ligion, till the regular season of devotion comes round again. It should be told you, that one leading trait of difference between the formal professor and the real Christian lies in this.

3. To the real Christian we offer exhortation and advice to practise this kind of prayer with success, you must cultivate a familiar acquaintance with the following subjects:

The evil of sin, and a tenderness of conscience in regard to it. (Ps. xix. 12, 13.) The love of God to us in Jesus Christ; this has an attractive influence upon the soul, drawing it away from earth and sin, and assimilating it to the mind and spirit of him whose essence is love.

We shall also abound in ejaculatory prayer, in proportion as we discern our interest in Jesus and his salvation. Another subject, calculated to enlarge the soul in ejaculatory prayer, is the doctrine of Divine ProvidenceProvidence, which has to do with the Christian in particu lar, and which extends to all his personal, relative, and spiritual concerns.

Again, We shall be much engaged in lifting up our souls to the Lord, in this kind of prayer, if we attain to much spiritual-mindedness. Matt. xxvi. 44.

Finally, To be habitually practising ejaculatory prayer, requires an abundant supply of grace, and the continual influence of the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of grace and supplication. Eph. iv. 30.

PERSEVERANCE AND WATCHFULNESS IN PRAYER.

Praying always, with all prayer, &c.-Eph. vi. 18.

THE believing Ephesians are here taught by the apostle what they have to expect in this world; nothing less than a constant warfare, and that too with no common enemy, as may be seen by the description given, verse 12. He would not have them, however, be discouraged by the view of either the multitude or the strength of their opposers, nor yet to trust in the least degree to their own wisdom

and strength: (verse 10:) when Christians can do this, in the exercise of a strong faith, they may despise all the efforts of their most potent and malignant foe, and exult in the beautiful language of the apostle, "If God be for us," &c.

To manage the arduous conflict with success, it is requisite we should put on "the whole armour," (verse 13,) which the apostle describes; and then he introduces the words of my text: Praying always," &c. intimating, that it was not enough to be duly apprized of the nature and strength of the enemy, and to have on the armour of defence ready for the attack; but even then there must be much and constant prayer to God for wisdom, courage, and ability, to persevere in the conflict; for having once entered the field under Jesus, the Captain of our salvation, we must never think of obtaining peace, or putting off our armour, till we have reached the blissful shores of our heaverly Canaan, and can join in that delightful triumph of the church, Rev. xii. 10, 11. In our text the apostle directs the Ephesians

I. To pray with all prayer.-What is the import of this expression? It may be considered under two ideas.

There are divers kinds of prayer. They are all important; none of them can be slighted with propriety by the real Christian. They occupy distinct and separate stations in the good man's general sphere of action, and it should be his care to keep them from clashing one with the other. As in a well-constructed piece of mechanism every wheel and every pin has its proper station, and performs its office in a regular manner, all operating to the production of one grand effect; so it is in religion. (1 Cor. xiv. 33.) We are not to be at home engaging in private prayer, when duty calls us to public prayer, &c. It is natural to infer, from the view we have been taking of prayer, what a burden religion must be to a worldly man. With the real Christian it is exactly the reverse he can say with truth, that the service of his God "is perfect freedom."

Prayer is composed of a variety of parts. Some arrange these under a smaller, and some under a larger number of particulars. From the examples of prayer which we have in the Old Testament, and also from the manner in which Christ taught his disciples to pray, I am led to di

vide the parts of prayer into-Adoration, Confession, Petition, and Thanksgiving.

1. When we approach God in prayer, it should be with sentiments of profound veneration: he is the infinitely great and eternal God, and we are creatures but of yesterday he is the holy and righteous God, and we sinners by nature and by practice. If then we know who and what God is, when we come near to his throne we shall adore and worship him in the most humble manner. his majesty and greatness will penetrate our souls with godly fear, and a sense of the riches of his mercy will inspire us with trust and confidence. Our souls will feel much of that temper which is manifested in the language of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. iv. 34, 35.

A view of

2. Another part of prayer is confession. The deep depravity of our nature, (Jer. xvii. 9,) and the numberless sins which proceed from that corrupt source, furnish abundant matter for this part of prayer. The fifty-first Psalm, the language of the returning prodigal, and of the publican who went into the temple to pray, are among the finest examples of genuine confession-of that kind of confession which the scriptures connect with salvation, inasmuch as it is said, "If we confess our sins," &c. 1 John i. 9.

3. The next branch of true prayer is petition. Man is an indigent creature in every respect, and can never be addressed in a more suitable language than Rev. iii. 17. He is, therefore, in himself the most forlorn and dependant creature; but it is only the Christian who sees and feels, and, consequently, acts in conformity to this humbling truth; he comes as a beggar to the door of mercy.

4. The last branch of prayer is thanksgiving and praise. This is mentioned in a very distinct manner by the apostle. (Phil. iv. 6.) This branch of the subject may be divided into two parts. In the first there is a particular and direct acknowledgment made to God for the mercies received. We may illustrate this point by the language of David, Ps. ciii. 2, 3. The other branch of thanksgiving is more general. We have examples of this in Matt. vi. 13; Jude 24, 25.

II. In this text the apostle recommends 'praying always;" every work of the good man's hand should be prefaced, accompanied with, and followed by prayer. Acts vi. 4; 1 Thess. iii. 10.

In this part of the subject I shall particularly urge upon you constancy and perseverance in prayer.

1. To you who have in past times bowed your knee to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and now live prayerless, we say, "Ye did run well, who did hinder you." (Gal. v. 7.) Such persons may be thus addressed, "Thou castest off fear." (Job xv. 4.) The Jews were an awful instance of this, as appears by Ps. lxxviii. 34—37. The temporary and short-lived nature of the disposition of some men to pray, may be seen in the case of affrighted mariners, whose distress and conduct, when in danger of shipwreck, is beautifully described, Ps. cvii. 23-30. But no sooner is the storm ended, and they find themselves in safety, than they utterly forget the God on whom they called.

Such also is the prayer of the man who is affrighted by the grand and awful representations which the Almighty is pleased sometimes to make of himself in earthquakes, inundations, yea, even in ordinary storms of thunder and lightning.

Again, The subject is illustrated by the prayers of the sick man, who, while his recovery is yet doubtful, is constant and devout in his supplications: but all his devotions evaporate on the first symptom of returning health; to such persons may be applied the words of our Lord, Matt. xii. 45.

We address this part of our subject to backsliders in general. You, in times past, sought God by prayer, not only in the public assembly of bis saints, but also in your closet; but now you have lost all the good impressions you once bad, though, like Felix, whilst the preacher reasoned of righteousness, &c. (Acts xxiv. 25.) Though, like Herod, you heard the word gladly, and did many things, (Mark vi. 20,) yet now you set truth and conscience at defiance. If this is your character, what are you better than an apostate? How awful is your state! How justly may the words of scripture be applied to you! 2 Pet. ii. 21, 22.

2. I come now to urge constancy and perseverance in prayer on those Christians who are often tempted to leave it off. The scriptures would not have abounded with such exhortations as 1 Thess. v. 16; Rom. xii. 12,

were it not that the soul is liable to be discouraged by difficulties and temptations.

Sometimes they are tempted to this by their want of liberty and enlargement in prayer:-others are discour aged in prayer, because they feel so many short comings and imperfections in their prayers. You forget, Christian, too much and too often, that your prayers do pass through the hands of Jesus Christ, and are perfumed with the incense of his merit: (Rev. viii. 3, 4:) others are .tempted to give up seeking the Lord by prayer, because he delays to answer them. These are often crying out, Lam. iii. 44; Hab. i. 2. Yet remember, Hab. ii. 3. We have also many striking instances, in which the Lord has kept his people long praying and waiting, before he has vouchsafed to say, "Be it unto thee even as thou wilt." David relates his own experience, Ps. xl. 1-3. And it is also related of Abraham, Heb. vi. 15.-See Rom. viii. 24, 25; and James v. 7, 8. Be not, then, Christian, discouraged by not receiving an immediate answer to your petitions: go on praying; the Lord is not slack concerning his promises-and you have abundant proof, that "praying breath is never spent in vain."

III. Our text recommends watching unto prayer; the nearness and importance of the connexion between prayer and watching is plain, by the frequency of those passages in which they are jointly recommended to the Christian, Luke xxi. 36; Col. iv. 2; 1 Pet. iv. 7. This apostle knew, by fatal experience, the vast importance of what he here recommended. It has been exemplified in the experience and practice of the saints. Neh. iv. 9.

1. The Christian should watch for opportunities to pray, or he will but seldom find them.

2. In prayer we should watch over our own hearts, which are so deceitful and unstable. Prov. iv. 23.

3. Watch against hinderances to stated seasons of prayer. We are in danger of this from many sources.

4. Watch against intruders which would disturb you while exercising in prayer. If it is your desire to "attend upon the Lord without distraction," you must be constant and diligent in this duty. Gen. xv. 11.

5. Watch against the great enemy of souls, who is ever going about either to destroy them, or to disturb them