other words, that, as a righteous moral governor, he will make a
difference between the godly and the ungodly, the men who do, and the
men who do not, pray.

In this position it is assumed that there are certain relations, natural
or revealed, subsisting betwixt us and God, in virtue of which it is our
duty to acknowledge His dominion and our dependence, by supplicating the
aids of His providence and grace. That such relations do subsist between
God and man, is evinced alike by the light of Nature and of Revelation;
and they cannot be discerned or realized without immediately suggesting
the idea of certain corresponding obligations and duties. Every one
whose conscience has not been utterly seared must instinctively feel the
force of that appeal, "If I be a Father, where is mine honor? and if I
be a Master, where is my fear?" For, considering God in the very
simplest aspect of His character as the Creator and Governor of the
world, He stands related to us as the Author and Preserver of our
being, as our rightful Proprietor and constant Benefactor, as our
supreme Lawgiver, Governor, and Judge; and these _natural relations_,
apart altogether from the _supernatural_ which are revealed in
Scripture, are sufficient to lay a solid groundwork for "the duty of
prayer" in the case of every intelligent being who is capable of knowing
God, and acknowledging his dependence on the Divine will. In such a
case, prayer is felt to be a natural, fit, and becoming expression of
what is known to be true, and what _ought_, as a matter of duty, to be
practically avowed. Now, this is the grand design of prayer; and in its
real design, when that is rightly apprehended, it finds its noblest
vindication. The object of prayer is, neither to _inform_ God, as if he
were not omniscient, nor to alter His eternal purposes, as if He were
not unchangeable, nor to unsettle the established course of Nature, as
if He were not "a God of order;" but simply to acknowledge His
_dominion_ and our _dependence_, and to obtain from Him, in the way of
His own appointment, the blessings of which we stand in need.

It is not unreasonable to believe that God, as the Governor of the
world, will have some regard to the dispositions and actions of His
responsible creatures, as a reason for dealing differently with those
who own, and those who disown, His supremacy; and that He may require
the use of certain means, such as the exercise of prayer, with the view
of our ob