us, either in the closet, or in the family, or in the assemblies of the saints, we are constrained to seek for suitable words to express ourselves with, all which is absolutely necessary. In mental prayer all this is unnecessary. The apostle saith for himself, “ I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also,” 1 Cor. xiv. 15.; and all this as an ordinance of the Lord's, is absolutely necessary; because to have a right, clear, and comprehensive apprehension of the subject of prayer, and to have proper words and expressions to convey suitable impressions to the minds of those who are hearers and worshippers with this is most truly desirable, and it is also absolutely necessary. It is agreeable to this view of things, that is, of these subjects, that spiritual gifts in prayer and worship is most truly desirable. As I never conceived I had a gift in prayer, so neither am I sorry for it, nor do I desire the same; I am, therefore, most chiefly concerned about my own private praying; and I have, and do propose this, wishing it to be taken notice of; and so far as any of you may discover the propriety of it, you will or will not yield unto it. When I engage in prayer, and do not find the Lord's presence with me, in a manifestative and in an influential way, I do not like to be long in prayer; and if I cannot soon afterwards find my mind enlarged, I think it best to shut up, and leave off, and there leave it. When engaged in secret prayer, one very particular matter I look for is, whether I have audience with the Lord; if I have, I do not then pray for his comforting manifestative presence, because if I have the Lord's ear, I am sure of the Lord's eye, and then my mind hath a free and blessed opportunity of pouring out my request, and making known the whole of my mind, my case, and circumstances unto him, which, when I have done, am disencumbered, having hereby spoken out the whole of my own case before him; and having thus cast all my cares upon the Lord, who careth for me, I always find it sufficient, if the Lord admits me to speak out the whole of my case before him; then the words of promise are so many securities to my faith, that my God will supply all my wants, all my need, according to the riches of his glory, by Christ Jesus. I want the ear and eye of Christ, which I conceive I have, when I am admitted to have free access to him, and am enabled to be importunate with him; for whilst I lay no stress upon my own importunities, and fervour of spirit, yet I cannot but conclude when he inclines my heart to pray and call upon him, that surely it is an evidence of his being spiritually present with me, which is all I want; then I am in my right place, and this word before me comes into its right place, and it is most consolatory and divine. What can be more so? Surely, nothing. It is the very thing itself. To open it a little :-As one cannot but approach the Lord every morning, as soon as entered upon a new day, it would be very suitable to have these words in our minds, to consider them as the Lord's; to hear the Lord by them, as speaking in them unto us; and when we come before him, to consider him as speaking unto us-" Here I am;" to hear what you have to say; to receive your petition; to grant your request; to supply your wants; to sanctify your afflictions; to comfort you under all your sorrows; to defend you against all the assaults of the devil; to put underneath you the everlasting arms; to sanctify whatsoever may befal you; to cause all things to work together for your good; to give you evident takens that "all things work together for good, to them that love God, and are the called according to his purpose." Is there not Thus the Lord most assuredly speaks to his beloved ones: to you and to me; to all his called ones; to each of his beloved people; and we may, without the least presumption, make use of them to answer the ends of encouragements and consolations, which have been already suggested. Let me ask you, is there not enough? Speak out, you, the Lord's beloved ones. enough in these words, "Here I am," to carry the spiritual mind above and beyond all discouragements? If so, may the Lord the Holy Spirit, help and enable us to make a free and blessed use of them. I will here endeavour to set forth the way and manner I would here make use of them for myself. Conceiving myself as one with Christ, being united to and made the object of the Father's care in him, I cannot live without communion with the Father and the Son. This cannot be but by the indwelling and sacred influences of the Holy Ghost. Neither can this be inward and secret prayer, which is the breathing of the Holy Ghost in the spiritual mind. It is in this there is an outgoing of heart towards the Lord, which is in a measure agreeable with the outgoings of the Lord's heart towards us, as stated and revealed in the written word; so that the Lord speaks out all his heart unto us in his promises, which are in the fulness of them, expressive of the inexhaustible fulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, which, as I conceive is fully set forth in the extent of the exceeding great, and exceedingly precious promises, all of which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Now, amongst these, the passage before us is of singular use, advantage, and consolation. Let our discouragements be what they may, surely. "Here I am," cannot but remove the same. The use I would make of the sentence is as follows: I would present myself before the Lord, and say, I present myself before thy divine majesty, for thy blessing. Thou sayest," Here I am :" blessed be thy name for all contained in this. Let it please thee, to enable me to receive all that is contained herein; to mix faith with the same, and give thee praise and glory. As thou sayest, 'Here I am," be thou pleased to give me full proof of all this to my mind, by thy presence with me; by thy blessing on me. Lord I esteem it to be beyond life itself, and all contained in this present time-state, to have communion with thee, in the blessings of everlasting love, and in the benefits of thy great salvation. Thou art pleased to say, yea. Thou thus addressest me, with saying, "Here I am." Be thou pleased to favour me with an interview thyself: this is all I request of thy glorious Majesty. And were it asked, how do I know I have an interview with him? To this I should reply, by the freedom granted me, in my application to the Lord; in calling upon his most holy name; and in being granted free and suitable intercourse with the Lord, agreeably to the desire of my heart, and the request and present suit I was engaged in presenting before him, with his most gracious answers to the same, so far as agreeable to his most holy will. Prayer should always be founded upon the Lord's promises. They should always be expressive of my wants and necessities, case and circumstances. I cannot pray aright, but as these are kept in view. I cannot ask for more grace, good, help, and support, than what is expressed in the promises; nor will my wants be ever more than what they now are. I am not so sensibly affected with this at all times alike, yet I am always in myself, one and the same; yet as I have sometimes more and sometimes less, so in proportion to the present feeling sense I have of my inward sin and misery, and as the Holy Ghost is pleased to fix a true experience of myself, in the cases and circumstances I am in, and by various providences brought into, so I pray with more enlargement and importunity. My encouragement for prayer is one and the same at all times. It is most blessedly contained in these words: "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am." I am all eye to see thee; all heart to love thee; all mercy to pardon thee; all salvation to thee: yea, I am the God of thy salvation; I am the Lord that healeth thee; I am the Lord thy God, who teacheth thee to profit, who leadeth thee in the way that thou shouldst go. When I am enabled by the Holy Spirit to take all this into my mind, I neither wait for matter or manner in prayer, but am hereby truly and properly furnished for every good word and work. It is hereby I am enabled to pray secretly in my own mind, spiritually and experimentally. It is by such a word as this from the Lord, "Here I am," that I am encouraged and mightily strengthened in the inner man. May what hath been delivered be a means in the hand of the Holy Ghost of being a blessing unto many, so as that you may see what blessed encouragement there is to pray always, to pray at all times, and for all things you need. May the Lord's saying to his praying people, "Here I am," be a most blessed excitement to come before him, seeing he is upon his throne of grace, to hear and answer their petitions. And may it please him to bless what on this subject hath been delivered unto you. Amen. VOL. XIII.-No. 163.] 2 F REVIEW. Forms of Prayer for every Day in the Week; with Twelve Prayer is a breath that God inspires, Within a broken heart. Or to use the words of our author in the preface to this work, page 13, "It is the real breathings of the Holy Ghost in the new-born soul, of which it may be said, as our Lord did respecting Saul of Tarsus, when he was made a new creature in Christ Jesus, "behold, he prayeth." It is a moral, it is a spiritual, and it is also a supernatural act of worship.” If such was the esteemed Author's view of prayer, and such we freely state to be ours, it may be asked, can you then recommend forms of prayer? We would in reply say, that as there are very many of the Lord's dear people who cannot pray in a family way extempore, perhaps arising from constitutional diffidence, or other causes of various kinds, so as to be acceptable and instructive to others, it is therefore most desirable that such should adopt the use of a form; and certainly many who attempt to exercise extemporanecusly, would much more benefit others were they to confine themselves to a form of sound words, and by them to express the desires of their souls. Very many who require such helps in public engagements, are truly wrestling Jacobs in their private retirements, and in those mental ejaculations which diffuse a rich perfume over the christian in his pilgrimage through life. There are several forms which we should feel no hesitancy in recommending; but we do not think we ever met with one so truly spiritual, so well adapted to the various states and condition of the believer, and so well arranged for domestic use as the volume before us. Mr. Pierce has indeed not only prepared a form of sound words in sweet harmony with the experience of the Lord's family, but there is such peculiar honour given to God the Holy Ghost, that they do indeed excite in the mind such animated feelings, that we trust many will find their hearts as truly engaged while adopting these forms of prayer, as when engaged either mentally or vocally. As Mr. Pierce was made eminently useful in gathering a few of the Lord's people in very many parts of the kingdom, where they were not favoured with the public preaching of the word. He aimed to meet the difficulty by recommending the reading of a sermon, and a prayer. As it might be that no one present was qualified to engage extempore, to this end the twelve prayers for public service on the Lord's day were intended. We think our readers will do well in possessing themselves of this volume, which will, we are convinced, often furnish a help by the way. Ministers will find much benefit in the perusal of this volume; it is beautifully printed, and very attractively got up. Practical Remarks on Infant Education, for the use of Schools and Private Families. By the Rev. Dr. Mayo, and Miss Mayo. 12mo. pp. 108. Seeley's. The importance of early instruction is so self-evident, that we scarcely imagine it necessary to urge it on our readers; but however we may applaud the well-meant zeal of many who embark as teachers, we are quite of opinion that not a few who come forward, require much advice and information as to the best means to instruct and benefit the infant poor, whose instruction is of all classes the most important. Religious knowledge imparted to the infant mind, is often a ground-work on which the Eternal Spirit condescends to operate in after days; the experience of many christians prove this; hence we advocate in every way and by every means the education of the infant poor. The Authors of this little work have rendered an important service to the Infant School Society, whose object is to qualify teachers not only for home, but also for the Colonies abroad; and will also afford many useful hints to parents and teachers of the youthful mind in general. The Redeemer's Conflicts in the Prospect of Death. By Charles Brake. 12mo. pp. 36. Brighton, Baldey; London, Palmer's. This little work, the result of some impressions made on the Author's mind while under the afflicting dispensations of the Almighty, and which proved refreshing to his own soul, are now presented to the church at large, with a hope that they also may derive some consolation therefrom. The writer founds his remarks on Heb. v. 7; from which passage he sets forth the sympathy of Jesus as displayed in his humiliation work.-1. In his assuming our nature, passing by the nature of angels, and taking on him the seed of Abraham.-2. In becoming a man of sorrows, and acquainted with griefs, in being in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Under this division, Mr. B. has in a most animated and experimental manner, directed his readers to the unparalleled sufferings of Christ for his people. Under the third particular, the believer is exhorted to take encouragement from the happy issue of the Redeemer's vicarious sufferings, and showing the certainty of the perseverance and final victory of every elect vessel of mercy, who by union |