great efficacy and prevalence in the prayers of the ancient saints.

5. The name and honor of God in the world, is another powerful argument. "What wilt thou do for thy great name, if Israel should be cut off, or perish?" Joshua vii. 9. "If thy saints go down to the grave in multitudes, who shall praise thee in the land of the living? The dead cannot celebrate thee, nor make mention of thy name and honors, as I do this day." This was the pleading of Hezekiah, Isaiah xxxviii. 18. And David uses the same language, Psalm vi. 5. For thy name's sake, was a mighty argument in all the ancient times of the church.

6. Former experiences of ourselves and others, are another set of arguments to make use of in prayer. Our Lord Jesus Christ in that prophetical Psalm, Ps. xxii. 5, is represented as using this argument; "Our fathers cried unto thee, O Lord, and were delivered; they trusted in thee, and they were not confounded: let me be a partaker of the same favor whilst I cry unto thee, and make thee my trust: Thou hast never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye my face in vain; and let it not be said that thy poor servant has now sought thy face and has not found thee. Often have I received mercy in a way of return to prayer: often hath my soul drawn near unto thee, and been comforted in the midst of sorrows: often have I taken out fresh supplies cf grace, according to my need, from the treasures of thy grace, that are in Christ: and shall the door of these treasures be shut against me now? Shall I receive no more favors from the hand of my God,

that has heretofore dealt them so plentifully to me?" Now, how improper soever this sort of argument may seem, to be used in courts of princes, or to entre at the favor of great men, yet God loves to hear his own people make use of it; for though men are quickly weary of multiplying their bounties, yet the more we receive from God, if we humbly acknowledge it to him, the more we are like to receive still.

7. The most powerful and most prevailing argument is, The name and mediation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And though there be some hints or shadows of the use of it in the old Testament, yet it was never taught us in a plain and express manner, till a little before our Saviour left this world: John xvi. 23, 24. "Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you."-This seems to be reserved for the peculiar pleasure and power of the duty of prayer under the gospel. We are taught to make mention of the name of Jesus, the only begotten and eternal Son of God, as a method to receive our biggest requests and fullest salvation. And in such language as this we should address the Father: "Lord, let my sins be forgiven, for the sake of that love which thou bearest to thine own Son; for the sake of that love which thy Son beareth to thee; for the sake of his humble state, when he took flesh upon him, that he might look like a sinner, and be made a sacrifice, though himself was free from sin; for the sake of his perfect and painful obedience, which has given complete hon

or to thy law; for the sake of the curse which he bore, and the death which he suffered, which hath glorified thine authority, and honored justice more than it was possible for my sins to have affronted it. Remember his dying groans; remember his agonies when the hour of darkness was upon him; and let not the powers of darkness prevail over me. Remember the day when thou stoodest afar from thine own Son, and he cried out as one forsaken of God, and let me have thine everlasting presence with me; let me never be forsaken, since thy Son hath borne that punishment." Again; we may plead with God, the intercession of Jesus, our High Priest above: "Father, we would willingly ask thee for nothing, but what thy Son already asks thee for: we would willingly ask for nothing at thy hands, but what thine own Son requests beforehand for us. Look upon the Lamb, as he had been slain, in the midst of the throne: Look upon his pure and perfect righteousness, and that blood with which our High Priest is entered into the highest heavens, and in which forever he appears before thee to make intercession; and let every blessing be bestowed upon me, which that blood did purchase, and which that great, infinite Petitioner pleads for at thy right hand. What canst thou deny thine own Son? For he hath told us, that thou hearest him always. For the sake of that Son of thy love deny us not."

Thus have I finished this fifth part of which consists in pleading with God.

prayer,

SECTION VI.

OF PROFESSION, OR SELF-DEDICATION.

THE sixth part of prayer consists in Profession, or Self-Dedication.

This is very seldom mentioned by writers as a part of prayer; but to me it appears so very necessary in its nature, and so distinct from all the rest, that it ought to be treated of separately, as well as any other part ;-and may be divided into these four heads.

1. A profession of our relation to God.-And it is worth while, sometimes for a saint to draw near unto God, and to tell him that he is the Lord's: That he belongs to his family: That he is one of his household:-That he stands among the number of his children: That his name is written in his covenant. And there is a great deal of spiritual delight, and soul satisfaction arising from such appeals to God, concerning our relation to him.

2. A profession of our former transactions with God. "Lord, we have given ourselves up unto thee, and chosen thee for our eternal portion and our highest good: We have seen the insufficiency of creatures to make us happy, and we have betaken ourselves to a higher hope; we have beheld Christ Jesus the Saviour in his perfect righteousness, and in his all-sufficient grace : we have put our trust in him, and we have made our covenant with the Father, by the sacrifice of the Son: we have often drawn near to thee in thine ordinances; we have ratified and confirmed

the holy covenant at thy table, as well as been devoted to thee by the initial ordinance of baptism; we have given up our names to God in his house; and we have as it were, subscribed with our hands to be the Lord's.

3. A present surrender of ourselves to God, and a profession of the present exercise of our several affections and graces towards him.—And this is sweet language in prayer, when the soul is in a right frame. "Lord, I confirm all my former dedications of myself to thee: and be all my covenantings forever ratified. Or, if I did never yet sincerely give myself up to the Lord, I do it now with the greatest solemnity, and from the bottom of my heart: I commit my guilty soul into the hands of Jesus my Redeemer, that he may sprinkle it with his atoning blood, that he may clothe it with his justifying righteousness, and make me (a vile sinner) accepted in the presence of a just and holy God. I appear, O Father, in the presence of thy justice and holiness, clothed in the garments of thine own Son, and I trust thou beholdest not iniquity in me to punish it. I give my soul that has much corruption in it by nature, and much of the remaining power of sin, into the hands of my Almighty Saviour, that by his grace he may form all my powers anew; that he may subdue every irregular appetite, and root out every disorderly passion; that he may frame me after his own image, fill me with his own grace, and fit me for his own glory. I hope in thee, my God, for thou art my refuge, my strength, and my salvation; I love thee above all things; and I know I love thee. Whom have I in heaven but