in their religious exercises, which instrumentally subserve their eternal salvation. Job i. 6; Zech. iii. 1.

6. Watch for an answer to prayer. Too many, when they bave finished prayer, rise up and go their way, and think no more about the matter. Not so the good man;

he, like David, will not only say, Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation :" but he will add, "I will hear what God the Lord will speak," &c. (Compare 1 Kings xviii. 1. 41-46, with James v. 17, 18.) So let us be looking and watching for an answer to prayer.

IV. Christians should pray in or with the Spirit. Praying "in the Spirit," either means praying under the influence of the Holy Ghost, or with divine fervour.

In speaking of divine fervour in prayer, I notice, 1. That it is urged by a variety of scriptures in which prayer is spoken of, all of which imply an earnest and vigorous exercise of the mind. To pray is to "pour out" the heart, (Ps. Ixii. 8;) to "wrestle with God," (Gen. xxxii. 24;) to cry," (Ps. ix. 12 ;) to "sigh and groan," (Ps. xii, 5;) to "strive," (Rom. xv. 30;) to 'give God no rest," (Is. Ixii. 7;) and in the text, it is "supplication in the Spirit." In all these places we are taught that true prayer is very fervent and importunate.

2. Earnestness and fervour in prayer may be urged by the consideration of the value of the blessings for which we pray; nothing less than " grace and glory."

3. We may take an argument to be fervent in prayer from the arduous nature of the conflict in which we are engaged.

4. Fervency in prayer is recommended by examples recorded in the word of God. (Gen. xxxii. 26. 28.) We have also a striking example of fervent prayer in the woman who came to our Lord, Matt. xv. 22; Luke xxii. 44.

V. When a Christian maintains a life of prayer according to the directions given in this text, it will produce a very advantageous influence upon his spiritual warfare, and assist him in the use of the armour which God hath provided.

1. By thus exercising ourselves in prayer we shall stand firm in the day of battle. He that is much with God in prayer, stands not only on even, but on elevated ground, and must ultimately have the advantage.

2. Praying always with all prayer has a tendency to inspire the soul with courage in this arduous conflict. Living near to God in prayer makes the soul as bold as a lion; hence Elisha, who was a man of much prayer, when his house was surrounded by a host, was enabled to say to his servant, "Fear not." 2 Kings vi. 6.

3. They who pray always, and with all prayer, will be skilful and active in the use of the Christian armour.

4. Abounding in prayer has a tendency to keep our armour bright and fit for use; yea, it gives the Christian soldier a promptness for action. By the means of prayer, the girdle of truth and the breastplate of righteousness are girded on tight; the helmet of hope, and the shoes of peace, fit well, and become proof against the most furious assaults; and the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, are grasped with a firm hand, and are wielded with energy.

5. It is by fervent and persevering prayer that the believer finally obtains the victory in every conflict. Whilst we cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart, and watch in prayer, Satan gains little or no advantage over us.-To conclude,

1. Are we engaged in this holy warfare, with the description of which our text is connected? we shall not "endure hardness, as good soldiers," (2 Tim. ii. 3,) but as we pray always and with all prayer.

2. What an awful state is yours, who have been induced to commence a life of prayer, either through the pressure of adverse providences, or the temporary alarms of your consciences, and have fallen back into a state of total indifference and irreligion. (Isa. xxvi. 16.) Ah, thoughtless sinner! thou wilt be in trouble again, and then with what face wilt thou return to a throne of grace.

3. Our last reflection is for the comfort and encouragement of God's praying people: keep on in the holy exercise exemplify that sentence," faint, yet pursuing." Let thy soul be animated with the pleasing thought, that Christ prays for thee, and the Holy Spirit makes intercession within thee. Through all the changes of the Christian life, be this thy constant practice, "Praying always with all prayer," &c.

THE HOLY SPIRIT'S ASSISTANCE IN PRAYER.

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, &c.
Rom. viii. 26.

To take away all glorying in what we may have attained to in the Christian life, and to encourage us in the expectation of all we need in time to come, the apostle frequently speaks of the Holy Ghost as the agent, by whom all the great branches of the gospel are revealed to the understanding, and applied to the conscience, and who assist the Christian in all his devotional exercises. The Holy Spirit's assistance in prayer is now the subject of our attention, and to this the words of our text evidently refer; in discoursing upon which I shall,

1. Offer some general remarks.

1. The Holy Spirit's assistance in prayer is not one of those subjects at which the scriptures merely glance, but it is frequently mentioned both in the Old and New Testament. In the former of these it is the subject of prophecy and promise. (Zech. xii. 10.) Some interpret this text as having immediate reference to the day of Pentecost, which is also predicted by another of the prophets. (Joel. ii. 28.) The exact fulfilment of this scripture is affirmed by the apostle Peter, when he is explaining and vindicating the great event alluded to Acts ii. 4. 16: compare Zech. xii. 10, with Acts ii. 37. The Spirit was eminently in them as a Spirit of "grace and supplication ;" and he is thus in all the true children of God, in every age and in every place.

In the New Testament, the doctrine of the Spirit's help in prayer is taught both in a way of exhortation and encouragement. (In Eph. vi. 18; Jude 20.) And, in the words of my text, the apostle Paul endeavours to comfort the believing Romans, under all their sense of insufficiency in prayer, with this pleasing truth, that "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities," &c.

The accomplishment of the promise of having the Holy

Spirit as a Spirit of " grace and supplication," is made sure to the disciples of Christ by the description which our Lord gives of him, who is the dispenser of this rich blessing. Luke xi. 13.

2. The Holy Spirit's helping of the infirmities of the saints is not a casual or uncertain thing, for it is a work to which he is in an especial manner appointed. ver. 27.

3. The Spirit on whom Christians are taught to depend for assistance in all their devotional exercises, especially prayer, is abundantly well qualified for his office. 1 Cor. ii. 11.

4. The Holy Spirit's assistance is afforded in such a mar.ner, as not always to be very perceptible to the Christian himself. He does not always descend upon or aid his people, as on the day of Pentecost; (Acts ii. 2;) but rather, his agency resembles the soft and gentle southern gales, which, when they are scarcely felt, both refresh and invigorate. He comes to the help of his saints, not so much in "the earthquake," as in "the still, small voice." 1 Kings xix. 11, 12.

5. But for the agency of the Holy Spirit, many of us had long since given over prayer: he has enabled us to hope even against hope, otherwise we should have fainted. Micah vii. 7.

II. Show the necessity of the Holy Spirit's assistance in prayer. This may be urged upon a great variety of grounds; but I shail confine myself chiefly to that which arises from the words of my text. The apostle there speaks of the believer's "infirmities;" this word (infirmity) has a variety of significations attached to it in scripture, and in every one of them we shall find some proof of the proposition we are now discussing, that the assistance of the Holy Spirit in prayer is necessary.

1. A Christian has infirmity, as he is a frail and mortal creature. (Acts xiv. 15.) The apostle (1 Tim. v. 23,) speaks of those bodily infirmities to which the frail creature man is subject these are so great, and a strong sense of them so discouraging, that we should be overpowered when we draw nigh to God, did not the Holy Spirit afford us his aid.

2. A Christian is the subject of infirmity, as he is liable to affliction and temptation. The apostle, detailing some

parts of his own experience, says, "I take pleasure in infirmities," &c. 2 Cor. xii. 10.

XV. 1.

3. By infirmities is sometimes intended those weaknesses and defects which attach principally to an infantile state of grace. In an immediate reference to this is Rom. In the weak believer there is much remaining ignorance, unbelief, and fear; and these will hinder his approach to God in prayer, or make it unprofitable, unless the Spirit become his helper.

4. By infirmities is sometimes meant those sinful propensities which remain even in the children of God.

Amidst all these infirmities under which the saints groan, being burdened, and which may all be alluded to in the words of my text, what a rich source of encouragement is there for us in the scriptures, which assure us that "6 we have not an High priest," &c. (Heb. iv. 15,), and that "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities."

III. Speak of the nature and extent of that help which the Spirit affords the believer in prayer.

1. The Spirit may be said to help us in prayer as he gives us a spirit of prayer, and excites us to the constant practice of this duty. Dr. Manton, on James v. 16, says,

the term rendered effectual fervent prayer properly signifies a prayer wrought and excited, and so implies both the efficacy and influence of the Holy Spirit, and the force and vehemence of an earnest spirit." All true prayer is wrought and excited in the soul by the Holy Ghost; and until he begin to work, the soul never will pray in spirit and in truth.

2. The Spirit helps our infirmities in prayer, by teaching us how to pray the Spirit, in teaching us to pray, never acts in contradiction to the word of God. This is the grand directory for the church, both as to the matter and manner of prayer: all that is necessary for us to know upon the subject is there placed before us, both in precept and example.

1. In teaching us how to pray, the Spirit will guide us as to the persons for whom we should pray.

2. The Spirit teaching us what to pray for, will act in harmony with the word: he will consequently teach us to pray for those blessings which are the subjects of promise. These are of three kinds, temporal, spiritual, and eternal: VOL. II.

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