Good to see you folks this Lord's Day morning turn if you would to Psalm 142 Psalm 142 Psalm 142 I'll just read this Psalm in your hearing to kind of prepare our hearts for the theme in hand. So I'm 142 and I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord. I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him. I declare my trouble before him. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, you knew my path in the way where I walk. They have hidden a trap for me. Look to the right and see, for there is no one who regards me. There is no escape for me. No one cares for my soul. I cried out to you, O Lord. I said, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Give heed to my cry, for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. Bring my soul out of prison so that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me. And let us pray, shall we? Father, we come before you this Lord's Day morning, and I thank you so much for the privilege we have to worship you and even prepare our hearts for worship this day. And I thank you for each one that you've been pleased to bring here and their love for Christ. And I pray our time together would be profitable and encouraging and helpful to our souls. And I would pray again for the help of your Holy Spirit just to bring forth thy word in a way that is honoring to thyself and would be instructive, helpful to our hearts and to our minds and to our souls. So we commit our time to you and just pray for your blessing and might it redound to thy glory and prepare our hearts for just further adoration of your glorious being this day. So we commit our time to you and we ask these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well, as you can tell, this is not the London Baptist Confession of Faith, which was my intention, because the next section we're dealing with on worship does deal with prayer. And I was going to use some of this material from Brooks that I've used before as supplemental, but I was just re-impressed in my own heart with it and with the theme and Brooks' treatment of it. So that's why you have these notes in front of you. It's not new material, so I hope it won't be too repetitive to you, but I trust it. It's kind of one of those things where, I mean, both for this morning and as well as the morning service at this time of year, I'm kind of like, you know, stop the bus and kind of evaluate a little bit, and this kind of fits in with that idea. And so the theme that we'll consider together here, it's just private prayer. That's what this is about. And so we'll just kind of go through some of the notes here. And that's the whole goal is just to re-impress upon our minds the importance of private prayer. And I'm totally pulling here from Thomas Brooks and his work, The Privy Key of Heaven, or a discourse on closet prayer. And so we'll just look at some of what he has to say here just to kind of encourage our hearts in this direction. He bases his work on Matthew chapter six and verse six. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut the door, pray to thy father, which is in secret, and thy father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. So, it's a text that assumes one will pray, it assumes that one will pray in secret. John Flavel wrote, Prayer begets and maintains holy courage and magnanimity, excuse me, I'll forget that, in evil times. When all things about you tend to discouragement, it is your being with Jesus that makes you bold. And Brooks begins here by giving some reasons for the importance of prayer. One is, I think this is probably true at all times, but the tendency to neglect it. He says, because I have several reasons to fear that many Christians do not clearly nor fully understand the necessity, excellency, and usefulness of this subject, that many, oh, that I could not say, any live in too great a neglect of this indispensable duty, and that more than a few for lack of light or want of light err in the very practice of it. And then another reason he gives for its importance is to preserve and keep up the power of religion and godliness both in men's houses, hearts, and lives. He says, the power of religion and godliness lives, thrives, or dies as closet prayer lives, thrives, or dies. Godliness never rises to a higher pitch than when men keep closest to their closets. Then another reason, because every man is that which he is secretly. Never tell me how handsomely, how neatly, how bravely this or that man acts his part before others, but tell me if thou can, how he acts his part before God in his closet. For the man is that certainly that he is secretly. There are many that sweat upon the stage that are he cold in their closets. So then the doctrine that he pulls from this is that closet prayer or private prayer is an indispensable duty that Christ himself has laid up on all that are not willing to lie under the woeful brand of being hypocrites. And then he goes on here. That secret prayer prepares and fits the soul for family prayer and for public prayer. In addition to that, a secret prayer be not an indispensable duty that lies upon thee. By what authority does conscience so upbraid thee and so accuse thee and so condemn thee and so terrify thee as it often does for the neglect of this duty? And it might not terrify every Christian if they're not practicing it. But the idea is, I think, almost anybody that is a professing believer will be bothered by the fact, if they're not praying, they're going to be bothered by the fact that they're not praying. And that's kind of the point that he's making there. And it's, why is that the case? And the answer is, because we know we should be praying. Was it ever the way or method of God to promise again and again a reward, an open reward for that work or service which himself never commanded? Now to this duty of secret prayer the Lord hath again and again promised an open reward, which we saw in our text. Our Savior in the text takes for granted that every child of God will be frequent in praying to his heavenly Father and therefore he encourages them so much the more in the work of secret prayer. And then, if closet prayer be not an indispensable duty that Christ hath laid upon all his people, why does Satan so much oppose it? Why doth he so industriously and so unwary labor to discourage Christians in it? and to take off Christians from it. Certainly, Satan would never make such a fierce and constant war as he doth upon private prayer, were it not a necessary duty and a soul-enriching duty." And this is one of the things I presume bears witness with your own soul, that if you go to read the news or play a game or something, you don't sense the opposition of Satan. But when you go to pray, it's different, and you can use simple sense spiritual opposition to that. And these are some arguments that he gives in favor of regularly praying in the closet. He has 20, I'm only gonna give you a few, I'm not gonna give you 20, but these are some of the arguments that he offers. The first one he says is the most eminent saints, both in the Old and New Testament, have applied themselves to private prayer. And these are some of the examples, and you can look these up at your own leisure, Moses in the book of Exodus, Abraham in Genesis, and that's when Abraham was kind of perplexed about Sodom, whether God would destroy the entire city. Remember, if there were 50 righteous and then 45 righteous. And then David in Psalm 55, 16, and 17, and Daniel in chapter 6. And Daniel is just a great example of the indispensability of prayer. He had to continue the practice of prayer. Jonah in Jonah chapter 2 and his prayers marked by great solemnity Elijah first Kings 19 for shows that God does not always answer prayer because he asked God basically just to take him home Hannah and first Samuel 112 and 13 the intensity of a private prayer She was praying you might recall to such a degree that Eli thought that she was drunk and Rebecca and Genesis 25 22 Brooks says, so Saul is no sinner converted, but presently he falls upon private prayer. Though he was a strict Pharisee, yet he never prayed to purpose before, nor never prayed in private before. The Pharisees used to pray in the corners of the streets, and not in the corners of their houses. And after his conversion, he was frequently in private prayer, as you may see by comparing these scriptures together. And you might just briefly, turn if you would to Ephesians chapter one, verses 15 and 16. Ephesians chapter one, this is just the example of the Apostle Paul. Ephesians one and verses 15 and 16. The Apostle Paul writes here, for this reason, I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus, which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers. And then if you just turn to Philippians chapter one, verses three and four, Philippians 1, verses 3 and 4. Here Paul says, I thank my God and all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all. Then if you just keep going to 2 Timothy 1, verses 3 and 4. 2 Timothy 1, verses 3 and 4. Paul says, I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. And you start to put this together and you feel like all Paul was ever doing was praying. He's praying for one person after another. So he was just constantly pouring his soul out in prayer for others. Brooks says a man whose soul is conversant with God probably in a closet, in a hole, behind the door, or in a desert, a den, a dungeon, shall find more real pleasure, more choice, delight, and more full content than in the palace of a prince. By all these famous instances, you see that the people of God in all ages have addicted themselves to private prayer. That's the right kind of addiction there. Secondly, consider when Christ was on earth, he did much exercise himself in secret prayer. He was often with God alone, as you may see from these famous scriptures, Matthew 14, 23. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when evening was come, he was there alone. Christ choosing solitudes for private prayer does not only hint to us the danger of distraction and deviation of thoughts in prayer, but how necessary it is for us to choose the most convenient places we can for private prayers. Our own fickleness and Satan's restlessness calls upon us to get into such corners where we may most frequently pour out our souls unto God. And Mark 1.35, in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. And just before I go on there, I'll read you a text from Psalm chapter 5, with respect to the morning. Psalm chapter 5. And verse 3, Psalm chapter 5 verse 3 says, In the morning, O Lord, you will hear my voice. In the morning, I will order my prayer to you and eagerly watch. Psalm chapter 5 and verse 3. Well, Brooks goes on, as the morning time is the fittest time for prayer. So solitary places are the fittest places for prayer. Mark 6, 46. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. Luke 15, 16. So he himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. And Luke 6, 12. It came to pass in those days that he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. So we clearly have this example of private prayer in the life of Christ. And Brooks says, thus you see, by all these famous instances, that Christ was frequent in private prayer. Certainly Christianity is nothing else but an imitation of the divine nature, a reducing of man's self to the image of God. in which he was created in righteousness and true holiness. Other patterns be imperfect and defective, but Christ is a perfect pattern. And of all, excuse me, and of all his children, they are the happiest that come nearest to this perfect pattern. Lenny has a question, but why was our Lord Jesus so much in private prayer? Why was he so often with God alone? Here's some of the answers that Brooks gives, four reasons. Number one, it was to put a very high honor and value upon private prayer. Men naturally are very apt and prone to have a low and undervaluing thoughts of secret prayer, but Christ, by exercising himself so frequently in it, hath put an everlasting honor and inestimable value upon it. Also, to avoid interruptions in the duty. Secrecy is no small advantage to the serious and lively carrying on of a private duty. Interruptions and disturbances from without are often times quench coals to private prayer. The best Christians do but bungle when they meet with interruptions in their private devotions. He says, to set us such a blessed pattern and gracious example that we should never please nor content ourselves with public prayers only, nor family prayers only, but that we should also apply ourselves to secret prayer, to closet prayer. And then he says, to convince us that our, that his father hears and observe our private prayers and bottles up all our secret tears and that he is not a stranger to our closest desires or our closet desires. wrestlings, breathings, hungerings, and thirstings. And then a third argument is, consider that the ordinary exercising of yourselves in secret prayer is that which will distinguish you from hypocrites who do all they do to be seen of men. Matthew 6, 1 says, beware. Jesus says, beware of practicing a righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Otherwise, you have no reward of your Father who is in heaven. When therefore you give alms, don't sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly, I say to you, they have the reward in full. Self is the only oil that makes the chariot wheels of the hypocrite move in all religious concernments." Matthew 6, 5, when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have the reward in full. Thus you see that these hypocrites look more at men than God in all their duties. So hypocrites will keep up their duties no longer than they are fed and encouraged and enclosed with the golden praises and applauses of men. Where do you read in all of Scripture that Pharaoh, or Saul, or Judas, or Demas, or Simon Magus, or the scribes and Pharisees did ever used to pour out their souls before the Lord in secret? It is only sincerity that will enable a man to make a trade of private prayer. A hypocrite in all his duties trades more for a good name than for a good life, for a good report than for a good conscience, like fiddlers that are more careful in tuning their instruments than in composing their lives. Well then, in the fourth place, consider, he says, that in secret we may more freely and fully and safely disclose our souls to God than we can in the presence of many or few. This is one of the great benefits of private prayer. You can pour your soul out, anything that is on your heart, you can do privately, which may not be wise to do when you're praying publicly. Psalm 142.2, I pour out my complaint before him, I declare my Trouble before him psalm 62 8 trust in him at all times old people pour out your heart before him God is a refuge for us He says so no man in his right wits we press in his right mind Will lay open to everyone his soul infirmities weaknesses diseases ailments griefs and so forth But to the Lord or to some particular person that is wise faithful and able to contribute something to his soul's relief Well, then in the fifth place, consider of grace, that is, when they are praying. And he gives a couple of examples here. Daniel chapter 9 and verse 20. Now, while I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and presenting my supplication before the Lord, my God, in behalf of the holy mountain of my God. Verse 21, while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. And he gave me instruction and talked with me and said, O Daniel, I have now come fourth, to give you insight with understanding. At the beginning of your supplications, the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed to give heed to the message and gain understanding in the vision. And another example, Acts chapter 10, there was a certain man at Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, a devout man, one who feared God with all his household, gave many alms to the Jewish people, prayed to God continually. About the ninth hour of the day, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had just come into him and said to him, Cornelius. And fixing his gaze upon him and being much alarmed, he said, what is it, Lord? And he said, your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God. He says, private prayer is a golden key to unlock the mysteries of the word. The knowledge of many choice and blessed truths are but the returns of private prayer. The word dwells most richly in their hearts who are most in pouring out their hearts before God in their closets. So he's saying it's a great way to understand the scripture is to pray. And he quotes Luther here, and I have a correction. that he profited more in the knowledge of the scripture by private prayer in a short space than it should be than by study in a longer space. He profited more in the knowledge of the scripture by private prayer in a short space than by study in a longer space. Psalm 119 and verse 18 says, open mine eyes and I may behold wonderful things from thy law. Well, a sixth argument is consider that secret duties are the most soul-enriching duties. Private prayer is the privy key of heaven that unlocks all the treasure of glory to the soul. The best riches and the sweetest mercies God usually gives those people when they are in their closets upon their knees. Psalm 34, six says, this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. So those are some arguments for private prayer. And then under a heading that he calls use and application, use and application. Number one, he says, it is so that closet prayer or private prayer is such an indispensable duty that Christ himself laid upon all that are not willing to lie under the woeful brand of being hypocrites. then this truth looks very sourly and sadly upon these five sorts of persons. And one sort, he says, is this. First, it looks sourly and sadly upon all those that put off secret prayer, private prayer, till they are moved by it, excuse me, moved by They are moved by to it by the Spirit. For by this sad delusion many have been kept from secret prayer many weeks, many months, oh that I might not say many years. So it's the idea that someone will say, I'm going to pray, but I'm not going to pray until I'm moved by the Holy Spirit. Then I will pray. And he says, he quotes Galatians 5, as he mentions Galatians 5, 6, and then Luke 18, 1. Now, he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17, pray without ceasing. Ephesians 6, 18, pray always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplications for all saints. Romans 12, 12, excuse me, Romans 12, 12, continuing instant in prayer. The Greek metaphor is taken from hunting dogs that never give over the game till they have got their prey. A Christian must not only pray, but hold on in prayer till he hath got the heavenly prize. The world is always alluring, and therefore we had need be always praying. Satan is always tempting, and therefore we had need to be always praying. Then he deals with an objection. He says, we have much business upon our hands. We cannot spare time for private prayer. We have so much to do in our shops, in our warehouses, and abroad with others. We cannot spare time to wait upon the Lord in our closet. We don't have time to pray. His first response to that is, what are all those businesses that are upon your hands, to those businesses and weighty affairs that did lie upon the hands of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Daniel, Elias, Nehemiah, Peter, Cornelius, yet you find all of these worthies exercising themselves in private prayer. They had weighty responsibilities, but they were all practicing, they all practiced private prayer. He said, secondly, no man's outward affairs did ever more prosper than theirs did who devoted themselves to private prayer. Notwithstanding their many and great worldly employments, private prayer doth best expedite our temporal affairs. He that prays well in his closet shall be sure to speed well in his shop, or at his plow, or whatever else he turns his hand unto. Number three, it is 10 to one, but that the objector every day fools away, or trifles away, or idles away, or sins away one hour in a day, why then should he object the lack of time in praying? So let's go to the next one. Number four, no man dares please his objection before the Lord Jesus in the great day of account. That is to say, nobody is gonna say to the person of Christ, I just didn't have as much time to pray as I needed. Nobody is going to say that. Number five, this is our duty to redeem time from all our secular businesses for a private prayer. Well, then the next section here, just some directions for private prayer. He says, I have now but one thing more to do before I shut up this discourse. And that is to lay down some means, rules, or directions that may be of use to help you in a faithful and conscientious discharge of this great duty, closet prayer. And therefore thus, here's the first one. As ever you would give up yourselves to private prayer, he says, take heed of an idle and slothful spirit. If Adam in the state of innocency must work and dress the garden, and if after his fall, when he was monarch of all the world, he must yet labor, why should any be idle or slothful? Idleness is a sin against the law of creation. God creating man to labor, the idle person violates the law of creation. For by his idleness he casts off the authority of his Creator, who made him for labor. By doing nothing, saith the heathen man, men learn to do evil things. It is easy slipping out of an idle life into an evil and wicked life. The Cyclops thought man's happiness did consist in doing nothing. But no excellent thing can be the child of idleness. Idleness is a mother's sin, a breeding sin. He that labors, said the old hermit, is tempted by one devil, but he that is idle is assaulted by all. So Satan shoots his most fiery darts at men when they are most idle and slothful. Solomon sends a slugger to the ant to learn industry. I have the longer insisted on this because there is not a greater hindrance to closet prayer than sloth and idleness. Therefore, shun sloth and idleness as you would shun a lion in the way or poison in your meat, or else you will never find time to wait upon God in your closets. Second, take heed of spending too much time of your precious time about circumstantials, about the little things of religion, of mint, anise, and cumin." Matthew 23, 23. Or, you know, what about, about what fruit that was, excuse me, about what fruit that was that Adam ate in paradise. Or, in inquiring after the authors of such and such books, whose names God in his infinite wisdom hath concealed, or in inquiring what God did before the world was made. He quotes 1 Timothy 1, 6. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion. Well, then thirdly, he says, take heed of curiosity and spending too much time of your precious time and searching into those dark, abstruse, mysterious and hidden truths and things of God and religion that lie most remote from the understanding of the best and wisest of men. How many are there that busy themselves more about the apostasy of angels than they do about securing their interest in Christ. In other words, he's saying don't major on the majors, don't major on the minors. Psalm 131 says, O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty, nor do I involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult for me. Deuteronomy 29, 29, the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law. Romans 11, 33, oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom of the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways. And then fourthly, he says, take heed of engaging yourselves in a crowd of worldly business. And here he quotes Luke 14. He said to him, a certain man was giving a big dinner. He invited many. At the dinner hour, he sent his slave. To those who had been invited, come for everything is ready now. But they all alike begin to make excuses. The first one said, I have bought a piece of land. I need to go out and look at it. Please consider me excused. Another one said, I have bought five yoke of oxen. I'm going to try them out. Please consider me excused. Another said, I have married a wife. For that reason, I cannot come. The slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to a slave, go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor, and crippled, and blind, and lame. And the slave said, Master, what you have commanded has been done, and still there is room. Well then in the fifth place, last place, he says, I take heed of secret sins, secret sins. He says, there is no greater hindrance to secret prayer in all the world than secret sins. And therefore stand upon your watch and arm yourselves in all your might against them. There is an antipathy betwixt secret sinning and secret praying, partly from guilt, which makes the soul shy of coming under God's secret eye. and partly from those fears, doubts, disputes, and disorders, and secret sins raised in the heart. Light is not more opposite to darkness, Christ to Belial, nor heaven to hell, than secret prayer to secret sins. And therefore, whatever you do, look that you keep clear of secret sins." Let's consider these four things still in this connection. Number one, that God is privy to our most secret sins. His eye is as much upon secret sins as it is upon open sins. Psalm 98, thou hast said our iniquities before thee are secret sins in the light of thy countenance. Well then, some other verses related to this. And then he writes, to say that God doth not see the most secret sins of the children of men is not only derogatory to his omniscience, but also to his mercy. For how can God pardon those sins which he doth not see to be sins? Proverbs 5 29, for the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord. He watches all his paths. He says, those sins which lie closest and most secretly lurking in the heart are as obvious and odious to God as those that are most fairly written upon man's forehead. God is all eye so that he sees the most secret turnings and windings of our heart. Several scriptures that make that point. He says, oh, what dreadful atheism is bound up in that man's heart, who is more afraid of the eye of his father, his pastor, his child, his servant, than he is of the eye, the presence of God. Number two, he says, consider that secret sins will be revealed. Number three, consider that God many times, that even in this life, discover and make known to the world men's secret sins. And he lists some examples of this here. Then number four, consider that secret sins are in some respects more dangerous than open sins. Many a man bleeds to death inwardly and no man perceives it. Secret sins will make way for public sins. Secret sinning puts far more respect and fear upon men than upon God. He says, I have insisted the longer on this particular because there's not any one thing in all the world that does hinder secret communion with God and secret prayer than secret sins. And then six and lastly, be highly, thoroughly, and fixedly resolved in the strength of Christ to keep close to closet duties in the face of all difficulties and discouragements that you may meet with all." He says, Rather than he would omit praying in his chamber, he would be cast into the den of lions. Of all the duties of religion, Satan is the most deadly enemy of this, of secret prayer, partly because secret prayer spoils him in his most secret designs, plots, and contrivances against the soul, and partly because secret prayer is so musical and delightful to God, and partly because secret prayer is of such rare use and advantage to the souls, and partly because it lays not the soul so open to pride, vainglory, and worldly applause as prayer in the synagogue does. Therefore, he had rather that a man should pray a thousand times in the synagogues, or in the corner of the streets, or behind a pillar, than he should pray once in his closet. Therefore, you had need to steel your hearts with holy courage and resolution, that whatever suggestions, temptations, oppositions, or objections you may encounter with, that yet you will keep close to closet prayer." All right, shall we pray? Father, I ask that you would take these considerations and you know all of our hearts and our comings and our goings and our situations and I just pray that you might make the appropriate application to our own hearts for your glory and your good, especially as this year unfolds, help each of us individually just to evaluate where we are at and I pray that this would be an encouragement and a stimulus to each one of our hearts to increase in this duty that is honoring to you and brings glory to thee and is good for our souls and is needful for our own progress and growth and grace. We commit this time to thee and Pray that you would cause our fellowship to be precious to our hearts and you would prepare our hearts for a worship this morning. And we ask all of these things in Jesus' name, amen.