The saints daily exercise A treatise concerning the whole duty of prayer. Delivered in…The saints daily exercise A treatise concerning the whole dutie of prayer. Delivered in…

For answer to this, I say this, in being •e, ¹that when you do call upon God, he is not changed by your prayers, but the change is wrought in you, as we have said to you heretofore, ²when a Physiti• is sought unto by his patient, the patient desires him earnestly to give him such a cordial, and such […] Physic, that is pleasing to him; the Physician denies him long, yet in the end, he yields unto it. Why? not because there is any change in the Physician, but because there is a change in the patient, he is now fitted for this, before he was not: so then the Physician yields now, whereas before he refused, and yet the change is in the patient, and not in the physician, and therefore, beloved, when […] about to strive with God in prayer, when you contend, and wrestle with him (for so we ought to do) when you use many reasons to persuade him, you alter not him, but your selves […] those arguments that you use, are not so much to persuade him to be •e ⟨p. 45⟩you, as to persuade your hearts to more faith, to more love, to more obedience, to more humility, and thankfulness, and that indeed is the reason, why prayer prevails with God, not that the very sending up is that, that prevails with him, but because a faithful, and a spiritual prayer puts the heart in a better disposition, so that a man is now made ready to receive a blessing at Gods hands, that before he was not. So that, when you think you draw God to you, with your arguments, in truth, you draw ³your selves nearer to him; as when a man in a ship plucks a rock, it seemeth as as if he plucked the rock nearer to the ship, when as the ship is plucked nearer the rock: so, I say, we draw our selves nearer to the Lord, and when we draw nearer to the Lord, in prayer, and there is a spiritual disposition wrought in our hearts, by the exercise of this duty, then indeed the Lord draws near to us, to send us help, and to grant our requests, that we put up to him, and therefore that you should mark by the way, that any prayer, as it hath a higher pitch of holiness in affection, and as it hath stronger arguments in it; so it is a better prayer; not because this prayer shall prevail with God more, or, that the excellency of this prayer should move him, but because this pitch of holy affection, and strength of argument works upon your hearts: