Section 1

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/worshipofgodinspOOguyo
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THE
Worfhip of GOD,
I N
Spirit and in Truth :
o R, A
Short and eafy Method of Prayer,
Suited to every Capacity ;
With Two Letters upon the fame Subjeft,
By Madam G U I O N.
To which is added,
TWO LETTERS,
Concerning a Life truly Chriftian ;
And a DISCOURSE upon the i tniverful Love and Goodnefs of God to Mankind, in and through Jefus Chrift.
Extracted from Two late Authors.
BRISTOL:
Printed by W. Pine, for T. Mills, Bookfdler, in Wine-Street, 1775.
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■or 9 83 W
THE
Authors Preface.
A Great many perfons have Janciei Prayer and Devotion to be things fo very frightful and extraordinary , that they thought it was but in vain to labour to acquire them , defpairing ever to be able to compafs than. But as the difficulty which one apprehends to be in any thing maketh him defpair of being able to fuc- ceed in it, and at the fame timeflifleth his defire of undertaking it ; fo on the other hand, when one propofes to himjelf a thing as advantageous, and which is eafy to be obtained, he fets about it with pleafure, and carries it on with refolution : this is what hath obliged us to aifcover both the advan- tage and facility of this method. 0 ! were we but perfwaded of the infinite goodnefs of God toward his poor creatures , and of the defire that he hath to communicate himfelf to them, we Jhould not apprehend A 2 ' fuck
GOSbSS
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4 The Author's Preface.
fuch difficulties, neither Jhould zve fo eafily defpair to obtain a good which he defir eth fo earntjlly to give us.
After that he hath given us his only Son, and delivered him to the death for us. Rom. viii. 32. Row can he rejufe us any thing effe ? No fure- ly : IV e want but a little courage and perfeverance. We have fo much of both for our little temporal inter efts, and yet almofl none at all left for the one thing necefTary, Luke x. 42.
I am willing that fuch as have difficulty to believe, that ' tis eafy to find God in this manner, do not believe what is here told them : but let them make the experi-
ment of it, and then let them judge for themjelves, and they Jhall fee that there is but very little tcld them, in comparijon of what the thing really is. Read therefore, dearefi reader, this fmall Treat je with a Jimple and [metre heart, with childlike littlenefs and humility of [pint, and you'll find very muck good by it. Receive it with the fame [pint that we give it you, which is no other but to carry you wholly to God without rejerve. Our dtfign is
to
The Author’s Prejace. 5
to encourage the Jimple and the little ones to go to their Jather who loveth their humble confidence, and whom dij- trujl very much dypleafeth. Seek not for any thing in it but the love of God , and retain always a fincere defire of your falvation , and ye Jhall certainly find it.
lUe don't at all pretend to raife our opi- nion above that oj others , but we fincer e/y declare the experience we have had , both in ourfelvts and others, oj the advantage that there is to be found in the ufe of this plain and finiple manner of going to God. If we pafs by fever al things which are ef- teemed, and [peak only of the fiort and eajy method of prayer, it is becauje the treatife being intended only for this, it cant fo well treat of any thing elfe. ,
It is certain that wkofoever reads it in thefamefpirit in which it was written, will find nothing that's f locking or uneafy, they will be farther confirmed in the truth which it contains, would they but make a competent trial of it.
It bc/ongeth to thee, 0 bleffed JE- SUS ! who loveji /implicity, and who
A 3 takeft
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The Author's Preface.
takeft thy delights in being with the children of men, Prov. vii. 31, that is, with thoje amongjl men , , who are truly willing to become children : it bclongeth to thee, I Jay, to give the due value and efleem to this little work, by imprinting it on the heart, and inclining thoje who fiall read it, to fcek thee in their heart where thou defirejl to receive the mar ks of their love, and to give them the tejlimonies of thine. They deprive them] elves of the fe good things by their own fault. It is tfiy work , 0 thou God of love ! 0 thou filent WORD ! ’tis thy work to make thyjetf to be beloved, tajled, and heard. Thou canjl do it, and J am confident thou wilt do it to the foul that gives itfelf up to thee.
Glory be to thy name for ever.
A
CONTENTS
Page
M. Guion’j preface - 3
Se&ion I.
That all have ability to pray - 7
Seftion II.
Of the right manner of prayer - 13
Seftion III.
For thofe who cannot read - 20
Seftion IV.
Of the fecond degree of prayer - 26
Seftion V.
Of Jpiritual drinejfes - - 28
Seftion VI.
Of refgnation ■= - - 3 1
Seftion
CONTENTS.
Page
Seftion VII.
Offufferings - 35
Seftion VIII.
Of the myfteries of our redemption through Jefus Chrijl - - 38
Seftion IX.
Of virtue
Seftion X;
4i
Of mortification
Seftion XI.
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43
Of converfon
Se£tion XII.
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47
Of the prayer of God's fimple fence - *
Seftion XIII.
prc-
52
Of reft before God
Seftion XIV.
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60
Of the inward filence
Seftion XV.
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62
Of f elf examination: and of feffion
con -
65
Seftion
CONTENTS.
Page
Seaion XVI;
Of reading and of vocal prayers
- 7*
Seaion XVII.
Of petitions
-■ 72
Seaion XVIII.
Of defers or infirmities
• 74
Seaion XIX.
Of diflraElions and temptations
- 76
Seaion XX.
Of true prayer and adoration - 78
Seftion XXI.
That one a£ls more vigoroufly and more nobly by this manner of prayer than by any other - go Seaion XXII.
Of internal aEls - 101
Seaion XXIII.
An addrefs to pajlors and preachers 1 *4
Seaion XXIV.
What is the fafejl method to arrive at the divine union - - 124
Letter
CONTENTS.
Page
Letter I.
Madam Guion to Mr. B. of London 142 Letter II.
Madam Guion to Mrs. T. of London 155
Extra&ed from two late Authors.
1 Letter I.
Concerning a life truly Chrifiian 161
2 Letter II.
Defcribing fome of the temptations
which attends a life truly Chrijlian 1 77
3. A Discourse upon the unver- fal love and goodnefs of God to mankind in and through Jefus Chrifl - - - - 187
ERRATA.
Page 131, read after he addeth, that the perfon whofe works Jhall bt found ft to be burnt , Jhall be faved j yet Jo as by fre.
N. B. The Publisher is fenfible that there are feveral other errors of the prefs, as well as in the pun&uation, which he is perfuaded the Reader’s good fenfe will correct and candor pardon.
Madam Guion’s enemies made her Short and Eafy Method of Prayer , a pretext for her Persecution, Im- prisonment, and Exile. Vide fupplement to Lady Guion’s Life, page 269, and her Letters, No. 158, 159, &c. publilhed with the Dyfertation on Pure Love, written by the Archbishop of Cambrav.
A
Short and Eafy Method
O F
PRAYER.
Sect. I.
That all have ability to pray.
ALL men are capable of prayer \ and therefore his a dreadful unhappinefs that generally all per- fons almoft do imagine that they are not called to prayer. But we are all called to prayer, like as we are all called to falvation.
Praver
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A Short and Eajy
Prayer is no other tiling but the application of the heart to God , and the inward exercife of love. St. Paul enjoins us to pray without ceafing iTheff. v. 17. And our Lord faith I fay unto you all, watch and pray . Mark xiii. 33, 37. All then may pray, and all ought to pray. But I confefs, all cannot meditate, and that but very few are fitted for it. So it is not this prayer of me- ditation which God requires, nor which we defire of you, my dear- eft brethren, whofoever you be that would be faved. Come ye therefore every one to pray ; ye ought to live by prayer, as ye ought to live by love. 1 counfel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire , that you may be rich. Rev. iii. 18. It is mod eafy for you to obtain it, yea, more than you can imagine. Come allye that are alhirfi unto thefe living waters ; and don’t amufe yourf elves to hew out
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Method of Prayer. g
broken cijlerns that can hold no water. Jo. vii. 37. Jer. ii. 13. Come all ye hungry hearts, which find not any thing that can content you, and you fhall be fully fatisfi- ed. Come ye poor afflibfed ones, ye who are oppreffed with trouble and forrows, and ye fhall be com- forted. Come ye that are fick to your Phyfician, and fear not to ap- proach him becaufe you are weigh- ed down with maladies : lay open to him all your difeafes, and ye fhall be relieved. Come ye child- ren to your Father, and he will re- ceive you with the arms of love Come ye poor wandring and ftrag-. ling fheep, draw nigh to your Shep- herd. Come ye finners near to your Saviour. Come ye dull and ignorant ones, ye are all fit for prayer, even ye who think your- felves incapable thereof, are molt of all fitted for it. Come all of you
without
i o A Short and Eafy
without exception, JefusChrid cal- leth you all. Yet let not thofe who ate without an heart come, for they only are difpens’d from corning ; for there mud be an heart to love. But who is without an heart ? O come then and give this heart unto God ; and learn the manner of do- ing it. All who are willing to pray can eafily do it with the aflidance of the ordinary graces, and of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are common to all Chriltians.
Prayer is the key to fupreme bappinefs. It is theeffeHual means of delivering us from all vices, and of acquiring all virtues : for the great means of becoming perfect, is to walk in the prefence of God. This he faid himfelf. Walk in my prejence, and be perJeB. Gen. xvii. 1. 'Tis prayer alone that can give you this prefence, and that can give it you continually.
Therefore
Method of Prayer. 1 i
Therefore you mult learn a kind of prayer which can be made at all times, which doth not divert from outward bufinefs, and which prin- ces, kings, prelates, priefts, magif- trates, foldiers, children and la- bourers, women and lick perfons, may all perform. This is not the prayer of the head, but the prayer of the heart. It is not a prayer of thought only, becaufe the fpirit of man is fo bounded, that while he thinks on one thing, he can’t think on another ; but it is the prayer of the heart, which is not at all inter- rupted by all the occupations of the mind : nothing but irregular af- fe6tions can interrupt the prayer of the heart ; and ’tis almoft impof- fible for the foul which has once tailed God, and the fweetnefs of his love, to relilh any thing elfe i but him.
There’s nothing more eafy, than
to
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to have God, and to tafte (or de- light in) him. He is more in us than we ourfelves. He defires more to give himfelf to us, than we do to poffefs him. All confifts in the right manner of feeking him, which yet is fo eafy and fo natural, that the very air which we breathe is not more fo. And even you who think yourfelves fo dull, as that you are not good for any thing ; you (I fay) may live by prayer, and upon God himfelf, as eafily and as continually as ye live by the air which you breathe. Shall ye not then be highly criminal if ye don’t do it ? But doubtlefs ye will do it when ye fhall have learn- ed the way, which is indeed the |he eafieft that can be.
Sect. II.
Method of Prayer.
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Sect II.
i Of the right Manner of Prayer.
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II,
THERE arc two ways of in- troducing fouls into prayer, which they may and ought to ufe for a certain time. The one is, Meditation ; the other is, Meditation upon Reading.
Meditation upon Reading is noth- ing elfe, but to take fome weighty truths, which afford matter both for fpeculation and practice ; but efpeciallv for the latter, and to proceed in this manner. Fuji, You (hall take the truth, fuch as you are pleafed to chufe, and read two or three lines of it in order, that you may talte and digelt them, en- deavouring to draw out the juice B or
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orfubftance of them, and to keep fix’d to the place which you read, Jo long as you find any relijh in it, not pah- ling further till that place become infipid unto you.
Then you mull take as much more, and do juft the fame, not reading above half a page at a time : for it is not fo much the quantity of reading that is profitable, as the manner of reading. Hence thofe who run apace cannot improve by what they read, any more than the bees can draw out the juice of the flowers by flying over them, without refting upon them. To read much, ferves more for fchool -learning than for fpiritual knowledge : but to profit really by fpiritual books, they muft be read in the manner above expiefs’d; and I’m fure, that if any did fo, they would by read- ing gradually accuftom themfelves
to
Method of Prayer. i 5
to prayer, and become very much di (pos’d for it.
The other ( help to prayer) is, Me- ditation, which is performed in a Tea- fon fet apart for it, and not in the time of reading. I think it might be good to enter upon it in this manner. After having plac.edyour- felfinthe prefence of God. by an a6t of faith, you muft read forne- thing that’s fubftantial, and ftop gently upon it ; not that you may reafon, but only to fix your mind ; remembering that the principal ex- ercife ought to be the prefence of God, and that the fubjeci fhould ferve more to ftay your mind than to employ your reafon. A firm belief of God being pre- fent in the ground of our hearts, muft needs engage us to fink down into ourfelves, gathering all the thoughts inward, and hindering them B 2 from
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from being fcattered abroad; which is a powerful means of ridding us from a multitude of diftra&ions, and of removing us far from out- ward objefts, that we may ap- proach unto God, who cannot be found but in the inward ground of ourfelves, and in our centre, which is the Holy of Holies , where he dwells. Yea, he promifes that if any man do his will, he will come unto him and make his abode in him. Jo. xiv. 23. St. Auftin accufes himfelf for the time which he had loft, in not having at firft fought God after this manner.
When therefore any one is thus funk and introverted into himfelf, and throughly penetrated with a living fenfe of the divine prefence in his inward ground ; when the thoughts are all gathered up and retir’d from the circumference to
the
Method oj Prayer. 1 7
the centre ; which indeed is Torn e- what painful in the beginning, but afterwards becomes molt eafy, as I fliall fhew you hereafter. When I fay, the foul is thus recollected into itfelf, and when it is employ- ed fweetly and gently about the truth it hath read, not in reafon- ing much upon it, but in favouring and tailing it, and in exciting the will by aflfeflion, rather than in applying the underilanding by con- fideration : the affefction being thus iiirred up, we mail leave it to relt fweetly and in peace, that it may fwallow down what it has tail- ed: for fuppofe one fbould but chew an excellent bit, and indeed reliih it, yet if he did not forbear a little this motion, fo as to fwal- low it dowm, he could not be nou- rifhed by it. So in like manner, when the aft’eflion is moved, if we would go on to move it ft i 11 , we B 2 fbould
18 A Short and Eafy
fhould extinguifh its fire, and there- by deprive the foul of its food ; and therefore it muft necefiarily fwallow down what it hath chew’d and tailed, by a little repofe full of refpe£t and confidence. This method is moll neceffary, and would advance a foul more in a lit- tle while, than any other is capa- ble of doing in feveral years.