Page:Sermons for all the Sundays in the year.djvu/202

 2. But He always hears the prayers of the humble: "The prayer of him that humbleth himself pierceth the clouds; and he will not depart till the Most High behold." (Eccl. xxxv. 21.) David says, that "The Lord hath had regard to the prayer of the humble." (Ps. ci. 18.) The cry of the humble man penetrates the heavens, and he will not depart till God hears his prayer. "You humble yourself," says St. Augustine, ”and God comes to you; you exalt yourself, and he flies from you." If you humble yourself, God himself comes, of his own accord, to embrace you; but, if you exalt yourself, and boast of your wisdom and of your actions, he withdraws from you, and abandons you to your own nothingness. 3. The Lord cannot despise even the most obdurate sinners, when they repent from their hearts, and humble themselves before him, acknowledging that they are unworthy to receive any favour from him. ”A contrite and humble heart, God, thou wilt not despise." (Ps. l, 19.) Let us pass to the other points, in which there is a great deal to be said. Second Point. We must pray with confidence. 4. “No one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded." (Eccl. ii. 11.) Oh! how encouraging to sinners are these words! Though they may have committed the most enormous crimes, they are told by the Holy Ghost, that ”no man hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded." No man hath ever placed his trust in God, and has been abandoned. He that prays with confidence obtains whatever he asks. “All things whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you." (Mark xi. 24.) When we pray for spiritual favours, let us have a secure confidence of receiving them, and we shall infallibly obtain them. Hence the Saviour has taught us to call God, in our petitions for his graces, by no other name than that of Father ( Our Father), that we may have recourse to him with the confidence with which a child seeks assistance from an affectionate parent. 5. Who, says St. Augustine, can fear that Jesus Christ, who is truth itself, can violate his promise to all who pray to him? "Who shall fear deception when