Heaven on earth by Thomas Brooks (Available from Amazon or free here) - Conclude Chapter 5 (Shewing the several ways and means of gaining a well-grounded assurance).
The prayer that accompanies salvation:
(i) is divine worship wherein we speak to God in faith, humility, sincerity and fervency of spirit through the mediation of Christ, begging those good things that we and others want, deprecating that we and others fear, and giving thanks for that we and others have received;
(ii) betters the whole man;
(iii) is different from the prayer of the ungodly.
The perseverance that accompanies salvation is:
(i) in a holy profession;
(ii) in holy and spiritual principles;
(iii) an abiding or continuing in the word or doctrine of Christ;
(iv) in holy and gracious actions and motions; it is a continuing in pious duties and religious services.
The hope that accompanies salvation:
(i) elevates and raises the heart to live above, where its treasure is;
(ii) strengthens the soul against all afflictions, oppositions and temptations;
(iii) makes the soul lively and active;
(iv) makes a man sit quiet and still in the midst of all storms and tempests;
(v) works the soul to a quiet and patient waiting upon God for mercy;
(vi) is soul-purifying;
(vii) permanent and lasting.
Brooks made a good point about the importance of praying to God, and not simply praying: 'A gracious soul looks and lives more upon God in prayer than upon his prayer. He knows, though prayer be his chariot, yet Christ is his food. Prayer may be a staff to support him, but Christ is that manna that must nourish him, and upon him he looks, and lives : Ps. v. 3, 'In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee' (or marshal and set in order my prayer, as it is in the Hebrew), ' and will look up (or ' look out,' as it is in the Hebrew) 'as a watchman looks out to discover the approaches of an enemy.' But vain men, they live and look more upon their prayers than they do upon God ; nay, usually they never observe what returns they have from heaven.'
It is who the prayers are directed toward that makes them effective, not simply the act of praying itself.
Next week's reading
Read Chapter 6 (Shewing the difference between a true and a counterfeit assurance, between sound assurance and presumption).
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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