Page:Three Books of Occult Philosophy (De Occulta Philosophia) (1651).djvu/578

 named: further, they which use witchcraft, kill trees by praising them, & thus do hurt sown Corn and children: moreover they say that there is so great power in mans execrations, that they chase and banish even wicked spirits: Eusebius declareth that by this means Serapis amongst the Ægyptians, did publish short sentences, by the which devils were expelled, and he taught also, how devils having assumed the forms of brute beasts, do ensnare men: To conclude, in all businesses, put God before your eyes, for it is written in Deuteronomie, When you shall seek the Lord your God, you shall find him. Whence we read in Mark, That whatsoever ye shall desire and pray for, believing that you shall receive it, it shal come to pass for you; and in Matthew, If you shall have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible for you; also the fervent prayer of a righteous man prevaileth much, for Elias (as James saith) was a man like unto us, subject unto passions, and he prayed earnestly, that it might not rain upon the earth, and it rained not in three yeers and six moneths; and again he prayed, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit: but take heed in your prayers, least that you should desire some vain thing, or that which is against the will of God; for God would have all things good: neither shalt thou use the name of thy God in vain, for he shall not go unpunished, who taketh his name for a vain thing: be abstemious and give alms, for the Angel saith to Tobiah, prayer is good with fasting and alms; and we read in the book of Judith: Know ye, that the Lord will hear your prayers, if ye shall persevere in fastings and prayers in his sight.

Chapter lxv. The Conclusion of the whole Work. These are