The Spirit of Prayer

Nathaniel Vincent (1639-1697) was a nonconformist puritan divine. His colleagues called him "smart...brisk and well-rounded as a minister of the Gospel, holding a facetious and jolly humor, as well as being a considerable scholar." In this powerful work, Nathaniel Vincent explains the Christian duty of prayer and its security for the believer. Seeing prayer as a duty is somewhat simple. Seeing it as a security takes more study. Prayer is the Christian's security about which he should...
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Nathaniel Vincent (1639-1697) was a nonconformist puritan divine. His colleagues called him "smart...brisk and well-rounded as a minister of the Gospel, holding a facetious and jolly humor, as well as being a considerable scholar." In this powerful work, Nathaniel Vincent explains the Christian duty of prayer and its security for the believer. Seeing prayer as a duty is somewhat simple. Seeing it as a security takes more study. Prayer is the Christian's security about which he should be "always praying." But what does that mean as both a duty and as something that secures the Christian? In defining prayer, Vincent explains that it is a duty performed to God by sensible and believing souls, in which they ask for things according to his will, in the name of Christ, with thanksgiving for what already has been received. Here Vincent breaks down this precise definition which is taken from his text in Ephesians 6:18, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Vincent also explains the various parts of prayer, and gives insight into the importance of prayer through 6 doctrines he exegetes from Scripture. He concludes the book with a number of examples of how the Christian should pray for various aspects of the Christian walk: things like prayer which invokes the name of God; praying to confess sin; praying for the depreciation of punishment; praying for repentance and faith; praying for the working power of Christ and the Spirit in the life of the believer, along with perseverance, temporal mercies, and much more. This is not a scan or facsimile, and has been updated in modern English for easy reading. It also has an active table of contents for electronic versions.