2. I. First, then, we must consider that “God knows what things we have need of, before we ask him.” Matt. 6:8.
3. II. That God draws, invites, and encourages us to the exercise of prayer, and assuredly promises that he will hear our prayers. Ps. 50:15.
4. III. That God is no respecter of persons, but has an equal regard for all mankind. Acts 10:34.
5. IV. That he is as sinful who presumes to pray upon the opinion of his own righteousness, merit, and holiness, as he that is afraid to pray out of a sense of his own sins and unworthiness. Luke 18:11, 14.
6. V. That God is not confined to any certain place, where only we ought to worship him; but that he is everywhere to be found, and is always “nigh to them that call upon him.” John 4:21, 22; Ps. 145:18.
7. VI. That God is, in his own eternity, unchangeable, and not confined to any certain time; but is always attentive to the prayers of his servants. 1 Thess. 5:17.
8. VII. That God anticipates our prayers, and gives us both natural and supernatural blessings, which yet, without prayer, nobody can truly enjoy.
9. These considerations will renew and awaken every soul that shall duly attend to them (Eph. 5:14): they will cleanse them from darkness and error; establish them on the foundation of truth; elevate them towards God; and inflame them with a lively devotion. For from them flow the following lessons:
10. I. That God commands and encourages us to pray, not for His own sake, as if He were ignorant of our wants, but for our sakes, that being quickened by prayer we might know and acknowledge them ourselves.
11. II. That God does not stand in need of any minute declarations of our necessities, but knows, even before we ask him, what things we have need of. Isa. 65:24; Ps. 139:2.