The boke of husbandry·

¶ What thynge letteth prayer.

THere be two impedimentes, that lette and hynder prayer, that it maye not be herde. And of the fyrste impedimente spekethe Ysaye the prophete: Quia manus vestrae plenae sunt sanguine. i. peccato ideo non exaudiet vos dominus: Bycause your handes be full of bloude, that is to saye, full of synne, therfore our lorde dothe not graci∣ousely here you. And also prouerbiorum ter∣tio. Longe est dominus ab impiis, et orati∣ones iustorum exaudiet. Our lorde is ferre fro wycked men, and the prayers of ryghte∣wyse men he gracyously hereth. And sayncte Bernarde saythe, Quia praeceptis dei auer∣titur, quod in oratione postulat non mere∣tur: He that dothe not goddes commaunde∣mentes, he deserueth not to haue his prayer harde. The seconde impediment saythe Ana∣stasius is, Si non dimittis iniuriam, que tibi facta est, non orationem pro te facis, sed maledictionem super te inducis: If thou forgyue not the wronge done vnto the, thou doste not praye for thy selfe, but thou enducest goddes curse to fall vppon the. And Isodo∣rus saythe, Sicut nullum in vulnere proficit medicamemtum, si adhuc ferrum in eo fit:

ita nihil proficiat oratio illius, cuius adhuc dolor in mente vel odium manet in pecto∣re. Lyke as the playster or medycyne can not heale a wounde, if there be any yren styckinge in the same, ryghte soo the prayer of a man profyteth hym not, as longe as there is so∣rowe in his mynde, or hate abydynge in his breste. For sayncte Austyne saythe, Si desit charitas, frustra habentur cetera. If chari∣tie wante, all other thynges be voyde. Wher∣fore thou muste se that thou stande in the state of grace, and not infecte with deedly synne, and than praye if thou wyll be harde.