The second branch in the apostle’s directory for prayer follows, which hath respect to the kinds of prayer that are to be taken into the Christian’s exercise. As for the season, he must ‘pray always;’ so for the kinds of prayer, ‘with all prayer and supplication.’ Now, there is a double ‘all’ to be observed, as we shall make clear under two branches. First. There is all manner of prayer. Second. There is all matter of prayer.
‘All prayer’ is viewed as to diversity in manner
I shall begin with the first branch mentioned, viz. the modus orandi—the manner of praying: and that falls under several divisions, and distinctions. First. Prayer is sudden and ejaculatory, or composed and fixed. Second. That which is composed, is either solitary, or social—performed jointly with others. Third. Social and joint prayer is either private in the family or public in the church. Fourth. Solitary and social, private or public prayer, are either ordinary or extraordinary.
Prayer distinguished as ejaculatory or composed
First Distinction. Prayer is sudden and ejaculatory, or composed and fixed.
First. Sudden or ejaculatory prayer, which is nothing else but the lifting up of the soul to God upon a sudden emerged occasion, with some short but lively expression of our desires to him. Sometimes it is vocal, sometimes only groaned forth from the secret workings of a secret heart. These darts may be shot to heaven without using the tongue’s bow. Such a kind of prayer that of Moses was, which rang so loud in God's ear that he asked Moses, ‘Wherefore criest thou unto me?’ Ex. 14:15; whereas, we read of never a word that he spake. It was no season for Moses then to retire and betake himself to the duty of prayer, in a composed and settled way, as at other times he was wont, for the enemy was at his back, and the people of Israel flocking about him, murmuring and charging him with the guilt of blood, in that he had enticed them out of Egypt to fall into such a trap, wherein they expected no other than to lose their lives, either in the sea or by the Egyptians. This no doubt made Moses presently despatch his desires to heaven by the hand of some short ejaculation, the surest and quickest post in the world, which brought him back a speedy and happy return, as you may see, ver. 16.
Thus, Nehemiah also, upon the occasion of the king’s speech to him, interposeth a short prayer to God between the king’s question and his answer to it: ‘Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven, and I said unto the king,’ &c., Neh. 2:4. So soon was this holy man at heaven and back again—even in a trice —without any breach of manners in making the king wait for his answer. Sometimes you have the saints forming their desires into a few smart and passionate words, which fly with a holy force from their lips to heaven, as an arrow out of a bow. Thus old Jacob, when he was despatching his sons back again to Egypt, and had with the greatest prudence provided for their journey, by furnishing them with double money, and a choice present in their hand to appease the governor of the land, that now he might engage heaven on their side, he breathes forth into this ejaculatory prayer, ‘God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin,’ Gen. 43:14. And David, when intelligence came that Ahithophel was of Absalom’s council, let fly that dart to heaven, ‘O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness,’ II Sam. 15:31. This kind of praying David might mean when he saith, ‘Seven times a day do I praise thee,’ Ps. 119:164. Not as if he had seven set hours for this duty every day, as the Papists would have it, to countenance their seven canonical hours, but rather a definite number is here put for an indefinite. And so it amounts to no more than this—he did very often in a day praise God, his holy heart taking the hint of every providence to carry him to heaven on this errand of prayer and praise.
Now, to despatch this kind of prayer, I shall only, first, show why the Christian, beside his stated hours for prayer, wherein he holds more solemn commerce with God, should also visit God occasionally, and step into his presence over and anon—whatever he is about—with these ejaculatory breathings of his heart; for this is a kind of prayer that needs not interrupt the Christian, nor break any squares in his other enjoyments. Is he on a journey? He may go to heaven in these short sallies of his soul, and make no less speed in his way for them. Is he in the field at work? His plough needs not stand still for this. As the meadow is not the worse for what the bee sucks from its flowers, so neither doth a man’s worldly occasions suffer any loss from that spiritual improvement which a gracious soul thus makes of them.
