What! thou pray! If thou dost, thou wilt but play the hypocrite; and better not pray at all, than never the better! Nay, possibly thy own misgiving heart may suggest the same, or at least so far credit his charge, as to make thee waver in thy thoughts what thou shouldst dopray or not. Now, to arm thee against this, consider,
1. Thou art but afraid thou shouldst play the hypocrite, if [you] pray; but thou wilt certainly prove thyself an atheist if thou dost not. And that is it which he would have. I hope thou art wiser than to neglect a known duty upon a jealousy thou hast of miscarrying in it; to lie down in a known sinyea, so broad a one as brands him for an atheist that continues in itfor fear of meeting a lion, may be but a bugbear, in the way of thy obedience to an indispensable command.
2. Thou art in the less danger of playing the hypocrite, because of thy fear. Some bodily diseases indeed are caught with a fear and fancy. He is most like to have the plague or pox that fears most he shall have them. But none are so safe from sin as they that fear the falling into it most. The truth is, I would desire no better argument to prove thee sincere than thisto fear thy hypocrisy. Believe it, if this be the great trouble of thy soul, the devil hath more reason to fear thy sincerity than thou thy hypocrisy. And in all likelihood this it is that makes him to scare thee from prayerbecause thou scare him so much by thy praying. If thou wert a hypocrite, as he pretends, himself would invite thee to it; yea, make a lane for thee, rather than that thou shouldst not come to the work; and when thou art risen from thy knees, he would thank thee for thy pains, because he knows God would not. The hypocrite does him more service than God. You do not believe, sure, that the devil was any great enemy to Jezebel's fasting. Nay, I doubt not but he put it into her head, that she might thereby mock both God and man. Her fast was the devils feast. But,
3. If thou findest more cause to fear thy playing the hypocrite than I who am a stranger to thy heart have reason to dowho indeed can know so well how thy own heart beats as thyself?I say, if thou fearest this be the sin which is most likely to make a breach upon thee in thy duty, do as Moses, who slew the Egyptian to rescue the Israelitedestroy the sin, that thou mayest rescue thy soul from the neglect of a duty. Thou hast a very fair advantage, by the intelligence God graciously gives thee whence thy danger is most likely to come, of falling on thy enemy, and taking the fuller revenge on him, before thou settest about the work of prayer. Get but thy heart into a hatred of this odious sin, and fixed resolution against it, and, with Gods blessing, it shall neither be able to hurt thee, nor hinder thy prayer from finding welcome with God.
william Gurnall _________________ CHRISTIAN
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