N04105:496
The sound believer. A treatise of evangelical conversion. Discovering the work of Christ's spirit,…
The sound believer. A treatise of evangelical conversion. Discovering the work of Christ's spirit, in reconciling of a sinner to God. / By Thomas Shepard, sometime of Emanuel-College in Cambridge, since preacher of God's word in New-England. ; [One line from Matthew]
Boston: printed by Green for D. Henchman, 1742
Title page typeset from the transcription.
THE Sound Believer. › Chapter 2 › Section 5: Fifthly, Audience of all Prayers.
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.
These three are the essential Properties of such ⟨p. 232⟩Prayer as is heard, or if you will, of that which is properly or spiritually Prayer: Fervency and Assurance, &c. are excellent Ingredients; but yet the Lord may hear Prayer without them: It is true, the Lord may sometimes not h••r us presently, for our praying Time is our sowing Time, we must not look presently for the Harvest. The Lord hears the Prayers of the destitute, Psal. 102.17. the original Word is, of the Shrub, or naked Place of the Desert, which the Prophet saith, Jer. 17.6. Sees no Good when Good comes, yet such as feel themselves such, the Lord doth regard them, and will have a Time to answer them: And tho' the Lord may not give us the Thing we pray for, nor as good a Thing of the same Kind, yet he ever gives us the End of our Prayers; he that is at Sea and wants stiff Winds to carry him to his Port, yet hath no cause to complain, if the Lord secretly carries him in by a strong Current of the Sea it self; and it is certain, at the End of all God's dealing with you, you shall then see how the Lord hath not failed to answer you in any one Particular, Joshua 23.14.
These three are the essential Properties of such ⟨p. 232⟩Prayer as is heard, or if you will, of that which is properly or spiritually Prayer: Fervency and Assurance, &c. are excellent Ingredients; but yet the Lord may hear Prayer without them: It is true, the Lord may sometimes not h••r us presently, for our praying Time is our sowing Time, we must not look presently for the Harvest. The Lord hears the Prayers of the destitute, Psal. 102.17. the original Word is, of the Shrub, or naked Place of the Desart, which the Prophet saith, Jer. 17.6. Sees no Good when Good comes, yet such as feel themselves such, the Lord doth regard them, and will have a Time to answer them: And tho' the Lord may not give us the Thing we pray for, nor as good a Thing of the same Kind, yet he ever gives us the End of our Prayers; he that is at Sea and wants stiff Winds to carry him to his Port, yet hath no cause to complain, if the Lord secretly carries him in by a strong Current of the Sea it self; and it is certain, at the End of all God's dealing with you, you shall then see how the Lord hath not failed to answer you in any one Particular,