ligious. There are fome Foot-fteps of an obfcure Reafon to be obferved in many Creatures befides Man; but in none, except Him, is there found any Senfe of a Deity, or Difpofition towards Religion, or any Thing that looks like it. That seems to be the Prerogative of Mankind. God endowed them, and them only, with Spirits capable of reflecting upon the Author of their Beings, and of makingAcknowledgments, and performing Religious Worship to him.

So that to worship God, to converse with him in the Exercise of Devotion, to pray, and give Thanks for his Benefits, may be truly faid to be the proper Office of a Man as Man; The natural Exercise of thofe Faculties that distinguifh him from brute Creatures. And confequently, thofe that live in a continual Neglect of this, what must be faid of them, but that they act unfuitably to their Natures, and are degenerated into a fort of Brutishneß.

It appears then, that our Obligations to this Duty are many and great, and fuch as there is no Poffibility of evading. But here is our Unhappiness, that thofe Duties which we are moft ftrictly obliged to, are not those that we are always moft inclined to practife. There may be fomething in the moft indifpenfable Duties fo barfb and unpleasant; so disagreeing with our other Appetites or Interefts; they may be fo hard to be performed; fo laborious, or fo expensive, or upon fome other Account fo ungrateful, that we fhall naturally put ourfelves upon the finding out Excufes for the ridding our Hands of them, and easily fatisfie our Minds for fo doing.

But

But now, which I defire in the Fourth Place to be confidered, There are none of thefe Pretences to be made against this Duty of Prayer; none of these Inconveniencies do attend it. But it is fo naturally, so eafily performed; and fo inoffenfively to all our other Appetites and Interefts; that, one would think, nothing but mere Laziness, or Stupidity, could hinder a Man from the Daily Exercise of it.

It requires no great Parts, or Learning, or Study for the discharging it. The meaneft Ca. pacity, the moft un-improved Understanding, if there be but an honeft Heart, may perform as well as the learnedft Man in the World.

It requires no Labour or Toil. The feeblest and molt dif-fpirited Body, that can but lift up Eyes to Heaven, and direct Wishes thither, doth it as effectually, as the most vigorous Constitution.

It doth not go against the grain of any natural Inclination; nor put the Body to any Pain or Hardship. Nor doth it contradict any Appetite or Affection that Nature hath implanted in us. No Humour, but either the Sottish or the Malicious, the Brutish or the Devilish, is diftafted by it.

It puts us to no Charge or Expence in the World, fave that of our Thoughts; yet that is the noblest Way of spending them; And if they be not employed thus, it is Ten to One but they will be employed much worse.

It is not at all confumptive of our Time. For we may attend this Work, when we are a doing other Bufinefs; and there is no Man fo full of Business, but he hath abundance of vacant Spaces, which he will not know how to

fill up to any good Purpose, unless he hath learned this Art of faving Time.

In a Word, there is no Objection against it, it is one of the Eafieft, Naturaleft, Inoffenfiveft, Duties in the World; Nay, fo eafie it is, that the most Selfish Man, if he was to make his own Terms with God Almighty, could not defire to obtain the Bleffings he ftands in need of, upon easier. If all the Mercies and Benefits we do daily and hourly need, and confequently muft expect and with for; I fay, if they be not worth asking at the Hands of God, or returning Thanks for them after he has beftowed them; they are worth nothing.

But, befides the Unexceptionableneß and Eafi nes of this Duty, it is alfo, in the Fifth Place, the most pleasant and delightful Exercise in the World. It is true, vicious Men will not easily think fo, but look upon it as a dry infipid Employment; but fo would the very Beatifical Vifion of God, and all the Exercises of Glorified Souls in Heaven appear to fuch Men. But they are not competent Judges of Matters of this Nature, having neither Experience of them, nor Difpofition towards them. Those only can form right Notions of thefe Spiritual Exercifes, who have a good Senfe and Relish of God upon their Minds, and have used and accuftomed themselves to Devotion. Now to all fuch I appeal, whether the Delights, and Satisfaction, and Confolation that they receive from converfing with God, and a hearty pouring out their Souls unto him, be not inexpreffible? Whether they do not find more Joy and Peace, and Comfort, in their Attendance

upon

upan God's Service, either in publick or private, than ever they did from the Pleasure and Gratifications of any of their outward Senfes.

So much as the Soul is more pure and excellent than the Body; fo much are the Pleasures and Gratifications of that, more exquifitely delicious than thofe that arife from Corporeal Objects. But of all the Pleasures of the Soul, those that it receiveth from the Communications of God to it, in the Exercise of Devotion, are incomparably the highest, and most affe&ting. We may talk of Pleafures and Enjoyments, but no Man ever truly found them, 'till he became acquainted with God, and was made fenfible of his Love, and Partaker of his Spiritual Favours, and lived in an entire Friendship and Communion with him; which Friendship and Communion is chiefly, if not only, both expreffed, and maintained, by Prayer and other Exercises of Devotion.

Add to this, in the Sixth Place, That Prayer is not only the most delightful Employment, but the most Creditable and Honourable that our Natures are capable of. We account it, and very justly, a mighty Privilege and Dignity to be known to Princes and great Men; to have their Ear, and to enjoy the Liberty of Access to them at all Times, but what is this to the Honour and Dignity we receive, in having Leave given us at all Times,' to approach into the Presence of the King of the World?

That we, poor finful Duft and Afbes, fhould be permitted to speak to fo tranfcendent a Majefty! Nay, fhould have free Liberty given us to converfe with him as with a Friend! To

open

7

open all our Wants, to acquaint him with all our Concernments, to make known every Thought of our Hearts, and every Affair of our Lives to him! Nay, and to be affured, that he will be fo far from taking amifs this Boldness in us, that he will favourably accept all our Applications, and make us kind Returns as we ourfelves can wifh or defire! What greater Honour are we capable of than this? O therefore, how far are they funk below all the Ambition of Human Nature, that will not take all Opportunities of thus Honouring and doing Credit to themselves by the Exercise of Devotion !

But fo selfish are the Spirits and Tempers of many of us, that nothing will work upon them, but the Confideration of Gain, and Profit, and Advantage: Let us fee therefore what of this kind we may promise to ourselves from Prayer, which is my Seventh and laft Confideration.

And let the Point be put upon this Iffue. Let all that has hitherto been faid for the recommending of Prayer, go for nothing. If it do not appear, that it is as profitable and gainful an Exercife, as it is reafonable and due; as it is eafie, and pleasant, and honourable; let no Man trouble himself about it, but throw off all Thoughts of it for ever.

But in this refpect also the Motives to Prayer are infinite. No Man can number the Benefits and Advantages that do accrue to us from it. I can here but only touch upon a few of the many.

Prayer is the moft proper Means to ennoble, and refine, and fpiritualize our Natures. Were it not for this, it would be impoffible to preferve our Souls aloft, in the midft of fuch a heap

of