Seek, man; ask, knock, and do not be discouraged; the Lord will grant all thy desires. Thou sayest thou art unworthy to ask the greatest things, things spiritual and heavenly: well, will carnal things serve thee, and answer the desires of thy heart? Canst thou be content to be put off with a belly well filled and a back well clothed?
"Oh, better I never had been born."
See! thou wilt not ask the best, and yet canst not make shift without them.
"Shift? no; no shift without them; I am undone without them, undone for ever and ever," sayest thou.
Well then, desire.
"So I do," sayest thou.
Ah, but desire with more strong desires; desire with more large desires; desire spiritual gifts, covet them earnestly; thou hast a license too to do so. God bids thee do so, for he hath said, "The desire of the righteous shall be granted."
GOD'S METHOD OF ANSWERING PRAYER.
"The desire of the righteous shall be granted." But I find it not so, says one; for though I have desired and desired a thousand times upon my knees, for something that I want, yet I have not my desire; and indeed, the consideration of this has made me question whether I am one of those to whom the promise of granting desires is made.
ANSWER. What are the things thou desirest; are they lawful or unlawful? for a Christian may desire unlawful things.