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with understanding, faith, reverence, and other graces neceffary to the right performance of the duty of prayer c. Q. 188. Of how many parts doth the Lord's prayer confift? A. The Lord's prayer confifts of three parts; a preface, petitions, and a conclufion.

Q. 189. What doth the preface of the Lord's prayer teach us? A. The preface of the Lord's prayer (contained in these words, Our Father which art in heaven d) teacheth us, when we pray, to draw near to God with confidence of his fatherly goodness, and our intereft therein e; with reverence, and all other child-like difpofitions f, heavenly affections g, and due apprehenfions of his fovereign power, majesty, and gracious condescension h: as allo, to pray with and for others i.

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187. c Matth. vi. 9. Compared with Luke xi. 2. (See above in letter b.)

189. d Matth. vi. 9.

e Luke xi. 13. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more fhall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that afk him? Rom. viii. 15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

fIf. lxiv. 9. Be not wroth very fore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, fee, we befeech thee, we are all thy people.

g Pfal. cxxiii. 1. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwelleft in the heavens. Lam. iii. 41. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.

h If. lxiii. 15. Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holinefs and of thy glory where is thy zeal and thy ftrength, the founding of thy bow. els, and of thy mercies towards me? are they reftrained? v. 16.

190. What

Doubtlefs thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Ifrael acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer, thy name is from everlafting. Neh. i. 4. And it came to pafs when I heard these words, that I fat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven. v. 5. And faid, I befeech thee, O Lord God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and obferve his commandments: v. 6. Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayeft hear the prayer of thy fervant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Ifrael thy fervants, and confefs the fins of the children of Ifrael, which we have finned against thee: both I, and my father's houfe have finned.

i Acts xii. 5. Peter therefore was kept in prifon; but prayer was made without ceafing of the church unto God for him.

Matth:

Q. 190. What do we pray for in the first petition? A. In the first petition, (which is, Hallowed be thy name k), acknowledging the utter inability and indifpofition that is in ourselves and all men to honour God aright /, we pray, that God would by his grace enable and incline us and others to know, to acknowledge, and highly to esteem him m, his titles n, attributes o, ordinances, word p, works, and whatsoever he is pleased to make himfelf known by q; and to glorify him in thought, word r, and deed s:

190. k Matth. vi. 9.

12 Cor. iii. 5. Not that we are fufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourfelves: but our fufficiency is of God. Pfal. li. 15. O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth fhall fhew forth thy praise.

m Pfal. lxvii. 2. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy faving health among all nations. v. 3. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee.

n Pfal. lxxxiii. 18. That men may know, that thou whofe name alone is JEHOVAH, art the Moft High over all the earth.

o Pfal. lxxxvi. 10. For thou art great and doft wondrous things: thou art God alone. V. II. Teach me thy way, O Lord, I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. v. 12. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart and I will glorify thy name for evermore. v. 13. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou haft delivered my foul from the lowest hell. v. 15. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compaffion, and gracious long fuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

p 2 Theff. iii. 1. Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free courfe, and be glorified even as it is with you. Ffal. cxlvii. 19. He fheweth his word unto Jacob, his ftatutes and his judgments unto Ifrael v. 20.

that

He hath not dealt fo with any nation and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. Pfal. cxxxviii. 1. I will praife thee with my whole heart, before the gods will I fing praise unto thee. v. 2. I will worship towards thy holy temple, and praise thy name, for thy loving kindness, and for thy truth: for thou haft magnified thy word above all thy name. v. 3. In the day when I cried, thou anfweredft me and ftrengthnedft me with strength in my foul. 2. Cor. ii. 14. Now thanks be unto God, which always caufeth us to triumph in Chrift, and maketh manifeft the favour of his knowledge by us in every place. v. 15. For we are unto God a fweet favour of Chrift, in them that are faved, and in them that perish.

q Pfal. cxlv. throughout, I will extol thee, my God, O King, &c. Pfal. viii. throughout. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth? &c.

r Pfal. ciii. 1. Blefs the Lord, O my foul and all that is within me, blefs his holy name. Pfal. xix. 14. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy fight, O Lord, my ftrength and my redeemer.

Phil. i. 9. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge, and in all judgment; v. 11. Being filled with

the

that he would prevent and remove Atheism t, ignorance, idolatry w, profanenefs x, and whatfoever is difhonourable to him y; and, by his over-ruling providence, direct and difpofe of all things to his own glory z. Q.191.

the fruits of righteoufnefs, which are by Jefus Chrift unto the glory and praise of God.

t Pfal. Ixvii. 1. God be merciful unto us, and bless us and caufe his face to fhine upon us. Selah. v. 2. That thy way may be known upon earth, thy faving health among all nations. v. 3. Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praife thee. v. 4. O let the nations be glad and fing for joy: for thou fhalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.

v Eph. i. 17. That the God of our Lord Jefus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: v. 18. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the faints.

w Pfal. xcvii. 7. Confounded be all they that ferve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods.

x Pfal. Ixxiv. 18. Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blafphemed thy name. V. 22. Arife, O God, plead thine own cause : remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. V. 23. Forget not the voice of thine enemies the tumult of thofe that rife up against thee, increaseth continually.

2 Kings xix. 15. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and faid, O Lord God of Ifrael, which

dwelleft between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdams of the earth, thou haft made heaven and earth. v. 16. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and fee and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath fent him to reproach the living God.

z 2 Chron. xx. 6. And (Jehofhaphat) faid, O Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, fo that none is able to withstand thee? v. 10. And now behold, the children of Ammon, and Moab, and mount Seir, whom thou wouldst not let Ifrael invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not: V. II. Behold, I fay, how they reward us, to come to caft us out of thy poffeffion, which thou haft given us to inherit. v. 12. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh againft us: neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. Pfal. Ixxxiii. throughout. Keep not thou filence, O God: hold not thy peace, &c. Pfal. cxl. 4. Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked, preferve me from the violent man, who hath purposed to overthrow my goings. v. 8. Grant not, O Lord, the defires of the wicked, further not his wicked devices, left they exalt themselves. Selah. 191. a Matth.

Q191. What do we pray for in the second petition?

A. In the fecond petition, (which is, Thy kingdom come a,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of fin and Satan b, we pray, that the kingdom of fin and Satan may be deftroyed c, the gospel propagated throughout the world d, the Jews called e, the fulness of the Gentiles brought inf; the church furnished with all gofpel-officers and ordinances g, purged from corruption b, countenanced and maintained by

191. a Matth. vi. 10.

b Eph. ii. 2. Wherein in time paft ye walked according to the courfe of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the fpirit that now worketh in the children of difobedience. v. 3. A. mong whom alfo we all had our converfation in times paft, in the lufts of our flesh, fulfilling the defires of the flesh, and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

c Pfal. lxviii. 1. Let God arife, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him, flee before him. v. 18. Thou haft afcended on high, thou haft led captivity captive: thou haft received gifts for men yea, for the rebellious alfo, that the Lord God might dwell among them. Rev. xii. 10. And I heard a loud voice faying in heaven, Now is come falvation and ftrength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Chrift for the accufer of our brethren is caft down, which accufed them before our God day and night. v. II. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their teftimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

d 2 Theff. iii. 1. Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free courfe, and be glorified even as it is with

you.

e Rom. x. 1. Brethren, my heart's defire and prayer to God for Ifrael is, that they might be faved:

f John xvii. 9. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou haft given me, for they are thine. v. 20. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them alfo which fhall believe on me through their word. Rom. xi. 25. For I would not, brethren, that ye fhould be ignorant of this mystery, (left ye fhould be wife in your own conceits) that blindness in part is happened to Ifrael, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. v. 26. And fo all Ifrael fhall be faved: as it is written, There fhall come out of Sion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodlinefs from Jacob. Pfal. Ixvii. throughout. God be merciful unto us, and blefs us: and caufe his face to fhine upon us, &c.

g Matth. ix. 38. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will fend forth labourers into his harvest. 2 Theff. iii. 1. Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free courfe, and be glorified even as it is with you.

b Mal. i. 11. For from the rifing of the fun even unto the going down of the fame, my name fhall be great among the Gentiles, and in every place incenfe fhall be offered unto my name and a pure offering: for

my

by the civil magiftrate i: that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of thofe that are yet in their fins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of thofe that are already converted k: that Chrift would rule in our hearts here, and haften the time of his fecond coming, and

my name shall be great among the heathen, faith the Lord of hofts. Zeph. iii. 9. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to ferve him with one confent.

i 1 Tim. ii. 1. I exhort there

fore, that first of all, fupplications, prayers, interceffions, and giving of thanks be made for all men: v. 2. For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godlinefs and honefty.

k Acts iv. 29. And now, Lord, behold their threatnings: and grant unto thy fervants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, V. 30. By ftretching forth thine hand to heal: and that figns and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jefus. Eph. vi. 18. Praying always with all prayer and fupplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perfeverance, and fupplication for all faints; v. 19. And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gofpel v. 20. For which I am an ambaffador in bonds: that therein I may fpeak boldly, as I ought to fpeak. Rom. xv. 29. And I am fure that when I come unto you, I fhall come in the fulness of the bleffing of the gofpel of Christ. v. 30. Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jefus Chrift's fake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye ftrive

our

together with me in your prayers to God for me: v. 32. That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. 2 Theff. i. 11. Wherefore alfo we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleafure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power. 2 Theff. ii. 16. Now our Lord Jefus Chrift himself, and God even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting confolation, and good hope through grace, v. 17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

/ Eph. iii. 14. For this caufe I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift. v. 15. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, v. 16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man: v. 17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye being rooted and grounded in love, v. 18. May be able to comprehend with all faints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; V. 19. And to know the love of Chrift, which paffeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. v. 20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we afk or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

Rev.

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