Chapter 14 Matthew Henry’s Legacy in Prayer and Piety
Ligon Duncan
1. Introduction
Without a doubt, Matthew Henry remains best known for his six-volume commentary on the whole Bible. William Orme praised it as a work, ‘distinguished, not for the depth of its learning, or the originality of its views; but for the sound practical piety, and large measure of good sense, which it discovers’.1 Still available in electronic and numerous print versions and editions, Henry’s Exposition is the best-selling, most widely read, single author, multi-volume, English language Bible commentary in history.2 Arguably no other single figure has had more practical, theological, homiletical, liturgical, and experiential influence on the nonconformist tradition and its successors than Matthew Henry.3
Language from Matthew Henry’s Exposition has crept into the American religious vernacular in ways similar to Shakespeare, Coverdale, and the King James Bible. For instance, the much disputed phrase ‘God helps those who help themselves’ is often credited to Benjamin Franklin (or earlier to Algernon Sidney), but it probably gained currency because of Matthew Henry’s commentary, where it is found in the form ‘God will help those that help themselves’,4 not as a commendation of self-salvation or Pelagianism, but of diligence in the use of the means of grace. Indeed, like any good Protestant, Henry usually emphasizes (with regard to salvation) that people cannot help themselves, but need God’s grace.
2. The Legacy of Matthew Henry in Prayer and Piety
Less well-known than the Exposition, but widely influential on the piety and worship (personal, family, and public) of the nonconformist tradition, not only in England but also in America, is Matthew Henry’s A Method for Prayer, with Scripture Expressions Proper to be Us’d under each Head (1710).5 Horton Davies notes that one of the key differences between the Puritans and Anglicans was the former’s stress on ‘free prayer’ versus the set forms of the Anglican Prayer Book.6 In his chapter on ‘Set Forms or Extemporary Prayers?’, Davies surveys Puritan arguments against the usage of set forms of prayer, highlighting five in particular:
(i)the constant use of set forms crippled the capacity of ministers and people to pray for themselves;
(ii)set forms were not able to match the various needs and circumstances of the congregation;
(iii)because they were prescribed, the people began to see them as necessary, therefore overvaluing them and compromising their ‘Christian Liberty’;
(iv)set forms were conducive of hypocrisy, because one could say and pray things in pre-written set forms that one did not feel and believe; and
(v)their imposition brought persecution in its wake (hence, the famous story of legendary Jenny Geddes hurling her stool at the cleric reading from the Laud-imposed Prayer Book in St. Giles, Edinburgh, 1637, and later, the ‘Killing Times’ of the late 1670s and 1680s).7
However, Davies also names two arguments against free prayer in the nonconforming tradition: ‘infelicity of phraseology and disordered rambling’.8 That is, extemporary prayer required preparation and consideration if it was not to dissolve into a muddle. He suggests that Matthew Henry and Isaac Watts provided the answer to the problem, and helped settle the controversy among Nonconformists on the practice of prayer. In between the extremes of pre-written and imposed set forms of prayer on the one hand, and disordered, spontaneous, and extemporaneous prayer on the other, they proposed ‘studied, free prayer’.9 This answer came in the form of Matthew Henry’s Method for Prayer, which, along with Isaac Watts’ Guide to Prayer (1715),10 stands as the classic treatise in the Free Church Protestant English-speaking world for the promotion of the practice of studied, free prayer – extemporaneous prayer that is ordered through deliberate study, the use of scriptural language, and progression through specific ‘headings’ or topics in prayer. In this essay, I will survey how Matthew Henry did this and thus contributed to the legacy of piety in prayer in the subsequent Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and even Baptist traditions in Britain, America, and beyond.
3. The Making of Matthew Henry’s Method for Prayer
Henry completed A Method for Prayer in 1710. This project was important enough to him that he paused his work on the Exposition (which he would never finish) in order to produce this manual on scriptural prayer. He explains the work in his foreword ‘To the Reader’. First, Henry begins to make a case for why one ought to give consideration to a ‘method’ for praying. Anticipating the objection that any method or preparation for prayer is inconsistent with a real and true experiential piety, Henry says:
Religion is so much the Business of our Lives, and the Worship of God so much the Business of our Religion, that what hath a sincere Intention, and probable Tendency, to promote and assist the Acts of Religious Worship (I think) cannot be unacceptable to any that heartily wish well to the Interests of God’s Kingdom among Men: For if we have spiritual Senses exercis’d, true Devotion, that aspiring Flame of pious Affections to God, as far as in a Judgment of Charity we discern it in others (tho’ in different Shapes and Dresses, which may seem uncouth to one another) cannot but appear beautiful and amiable, and as far as we feel it in our own Breasts, cannot but be found very pleasant and comfortable.11
Second, he follows this by arguing that nature itself shows that humans need to pray (illustrating this even from the practice of what he would consider to be idolatry!), and makes a powerful assertion of its importance in the Christian life. His main point is to emphasize the importance of prayer and to demonstrate its indispensability:
Prayer is a principal Branch of Religious Worship, which we are mov’d to by the very Light of Nature, and oblig’d to by some of its fundamental Laws. Pythagoras’s golden Verses begin with this Precept; whatever Men made a God of they pray’d to, Deliver me, for thou art my God, Isa. 44.17. Nay, whatever they pray’d to, they made a god of – Deos qui rogat ille facit. ’Tis a piece of Respect and Homage so exactly consonant to the natural Ideas which all Men have of God, that it is certain those that live without Prayer live without God in the world.12
Third, appealing to Clement of Alexandria, he speaks of prayer as conversation with God, ‘drawing near to God, lifting up our Souls to him, pouring out our Hearts before him’, designed to facilitate a life of communion with God.13 Henry offers a brief but full definition of prayer, different from the one with which he and his father would have been familiar in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, but consonant with it:
Prayer is the solemn and religious offering up of devout Acknowledgments and Desires to God, or a sincere Representation of holy Affections, with a Design to give unto God the Glory due unto his Name thereby, and to obtain from him promis’d Favours, and both thro’ the Mediator.14
Fourth, he argues that although communion with God is the heart and soul of prayer, prayer still requires a ‘body’. That is, the motions, desires, and longings of the hearts of praying persons need to be expressed in words, not so that God understands them, but so that they understand themselves. Thus he says:
This is the Life and Soul of Prayer; but this Soul in the present State must have a Body, and that Body must be such as becomes the Soul, and is suited and adapted to it. Some Words there must be, of the Mind at least, in which, as in the Smoke, this Incense must ascend; not that God may understand us, for our Thoughts afar off are known to him, but that we may the better understand our selves.15
Fifth, Henry expresses his desire that Christians learn to pray continuously in their lives, lifting up regular and frequent short statements to God in prayer. He is concerned for them to do this in the various circumstances and ordinary callings of life, not just in religious services:
A golden Thread of Heart-Prayer must run thro’ the Web of the whole Christian Life; we must be frequently addressing our selves to God in short and sudden Ejaculations, by which we must keep up our Communion with God in Providences and common Actions, as well as in Ordinances and religious Services. Thus prayer must be sparsim (a sprinkling of it) in every Duty, and our Eyes must be ever towards the Lord.16
Sixth, he argues that, even in private prayer, having meditated upon a matter, words more naturally come to mind when one is expressing oneself to God. Though he acknowledges that the Spirit intercedes for believers when they cannot express themselves in words, yet because of the human tendency to meandering and triviality in prayer, he counsels that praying people ought to look to fix their thoughts with words first, which is one reason he is writing the book:
In Mental Prayer Thoughts are Words, and they are the First-born of the Soul, which are to be consecrated to God. But if when we pray alone we see cause for the better fixing of our Minds, and exciting of our Devotions, to clothe our Conceptions with Words; if the Conceptions be the genuine Products of the new Nature, one would think Words should not be far to seek: Verbaque pravisam rem non invita sequuntur [‘when a subject has been meditated, words spontaneously flow’].17 Nay if the Groanings be such as cannot be utter’d, he that searcheth the Heart knows them to be the Mind of the Spirit, and will accept of them, Rom. 8.26, 27. and answer the Voice of our Breathing, Lam. 3.56. Yet through the Infirmity of the Flesh, and the Aptness of our Hearts to wander and trifle, it is often necessary that Words should go first, and be kept in mind for the directing and exciting of devout Affections, and in order thereunto the Assistance here offer’d I hope will be of some use.18
Seventh, he points out that those who lead in prayer must always be aware of their responsibility to help and edify those who are following and praying along with them. Henry says that this is what he primarily has in mind in writing the book. He makes clear that he is not opposing ‘free prayer’, but encouraging a focus on the purpose of and preparation for edification in public prayer:
But he that is the Mouth of others in Prayer, whether in publick or private, and therein useth that παῤῥησία, that Freedom of Speech, that holy Liberty of Prayer which is allow’d us (and which we are sure many good Christians have found by experience to be very comfortable and advantagious in this Duty) ought not only to consult the Workings of his own Heart (tho’ them principally, as putting most Life and Spirit into the Performance) but the Edification also of those that join with him; and both in Matter and Words should have an eye to that; and for Service in that case I principally design this Endeavour.19
Eighth, after acknowledging that believers’ prayers ought to be ‘copious and full’ and ‘particular’, while at the same time acknowledging that ‘we cannot go over the tenth part of the Particulars which are fit to be the Matter of Prayer’,20 Henry argues that this demonstrates the need for a premeditated method, plan, and order for prayer (and warns against some of the abuses and pitfalls of unstudied free prayer):
And it is requisite to the decent Performance of the Duty, that some proper Method be observ’d, not only that what is said be good, but that it be said in its proper Place and Time; and that we offer not any thing to the Glorious Majesty of Heaven and Earth, which is confus’d, impertinent, and indigested. Care must be taken then more than ever, that we be not rash with our Mouth, nor hasty to utter any thing before God; that we say not what comes uppermost, nor use such Repetitions as evidence not the Fervency, but the Barrenness and Slightness of our spirits; but that the Matters we are dealing with God about being of such vast Importance, we observe a Decorum in our Words, that they be well chosen, well weighed, and well plac’d.21
Ninth, Henry asserts that those leading in public prayer must be ‘sententious’. That word has come to connote indulgence in moralizing pomposity, and thus is usually meant in a negative way today. But Henry means by it that those who lead in prayer ought to be brief and substantial in their public prayer, using as few words as possible, being pithy and concise, but packing the prayer with meaning and substance:
And as it is good to be methodical in Prayer, so it is to be sententious: The Lord’s Prayer is remarkably so; and David’s Psalms, and many of St. Paul’s Prayers which we have in his Epistles: We must consider that the greatest part of those that join with us in Prayer will be in danger of losing or mistaking the Sense, if the Period be long, and the Parentheses many, and in this as in other things, they that are strong ought to bear the Infirmities of the weak: Jacob must lead as the Children and Flocks can follow.22
Tenth, Henry makes the case that public prayer ought to use the language of Scripture (though not exclusively), as a manifestation of the sufficiency of Scripture in the ordinary public worship of the church. He says that since Scripture is what is being preached in the service, and is what is most familiar to the people, the language of Scripture in prayer will be most intelligible, acceptable, affecting, and persuasive to the congregation:
As to the Words and Expressions we use in Prayer, tho’ I have here in my Enlargements upon the several Heads of Prayer confin’d my self almost wholly to Scripture Language, because I would give an Instance of the Sufficiency of the Scripture to furnish us for every good Work, yet I am far from thinking but that it is convenient and often necessary to use other Expressions in Prayer besides those that are purely Scriptural; only I would advise that the Sacred Dialect be most us’d, and made familiar to us and others in our dealing about Sacred Things; that Language Christian People are most accustom’d to, most affected with, and will most readily agree to; and where the Scriptures are open’d and explain’d to the People in the Ministry of the Word, Scripture Language will be most intelligible, and the Sense of it best apprehended. This is sound Speech that cannot be condemn’d. And those that are able to do it may do well to enlarge by way of Descant or Paraphrase upon the Scriptures they make use of; still speaking according to that Rule, and comparing spiritual things with spiritual, that they may illustrate each other.23
Eleventh, he also makes allowance for the figurative use of Scripture in public prayer, for instance, in the manner he did above (point nine); he knows that ‘Jacob must lead as the Children and Flocks can follow’24 in its original context is not about having an ordered method of prayer that allows one’s hearers to better follow in prayer themselves, but he deploys the phrase metaphorically and illustratively. He sees this practice justified not only by the example of the church fathers, but the way that the New Testament sometimes cites the Old:
And it is not to be reckon’d a perverting of Scripture, but is agreeable to the Usage of many Divines, especially the Fathers, and I think is warranted by divers[e] Quotations in the New Testament out of the Old, to allude to a Scripture Phrase, and to make use of it by way of Accommodation to another Sense than what was the first Intendment of it, provided it agree with the Analogy of Faith. As for instance, those words, Psal. 87.7. All my Springs are in thee, may very fitly be applied to God, tho’ there it appears by the Feminine Article in the Original, to be meant of Sion: Nor has it ever been thought any Wrong to the Scripture Phrase to pray for the Blessings of the upper Springs and the nether Springs, tho’ the Expression from whence it is borrow’d, Judg. 1.15. hath no reference at all to what we mean; but by common Use every one knows the Signification, and many are pleas’d with the Significancy of it.25
Finally, he concludes by emphasizing that no matter how well ordered prayer is, no matter how full of scriptural language, if it is not prayed in faith it is useless. Hence, having commended studied prayer, he seeks to avoid the hypocrisy the Puritans feared in the usage of set forms:
But after all, the Intention and close Application of the Mind, the lively Exercises of Faith and Love, and the Outgoings of holy Desire towards God, are so essentially necessary to Prayer, that without these in Sincerity, the best and most proper Language is but a lifeless Image. If we had the Tongue of Men and Angels, and have not the Heart of humble serious Christians in Prayer, we are but as a sounding Brass and a tinkling Cymbal. ’Tis only the effectual fervent Prayer, … the in-wrought, in-laid Prayer that avails much. Thus therefore we ought to approve our selves to God in the Integrity of our Hearts, whether we pray by, or without a precomposed Form.26
Henry’s command and memorization of the language of the English Bible is remarkable in Method for Prayer, aided no doubt by his work on the Exposition. Henry deploys quotations from thousands of verses drawn from memory. Of these, he says: ‘I have only set down such as first occurr’d to my Thoughts’!27 Yet far from a jumble, they are pertinent, well-selected Scripture passages.
He published another work on prayer in September of 1712, called Directions for Daily Communion with God, in Three Discourses; showing how to begin, how to spend, and how to close every Day with God, based on sermons preached in August and September of that same year, just four months after leaving Chester to take up his final post in Hackney, London.28 The title is explanatory of the contents, which are similar to and elaborative of the instructions he gives ‘To the Reader’ in his Method, offering earnest exhortation and practical instruction on how a Christian may suffuse the day with prayer. As early as 1719, these sermons have been attached to some editions of A Method for Prayer, offering readers the opportunity to find Henry’s lesser known writings on prayer alongside his major work.29
4. The Order or Headings of Matthew Henry’s A Method for Prayer
Henry and Watts both argued that prayer, especially public prayer, should be arranged in a coherent order. Just as Collects in the Anglican tradition have specific topical components in each prayer, so also should studied, free prayer. Readers who know the products of the Westminster Assembly of Divines (1643–1649) will recognize that Henry followed the themes of prayer noted in the Westminster Directory for Public Worship. His outline for prayer is, thus, a six-part model: adoration, confession, petition for ourselves, thanksgiving, intercession for others, and conclusion. Henry emphasizes that he is not imposing a form that cannot be varied or broken, but offering an edifying example for the aid and assistance of those leading in prayer.30 We now turn then to the way in which Henry creates a distinctive Protestant piety through his careful structure in each section of his Method, directing the worshipper (through prayer saturated with Scripture) to proper meditation on God.
A. Address to God and Adoration of Him31
Henry emphasizes that ‘adoration’ is not a brief preliminary to be dispensed with perfunctorily before coming to the most important substance of prayer, which one may mistakenly believe to be asking God to do and give the things the believer wants (as opposed to seeking his glory and good). His very first chapter (‘Of the first Part of Prayer, which is Address to God, Adoration of him, with suitable Acknowledgments, Professions, and Preparatory Requests’), in stark contrast to self-preoccupation, begins a programme designed to correct self-centredness in prayer.32 In his outline to this first section, Henry indicates his desire that he first wants Christians to be God-centred and God-preoccupied in their prayers. Hence, he manifests in his subject headings, order of contents, and chosen scriptural passages that the prime matter of prayer is to praise God for who he is and what he has done in creation, providence, and redemption.
Prepare to approach God by turning the mind totally to thoughts of him.
A.Solemn address to God.
B.Reverent adoration of God.
1.Acknowledge his existence to be unquestionable and past dispute.
2.Confess his nature to be incomprehensible.
3.Profess his perfections to be matchless and without comparison.
4.Grant that he is infinitely above us, and all other beings.
Particularly in our adorations, we must acknowledge:
a.He is an eternal and immutable God.
b.He is omnipresent.
c.He is omniscient.
d.He is all-wise.
e.He is sovereign Lord and Owner of all.
f.He is omnipotent.
g.He is pure, holy, and just.
h.He is just and fair in the rule of his creation.
i.His truth is inviolable, and his goodness inexhaustible.
j.Our adorations fall infinitely short of God’s glory.
C.Praise God for the splendor and glory which he has manifested in the heavens.
D.Give him glory as the Creator, Protector, Benefactor, and Ruler of the whole creation.
E.Give honor to the Trinity, distinctly; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
F.Acknowledge our dependence on and obligations to God as our Creator, Preserver, and Benefactor.
G.Profess God to be our God, and acknowledge our relation to him, his dominion over us, and ownership of us.
H.Acknowledge what a favor and privilege it is, that we are admitted, invited, and encouraged to draw near to God in prayer.
I.Express the sense we have of our own lowliness and unworthiness to draw near to God and speak to him.
J.Humbly profess the desire of our hearts toward God, as our joy and portion, and the fountain of life and all good to us.
K.Profess our believing hope and confidence in God and his all-sufficiency; in his power, providence, and promise.
L.Entreat God’s favorable acceptance of us and our poor performances.
M.Beg for the powerful assistance and influence of the blessed Spirit of grace in our prayers.
N.We must make the glory of God our highest end in all our prayers.
O.We must profess our entire reliance on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for acceptance with God, and come in his name.
Throughout, he supplies Scripture to aid in (i) solemnly addressing God in light of his greatness, glory, and majesty, and (ii) reverently adoring God as a transcendent, blessed, self-existent, self-sufficient, infinite and eternal Spirit. He mines the Scriptures for references to God’s attributes and turns them into matters of adoration (e.g., that God is an eternal and immutable God, and that he is present in all places; see 4a–j above).
Henry’s counsel about how to prepare for prayers of adoration is interesting and filled with scriptural allusions. He says:
Our Spirits being compos’d into a very reverent serious Frame, our Thoughts gather’d in, and all that is within us charg’d in the Name of the Great God carefully to attend the solemn and awful [awesome] Service that lies before us, and to keep close to it, we must with a fixed Intention and Application of Mind, and an active lively Faith, set the Lord before us, see his Eye upon us, and set our selves in his special Presence, presenting ourselves to him, as living Sacrifices, which we desire may be holy and acceptable, and a reasonable Service; and then bind these Sacrifices with Cords to the Horns of the Altar, …33
It is obvious here how the language and thought of Scripture permeates even Henry’s practical instruction. This is a foretaste of what he does throughout Method for Prayer. Then, having provided a logical sequence for prayer based on God’s attributes, he furnishes scriptural content for prayers of adoration for (i) God’s self-revelation in creation, both in the heavens and on earth, and as providential ruler of the world, and (ii) God as Trinity. This can be clearly seen in one of Henry’s prayers of adoration of God ‘as the Creator of the World, and the great Protector, Benefactor and Ruler of the whole Creation’:
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive Blessing, and Honour, and Glory, and Power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy Pleasure, and for thy Praise, they are and were created.
We worship him that made the Heavens and the Earth, the Sea and the Fountains of Waters; who spake and it was done, who commanded and it stood fast; who said, Let there be Light, and there was Light; Let there be a Firmament, and he made the Firmament; and he made all very good; and they continue this Day according to his Ordinance; for all are his Servants.
The Day is thine, the Night also is thine; thou hast prepared the Light and the Sun: Thou hast set all the Borders of the Earth, thou hast made Summer and Winter.
Thou upholdest all things by the Word of thy Power, and by thee all things consist.
The Earth is full of thy Riches; so is the great and wide Sea also. The Eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givest them their Meat in due season: Thou openest thy Hand, and satisfiest the Desire of every living thing. Thou preservest Man and Beast, and givest Food to all Flesh.
Thou, even thou art Lord alone; thou hast made Heaven, the Heaven of Heavens, with all their Host, the Earth and all things that are therein, the Seas and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all: And the Hosts of Heaven worshipeth thee, whose Kingdom ruleth over all.
A Sparrow falls not to the Ground without thee.
Thou madest Man at first of the Dust of the Ground, and breathest into him the Breath of Life, and so he became a living Soul.
And thou hast made of that one Blood, all Nations of Men, to dwell on all the Face of the Earth, and hast determin’d the Times before appointed, and the Bounds of their Habitation.
Thou art the most High, who rulest in the Kingdom of Men, and givest it to whomsoever thou wilt; for from thee every Man’s Judgment proceeds.
Hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigns, and doth all according to the Counsel of his own Will, to the praise of his own Glory.34
The richness of Henry’s Scripture-derived prayer of adoration is self-evident, and all the more impressive in light of the fact that he tells the reader that these are simply the first references that came to his mind as he began to write the book.35 His prayers of praise to God for his self-revelation and tri-unity are followed by sections in which believers are urged to make further acknowledgments of their dependence upon God, obligations to God, his ownership of them, the inestimable privilege of being invited to draw near to God in prayer, and the sense they have of their own unworthiness to draw near and speak to God. Yet at the same time, Henry supplies Scripture that reminds them of the desire of their hearts towards God, as well as their believing hope and confidence in him.
Henry’s chapter on adoration of God closes with several subdivisions of entreaty. He bids those leading in prayer to appeal to God for his acceptance of them despite themselves, and for the powerful assistance and influence of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Finally, Henry tells them to ask God’s help to make his glory their highest aim in all their prayers, and to entirely rely on ‘the Lord Jesus Christ alone’ for acceptance with God.36
B. Confession of Sin and Declaration of Repentance
The second chapter of the Method, which deals with the confession of sin (headed ‘Of the second Part of Prayer, which is, Confession of Sin, Complaints of our selves, and humble Professions of Repentance’), has eleven main subsections:37
A.Acknowledge why we have reason to lie very low before God, to be ashamed of ourselves when we come into his presence, and to be afraid of his wrath: as sinners we are both odious to his holiness and obnoxious to his justice.
B.Take hold of the encouragement God has given us, to humble ourselves before him with sorrow and shame, and to confess our sins.
C.Confess and mourn our original corruption in Adam, and the depravity of our nature which flows from it.
D.Lament our present corrupt disposition to evil, and our reticence to and weakness in doing good.
1.The blindness of our understandings.
2.The stubbornness of our wills.
3.The vanity of our thoughts.
4.The carnality of our affections.
5.The corruption of the whole man.
E.Lament and confess our neglect of our duty.
F.Grieve our many actual transgressions, in thought, word, and deed.
1.The working of pride in us.
2.The breaking out of passion and rash anger.
3.Our covetousness and love of the world.
4.Our sensuality and flesh-pleasing.
5.Our security and unmindfulness of the changes we are liable to in this world.
6.Our fretfulness, impatience, and murmuring in affliction, our inordinate dejection, and distrust of God and his providence.
7.Our uncharitableness towards our brethren, and poor relations with them.
8.Our tongue sins.
9.Our spiritual slothfulness and decay.
G.Acknowledge the great evil that there is in sin, in our sin, the malignity of its nature, and mischievousness to us.
1.The sinfulness of sin.
2.The foolishness of sin.
3.The unprofitableness of sin.
4.The deceitfulness of sin.
5.The offense which, by sin, we have given to the Holy Ghost.
6.The damage which, by sin, we have done to our own souls and their great interests.
H.Take notice of those things which make our sins more heinous in the sight of God, and more dangerous to ourselves.
1.The more knowledge we have of good and evil, the greater is our sin.
2.The greater profession we have made of religion, the greater hath been our sin.
3.The more mercies we have received from God, the greater has been our sin.
4.The fairer warning we have had from the word of God, the greater is the sin, if we go on in it.
5.The greater afflictions we have been under for sin, the greater is the sin if we go on in it.
6.The more vows and promises we have made of better obedience, the greater has our sin been.
I.Judge and condemn ourselves for our sins, and concede ourselves liable to punishment.
J.Give to God the glory for his patience and forbearance towards us, and his willingness to be reconciled.
K.Humbly profess our repentance of sin and engage ourselves, in the strength of divine grace, to be and do better in the future.
Confession of sin in the Puritan manner often baffles and even unnerves moderns, but Henry believed that the inclusion of specific and sufficient confession of sin in prayer contributed to a real and right sense of divine forgiveness and reconciliation. Consequently he thought it important that believers confess their sins comprehensively and particularly in prayer, both privately and congregationally:
Having given Glory to God, which is his Due, we must next take Shame to our selves, which is our Due, and humble our selves before him in the sense of our own Sinfulness and Vileness; and herein also we must give Glory to him, as our Judge, by whom we deserve to be condemn’d, and yet hope, through Christ, to be acquitted and absolv’d.38
This section is also saturated with Scripture. The one leading in prayer confesses ‘we have to lie very low before God’, but then immediately reminds the worshipper of ‘the great Encouragement God hath given us to humble our selves before him with Sorrow and Shame, and to confess our Sins’.39 Following this, he indicates five things to confess:
(i)‘our original Corruption’;40
(ii)‘our present corrupt Dispositions to that which is evil, and our Indisposedness to and Impotency in that which is good’ (including ‘The Blindness of our Understandings’, ‘The Stubbornness of our Wills’, ‘The Vanity of our Thoughts’, ‘The Carnality of our Affections’, and ‘The Corruption of the whole Man’);41
(iii)‘our Omissions of our Duty’;42
(iv)‘our many actual Transgressions, in Thought, Word, and Deed’ (including pride, rash anger, covetousness and love of the world, sensuality and flesh-pleasing, carnal security, fretfulness, impatience, grumbling under affliction, inordinate dejection, distrust of God’s providence, lack of love towards our brethren, tongue sins, and spiritual slothfulness);43 and
(v)‘the great Evil that there is in sin’ (which includes the sinfulness, foolishness, unprofitableness, deceitfulness, offence, and damage of sin).44
Henry then calls on supplicants to ‘aggravate our Sins’, that is, to look at sins in light of factors which make them even ‘more heinous in the sight of God, and more dangerous to our selves’.45 He provides Scripture that shows and presses confession in light of six factors:
(i)‘The more Knowledge we have of Good and Evil, the greater is our Sin’;
(ii)‘The greater Profession we have made of Religion, the greater hath been our sin’;
(iii)‘The more Mercies we have received from God, the greater hath been our sin’;
(iv)‘The fairer Warning we have had from the Word of God, and from our own Consciences, concerning our Danger of Sin, and Danger by Sin, the greater is the Sin if we go on in it’;
(v)‘The greater Afflictions we have been under for Sin, the greater is the Sin if we go on in it’;
(vi)‘The more Vows and Promises we have made of better Obedience, the greater has our Sin been’.46
The outcome of this kind of confession, Henry says, is that ‘We must judge and condemn our selves for our Sins, and own our selves liable to Punishment’, ‘We must give to God the Glory of his Patience and Long-suffering towards us’, and ‘We must humbly profess our Sorrow and Shame for Sin’.47 The irony of such a full confession of sin, as Henry outlines here, is that it leaves the believer (in receiving God’s pardon) staggered at the sheer magnitude and comprehensiveness of grace, and far more secure in God’s love than if sin had not been confessed in such excruciating detail.
C. Petition for Pardon and Supplication for Sanctification
Henry’s third chapter, on petitions and requests (‘Of the third Part of Prayer, which is Petition and Supplication for the Good Things which we stand in need of’), has four main sections but many sub-points, focusing on the results of justification and sanctification (pardon and change, forgiveness and transformation).48
A.Earnestly pray for the pardoning and forgiveness of all our sins.
To encourage us in this petition for the pardon of sin; we may plead with God:
1.The infinite goodness of his nature, his readiness to forgive sin, and his glorying in it.
2.The merit and righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we rely upon as our main plea for the pardon of sin.
3.The promises God has made in his word to pardon all them that truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel.
4.Our own misery and danger because of sin.
5.The blessed condition which they are in whose sins are pardoned.
B.Pray that God will be reconciled to us.
1.That we may be at peace with God and his anger turned away.
2.That we may be taken into covenant with God.
3.That we may have the favour of God and an interest in his special love.
4.That we may have the blessing of God.
5.That we may have the presence of God with us.
C.Pray for the sense of our reconciliation to God and our acceptance with him.
1.That we may have some evidence of the pardon of our sins and of our adoption.
2.That we may have peace of conscience and a holy security because of our justification before God and his good work in us.
D.Pray for the grace of God, and all the kind and powerful influences and operations of that grace.
1.For grace to strengthen us against every evil thought, word, and work, and the Spirit’s help in the mortification of sin.
2.For grace to equip us for every good thought, word, and work, that we may be and do what we should be and do.
a.That the work of grace may be started where it is not yet begun.
b.That where grace has is begun it may be carried on, and at length perfected.
3.More particularly we must pray for grace.
a.To teach, instruct, and make us knowing and intelligent in the things of God.
b.To lead us into, and keep us in the way of truth, and to rectify our mistakes.
c.To help our memories, that we might remember the truths of God whenever we have occasion to use them.
d.To direct our consciences, to show us the way of our duty, and to make us wise, knowing, judicious Christians.
e.To sanctify our nature, to plant in us all holy principles and dispositions, and to increase every grace in us.
i.For faith.
ii.For the fear of God.
iii.For the love of God and Christ to be rooted in us and the love of the world removed from us.
iv.For our consciences to be always tender and that we may live a life of repentance.
v.For God to work in us charity and brotherly love.
vi.For the grace of self-denial.
vii.For humility and meekness.
viii.For the grace of contentment and patience.
ix.For the grace of hope; a hope in God and Christ, and a hope of eternal life.
x.For grace to preserve us from sin, and all appearances of it, and approaches towards it.
4.For grace to enable us both to govern our tongues well, and to use them well.
5.For grace to direct and quicken us to, and to strengthen and assist us in, our duty in the whole course of our conversation.
a.That we may be prudent and discreet in our duty.
b.That we may be honest and sincere in our duty.
c.That we may be active and diligent in our duty.
d.That we may be resolute and courageous in our duty.
e.That we may be pleasant and cheerful in our duty.
f.That we may do the duty of every condition of life.
g.That we may be universally conscientious.
6.For grace to make us wiser and better every day than another.
7.For effectual support and comfort under all the crosses and afflictions that we meet with in this world.
8.For grace to preserve us to the end, and to fit us for whatever lies before us betwixt this and the grave.
9.For grace to deliver us from the fear and power of death, to help us die well.
10.For grace to fit us for heaven, and that we may in due time be put in possession of eternal life.
11.For the good things of life, with an humble submission to the will of God.
a.To be preserved from the calamities to which we are exposed.
b.To be supplied with the comforts and supports we daily stand in need of.
12.Plead the promises of God, put these promises in the form of an appeal, and refer ourselves to them.
First, Henry calls for pastor and people to ‘earnestly pray for the Pardon and Forgiveness of all our Sins’,49 pleading: (i) the infinite goodness of God and his readiness to forgive sin; (ii) the merit and righteousness of Jesus Christ, the main plea for the pardon of sin; (iii) the promises of God to pardon the repentant; (iv) the believer’s misery and danger because of sin; and (v) the blessed condition of the forgiven.50
Second, from forgiveness, Henry then moves to the scriptural theme of reconciliation, in which he prays ‘that God will be reconciled to us, that we may obtain his Favour and Blessing, and gracious Acceptance’.51 Five sub-points direct the one praying to seek:
(i)‘That we may be at peace with God; and his Anger may be turned away from us’;
(ii)‘That we may be taken into Covenant with God, and admitted into Relation to him’;
(iii)‘That we may have the Favour of God, and an Interest in his special Love’;
(iv)‘That we may have the Blessing of God’; and
(v)‘That we may have the Presence of God with us’.52
These are the objective aspects of justification.
Third, Henry moves to the subjective aspects of reconciliation in the third main section of the chapter, where he begins, ‘We must pray for the comfortable Sense of our Reconciliation to God, and our Acceptance with him’, specifically: (i) ‘That we may have some evidence of the Pardon of our Sins, and of our Adoption’; and (ii) ‘That we may have a well-grounded Peace of Conscience; a holy Security and Serenity of Mind, arising from a Sense of our Justification before God, and a Good Work wrought in us’.53 Fourth and lastly, Henry guides his readers to ‘pray for the Grace of God’, and for numerous ‘kind and powerful Influences and Operations of that Grace’.54
D. Thanksgiving for the Mercies of God
In the fourth chapter (titled ‘Of the fourth Part of Prayer, which is Thanksgiving for the Mercies we have received from God, and the many Favours of his we are interested in, and have and hope for Benefit by’), Henry offers a comprehensive prayer outline thanking God for his mercies, with numerous sub-themes encompassing a remarkable range of thanksgiving.55
A.Stir up ourselves to praise God by considering both the reason and the encouragement we have to praise him.
B.Be particular in our thanksgiving to God.
We must thank him:
1.For how he has shown us his goodness in his word.
2.For the many instances of his goodness.
a.The goodness of his providence relating to our bodies, and the life that now is:
i.With reference to all the creatures, and mankind in general.
ii.With reference to us (his people) in particular.
a)He has made us reasonable creatures, capable of knowing, loving, serving, and enjoying him; not like the beasts.
b)For our preservation; our lives are prolonged, and we have continuing use of our reason, limbs, and senses.
c)For remarkable recoveries from danger by sickness or otherwise.
d)For the supports and comforts of this life, which have made our earthly pilgrimage easy and pleasant.
e)For success in our callings and affairs, blessings in relationships, and comfortable places of abode.
f)For our share in the public plenty, peace, and tranquillity.
b.The goodness of his grace relating to our souls, and the life that is to come.
i.For his kindness to us regarding our souls, their future state, and his favours to the church in general.
a)For his gracious design and provision of man’s redemption and salvation, when he was lost and undone by sin.
b)For the eternal purposes and counsels of God concerning man’s redemption.
c)For appointing the Redeemer, gracious condescension toward fallen men, provision for the broken Adamic covenant.
d)For the early and ancient indication of the gracious design concerning fallen man.
e)For the many glorious instances of God’s favour to the Old Testament church.
f)For the wonderful and mysterious incarnation of the Son of God, and his coming into the world.
g)For God’s gracious appointment of Christ, and his upholding of him in his great work of redemption.
h)For his holy life, his excellent doctrine, and the glorious miracles he wrought to confirm his doctrine.
i)For the great encouragement Christ gave to poor sinners to come to him.
j)For the full satisfaction which he made to the justice of God for the sin of man, by the blood of his cross, for the purchases, victories, and triumphs of the cross, and for all the precious benefits which flow to us from the dying of our Lord Jesus.
k)For his resurrection from the dead on the third day.
l)For his ascension into heaven, and his sitting at God’s right hand there.
m)For the intercession which he ever lives to make in the virtue of his satisfaction.
n)For the dominion and sovereignty to which the Redeemer is exalted.
o)For the assurance we have of his second coming to judge the world.
p)For the sending of the Holy Spirit to comfort and support us in the absence of Christ’s bodily presence, to carry on his undertaking, and to prepare things for his second coming.
q)For the covenant of grace made with us in Christ, and all the privileges, signs and seals of it.
r)For the writing of the Scriptures, and the preserving of them pure and entire to our day.
s)For the institution of ordinances for the church, and particularly that of the ministry.
t)For the planting of Christianity in the world, and the establishment of the church, despite the oppositions of hell.
u)For the preservation of Christianity in the world to this day.
v)For the martyrs, confessors, lights of the church, and good examples of those who are gone before us to heaven.
w)For the communion of saints, that spiritual fellowship which we have with all good Christians.
x)For the prospect and hope of eternal life, when time and days shall be no more.
ii.For the spiritual mercies towards those effectually called.
a)For the strivings of his Spirit with us, and the admonitions and checks of our own consciences.
b)For the saving change wrought in us by his blessed Spirit.
c)For the remission of our sins, and the peace of our consciences.
d)For the influences of grace in sanctification and perseverance.
e)For sweet communion with God in holy ordinances, and the communications of his favour.
f)For gracious answers to our prayers.
g)For support under our afflictions, and spiritual benefit and advantage by them.
h)For the performance of God’s promises.
For Henry, thanksgiving helps the believer fight both ingratitude and lack of assurance. Failure to rehearse God’s answers to prayer and blessings leads to forgetfulness of them and hence to discouragement. Therefore, thanksgiving is an important spiritual weapon in the fight of faith. With regard to the role of thanksgiving in prayer, Henry explains:
Our Errand at the Throne of Grace is not only to seek the Favour of God, but to give unto him the Glory due unto his Name, and that not only by an awful Adoration of his infinite Perfections, but by a grateful Acknowledgment of his Goodness to us, which cannot indeed add any thing to his Glory, but he is pleased to accept of it, and to reckon himself glorified by it, if it come from a Heart that’s humbly sensible of its own Unworthiness to receive any Favour from God, that values the Gifts, and loves the Giver of them.56
E. Intercession and Supplication to God for Others
Henry’s chapter on intercession (‘Of the fifth Part of Prayer, which is Intercession, or Address and Supplication to God for others’) covers the themes of traditional Protestant pastoral prayer, involving five main matters for regular intercession: prayer for the sanctification of the congregation; for civil authorities; for the Christian ministry; for the salvation of humanity; and for the afflicted.57
A.Pray for the whole world of mankind, the lost world; honour all men, and according to our capacity do good to all men.
B.For the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts and the growth of the church.
C.For the conversion of the Jews.
D.For the churches in the east that are groaning under the yoke of Muslim tyranny.
E.For the churches in the plantations (i.e., America).
F.For the universal church, wherever dispersed, and for all the interests of it.
G.For the conviction and conversion of atheists, deists, and infidels.
H.For the amending of every thing amiss in the church.
I.For the breaking of the power of all the enemies of the church, and the defeating of all their designs against her.
J.For the relief of suffering churches, and the support, comfort, and deliverance of all that are persecuted for righteousness.
K.For the nations of Europe, and the countries about us.
L.For our own land and nation (i.e., Great Britain and Ireland), which we ought in a special manner to seek the welfare of, that in her peace we may have peace.
1.For God’s mercies to our land.
2.Humble ourselves before God for our national sins and provocations.
3.Pray earnestly for national mercies.
a.For the favour of God to us and the tokens of his presence among us.
b.For the continuance of the gospel among us, and the means of grace, and a national profession of Christ’s holy religion.
c.For the continuance of our outward peace and tranquillity, liberty and plenty.
d.For the success of our endeavours for the reformation and revival.
e.For the healing of our unhappy divisions.
f.For victory and success against our enemies abroad, that seek our ruin.
g.For all orders and degrees of men among us, all we stand in any relation to.
i.For the monarch.58
ii.For the succession of the Protestant royal line.
iii.For ministers of state, legislators, ambassadors, and public servants.
iv.For the magistrates and judges in the various counties and corporations.
v.For all the ministers of God’s holy word and sacraments, the masters of assemblies.
vi.For all the universities, schools, and educational establishments.
vii.For the common people of the land.
viii.For the various ages and conditions of persons, as they stand in need of mercy and grace.
a)For those who are young, and setting out in the world.
b)For those who are old, and are of long standing in profession.
c)For those who are rich and prosperous in the world, some of whom perhaps need prayers as much as those that request them.
d)For those who are poor and in affliction, for such we have always with us.
e)For our enemies, and those who hate us.
f)For our friends and those who love us.
Henry elaborates on these matters for regular intercession in twelve main sections (A–L above), urging such with the plea:
Our Lord Jesus hath taught us to pray, not only with, but for others: And the Apostle hath appointed us to make Supplication for all Saints; and many of his Prayers in his Epistles are for his Friends: And we must not think that when we are in this Part of Prayer, we may let fall our Fervency, and be more indifferent, because we our Selves are not immediately concern’d in it, but rather let a holy Fire of Love both to God and Man here, make our Devotions yet more warm and lively.59
F. The Conclusion of Prayer
After pausing in the sixth chapter to consider some special occasions for prayer and to offer Scripture substance for them (including: ideas for morning and evening prayers; blessings before and after meals; petitions for travel mercies and thanks for safe returns; prayers for the evening before and morning of the Lord’s Day; preparatory prayers for Lord’s Day worship or for the Lord’s Supper; prayers on the occasions of baptisms, funerals, marriages, ordinations, droughts, floods, plagues, fires, and storms; prayers for those especially burdened and afflicted with depression, conviction, sickness, or death; and more),60 Henry’s seventh chapter (‘Of the Conclusion of our Prayers’) aims to ‘sum up our Requests in some comprehensive Petitions’.61 His structure for such a conclusion is as follows:62
A.We may sum up our requests in some comprehensive petitions, as the conclusion of the whole matter.
B.We may then beg for the hearing and acceptance of our poor weak prayers, for Christ’s sake.
C.We may then beg for the forgiveness of what has been amiss in our prayers.
D.We may then recommend ourselves to the conduct, protection, and government of divine grace, in the further services that lie before us, and in the whole course of our conversation.
E.We may conclude with doxologies or solemn praises of God, ascribing honour and glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and sealing up all our praises and prayers with an affectionate Amen.
F.It is very proper to sum up our prayers in that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples.
Henry suggests that believers are to ask God’s ‘Acceptance of our poor weak Prayers’, his ‘Forgiveness of what has been amiss in our Prayers’, to commend themselves to his grace, and to conclude with ‘Doxologies, or solemn Praises of God, ascribing Honour and Glory to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and sealing up all our Praises and Prayers with an affectionate Amen’.63 Interestingly, especially in light of the reticence about its use shared by John Owen and English nonconformity, Henry suggests using the Lord’s Prayer as a conclusion to prayer. Indeed, the eighth chapter of the book (‘A Paraphrase on the Lord’s Prayer, in Scripture Expressions’) offers biblical material with which to paraphrase and elaborate on the outline of the prayer.64 Following this, the ninth chapter provides some remarkable sample ‘forms’ of prayer (under the heading, ‘Some short Forms of Prayer for the Use of those who may not be able to collect for themselves out of the foregoing Materials’).65 The reader may notice, for instance, that what Henry calls ‘A Prayer to be us’d by Children’ contains graphic descriptions of sin and judgement that may appear more ‘adult’ to modern readers. It begins:
O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee.
Thou art my God and I will praise thee, my Father’s God and I will exalt thee.
Who is a God like unto thee, glorious in Holiness, fearful in Praises, doing Wonders? …
Thou madest me for thy self to shew forth thy Praise.
But I am a Sinner; I was shapen in Iniquity, and in Sin did my Mother conceive me.
God be merciful to me a Sinner.
O deliver me from the Wrath to come, through Christ Jesus who died for me, and rose again.
Lord, give me a new Nature. Let Jesus Christ be formed in my Soul, that to me to live may be Christ, and to die may be Gain.…66
5. Conclusion
Matthew Henry influenced generations of evangelical Protestants with his ‘method’ for praying Scripture, by taking the elements of the Westminster Directory for Public Worship (especially its instructions regarding ‘Publick Prayer before the Sermon’) and elaborating and filling it up with biblical language in the form of prayer. On the three-hundredth anniversary of A Method for Prayer, a modern edition of the work was published entitled A Way to Pray. This was newly and extensively reworked by theologian and biblical scholar, O. Palmer Robertson, whose own autobiographical testimony may be taken as evidentiary of its ongoing influence three centuries after its initial publication:
For the past fifty years this book has been my constant companion. My copy was passed down to me by my mother. It had been in use in the family for several previous generations. Almost daily I have been blessed by its use in my times of personally seeking the face of God. Next to the Bible it has been the most read and the most influential book in my life.67
Robertson is not alone in his appreciation for Henry’s profound work of Protestant piety. In harnessing the devotion of the set prayers contained within the Anglican Prayer Book, but expressing them within the Puritan tradition of free prayer, Henry shaped the devotional life of Protestant Christians in the eighteenth century. Moreover, because of the remarkable printing success of his works, he has managed to leave his mark on the prayer life of numerous Christians through the centuries down to the present day, and will no doubt continue to be a significant influence in the years to come.
1. William Orme, Bibliotheca Biblica: A Select List of Books on Sacred Literature; with Notices, Biographical, Critical, and Bibliographical (Edinburgh: Adam Black, 1824), 240–41.
2. The whole commentary is in the public domain, including via Calvin College’s theological resource project, the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (http://www.ccel.org/
3. For the influence of Henry on Jonathan Edwards, John and Charles Wesley, and George Whitefield, see Allan M. Harman, Matthew Henry: His Life and Influence (Fearn: Christian Focus, 2012), esp. 185–98.
4. Henry on Josh 5:13–15.
5. Henry in fact published two editions in 1710, the second ‘with Additions’: Matthew Henry, A Method for Prayer, with Scripture Expressions Proper to be Us’d under each Head, 2nd ed. (London: n.p., 1710). Quotations of the Method in this essay are taken from the second edition of 1710. For an online version, see Ligon Duncan and William McMillan, eds., Matthew Henry’s Method for Prayer, http://www.matthewhenry.org/.
6. Horton Davies, The Worship of the English Puritans (London: Dacre Press, 1948).
7. Davies, Worship, 98–114.
8. Davies, Worship, 113.
9. Davies, Worship, 113.
10. Isaac Watts, A Guide to Prayer: or, A Free and Rational Account of the Gift, Grace and Spirit of Prayer (London: n.p., 1715).
11. Henry, Method for Prayer, i.
12. Henry, Method for Prayer, i–ii.
13. Henry, Method for Prayer, iii. Cf. Clement, Strom. 7.7.
14. Henry, Method for Prayer, ii.
15. Henry, Method for Prayer, iii.
16. Henry, Method for Prayer, iii–iv.
17. Henry here quotes, without translation, Horace, Ars, 311.
18. Henry, Method for Prayer, iv.
19. Henry, Method for Prayer, v.
20. Henry, Method for Prayer, vi–vii.
21. Henry, Method for Prayer, vii–viii.
22. Henry, Method for Prayer, viii.
23. Henry, Method for Prayer, viii–ix.
24. Henry, Method for Prayer, viii.
25. Henry, Method for Prayer, ix–x.
26. Henry, Method for Prayer, xii.
27. Henry, Method for Prayer, x.
28. Matthew Henry, Directions for Daily Communion with God, in Three Discourses; showing how to begin, how to spend, and how to close every Day with God (London: n.p., 1712).
29. Matthew Henry, A Method for Prayer, with Scripture-Expressions Proper to be us’d under each Head. Unto which is Added, Directions for Daily Communion with God, 6th ed. (Dublin: n.p., 1719). More recently, see for example: Matthew Henry, A Method for Prayer: Freedom in the Face of God, ed. J. Ligon Duncan III (Fearn: Christian Focus, 1994).
30. Henry says of his model: ‘And though I have here recommended a good Method for Prayer, and that which has been generally approv’d, yet I am far from thinking we should always tie our selves to it; that may be varied as well as the Expression: Thanksgiving may very aptly be put sometimes before Confession or Petition, or our Intercessions for others before our Petitions for our selves, as in the Lord’s Prayer’ (Method for Prayer, x–xi).
31. The structural outlines of the six sections here and below are based on J. Ligon Duncan III, ‘Appendix 1: An Extended Outline for Scriptural Prayer (Following Matthew Henry)’, in Matthew Henry, A Method for Prayer: With Scripture Expressions and Directions for Daily Communion with God, ed. J. Ligon Duncan III (Greenville, SC: Reformed Academic Press, 1994).
32. Henry, Method for Prayer, 1–20.
33. Henry, Method for Prayer, 1–2.
34. Henry, Method for Prayer, 11–12. This prayer draws extensively on the Scriptures. In order: Rev 4:11; 14:7; Ps 33:9; Gen 1:3, 6–7; Ps 119:91; 74:16–17; Heb 1:3; Col 1:17; Ps 104:24–25; 145:15–16; 36:6; Neh 9:6; Ps 103:19; Matt 10:29; Gen 2:7; Acts 17:26; Dan 4:25; Prov 29:26; Rev 19:6; Eph 1:11–12.
35. Henry, Method for Prayer, x.
36. Henry, Method for Prayer, 20.
37. Henry, Method for Prayer, 21–41.
38. Henry, Method for Prayer, 21.
39. Henry, Method for Prayer, 21, 22.
40. Henry, Method for Prayer, 23–24.
41. Henry, Method for Prayer, 24–27.
42. Henry, Method for Prayer, 27–29.
43. Henry, Method for Prayer, 29–34.
44. Henry, Method for Prayer, 34–36.
45. Henry, Method for Prayer, 36.
46. Henry, Method for Prayer, 36–38.
47. Henry, Method for Prayer, 38–41.
48. Henry, Method for Prayer, 42–77.
49. Henry, Method for Prayer, 43.
50. Henry, Method for Prayer, 43–48.
51. Henry, Method for Prayer, 48.
52. Henry, Method for Prayer, 48–51.
53. Henry, Method for Prayer, 51–52.
54. Henry, Method for Prayer, 52–77.
55. Henry, Method for Prayer, 77–109.
56. Henry, Method for Prayer, 77–78.
57. Henry, Method for Prayer, 109–31.
58. ‘For our Sovereign Lady the Queen’ (i.e., Queen Anne, reigned 1702–1714).
59. Henry, Method for Prayer, 109.
60. Henry, Method for Prayer, 131–57. There are poignant prayers here for sick children (152), for families where the father has been lost (152–53), for women in childbirth or recovering from it (153–54), for those parents ‘whose Children are a Grief to them, or such as they are in fear about’ (155), for ‘those that are in Prison’ (156), and for those who are condemned ‘that have but a little while to live’ (156).
61. Henry, Method for Prayer, 158.
62. Henry, Method for Prayer, 157–62.
63. Henry, Method for Prayer, 159–61.
64. Henry, Method for Prayer, 162–80.
65. Henry, Method for Prayer, 181–231.
66. Henry, Method for Prayer, 181.
67. Matthew Henry, A Way to Pray, ed. O. Palmer Robertson (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2010), xiii.