A30158:123
I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also,…
I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also, or, A discourse touching prayer, from I Cor. 14.15 wherein is briefly discovered 1. What prayer is, 2. What it is to pray with the spirit, 3. What it is to pray with the spirit and with the understanding also / by John Bunyan.
London : Printed for the author, 1663
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
But as I said before, it is not possible for a man to get up his heart to God in Prayer; so it is as difficult to keep it there, without the assistance of the Spirit.
And if so, then for a man to continue from time to time in Prayer with God, it must of necessity be with the Spirit.
Christ tells us, That men ought always to pray, and not to faint, Luke 18. 1, 2. And again tells us, that this is one definition of an Hypocrite, That either he will not continue in Prayer, or else, if he do, it will not be in the power, ⟨p. 56⟩(Job 27. 10.) that is, in the Spirit of Prayer, but in the Form, for a pretence only, Mat. 23. 14.
Christ tells us, That men ought alwayes to pray, and not to faint, Luke 18. 1, 2. And again tells us, that this is one definition of an Hypocrite, That either he will not continue in Prayer, or else, if he do, it will not be in the power, ⟨p. 56⟩(Job 27. 10.) that is, in the Spirit of Prayer, but in the Form, for a pretence only, Mat. 23. 14.