"My son, give Me your heart." Proverbs 23:26
In all your closet-duties God looks first and most to
your hearts. It is not a piece, it is not a corner of the
heart, which will satisfy the Maker of the heart. The
very soul of prayer lies in the pouring out of the soul
before God. The heart is a treasure, a bed of spices,
a royal throne wherein He delights. God looks not at:
the elegance of your prayers, to see how refined they are; nor at
the geometry of your prayers, to see how long they are; nor at
the arithmetic of your prayers, to see how many they are; nor at
the music of your prayers; nor at
the sweetness of your voice; nor at
the logic of your prayers;
but at the sincerity of your prayers, how hearty they are.
The reason why so many are so unsuccessful in their
closet-duties and services, is because there is no more
of their hearts in them. No man can make sure work or
happy work in prayer but he who makes heart work on
it. When a man's heart is in his prayers, then great and
sweet will be his returns from heaven.
There is no prayer acknowledged, approved, accepted,
recorded, or rewarded by God—but that wherein the
heart is sincere.
Prayer without the heart is but as sounding brass or
a tinkling cymbal. Prayer is only lovely and weighty,
as the heart is in it, and no otherwise. It is . . .
not the lifting up of the voice,
nor the wringing of the hands,
nor the beating of the breasts,
nor an affected tone,
nor studied motions,
nor seraphical expressions;
but the stirrings of the heart, which God looks at in prayer.
God hears no more than the heart speaks. If the heart be
dumb, God will certainly be deaf. No prayer is accepted by
God—but that which is the travail of the heart.
Be the first to react on this!
Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680)
Much of what is known about Thomas Brooks has been ascertained from his writings. Born, likely to well-to-do parents, in 1608, Brooks entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, where he was preceded by such men as Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, and Thomas Shepard. He was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by 1640. Before that date, he appears to have spent a number of years at sea, probably as a chaplain with the fleet.After the conclusion of the First English Civil War, Thomas Brooks became minister at Thomas Apostle's, London, and was sufficiently renowned to be chosen as preacher before the House of Commons on December 26, 1648. His sermon was afterwards published under the title, 'God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright', the text being Psalm 44:18: 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way'. Three or four years afterwards, he transferred to St. Margaret's, Fish-street Hill, London. In 1662, he fell victim to the notorious Act of Uniformity, but he appears to have remained in his parish and to have preached as opportunity arose. Treatises continued to flow from his pen.[3]
Thomas Brooks was a nonconformist preacher. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He soon became an advocate of the Congregational way and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. In 1648 he accepted the rectory of St. Margaret's, New Fish Street, London, but only after making his Congregational principles clear to the vestry.
On several occasions he preached before Parliament. He was ejected in 1660 and remained in London as a Nonconformist preacher. Government spies reported that he preached at Tower Wharf and in Moorfields. During the Great Plague and Great Fire he worked in London, and in 1672 was granted a license to preach in Lime Street. He wrote over a dozen books, most of which are devotional in character. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.