very bless

by which their intercessions were carried on, and the ings which we enjoy, were won from the providence of God, by persevering and united supplication.

Come, then, my brethren, let us love, with more gratitude, and spirit and understanding, in the formuThere is "one faith, one baptism, one

unite, with more of the laries of our Church. God and Father" of us all. Happy would it be for the church if there were but one mind and one mouth—if all who were called by the name of Jesus were joined together in unity of the spirit and the bond of peace; and the people of God were again united in one spiritual worship and one reasonable service. Whether this is within the purposes of God or not, we dare not say; but this at least we may say, and this at least we must say, that if ever the body of Christ is to be visibly united upon earth, we cannot conceive a system which offers more hope of its accomplishment than that of the Formularies of our Church.

And now then, men and brethren, let me close with the charge once delivered to the Church of Philadelphia; but a charge which, whether we consider the responsibilities and blessings of our Church, its present duties or its future glories, seems applicable to ourselves:

"Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly! Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."

SERMON XXXIII.

THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER.

By the Rt. Rev. EANIEL WILSON, D. D.,
Bishop of Calcutta.

ROMANS viii. 26.

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

THERE is no duty of the Christian life more important than prayer. It is by prayer that true religion begins in our hearts, that all evil is averted, and that every real blessing is attained. It is by prayer that we draw nigh to God, that we approach a Saviour, that we receive the graces of the Holy Ghost. Prayer strengthens us, and enables us to love our neighbor, and to keep the Divine cornmandments; and from it we obtain support and consolation under the innumerable trials and temptations of this probationary state. It must be a matter, then, of great moment not only to pray, but to know how to pray aright: for, as so much depends on this duty, grace and help to pray must in fact be immediately connected with all the blessings which we require, for our bodies and for our souls. If only we be assisted to pray with spirituality of mind and importunity of affection, all is gained; for God gives every thing, even heaven itself, to prayer. The encouraging declaration, then, of the Apostle in my text, deserves our most attentive consideration.

We shall endeavor to explain,

I.

The Christian's infirmities in prayer.

II. That assistance of the Holy Spirit by which he is relicved under them. We notice,

I. The Christian's infirmities in prayer.

Prayer is the offering up of ones desires to God for the blessings we need. It is, then, the expression of the heart; the pouring out of the soul to God, the lifting up of the mind, and the drawing nigh to him in holy affection. It includes invocation or calling on the name of the Lord, adoration of his perfections, humble confession of our sins, the imploring of His grace, the pleading of his promises, the dedicating of ourselves to his service, the praising of him for the blessings which he has bestowed upon us, and the ascribing of glory and power to him only.

Prayer is our indispensable duty. The proofs of this are various. We all are sinners, and need mercy and salvation. We are also rational and accountable creatures, and have the invitations of the Gospel proposed to us. We have the mediation of the Son of God to encourage our approach. God deserves our gratitude and praise. Our necessities perpetually require his aid. We must perish, if we call not on God. We are also expressly commanded to "pray without ceasing;" to "continue in praycr;" to "pray always with all prayer and supplication;" to "pray and not faint;" to "be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication to make our requests known to God." These directions, connected with numerous other passages of Scripture, make it obvious that solemn prayer in the Church, and in our families, together with earnest supplication in private, are the bounden duty of every Christian. The obligation of public prayer has never been doubted. Nor can that of family devotion be for a moment called in question by those who feel duly impressed with the holy examples of Abraham, Joshua, and David, or who understand the extent and spirit of all the injunctions of the word of God that may be applied to this subject. As to private prayer, our Lord's express words arc, "Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." No man, therefore, can be a truc Christian without the habitual practice of secret devotion, and an attendance, where he has the opportunity, on the public worship of Almighty God. Nor, I conceive, can any head of a family be a sincere and well informed servant of Christ without superadding, his constant prayers with his own household.

Our infirmities in prayer, are many. The word infirmities here used is emphatical. It properly means diseases or sickness; for

the corrupt state of our nature has debilitated and weakened all our spiritual powers. Even after receiving the grace of Christ and partaking of the inspiration of his Spirit, we still remain greatly disordered, and suffer much from the agency of the latent contagion, though some of the more noxious effects of it have been healed. Our moral frame is neither sound nor vigorous; and we are subject to relapses and vicissitudes in our spiritual health. These infirmities, though apparent in all we do, are yet most of all evident in prayer. The reason is obvious; for this duty places us immediately before God: it tries the whole state and temper of our souls; and it admits of little external help. It is an effort of principles and feelings which have been divinely implanted; and hence it is the most opposite to the fallen heart of a sinner, which is by nature "alienated from God," and flics from all communion with him.

In public and family devotion these infirmities tend to prevent that fixed and holy address of the soul to God which alone constitute prayer. The words of the minister, or the parent, or master, may be highly spiritual and appropriate, (and in our Liturgical service, this is eminently the case;) and yet one thought may wander, one affection be cold, our hearts remain barren and worldly. In the confession of sin, how difficult is it to conform in spirit to the words of humiliation as they are uttered, and to prostrate our souls before God in deep self-abasement! In the offering of praise, how rarely is the heart elevated with the church or the family, to a due tone of humble and sincere gratitude for the divine mercies of which we are so entirely unworthy! In presenting our supplications for future blessings, how seldom do we accompany the language of the minister or head of the household, with correspondent fervor of affection! What Christian is not sensible of coldness, languor, inertness, and infirmity in the duties of every Sabbath, and in his attendance on family worship! How often may he detect himself wandering in thought from the subject by which he ought to be occupied! And at the close of the performance, what occasion has he to bewail that malady of his soul which has depressed him so much in all his efforts to rise towards God and attain communion with him.

But it is to secret prayer that we must more particularly direct our remarks, because it is here that our infirmities are most apparent, and because what may be said with respect to it, will apply

for the most part to public and family devotion. Our failings, then, in private supplications regard either the matter or the manner of them. We know not what we pray for, and we know not how to pray as we ought.

So far as the matter of our supplications is concerned, we know not what to pray for. Such is our ignorance of ourselves and of the things which are really good for us, that we need the illumination of the Holy Spirit, to show us what we should implore of God. By nature we are utterly blind as to religion; and even after we are converted, and pardoned, and devoted to the service of Christ, our infirmities are so many, that we require the unremitting aid of Divine grace. Can Jacob, though so pious a servant of God, be supposed to have known what to pray for, when he exclaimed of some of the merciful appointments of God, "All these things are against me?" Did Rebekah know what to ask for, when she said, "Give me children, or else I die?" Did Job, when he "cursed his day?" Did Moses, when he "spake unadvisedly with his lips?" Did David, when he almost envied the prosperity of the wicked: or Elijah, when he fled from Jezebel, and requested "for himself that he might die?" Or the Israelites, when they "murmured in their tents?" Or Jonah, when he "fled from the presence of the Lord?" What, again, did the mother of Zebedee's children know of the right object of prayer, when she besought our Lord "that they might sit, one on his right hand and the other on his left, in his kingdom?" How ignorant was Peter, when he would have dissuaded our Saviour from suffering! And the disciples, when they would have called down fire from heaven to consume the city of the Samaritans.

And how exactly do our infirmities resemble theirs! We know not what blessings even in Providence we should ask of God.The Divine promises and commands ought to be the guide of our supplications; but our own will is too often suffered to take their place. Our cternal good should be our chief concern, even in prayers for temporal mercies: but how rarely and faintly is this object pursued! Every thing around us, as well as the express declarations of Holy Scripture, instruct us that all below is "vanity and vexation of spirit;" and yet we equally crave and continually supplicate earthly prosperity. Afflictions are perpetually exhibited in the Bible as necessary chastisements inflicted by our heavenly Father; but we pray passionately and unreservedly