There are four things that provoke us to pray: first, the commandment of God; secondly, sin in us, which drives us, from necessity, to God for succour, life, and mercy; thirdly, our weak nature being unable to do any good, requires prayer to strengthen it, even as a house requires principal pillars for the upholding of it; fourthly the subtlety of the enemy (who privily lurks in the inward parts, waiting to overthrow us even in those things we think are best done) stirs us vehemently thereunto.

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