An exposition on the Lord's prayer with a catechistical explication thereof, by way of…

Secondly, Is thy Father in Heaven, thy Prayers then should be made so as to pierce the Heavens where God is? But how can this be done, since the distance between Heaven and us is so infinite? This is not to be done by the intension of raising thy Voice, but by the intension of raising thy Zeal and Spirit; for Zeal and Affection is a strong Bow that will shoot a Petition through Heaven it self. Let all thy Petitions therefore be ardent, and carry Fire in them, ⟨p. 23⟩and this will cause them to ascend to the Element of pure Celestial Fire, from whence thy Breast was at first inflamed. It is a most remarkable place, Exod. 14.15. when the Red Sea was before the Israelites, and the Egyptians pursuing them behind, and unpassable Mountains on each side, the People murmuring, and Moses their Captain and Guide in an unextricable Strait, we read not of any Vocal Prayer that Moses then put up; and yet God calls to him, Why criest thou unto me; a Prayer it was, not so much as accented not so much as whispered; and yet so strong and powerful that it pierced Heaven, and was louder in the Ears of God than the Voice of Thunder.

Secondly, Is thy Father in Heaven, thy Prayers then should be made so as to pierce the Heavens where God is? But how can this be done, since the distance between Heaven and us is so infinite? This is not to be done by the intension of raising thy Voice, but by the intension of raising thy Zeal and Spirit; for Zeal and Affection is a strong Bow that will shoot a Petition through Heaven it self. Let all thy Petitions therefore be ardent, and carry Fire in them, ⟨p. 23⟩and this will cause them to ascend to the Element of pure Celestial Fire, from whence thy Breast was at first inflamed. It is a most remarkable place, Exod. 14.15. when the Red Sea was before the Israelites, and the Aegyptians pursuing them behind, and unpassable Mountains on each side, the People murmuring, and Moses their Captain and Guide in an unextricable Streight, we read not of any Vocal Prayer that Moses then put up; and yet God calls to him, Why cryest thou unto me; a Prayer it was, not so much as accented not so much as whispered; and yet so strong and powerful that it pierced Heaven, and was louder in the Ears of God than the Voice of Thunder.