-- BOOK III: Of the actings of faith in prayer.
seeing all done by virtue of Christ's death, as he that hath assurance hath, but it may be as truly done upon these acts of faith for him, as upon acts of assurance.
(5.) Since God, when he justifies now, doth it out of the same frame of heart and free love renewed, or rather continued, out of which he chose and elected, I may, without looking back to that love as electing, east myself upon him, to bear such a love now to me as he did bear to his elect, and out of it to justify me, and so contract all that is said of eternal love in electing, down to a present love to be set on me, to justify me. For, as out of that love he elected, so out of such a love afresh taken up he justifies; and that is yet to come, and so I rest not on love or free grace as electing, but on such a grace or love as out of which he elected me, to justify me; a love that shall have all the attributes of God freely, unchangeably exercised in it, all but* from eternity that electing love had, and is differing but in order to a different act of election, than of justification now,† and so free grace and electing love are for substance the same; and in so doing I do draw but a model, map, or description of what a love I desire God may bear to me, alluding to the pattern of that love I hear he bare men, in electing them in the mount of eternity.
BOOK III: Of the actings of faith in prayer Of the actings of faith in prayer.—That we are not bound to pray with assurance of obtaining the very particular blessing which we ask.—
That God, neither in the revelation of himself and of his attributes, nor in his promises, hath obliged himself to give us the very particular blessing which we ask.—That the essential acts of faith in praying do not necessarily require that we should have such a certain