bupplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."

2. That God is eminently of this character, appears in his hearing prayer so readily. He often manifests his readiness to hear prayer, by giving an answer so speedily, sometimes while they are yet speaking, and sometimes before they pray, when they only have a design of praying So ready is God to hear prayer, that he takes notice of the first of purpose prayIng, and sometimes bestows mercy thereupon: Isa. lxv. 24. "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." We read, that when Daniel was making humble and earnest supplication to God, God sent an angel to comfort him, and assure him of an answer, Dan. ix. 20....24.

And when God defers for the present to answer the prayer of faith, it is not from any backwardness in God to answer, but for the good of his people, sometimes that they may be better prepared for the mercy before they receive it, or because another time would be the best and fittest time on some other account. And even then, when God seems to delay an answer, the answer is indeed hastened, as in Luke xviii. 7, "And shall not God avenge his own elect that cry unto him day and night, though he bear long with them? I tell you, that he will avenge them speedily." Sometimes, when the blessing seems to tarry, God is even then at work to bring it about in the best time and best manner: Hab. ii. 3. "Though it tarry, wait for it; it will come, it will not tarry.”

8.

3. That the Most High is eminently one that hears prayer, appears by his giving so liberally in answer to prayer: James i. 5, 6. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask it of God, who giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not." Men often show their backwardness and loathness to give to those who ask of them, both by the scantiness of their gifts, and by upbraiding those who ask of them. They will be sure to put them in mind of these and those faults, when they give them any thing; but, on the contrary, God both gives liberally, and upbraids us not with our undeservings, when he gives.

God is plenteous and rich in his communications to those who call upon him. Psal, lxxxvi. 5. "For thou art good and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all that call upon thee;" and Rom. x. 12. "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him."

Sometimes God not only gives the thing asked, but he gives more than is asked. So he did to Solomon, 1 Kings iii. 12, 13. "Behold, I have done according to thy words: Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any rise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor; so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee, all thy days." Yea, God will give more to his people than they can either ask or think, as is implied in that, Eph. iii. 20. "Now, unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

4. That God is eminently of this character, appears by the greatness of the things which he hath often done in answer to prayer. Thus, when Esau was coming out against his broth er Jacob, with four hundred men, without doubt fully resolv ed to cut him off, Jacob prayed to God, and God turned the heart of Esau, so that he met Jacob in a very friendly manner; as in Gen. xxxii. So in Egypt, at the prayer of Moses, God brought those dreadful plagues, and, at his prayer, removed them again. When Samson was ready to perish with thirst, he prayed to God, and God brought water out of a dry jaw bone, for his supply, Judg. xv. 18, 19. And when he prayed, after his strength was departed from him, God strengthened him, so as to pull down the temple of Dagon on the Philistines; so that those whom he slew at his death were more than all those whom he slew in his life.

Joshua prayed to God, and said to the sun, "Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon ;" and God heard his prayer, and caused the sun and moon to stand still accordingly. The prophet "Elijah was a.

man of like passions" with us; "and he prayed carnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit;" as the Apostle James observes, James v. 17, 18. So God confounded the army of Zerah, the Ethiopian, of a thousand thousand, in answer to the prayer of Asa, 2 Chron. xiv. 9, &c. And God sent an angel, and slew in one night an hundred and eighty thousand men of Sennacharib's army, in answer to Hezekiah's prayer, 2 Kings xix. 14, 15, 16, 19.

5. This truth appears, in that God is, as it were, overcome by prayer. When God is displeased by sin, and manifests his displeasure, and comes out against us in his providence, and seems to oppose and resist us; in such cases, God is, speaking after the manner of men, overcome by humble and fervent prayer. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much," James v. 16. It has a great power in it. Such a prayer hearing God is the Most High, that he graciously manifests himself as conquered by it. Thus Jacob conquered in the wrestle which he had with God. God appeared to oppose Jacob in what he sought of him; he did, as it were, struggle against him, and to get away from him; yet Jacob was resolute, and overcame. Therefore God changed his name from Jacob to Israel; for, says he, "as a prince thou hast power with God and with men, and hast prevailed," Gen. xxxii. 28. A mighty prince indeed! to be great enough to overcome God: Hos. xii. 4. "Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept and made supplication unto him."

So Moses, from time to time, did in this sense overcome God by prayer. When his anger was provoked against Israel, and he appeared to be ready to consume them in his hot displeasure, Moses stood in the gap, and by his humble and earnest prayer and supplication averted the stroke of divine vengeance. This appears by Exod. xxxii. 9, &c. and by Numb. xiv. 11, &c.

III. Herein the Most High God is distinguished from false gods. The true God is the only God of this character; there is no other of whom it may be said, that he heareth prayer. Those false gods are not gods that hear prayer, upon

three accounts.

1. For want of a capacity to know what those who worship them pray for. Many of those things that are worshipped as gods in the world, are things without life; many are idols made by their worshippers; they are mere stocks and stones, that know nothing. They are indeed made with ears; but they hear not the prayers of them that cry to them, let them cry ever so loudly: They have eyes; but they see not, &c. Psal. cxv. 5....9.

Others, though they are not the work of men's hands, yet are things without life. Thus, many worship the sun, moon, and stars, which, though glorious creatures, yet are not capa ble of knowing any thing of the wants and desires of those who pray to them.

Others worship some certain kinds of brute animals, as the Egyptians were wont to worship bulls, which, though they be not without life, yet are destitute of that reason whereby they would be capable of knowing the requests of their worshippers. Others worship devils, instead of the true God: 1 Cor. x. 20. "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils." These, though they are beings of great powers and understandings, and great subtlety, have not that knowledge which is necessary to capacitate them fully to understand the state, circumstances, necessities, and desires of those who pray to them. No devil is ca. pable of a perfect understanding of the circumstances and need of any one person, much less of attending to, and being thoroughly acquainted with, all who pray to them through the world.

But the true God perfectly knows the circumstances of every one that prays to him throughout the world; he perfectly knows the needs and desires of every one. If there be millions praying to him at once, in different parts of the world,

It is no more difficult to him, who is infinite in knowledge, to take notice of all, and perfectly to be acquainted with every one, than of one alone. But it is not so with any other being but the Most Highod.

God is so perfect in knowledge, that he doth not need to be informed by us, in order to a knowledge of our wants; for he knows what things we need before we ask him. The worshippers of false gods were wont to lift their voices and cry aloud, lest their gods should fail of hearing them, as Elijah tauntingly bid the worshippers of Baal do, 1 Kings xviii. 27. But the true God hears the silent petitions of his people. He needs not that we should cry aloud; yea, he knows and perfectly understands when we only pray in our hearts, as Hannah did, 1 Sam. i. 13.

2. False gods are not prayer hearing gods, for want of power to answer prayer. Idols are but vanities and lies; in them is no help. As to power or knowledge, they are nothing; as the apostle says, 1 Cor. viii. 4. "An idol is nothing in the world." As to the images that are the works of men's hands, they are so far from having any power to answer prayer, or to help them that pray to them, that they are not able at all to act: "They have hands, and handle not; feet have they, but they walk not; neither speak they through their throat." They, therefore, that make them, and pray to them, are senseless and sottish, and make themselves stocks and stones, like unto them: Psal. cxv. 7, 8, and Jer. x. 5. "They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: They must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil; neither also is it in them to do good." to the hosts of heaven, the sun, moon, and stars, although mankind receive benefit by them, yet they act nothing voluntarily, but only by necessity of nature; therefore they have no power to do any thing in answer to prayers. And devils that are worshipped as gods, they are not able, if they had disposition, to make those happy who worship them, and can do nothing at all but only by divine permission, and as subject to the disposal of divine providence,

As