never thrive or prosper in that family where discord and contention dwells: You may as well hope to live together comfortably in an house on fire, as pray together acceptably when your spirits are inflamed with passion, or embittered with prejudice one against another; nay, verily, the body may as well thrive in a fever, as such a family grow in grace. As the fire in the veins must be quenched, and the body brought to its natural temper and disposition, before it can thrive and grow healthy; so these unkindly heats must be quenched in a family, before religion can thrive or prosper: That family will be unsuccessful in praying, that is much in squabbling and brawling, often contending with and clashing against one another. 5. Take heed of setting up family worship in opposition to public worship, or to suffer the one to interfere with the other: We can say our prayers (say some) in the chimney corner, why need we go to church to do it; But at this rate, all sense of God and religion will be utterly lost in the world; and is not the communion of saints, and the fellowship of christians, a privilege worth thy prizing? How does the presence of devout souls sometimes fire and inflame our cold spirits, and cause them to grow into greater ardours and transports of zeal? Thus the divine Herbert sweetly expresses it : Though private prayer be a brave design, To pray with most, for where most pray is heaven. God allows you time both for public worship, and family duties; he expects the joint performance of both from you. Let piety and prudence so guide and direct you in the management of both, that God. may be glorified, and your souls improved by both. 6. Let not the sense of thine own weakness or want of gifts and parts, &c. discourage thee from the daily performance of this duty of praying in and with thy family; but in obedience to God set about it in the best manner thou art able, and he will pardon thy weakness, and accept thy sincerity. It is not enlarged parts and gifts and florid expressions, that Almighty God looks at, but an humble, penitent broken, and believing heart. Study your sins, your wants and mercies, and get a sense of all these upon your hearts, and you will be able in some measure to express your desires to Almighty God. But if, after all, the want of suitable expressions does discourage thee from praying before others in thy family, make use of some of those many good books of devotion which are amongst us: Or if you have none of them, and are so poor that you cannot purchase them, make use of the prayers at the end of this book, to express your family wants unto Almighty God, morning and evening. Now for a close to this advice to family-governors,. concerning the performance of family worship, I shall only subjoin this one cautionary direction: Take heed of resting in thy family duties, and by no means think it sufficient to prove thee a saint, and evidence thee a sincere christian, because thou art frequent in family duty. Alas! a man may set up the worship of God in his house, and yet not worship him in his heart. The duty itself is good, but the bare performance of it will not demonstrate thee to be so: Look therefore how thou daily walkest, as well as how thou prayest. It is sad to pretend to religion in the house, and to practice deceit and fraud in the shop. O! how many begin with God by prayer in the morning, and keep the devil company in sin all the day after ! The neglect of family duties will certainly bespeak thee a bad man; but the most constant performance of them, without a life suitable to them, will never prove thee a good man. CHAP. X. Of glorifying God in Secret Duties. REAT is the condescension of Almighty God in holding communion with his church in their public assemblies, when with united prayers and supplications they make their solemnest addresses to him: But, O! how adorable is his condescending love, in stooping so low as to maintain a holy fellowship and sweet communion with a single christian in his closet devotions! Is it not enough, that in heaven, when we shall put on our robes of glory, that he will take us into his royal presence, and admit us there to the sight and enjoyment of his face and favour; but he will now, whilst we are clad with rags of mortality, and before our grave-clothes are thrown off, entertain us also as his friends, and indulge us the liberty of giving him a visit in the remotest corner of our house? Verily such astonishing love and gracious condescension, is rather to be admired than expressed by us. Now there is required of a christian several secret duties, to the due performance whereof Almighty God, upon our humble prayers to him, will afford us the sweet influence, the secret aids and assistances of his holy spirit: As namely, 1. Holy and devout meditations. When the soul retires from the world, and in a serious and solemn manner sets itself to think upon God, or consider his glorious attributes, to meditate upon his gracious promises, to admire his wonderful world and works. 2. Serious self-examination, by which we make daily enquiry into the state of our souls, and thereby arrive at a well-grounded knowlege of the safety of our state and condition, by comparing the frame of our hearts and the course of our lives with the holy rule of God's commandments, and observing their sincere conformity thereunto. 3. Secret prayer and supplication, which ought to be performed constantly and seasonably twice a day. As soon as you rise out of bed in the morning, begin the day with God, and make a most hearty tender of yourself to his service and glory, before you set about any worldly business; and never think of putting off your clothes to lie down at night, before you have commended yourselves and all your's unto his merciful protection. For your encouragement hereunto, you have the practice and example of our blessed Saviour, whom you find early in the morning praying alone, St. Mark i. 35. and late in the evening, St. Matt. xiv. 23. that this was our Saviour's usual practice may be gathered from St. Luke xxii. 30. compared with St. Luke xxi. 37. Thus Christ sanctified this duty by his own example, and has by his promise annexed a gracious reward to the faithful doing of it, St. Matt. vi. 9. All this our blessed Saviour did when he was here on earth, and now that he is ascended up into heaven, to what purpose is he appointed our intercessor there, if we send up no prayers to him, to be presented by him to the father? Besides this, the sense of our daily wants, one would think, should sufficiently excite us to this duty, we standing in continual need of God; or if we should be supposed to want nothing, yet the remembrance we have that we hold all we call our's by the mere mercy of God, should move us to acknowledge him, and to pay our homage and adorations to him. Add to this, that there is no such way to make Almighty God entirely our friend, as by commending ourselves in the duty of prayer to him, with a pious trust in his mercy, and an entire devoting of ourselves to his service and glory. But O! how inexpressible will be the comfort of going to God as an acquaintance when we are going out of this world, if we can truly say, as that devout man Dr. Preston, did a little before his death, "I shall change my place, but not my company;" how joyfully may we hope, and comfortably expect to go to God when we die, with whom we held a constant good correspondence, and maintained a sweet familiarity whilst we lived? Let these considerations, briefly hinted to thy thoughts, work in thee, a pious resolution to begin and end the day with God; this will antidote and fortify thy soul against the contagion of sin, and the temptations of sinners. Ecclesiastical history tells us, that when St. Origen fell into that great sin of offering incense to an idol god, that morning he went forth before he had performed his private devotions. We are never safe either from sin or danger, but when under the over-shadowing care, and providential wing of God; and prayer is the way and means to engage God Almighty's care over us, and concern for us: By prayer we fix our minds upon him, we lay open our souls before him, we recommend ourselves unto him; which gives our minds the sweetest and most solid satisfaction, that whatever providences |