[2.] There are other promises contained in scripture, that relate more especially to spiritual blessings, which are of great use to us, when we are asking them of God in prayer.
1st, There are promises that relate more especially to the ordinances or means of grace: These are various,
1. Some respect the duty of prayer, and also the event and success that shall attend it, in God’s giving gracious returns, or answers thereof, in Psal. xci. 15. ‘He shall call upon me, and I will answer him.’ And in Jer. xxix. 12, 13. ‘Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’ And, in Psal. l. 15. ‘Call upon me, in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’
2. Another ordinance to which promises are also annexed, is meditation about spiritual things, in Prov. xiv. 22. ‘Mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.’ And, in Josh. i. 8. ‘This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.’ There are also promises made to those who read the word of God, to wit, that he will make known his words to them, so that they may understand them, Prov. i. 23. ‘Turn you at my reproof: Behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.’
3. There are promises made to those who attend on the public worship of God, in Psal. xxxvi. 8, 9. ‘They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.’ And, in Psal. cxxviii. 5. ‘The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion; and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.’
4. There are promises made to religious fasting on special occasions, as in Mat. vi. 17. ‘When thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.’
5. There are promises made to alms-giving, in Prov. xi. 25. ‘The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.’ And, in Eccl. xi. 1. ‘Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.’—And in 2 Cor. ix. 6, 7, 8. ‘He which soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully: God loveth a cheerful giver, and is able to make all grace abound, &c.’
6. There are promises made to believers, when they appear in the behalf of truth, at those times when it is opposed and perverted, that by this means it may not be run down, nor they confounded, or put to silence by its enemies, Luke xxi. 15. ‘I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay, nor resist.’
7. There are promises made to the religious and strict observation and sanctification of the Lord’s day, Isa. lvi. 2. ‘Blessed is the man that doth this; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.’
2dly, There are promises, contained in scripture, which respect God’s giving his people special grace, together with that joy, peace and comfort that flows from it, which will be of great use to them, in order to their engaging aright in the duty of prayer.