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…

I answer, if a man consult with his own heart, & deal impartially with himself, he may know ¹what his ends are; but, if you cannot find it out, that way, you may know it by the effect, you may know it by the bills you bring in. What is the expense of the things God hath bestowed on you, when he hath put a price into your hands; consider, how you bestow it. If a steward have a ²great sum of money, that his master hath trusted him with, and his bills be, that he hath bestowed so much in riot, so much in fine apparel, &c, but there hath been but so much bestowed for his masters advantage, it is an argument he hath spent it ill: so, when we see, there hath been so much health spent, so much time, and so much strength, in following our own plots, and our own worldly business, without respect to God, not serving God, and men in our calling, as we should do, and that there hath been little time bestowed in prayer, in reading, in making our hearts perfect with God, in taking pains with them, from day to day, I say, if we look upon this bill of expense, and consider how we have bestowed our time, our health, our strength, our wits, from day to day; and our speech (for that is ⟨p. 53⟩one price, that we have in our hands, by which we may do good, it is as a bucket by which we may draw from others, and likewise it is a spring, and fountain, wherewith we may feed others, with the waters of life) consider, how we have laid out all these things, and by that we may know, how we are disposed to use the blessings, we seek for at Gods hands, whether we seek them to bestow them upon our lusts, or to spend those gifts to our masters advantage; and, if we find we do it for our own lusts, in this case, I say to you go and amend your prayers, and God will amend your speeding. We must do in this case, as an angler doth, when he hath thrown the bait into the river, if it stay long, and catch nothing, he takes up the bait, and amends it, and when he ³sees it is well, he then continues, and waits: so we must do in this case, if thou pray, and pray long, and have not obtained the thing thou prayest for, look diligently to thy prayers; see whether they be right or no, if they be not, amend thy prayers, and God will amend his readiness to hear thee;