Now we come to a conclusion. A word to those who habitually take the lead in social prayer, to those who are silent worshippers, and to those who have little or no regard to prayer, whether secret or social, shall conclude this discourse.

a. To those who habitually take the lead

It is evident from what has been said that when anyone appears as the instrument of an assembly (the one leading in prayer) to present their united requests to God, the situation in which he stands is peculiarly solemn. Of this, I trust, not only my brethren in the ministry now present, but many others in this congregation have been long aware; and yet perhaps none of us have realized the fact as we ought. Is a minister of Christ under indispensable obligations, when expounding the divine oracles, to be conscientiously cautious that he do not misinterpret and misapply the language of God to men? And is he not bound to be cautious of misrepresenting the character and state, the wants and supplies, the fears and the hopes, the sorrows and the joys of his fellow-men, when unitedly speaking to God, that those who are devout in the exercise may feel their interest, more or less, in all he expresses? Besides, voluntarily and professedly to appear before the divine Majesty, guilty, corrupt, and unworthy as we are; to approach Him in Whose presence those morning stars, those children of light and love, the seraphim, veil their faces and cover their feet (Isaiah 6:1-4); to draw near to Him, though as on the throne of grace, and by the blood of Jesus, Who is a consuming fire; to address Him in prayer, not as a detached individual, but as presenting the confessions, requests, and thanks of the whole assembly; as directing the intercessions of each worshipper in the congregation, for all the churches of Christ upon earth, for the civil government under which we live, for the millions of our fellow mortals that lie in wickedness; and all this with a view to the united and solemn amen of the whole assembly must constitute a situation that is very solemn and very important. So solemn and so important is it as justly to excite similar feelings with those of the revering patriarch when he said, “How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Genesis 28:17). Surely, then, my ministering brethren, whenever thus employed, we must stand in the greatest need of grace or of divine influence that we may serve God acceptably and be the happy means of exciting, promoting, inflaming devout affections in the hearts of all those who unite with us!

Yes, my brethren, we in a particular manner are under the overwhelming necessity of having divine assistance in the sacred service lest, in leading the public devotion, we should sink into habitual formality, lest we should be contented with employing our gifts in prayer as ministers without exercising our graces in prayer as Christians. For dreadful is the state of that minister who is not much on his guard in this respect, because the frequent recurrence of seasons for conducting social prayer, not only in public, but also in his own family, in the families of his friends, and when visiting the sick, has through natural depravity a tendency to produce an unhallowed familiarity with prayer and with God - a familiarity without self-abasement, without faith, without fervor, and without delight.

My brethren will not be offended if I should add: There is great reason to suspect and to mourn over the suspicion that the inattention and formality in our assemblies, when we are leading their devotion, are too often partly owing to our own want of deep solemnity, of holy ardor, and of spiritual savor in the exercise. Though daily constrained to lament the lack of more spirituality in our secret devotions and bound to labor for it, we should be still more solicitous in public prayer, when leading the worship, to possess a large degree of clearness in our conceptions; of reverence in our adorations; of self-abasement in our confessions; of earnestness in our petitions; of gratitude in our thanksgivings; and of sacred unction through the whole, because the devotion of many others is much concerned, on such occasions, in the apparent frame of our hearts; in the language of our lips; and, perhaps, on reflection, in our example.

Nor is it, under God, of small importance to our usefulness, when officiating as the mouth of a congregation in prayer, that the rectitude of our conduct and the piety of our character be unimpeached and unsuspected by those who are present and should add their solemn amen. For if the conduct of a minister be stained by known immorality or his religious character be considered as doubtful, those who unite with him, whatever appearance of devotion there may be in prayers, will probably have many unpleasing thoughts at the time arise in their minds respecting him that will greatly interfere with a devotional frame.

Of all the religious professors on earth, none have so many powerful motives to holiness of heart and life; to spirituality and heavenly-mindedness; or to lead the exercises of social supplication with deep elevation, as a minister of the Word. For as to suitable petitions in prayer the habitual dispositions of any man’s heart and the tenor of his conduct ought always to be in complete unison; so should it be in a more especial manner with regard to a professed minister of Christ. Because whether he stand up in a congregation to interpret the divine oracles or to be the mouth in prayer, he should appear and be recognized as a “man of God” (1 Timothy 6:11), much more venerable for his Christian character than for his ministerial office. The former being permanent and stamping his destiny for eternity, the latter transient, and may be annihilated in a moment. How it is with you, my ministering brethren, I do not know; but as to myself, when reflecting on the numerous obligations under which I am to be entirely devoted to God, and on the multiplied motives I have to exemplary holiness and heavenly-mindedness - motives arising from my Christian profession, my public ministry, my pastoral office, my hoary hairs, and from a vast variety of other sources - my own sermons reprove me; my daily prayers reprove me; and I feel myself deeply convicted before God. Were it not, therefore, for that relief which is administered by the atonement and intercession of Jesus Christ, I should be utterly confounded. I should sink in despair.

It is much more common, I presume, for ministers to be embarrassed by timidity when they appear before certain characters among their fellow-worms to discuss an article of doctrine, of privilege, or of duty than when, as the mouth of an assembly, they professedly appear at a throne of grace before the heart-searching God. But whence - if the foregoing particulars be maturely considered - whence can this proceed, in any of us, except from our carnality, our official pride, and our forgetfulness of the divine presence in which we stand? Alas! Alas! My brethren, we are too frequently, though often insensibly, much more apprehensive of not obtaining that honor which cometh from men and is usually attached to learning and eloquence - to a lively imagination and strong reasoning powers in preaching - than we are of not approving ourselves to God by the exercise of repentance and faith, of reverence and spirituality in prayer. But, as an apostle says on another occasion, “These things ought not so to be” (James 3:10).

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