Focus in our prayers

 How shall we remedy our wandering thoughts in prayer?

1. We must wait upon Him for the power of His grace, As long as His love and grace are powerful in us, we are kept in a lively, heavenly frame. As this abates, the soul swerves, and returns to vanity and sin.
2. Meditate upon the greatness of God. It is of great consequence with Whom we are dealing. O if you could see Him that is invisible, you would have more reverence! Imagine yourself in heaven in the midst of the blessed angels standing before the all-seeing God. O with what reverence, with what fear, should a poor worm creep into His presence!
3. Seek to mortify the lusts that are apt to draw away your minds. What thoughts are we pestered with when we come to God? One vile affection will hinder our praying.
4. Prepare for prayer. Take note of the impediments that distract you, and put off carnal distractions. Resolve to shut your heart against God's enemy and direct it only to God.
5. Focus on our purpose. Watch against the first temptation to divert our attention no matter how reasonable it seems. The devil's policy is to cheat us of the present duty by an unseasonable distraction. He does not begin by casting in a thought of blasphemy; that would make us quake and shake. He begins with reasonable thoughts. Be careful to avoid them. Do not even dispute with the diversion, but despise it.
6. Develop spiritual affections and you will find it more delightful to converse with God. Is there any better company than God's when we seek our souls' good?
7. Consider the weight of responsibility. Are you not dealing with life and death issues?
8. Promote solemn meditation in the things of God. As a man entertains truth in his heart, he will be ready in word and affection to avoid frequent distractions.

  Thomas Manton, Puritan Sermons 1659-1689, I:410-415

Found in Voices From The Past: Puritan Devotional Readings, 

Ed. by Richard Rushing, 9 July, p.191

On Faith

 "Faith will suck sweetness out of God's rod; but unbelief can find no comfort in His greatest mercies." - John Bunyan

On Prayer

 "Pray often; for prayer is a shield for the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.

Prayer is as a pitcher that fetches water from the brook, to water the herbs; break the pitcher and it will fetch no water, and for want of water the garden withers." - John Bunyan

Satan and the Highway to Hell

 "Ignorance is the mother of mistake, the cause of trouble, error, and of terror; it is the highway to hell, and it makes a man both a prisoner and a slave to the devil at once." - Thomas Brooks

Vanity of vanities

 "The world is much better in show than in substance." - Ezekiel Hopkins

Note on Contentment

 "When we are not content with what God has given us, we will fall into sin." - Tabletalk magazine, 3/21/2024

Invincible Ignorance

 Willful ignorance will defend its position with vehemence and a level of vigor that it refuses to apply to understanding the truth.

The Puritan Practice of Sanctification

 Here are "several elements of the Puritan approach to living in Christ by faith:

• Believers Must Pursue Trinitarian Likeness to the Triune God

Believers are first, to imitate the character of God the Father by walking in love (Eph. 5:1; 1 John 4:16).

Second, ... to conform to the image of Christ ... 

Pursuing Christlikeness is not a condition of salvation but a fruit of it.

Third, ... to submit to the mind of the Spirit as revealed in the Scriptures,

• Believers Must Practice Both Mortification and Vivification

Mortification means continually pursuing to death every form of sin.

Vivification is the quickening or bringing to life, of the new nature we have received from God.

We must not only seek to kill sin; we must also seek to do the will of God. We must conform our lives to the standards God has given.

It is essential to balance mortification and vivification in our lives.

• Believers Must Diligently Use the Means of Grace

Without the Scriptures, it is impossible to be sanctified (John 17:17).

To disregard the Word of God is to disregard God's directions on how to become sanctified.

To neglect or set aside the Scriptures in pursuit of sanctification promotes moralism, legalism, or vain efforts at self-improvement.

Holiness takes planning, hard work, and prayer.

'You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.' - John Bunyan

• Believers Should Practice Holiness in Their Daily Vocations

Holiness does not mean leaving the busy world for a life of solitude, but engaging in business in this world with Christian wisdom, diligence, justice, truth, contentment, and constant devotion to God.

• Believers Should Focus on the Benefits of Sanctification

'What health is to the heart, that holiness is to the soul.' - John Flavel

• Believers should Remember That God Uses Holiness to Fit Them for Heaven

If you show no interest for holy living now, you will show no interest for it in the life to come.

God saves us to live in Christ and to walk in holiness."

From A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life, Joel R. Beeke & Mark Jones, Ch. 33, pp.531-35.