Chapter VIII
Seven observations more, from the effects which the accomplishment of the
mercy hath upon the heart, &c.
Direct. 4. FOURTHLY, Thou mayest discern whether they be in answer to
thy prayers by the effects upon thy heart. As
(1.) If the thing that is granted upon thy prayers draw thy heart more near unto God, it is then certain that it was granted as an answer to thy
prayers. Things granted out of ordinary providence only do increase our
lusts, and are snares to us, as Saul gave David his daughter Michal to be a snare to him ; so their full tables are made snares, Ps. Ixix. 22 ; so God gave the Israelites their will, the things they desired, but withal gave them up to
their lusts, P,s. cvi. 15 : he gave them their requests, but sent leanness into
their souls. The quails might fat some of their bodies that survived, yet their souls grew lean ; there was a curse upon their spirits ; this new deli
cate food made their bodies more lustful, they did eat and drink, and rose up to play, Exod. xxxii. 6. But things obtained by prayer are sanctified to
us, for every thing is sanctified by prayer, 1 Tim. iv. 5, so as it shall not en
snare nor entangle our hearts. A thing obtained by prayer, as it came from
God, so a man will return it to God, and use it for his glory
: so Hannah
having obtained Samuel by prayer, she returns him unto God, 1 Sam. i. 27, 28, For this child I prayed ; and God gave me my petition
: and therefore
also I have lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth. If therefore thou
findest this his dealing with thee in answering thee to be a kindly motive to cause thee to mourn for sin, and to be as a restraint against sin, it is a sign it was the fruit of prayer. Thus it wrought with David, Ps. vi. 8, Away from
me, ye that work iniquity ; God hath heard the voice of my weeping.
Also, if thou rejoicest in God more than in the thing obtained ; so Han nah begins her song when she blesseth God for her child, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, &c., 1 Sam. ii. 1 ; she rejoiceth not so much in the gift as in the giver and his favour ; more in this, that her prayer \vas answered, than in the thing obtained ; this is a sign of having obtained the mercy through
prayers, when it is thus sanctified unto a man s spirit.
(2.) Prayers answered will enlarge thy heart with thankfulness, and thus
usually they do. Self-love makes us more forward to pray than to give
thanks, for nature is all of the craving and taking hand : but where grace
is, there will be no eminent mercy gotten with much struggling but there
will be a continued particular thankful remembrance of it a long while after, with much enlargement; and as prayers abounded, so will thanksgiving abound also. Hannah she makes a song, 1 Sam. ii. 1. Great blessings that are won with prayer are worn with thankfulness : such a man will not ask new, but he will withal give thanks for old. Thankfulness, of all
duties, proceeds from pure grace ; therefore, if the Spirit stirs thee unto it,
it is a sign he made the prayer. What thanks shall I render to God for
390 THE RETURN OF PRAYERS. [CHAP. VIII.
the joy I have in you? saith St Paul, 1 Thess. iii. 9, 10. So in all his other epistles, all those he writes to, as he prays for them, so he tells them he gives thanks for them, and for their graces which he had prayed for. And
if answering prayers for others makes St Paul so thankful, what when for himself? Prayer and thanks are like the double motion of the lungs; the
air that is sucked in by prayer is breathed forth again by thanks. Is thy heart afresh enlarged, as to mourn for past sins long since committed, so in
like manner for past mercies won with long prayers, and this for a long while
after ? it is a sign that they were obtained by prayer.
(3.) If the mercy obtained doth encourage thee to go to God another
time, to pray again the more confidently and fervently, it is a sign thou hast got the former that way; for the Holy Ghost having once shewed thee
this way of procuring mercy, hence it is thou art thus ready to take the same
course another time. Ps. cxvi. 2, The Lord hath heard me, and I will call on him as long as I live. I know, says he, now what course to take, if I be
in any want, even to call upon him ; and he calls upon others to do so too.
(4.) When, God having heard thy prayers upon solemn vows made by
thee, thy heart is made careful to pay those vows which thou didst make in
the time of thy suing to God for that mercy this may be an argument to
thee, the thing being granted, that thy prayer was heard. For
First, It argueth that thy heart itself doth secretly make such an account, that upon them God did grant the thing, and thou doest therefore make
conscience to return all again to God in service, as the condition of thy indentures made with him, and as a homage due, and an acknowledgment for ever that such a mercy was won by prayer ; and by this preservest the memory of the receipt of that mercy, vows being of the nature of homage. And
Secondly, In this also it is an evidence that the thing was obtained by prayer
: in that God calls for those vows from thee, by his Spirit in thy
heart, and stirs thee up to perform them, it argues that, in relation to thy
prayers answered, he takes them as dues from thee ; that having despatched thy suit, he now calls for what was agreed to be given him when it should be performed. And
Thirdly, In that also he doth accept the payment of these thy vows of
thee, he acknowledgeth that those vows and prayers were heard ; for as Manoah* said in another case, Judges xiii. 23, If he meant to have de
stroyed us, he would not have accepted a sacrifice, so in this case it may be
said, if God had not heard thy prayers, he would not have accepted thy vows
after thy praying. Thus David, Psalm IxvL 13, 14, I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was
in my trouble. The reason follows, ver. 17, 19, because that verily God hath heard me when I cried to him. And so Eliphaz in Job doth connect and hang these two together, chap. xxii. 27, Thou shalt make thy prayer to him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. This which he speaks of paying his vows was not only as it was to be his duty, but also
as a consequent that would follow the other, that when his prayers should be heard, he thereupon would perform his vows ; for his scope is to move Job to turn to God, shewing what benefit would accrue to him by it, and
amongst others this, the hearing his prayers and performing his vows.
(o.) When thou art enabled by faith to see clearly God s hand shewed
forth in the effecting of that mercy over and above the power of second
causes, and to acknowledge it to his glory ; for the truth is, one main cavil- * Manoah s wife. ED.
CHAP. VIII.1 THE RETURN OF PRAYERS. 391
ling reason in our blind hearts, whereby we are usually hindered and put by from apprehending our prayers to be answered when yet the thing is done, we shall find to be, that our eyes are terminated and bounded in second
causes, and not raised to see God s hand in the thing
: therefore, on the
contrary, when God enableth thee to see that he hath done thee this kind
ness, so as thy mind is clear in it, this is a fruit of his hearing thy prayers ; and this you will usually find to be true, that so much faith and dependence as you had upon God in prayer for the obtaining of a mercy, so much faith and acknowledgment you will have in the accomplishment of it. Parallel with this rule is that other, which in another case is usually given
: that in
performance of duties, so much as the soul did go out of itself to God for
strength to perform them, so much, when they are performed, will the heart
acknowledge God s assistance and be humbled. And this is a sign of prayer
being heard upon this ground, because God s end of hearing prayers is that we might glorify him. So, Ps. 115,
l Call upon me in the day of trouble :
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Therefore, when the
heart hath prayed much for a mercy, with dependence before the obtaining of it, and then is enabled to exalt God when it is obtained, it is a sign that God did it in relation to those prayers. For there is that connexion made
between these as between the cause and the effect : I will hear thee, and
thou shalt glorify me. David, when he was delivered out of all his troubles,
as when he made that 18th Psalm he was, as appears by the title of it, then
at the 6th verse he relates how he had prayed, and how he was heard : and
see thereupon how his heart was enlarged to acknowledge God alone to have
done all, in the rest of that psalm ; so from the 27th and also from the 31st
verses. When we see angels from God, beyond the power of second causes,
descending, it is a sign that prayers, as angels, first ascended, and obtained
that mercy. Thus also the church, Isa. xxvi., having obtained those deliver
ances by prayer, ver. 17, (for which there she makes that song by way of
thankfulness,) she ascribes all unto God : ver. 12, Thou hast wrought all
our works for us; and, ver. 18, Verily we have not wrought any deliverance
in the earth.
(6.) When with the mercy there cometh the assurance of God s love, and
an evidence of his favour; when God sends not a bare token only, but a
letter also with it, to bear witness of his love, in which the token is wrapt.
I need not make that a sign, for when this comes with a mercy, it carries
its own evidence ; you will then know well enough that it is the fruit of
prayer.
(7.) Lastly, it will be evident by the event, Things obtained by prayer have few thorns in them, the curse is taken out ; but what comes but by
ordinary providence comes as it were up of itself alone, and, like the Dearth
untillecl, is full of thorns and briars, and many vexations. The reason is, for
what comes in by prayer comes as a blessing, and so no sorrow is added to it ; and also because prayer killeth those inordinate lusts which are the cause of
< the
that vanity and vexation which are in the things enjoyed. But when
blessing of God maketh rich, he addeth no sorrow with it, Prov. x. 22.
Things long deferred, at last obtained by prayer, prove most comfortable, and in a settled manner such ; they prove standing and stable blessings
and what trouble the heart was put to in the deferring, it is recompensed by
the more settled, constant, unmixed sweetness in the enjoying ; prayer having
long perfumed it, and the thing being steeped therein, it proves exceeding
pleasant. So, Prov. xiii. 12, Hope deferred makes the heart sick ; but when
the desire comes, it is a tree of life, and heals that sickness, and abundantly
392 THE RETURN OF PRAYEES. [CHAP. VIII.
comforts the heart. Thus Isaac found Rebekah a great blessing, and a com
fortable wife to him, Gen. xxiv. 67. Such a comfort also was Isaac toAbraham, Gen. xvii. 18, 19, a son indeed, a son of laughter, as his name-
signifies. And such was Samuel to Hannah ; she had not only a son of him r but a good son, a blessed son, a prophet, and the judge of the people of God. Whereas Jacob getting the blessing, but without prayer, how embittered was-
it to him, though a blessing to him in the event, by twenty years banish ment from his mother s house ! When Israel themselves set up a king, but not by me, as God says, what a punishment was he to them ! Given in
wrath, and taken away in anger/ Hos. xiii. 1 1,
CHAP. IX.] THE RETURN OF PRAYERS.