Another thing that rendereth prayer so effectual, is Gods Covenant and promise to his people. It was the speech of Archimedes, Give me a place to set my Engine in, and I will shake the whole earth. Let prayer have a sure foundation to set foot on, and it will do mighty things. Now the promises are the foundation of prayer, whereof we have great abundance Numb. 23. You shall find abundance of promises to the Saints of God, when Balaam was brought to curse the people. But in Deuter. 33. there are admirable promises. There is none like unto the God of I•shurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and on the sky in his excellency. The eternal God is his refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before ⟨p. 218⟩thee, and shall say, destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone, the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of Corn and Wine, also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is that sword of thy excellency, and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Here are promises to the Saints of God. They shall have all things that are good, and God will manifest himself, especially against his enemies. There must be a mighty efficacy in such a plea, when there are such large promises. So in the 14. Chapt. of this book of Isaiah, there are diverse promises for Gods people, For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land, & the stranger shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob, and the people shall take them and bring them to their place: and the house of ⟨p. 219⟩Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass that in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, &c. I make no question but some of the people of God have been pleading this promise in prayer where the Lord hath promised to have mercy on Israel, and to give him rescue from his sorrows, and fears, and hard bondage. It was hard bondage that we were made to serve in, not long ago;
Another thing that rendreth prayer so effectuall, is Gods Covenant and promise to his people. It was the speech of Alchimedes, Give me a place to set my Engine in, and I will shake the whole earth. Let prayer have a sure foundation to set foot on, and it will do mighty things. Now the promises are the foundation of prayer, whereof we have great abundance Numb. 23. You shall find abundance of promises to the Saints of God, when Balaam was brought to curse the people. But in Deuter. 33. there are admirable promises. There is none like unto the God of I•shurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and on the skie in his excellency. The eternall God is his refuge, and underneath are the everlasting armes: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before ⟨p. 218⟩thee, and shall say, destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone, the fountain of Iacob shall be upon a land of Corn and Wine, also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou O Israel, who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is that sword of thy excellency, and thine enemies shall be found lyars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places. Here are promises to the Saints of God. They shall have all things that are good, and God will manifest himself, especially against his enemies. There must be a mighty efficacy in such a plea, when there are such large promises. So in the 14. Chapt. of this book of Isaiah, there are diverse promises for Gods people, For the Lord will have mercy on Iacob, and will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land, & the stranger shall be joyned with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Iacob, and the people shall take them and bring them to their place: and the house of ⟨p. 219⟩Israel shall possesse them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressours. And it shall come to passe that in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, &c. I make no question but some of the people of God have been pleading this promise in prayer where the Lord hath promised to have mercy on Israel, and to give him rescue from his sorrows, and fears, and hard bondage. It was hard bondage that we were made to serve in, not long ago;
