Chap. III.]
DUTY OF WORSHIPPING GOD.
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that God will grant us what is fit ; but it is equally true, that itis not fit for him to throw away his favors upon those who willnot pray for them with an humble sense of their dependence, andreceive them with a grateful sense of his goodness. God is aperfect being, but it is no attribute of a perfect being to be inex-orable. God grants our petitions, not merely because we pray,but because prayer, sincere and earnest prayer, though it doesnot make him more willing to bestow, makes us more ft andmore qualified to receive his favors. The fitness of the thingdepends upon the qualifications of the individual, and the qualifi-cation of the individual to receive, depends upon that holy, hum-ble frame of mind, from which all sincere prayer proceeds. Itis not said, that the Deity is changed by our prayers, but thatthe relation in which we stand to the Deity is changed , when,from living in sin and disregard of God, we come to adore himin sincerity and truth.
2. The subject matter of which prayer and thanksgiving oughtto consist. Prayer and thanksgiving, whether written or extem-poraneous, are, so far as the matter and style are concerned, gov-erned by the same rules. They should contain just conceptions ofthe Deity and of his attributes. Unworthy conceptions of Goddestroy or impair the purity and dignity of public worship, inwhich all things should “ be done decently and in order,” # and \prevent it from having that moral influence which it is so wellcalculated to exercise. Men of every condition attend publicworship, and erroneous or unworthy conceptions of the Deitythus become the error of multitudes.
Again, they should express only those wants, desires, andaspirations, which will probably be felt by the congregation.Ideas in which the congregation can feel no interest, should notbe introduced. Those prayers are the most suitable, which arebest fitted to keep alive the devotion of the assembly. Confes-sion of sin, humiliation before God for its commission, petitionsfor forgiveness, acknowledgment of divine mercies, and aspira-tions after increased holiness, must enter into the prayers of “allorders and estates of men.” They should contain, also, as few
1 Cor. xiv. 40.