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IN the first place I wil shew them what Prayer is; the holy* 1.1 men of God doe define Prayer to be the interpreter of the minde, Non vox sed votum, (as one saith) the wings wherewith our Soules doe fly to heaven, as swife as Cannot Shot out of a
Camon; the Key of the Gates of heaven, that which either early, or late, findeth admittance; that which forceth an audi∣ence, and unlocketh the ••ares of God himselfe. It is also defined to be a calling upon God by celestiall cogitations, of which there be* 1.2 two sorts; 1. Mentall, or that which is not uttered by the tongue, but by the minde, and this sort of Prayer is called ejacula∣tory prayer, by which the people of God dart up their requests, through silence of speech; the second sort is vocall, or that which is expressed by speech, or words.
For the first of these we have many examples in Scripture, as in* 1.3 Moses, Exo. 14. 15. where the Lord saith unto him, Why cryest thou unto me, &c. whereas Moses is not said to utter any voyce, but sighed unto God, and cryed in his heart; whereupon one saith, Egit vocis silentia, ut corde clamarit; he in the silence of his voyce so wrought, that he cryed in his heart. We have ano∣ther example in Hannah, 1 Sam. 1. 13. in these words; Now Hannah she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voyce was not heard. We have also another example in Jehoshaphat, who when he was compassed with the Assyrians, is said to cry out unto the•• Lord, which probably was not vocally, but men∣tally, 2 Cor. 18. 31. so that the lifting up of the voyce is not the most necessary part of Prayer, but the sorrow, and contrition of the heart, and therefore the Lord saith by his Prophets, Before they call I will answer to their secret requests, and enward grie∣vances of their heart. And this is most probable, for God being a Spirit, wil especially be invocated by the spirituall part of man, Joh. 4. 24. and contrariwise abhorreth those that come neare unto him with their lips, their hearts being farre from him, Mat. 15. 7, 8. now with such as have the Spirit of God, this sort of Prayer is much used, for by it we may pray upon all oc∣casions, unknown unto the world, by lifting up pure hearts unto the Lord, in reference to which commeth this saying, Pii ••rat tassatie, good men pray in silence.
The deffiniti∣on of Prayer.
Two sorts of prayer, mental and vocall.
Of mentall P••ayer.