The sermons of Master Henry Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…The sermons of Maister Henrie Smith gathered into one volume. Printed according to his…

Even so our affections and familiarity doth grow toward God by often praying unto him,¹ and when we leave of to pray, ²then our affections draw from him, and his affections from us, therefore we read how often the goodmen were wont to pray. In times past Daniel saith that he prayed thrice a day: David saith that he prayed seven times a day: It is said that Cornelius prayed continually: ³It is said that the Disciples prayed continually: & in the first to the Romans, Paul which teacheth us here to pray without ceasing saith, that he himself ⟨p. 873⟩prayed without ceasing. As Jacob would not let the Angel go before he had blessed him so a Christian should not let God rest before he hear him: This is the state that a Christian should strive to, and never think that he is sound at the heart till all his thoughts be a kind of prayer. Now if we should examine our selves whether we Pray as we should,⁴ as Paul teacheth us to examine our selves whether we believe as we should: I am of opinion, that there is no such want in this land as the want of prayer, for it is neglected as though it were never commanded, as if there were no God to worship, or as if we had no need of him. In the Papists time none were called Beads-men, that is, men which were bound to pray but the poor men: as though none were bound to pray but poor men: but now the world goeth as though neither rich nor poor were bound to pray: one would think that our deliverance our of Egypt, that our victory against the Spaniards, that the weather which threateneth sickness, that the dearth which threateneth famine, should make us pray, and yet it doth not, for where is the person which prayeth now more than he did before.⁵ Some are like the fool which saith in his heart there is no God: for they pray never,⁶ though Paul say, Pray ever▪ Cain was rejected for offering an unworthy sacrifice: