theſe are?) But this (wee were ſaying) the godly parent endeavours to doe now a little and then a little, A little more knowledge of himſelfe, what he is in the firſt Adam, as he was borne in the world, a childe of death, of, or under wrath there; what they are, that are tranſlated or taken out of the firſt Adam, in whome all dye, and are pl…nted in the ſecond Adam, in whome all are made alive: This and what more wee cannot ſo well tell the godly parent treateth w…th his childe about, and ſo teacheth him to pray; and a farre more ready way doth he take by ſo doing, then if he could give unto his hands All the prayer-books that are in the world. This is our perſwaſion, and that wee are ſo taught out of the word of God. And truly wee are the more inclined hereunto.
Firſt, By reaſon that this was the manner of all the godly in the holy Scriptures, teaching their▪ children to pray ſo farre as wee can learne thereby, and have any diſcerning thereof, held forth before us. Heare his words to Solomon his ſonne, they conteine much; Know thou the God of thy father [A mightie motive… Chro…. 28. 9. to Solomon to learne to know the Lord; he had a godly father that knew him, as the father had a godly mother that knew her God; and ſurely taught David to know him alſo, The ſon of Pſal. 8. 6. 16. 116. 16.thy handmaid] And ſerve him.
[Solomon muſt know the God of his father, before he can ſerve Him, as his father did. Wee cannot worſhip or pray unto Him, whom wee know not, for in ſo doeing, wee worſhip wee know not John 4. …2.what.] A God.
A God in Chriſt muſt in ſome meaſure and degree be reveiled to us, before wee can come to God, and plead our matters with Him, in His Sons bleſſed Name, and for His glorious▪ ſake; Wee can no more ſerve a God▪ Whom wee know not, then wee can be ſaved by a Chriſt whom wee never heard of: for that were, as if a captive held under the power of death, ſin, devill, and hell, ſhould be redeemed by a price paid by one, whom never before nor after he had an… knowledge of; or as if God for Chriſts ſake ſhould ſave us, and yet never by any meanes or in any meaſure make That Chriſt knowne to us. He muſt by ſome meanes or other be reveiled to them, who, being growne up to the uſe of reaſon, were ever ſaved by him. Theſe are excellent Dr Tuckneyes words. We ſhould, as aSermon upon Acts 4. 12. godly parent will with his child, and whom he will teach to pray, goe through the forementioned Scriptures which containes ſo much, but wee have attained our ſcope thereby, A godly paren… teacheth his child to know God firſt what He is in himſelfe out of Chriſt meere wrath, a conſumeing fire; and as ſuch an one he cannot be ſerved. Then to know Him a God in Chriſt, and a Father, and ſo He is ſerved, and well-pleaſed with the ſervice if it be in truth.
Wee paſſe on and ſhall paſſe over David's Catechiſme and Bathſheba's alſo, whereof wee reade in the booke of the Proverbs, but not a word there of teaching the childe to pray by form…s of prayer. Wee thinke that Paul's direction to parents how they ſhould order their children, and ſpecial…y how to teach them to pray▪ contains as much to that m…tter as doth that Catechiſme, Bring them up, ſo wee read it; the word is, nurſe them Eph. 6. 4. 1 Theſ. 2. 7.up. As a nurſe, ſaith he, in another place, takes care of the bodies concernments, ſo doe ye parents of your childrens ſoules concernments. Nurſe them up in the nurture; It implyes all care and diligence about the inward man ſtill, that all be done as matters ſhall require, whether they exhort, charge, reproove, correct, or inſtruct, that all be done to the childe in a motherly way, or, as Paul ſaith, as a father his children; remembring ſtill, that godlineſſe is a rich and ſure trade, if the childe be taught well to follow it.] And admonition [A dealing about the mind of the childe ſtill, rectifying or moulding of it betime, as the nurſe doth the mould of the head, when its tender: It ſignifies a dropping or putting into theEph. …. 4▪ mind ſtill. It is a thruſting of ſomewhat upon the childe ſtill with an holy violence, which may mind him of his Lord Jehovah his God; ſo that the child may ſee, that, what his parents ſpeakes to him comes from his Lord, and tendeth to this, to bring the mind of the child up to the Lord, there to fix and pitch his ſoule for ever] Zanch: (ſo wee are told) ſpeakes uſefully to this as his manner is, upon this verſe, where he tells us the manner of all the godly in the primitive times, and what courſe Abraham tooke to teach his children. Wee verily thinke wee may adde, to pray. And what way alſo L…is the grandmother and Eunice the mother 2 Tim. 1. 5.taught their young Timothy, wee will adde againe, to pray. The very way which the old Chriſtians (priſci chriſtiani) did take to3. 1. teach their children [to pray] by bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And all this is but according to the preſcript and charge unto us from the Lord God Allmightie; Theſe words which I command thee this day ſhall be in thine heart, Deut. 6. 6, 7.and thou ſhalt teach them diligently (thy children) and ſhalt talke of them, when thou ſitteſt in thine houſe, and when thou walkeſt by the way, and when thou lyeſt downe, and when thou riſeſt up. And this is the way, wee are perſwaded in our hearts, every godly parent muſt take, who makes it his buiſineſſe to teach his childe to pray, for this was the manner of the godly in dayes of old: which is our firſt reaſon.
Secondly, And in the ſecond place we are apt to thinke, That to bring up a childe in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, is the onelyonly ready way to teach a childe to pray; and not to give him formes of prayer to ſay; becauſe theſe formes hinder rather than further the worke, carrying the childe on in ſuch a high worke (the calling upon God in prayer) by the Eye upon the formes, or by the memorie, which is all one, whereas he ſhould underſtand what he doth, and know Him in ſome meaſure and degree, Whom he calleth upon.
Thirdly, If to give a childe a forme of prayer, when you pray ſay theſe words, were to teach him to pray, then to teach a childe to pray is the eaſieſt worke in the world, & of as quicke diſpatch, for ſo eaſie it is, and as quickly done, to give a childe a forme, whereby to pray. But no godly parent ever found it from ancient dayes to this day an eaſie worke and of quick diſpatch to teach his childe to pray, no more than it is an eaſie worke or the worke of a day to rule well his owne houſe, and to have his children in ſubjection 1 Tim. 3. 4.with all gravitie, which falls-in fully with theſe words before-cited, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, whereby to teach his childe to pray. It is not the worke of a day, or two, as was ſaid in another caſe, but the worke of every day, while the childe is under the parents eye and eare, To teach the childe to pray: Nay to adde this; It is eaſie for the vileſt perſon in your Nationall Church to teach a childe to pray, if to give him a forme to pray be to teach him to pray; for ſo much he or ſhe can doe having learnt ſo much themſelves to pray that way. But ſure he or ſhe muſt be taught to pray and helpe by the good Spirit to pray, before they can teach their childe to pray.
Fourthly, And in the fourth place, we thinke, it at leaſt coaſteth neere the brinke of preſumption, nay is it not downe-right preſumption to teach a childe to pray by giving him a forme of prayer to ſay? As thus, for, as wee ſaid, ſo plaine wee would be; Deare childe, what ever thy ignorance is of God the Father, thou prayeſt unto; or of God the Sonne manifeſt in the fleſh, in whoſe name thou prayeſt; what ever mercy thou haſt received, and wouldſt praiſe God for; what ever want thou feeleſt, and wouldſt pray to Him for a ſupply from Him; what ever thy ſinnes are thou ſhouldſt confeſſe before Him, yet doe thou, childe, pray in theſe words, according to this very forme I have preſcribed unto thee. Surely wee will not feare to ſay, this were preſumption; and, ſo, as may be feared, it will be accounted before his God.
Fifthly, Beſides, and ſo wee have done, In ſo doeing, wee meane ſo teaching this childe to pray by a forme, The parent hath told a loud lye in the eares of God, and of all the godly, for he tells God and men both, he hath taught his childe to pray, when indeed there is no ſuch thing done; he hath not taught his childe to pray; for by his owne confeſſion he hath given his childe a forme whereby to pray, which forme will become a prayer wellpleaſing unto God, when copper becomes gold, the bramble a vine the Moone a Sunne, or when the Sunne painted on a ſignepoſt ſhall ſhine in the firmament of Heaven. And ſo wee have taken in your reaſons, and examined the reaſonableneſſe of them, That a parent teaching his childe to pray, muſt give him a forme whereafter to pray. Wee have given in our reaſons alſo from ſacred Scripture, as wee ſuppoſe, That by giving your childe a forme whereby to pray, is not to teach the childe to pray. But let it be committed to Him, Who guides into all truth.