It is impossible to enter fully into the import and design of prayer, without a deep knowledge of the nature of man. We are placed in that rank of being, which has angels above and beasts below it. Man is a rational, accountable, guilty, necessitous, and dependent creature.

When we consider ourselves as rational creatures, it must surely be admitted that God justly claims adoration from us. This part of worship is common to men and angels. In the fair regions of immortal bliss, cherubim and seraphim do continually cry, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts! heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory. And though we are but feeble worms of the dust, yet are we required to magnify and exalt that God, who fills immensity, and give him the honour and praise due to his name.

Considered as guilty and depraved creatures, another part of prayer, to which we must attend, is confession of sin. We must confess our fallen, corrupt, and ruined state, as the children of a revolted parent; owning that we were born in sin, and shapen in iniquity. It becomes us to acknowledge before the Lord, all our follies, wanderings, and crimes, levity of the mind, the stubbornness of the will, the fickleness of our purposes, and the carnality of our affections. Moreover, it is right, after looking within, to look around, and confess our

the

immoderate attachment to the world, our fretfulness and discontent, idle wishes and eager but unhallowed expectations, intermingled with repinings and murmurings against Providence. And that we may be humbled, abashed, and laid in the very dust, let us think both of the number and aggravated nature of our sins. Besides those which have affected or injured our fellow-creatures, let us keep steadily in view, which we are too prone to overlook and forget, such as have been committed directly against God. What neglect of his word, what coldness and distraction in his service, what ingratitude, what perverseness, what rebellion. And surely confession ought to be with a lowly mind, a tender conscience, and a broken contrite heart!

Our

It is a necessary and important part of prayer to present our petitions to God. The great Jehovah allows and invites us to approach his Mercy-seat, and spread all our wants before .him. We should labour to become fully acquainted with our state and condition, our weakness, infirmities, and necessities. humble suit may comprise every thing which is needful, both for the body and the soul, for the life that now is, and for that which is to come. In asking however for temporal things, we must carefully guard against selfish aims, and sinful emotions and passions. Relief in

pain, protection from danger, support under trials, and the supply of our real wants, we may implore; but if we cry for worldly wealth, power, or luxury, we are consulting self-will rather than the will of God. That suitable and comprehensive petition in our Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread," is well adapted to limit and moderate our desires after earthly good.

But we are especially exhorted to ask for spiritual blessings. Here we have ample and unbounded scope. If we are straitened, it is not in God, but in ourselves. We are warranted to seek forgiveness, adoption, light, grace, and strength; to beg an increase of faith, love, peace, and joy; to solicit enlargement of mind, purity of heart, fellowship with God in ordinances, conformity to Christ our great Exemplar, the witness and seal of the Holy Spirit the Comforter.

As we are continually dependent on divine power and goodness, and deeply indebted to. them for all we enjoy, it is an essential part of prayer to offer up thanksgiving to God. Shall we acknowledge the small favours received from our fellow-creatures, and make no grateful returns to our heavenly Benefactor? The goodness of the Lord has often met us unsolicited, has followed us undeserved, and has flowed in abundant streams on every side. The

mercies of our God, have been free and undeserved, suitable and sufficient, valuable and various. Who can count the stars of the sky, and the sands on the sea-shore? Then how can we number the sparing, pardoning, supporting, refreshing, and soul-enlivening mercies of our God and Father? And shall they be all buried in the grave of oblivion? Shall we undervalue them, or overlook the hand which bestows them? No: rather let every one ask, What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me? Let us daily lay our tribute of thanks on the altar which sanctifieth every gift, and this shall be more acceptable to God than whole hecatombs of victims slain in sacrifice, or mountains of incense in a flame.

66

Wherever," says one, "the vital unadulterated spirit of Christian devotion prevails, its immediate objects will be to adore the perfections of God; to entertain, with reverence and complacence, the various intimations of his pleasure, especially those contained in Holy Writ; to acknowledge our absolute dependence on and infinite obligations to him; to confess and lament the disorders of our nature, and the transgressions of our lives; to implore his grace and mercy, through Jesus Christ; to intercede for our brethren of mankind; to pray for the propagation and establishment of truth, righteousness, and peace on earth: in fine, to

long for a more entire conformity to the will of God, and breathe after the everlasting enjoyment of his friendship. The effects of such a spirit, habitually cherished, and feelingly expressed before him, must surely be important and happy. Among these may be reckoned a profound humility in the sight of God; a high veneration for his presence and attributes; an ardent zeal for his worship and honour; a constant imitation of our Saviour's divine example; a diffusive charity for men of all denominations; a generous and unwearied self-denial; a total resignation to Providence; an increasing esteem for the Gospel, with clearer and firmer hopes of that immortal life which it has brought to light."

Christian Reader, let it be your resolution to dedicate yourself to God by sólemn prayer. Begin every new year, every month, every week, every day, with a renewed surrender of your soul, your time, your talents, your influence, into the hands of Him, whose you are, and whom you serve. Treasure up his words, and imitate his example, who, amid the vicissitudes of life, said, "I give myself to prayer." (Ps. cix. 4.) Hence you may draw a rule of great value and use. If you have a tide of success, and a long season of prosperity in the world, do not give yourself to levity and ease and indulgence, by which you would be