ecause hands and practices were polluted. You that
know no worship of God, but in such a solemn duty, your religion is summed
up and confined within the limits of temple worship, family exercise, and
prayer, certainly the rest of your conversation must speak more. God will
not hear but such as worship him and do his will, John iv. 23. Your prayer
is a dark parable, if your conversation expone(316) it not. This I speak
for this end, to put many of you out of your false ground of confidence.
You have nothing but your prayers to trust unto, and for your
conversation, you never go about it effectually to reform it, but go on in
that which you pray against. We declare unto you the truth, your prayers
are abomination, Prov. xxviii. 9. The wicked may have prayers, and
therefore think not to please God and flatter him with your mouths, when
your conversation is rebellion. Since you hear not him in his commands,
God will not hear you in your petitions, Prov. i. 24, 28. You stopped your
ear at his reproof, God will stop his ear at your request. If you will go
to heaven by your own righteousness, I pray you follow more after it, make
the garment more to cover your nakedness: the skirt of a duty is not
sufficient.

_Secondly_, When iniquity is regarded in the heart, and idols set up in
God's place, God will not own such a worship, but sendeth a man to the
idols he serveth, Psal. lxvi. 18; Ezek. xiv. 9, 4. Do you not often pray
to God against a corruption, when your heart cleaveth unto it, and what
your mouth saith, your heart contradicteth? Light and conscience often
extort a confession of beloved sins, while the temper of the heart hath
this language, Lord, grant not my request. And therefore, if there be a
prayer for pardon of guilt, yet there is no thorough resolution to quit
the sin; and as long as a soul is not resolved to quit the sin, there can
be no ingenuous confession of it, and no prayer for removing the guilt can
be heard. You cannot employ Christ in his office of mediatorship as a
Priest to intercede and offer sacrifice for sin, unless you as sincerely
employ him as a Sanctifier and Redeemer; and therefore prayer that
separateth Christ's offices, and calleth not on whole Christ, calleth not
on his name, for his name is Lord Jesus Christ. How can the Lord be
inquired of by such a one who cometh to mock him, putteth up an idol in
the heart, and yet prayeth against it, or some other sin, while he is not
resolved to quit it