natural temper is a manifestation of the desire and prayer of the heart, and shews us, how it works and wills. And as the heart worketh, and willeth, _such_, and no other, is its prayer. All else is only _form_ and _fiction_, and empty beating of the air. If therefore the desire of the heart is not habitually turned towards God, we are necessarily in a state of prayer towards something else, that carries us from God. For this is the necessity of our nature; pray we must, as sure as we are alive; and therefore when the state of our heart is not a spirit of prayer to God, we pray _without ceasing_ to some or other part of the creation. The man whose heart habitually tends towards the riches, honours, powers, or pleasures of this life, is in a _continual_ state of prayer towards all these things. His spirit stands always _bent_ towards them; they have his hope, his love, his faith, and are the many gods that he worships: And tho’ when he is upon his knees, and uses forms of prayer, he directs them to the God of heaven; yet these are in reality the gods of his heart, and in a sad sense of the words, he really worships them in spirit and in truth. Hence you may see how it comes to pass, that there is so much praying, and yet so little true piety amongst us. The _bells_ are daily calling us to church, our _closets_ abound with _manuals_ of devotion, yet how little fruit! It is all for this reason, because our prayers are not _our own_; they are not the abundance of _our own_ heart; are not _found_ and _felt_ within us, as we feel our own hunger and thirst; but are only so many _borrowed forms_ of speech, which we use at certain times, and occasions. And therefore it is no wonder that little good comes of it. What benefit could it have been to the _Pharisee_, if, with an heart inwardly full of its own pride and self-exaltation, he had outwardly hung down his head, smote upon his breast, and borrowed the _Publican_’s words, _God be merciful to me a sinner_? What greater good can be expected from our saying the words of _David_, or singing his psalms seven times a day, if our heart hath no more of the spirit of _David_ in it, than the heart of the _Pharisee_ had, of the spirit of the humble _Publican_? _Academicus._ O _Theophilus_, I consent to what you say; and yet I am afraid of following you: for you seem to condemn forms of prayer in public, and _manuals_ of devotion in private.