Life of John Heskins 1

MEMOIR OF THE LATE MR. JOHN HESKINS. 

BY THE REV. T. F. NEWMAN.

John Heskins was bom at Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, on the 24th of November, 1778, and was descended, on the paternal side, from William Harding, one of the little band of praying men with whom the church at Shortwood originated. It was in his house that meetings were held for prayer, with occasionally a sermon, from 1707 to 1715, when they were removed to a little modest and unfinished structure on the site where, after three enlargements of the original building, tlic present large and substantial meeting-house was built in 1838. On taking possession of their humble sanctuary, thirteen persons united with each other in the fellowship of the gospel, and were formed into a church of Christ. When the foundation-stone of the present edifice was laid, our lamented friend made a public and affecting reference to his great-grandfather, abovementioned, in terms of honest and grateful satisfaction, avowing that he felt it to be a greater honour to have descended from an ancestor in humble station, who had been instrumental in planting a church of Christ, than if he could trace hack his lineage to nobility, or even royalty itself.
Mr. Heskins' father became a member of the church at Shortwood in the year 1752; he was chosen deacon about 1760, and held that office till his decease, May 2, 1813; liaving been a member of the church sixty-one years, and a deacon more than fifty years. He was a man of sterling piety, of inflexible steadiness of purpose, and uniformly secured the confidence and esteem of the church. It was his happiness to have been united with a few like-minded men in securing the services of Benjamin Francis, whose pastorate extended from 1758 to 1799 and under whose able and affectionate ministry, the little cause rapidly and steadily advanced. Mr. H.'s mother was an eminently devoted Christian, exceedingly useful m her day; and, even up to the present moment, there are those who kindle at her name, and delight to speak of her active benevolence, and the affectionate earnestness which she employed to commend the Saviour, and promote the interests of his cause.

From a very early age, the subject of this memoir was distinguished by sweetness of temper and susceptibility of feeling. At that period, these qualities greatly endeared him to his immediate relatives, who in riper years were equally attracted by his devoted attachment to his parents, and his warm and tender affection for sisters who could at once appreciate and return his love. It does not, however, appear that his heart was savingly impressed till he had nearly attained to manhood. Still, the instructions, the prayers, and the example of parents so distinguished for piety, were not without effect; for a sister, who survives him, well remembers that, while quite a child, he talked to her about the Saviour, telling her of his compassion while on earth, and presenting such a winning representation of his love as to make a strong impression on her mind.

But though in his eighth year he could thus speak of the Saviour, the days of childhood and youth passed away without witnessing his conversion to Ood. Others looked on him with hope; but, adverting to that period he himself says, "Though outwardly moral, my thoughts were big with the lusts of the flesh, and I felt hatred in my heart to the holiness of the law of God. I did not see the infinite evil of sin, nor the beauty of the way of salvation; nor did I perceive the absolute need of a God-man Mediator, to save sinners from the curse of the law. It is true I had convictions, but they were very few, and very transient; for sin being of such a hardening nature, the more I cherished it the more I was rooted in it, till at last I was brought to the verge of obstinate infidelity; so that at times I deemed the sacred word of God to be invented and written by uninspired men; and thus I trampled it under the feet of haughty pride and carnal self-sufficient reason."

It is well known to surviving friends, that at the period referred to in the above extract, his mind had been unsettled by the sophistries of deism; but, as the darkest moments arc those which immediately precede the dawn of day, so was it in his spiritual history. It pleased God at this crisis to remove by death one of his earliest friends and correspondents, Mr T Allsop, son of the respected Baptist minister of Culmstock, Devon. The reflections awakened by this event led to an earnest and faithful examination into his own state; and this work, in connexion with the counsels of Christian affection, and the statements of a searching and affectionate ministry, was blessed, not only to the defeat of an incipient scepticism, but to the surrender of his heart to God. To use his own words, "convictions that had been stifled before were revived; and I verily believe, that, under the influence of efficacious grace, they were made uncommonly useful in tearing away the thick bandage of delusion which before had covered the eyes of my mind. Thus was shown me the long black catalogue of my sins, and my awful state by nature; and the conviction was produced, that I should be utterly lost to all eternity, unless redeemed from my inexpressible load of guilt by the all-atoning blood of the I iamb of God." Thus was he brought to Christ. Speculations, fancies, the dictates of carnal reason, the sophisms of infidelity, all gave way before that discovery of sin, and that revelation of Christ, which his soul now received. In mercy to himself and the church which taught them, and counselled them, as a man knowing the vast importance of christian decision and consistency. In other instances lie caused himself to be conveyed to the scene of affliction, that he might tell yet once more of the precious Saviour, and speak of the unfailing consolations of religion. His last visit, which was less than a fortnight before his own decease, was to the bed-side of a dying friend, the relict of abrotlicr-dcacon who had been removed a few months previously. To her he presented the great truths which were the stay of his own soul, and dwelt on the joyful anticipations they might indulge in reference to that meeting in a better state which could not be far distant. She preceded him to heaven.

The last few days of his abode on earth were spent in quiet waiting for the hour of departure. No cares disturbed him—no shadow overhung his prospect —'' he knew in whom he had believed." For the church his affection remained in perfect strength, and in uninterrupted exercise; but no anxiety, even for " his beloved Sion," was now permitted to interfere with the unbroken repose of his soul. To his wife, to other much loved and long loved friends, he spake so cheerfully, and with such humble confidence, that to them it almost appeared a sin to lament his approaching death.

Obituary Sophia Heskins daughter of Benjamin Francis

The late Mrs. Sophia Heskins was born February 24, 1784, and was a daughter of that devoted servant of Jesus Christ, Benjamin Francis, who was pastor of the church at Shortwood from 1757 to 1799. There yet remain a few who remember the truly apostolic zeal of Mr. Francis, and the unction with which he preached " the unsearchable riches of Christ." Among the productions of his pen are some of the choicest of those hymns in which Christian truths are beautifully embodied, and Christian feeling most appropriately expressed: " Glory to the Eternal King," " My gracious Redeemer I love," "In sweet exalted strains," &c, &c. Towards the close of his career he was permitted to baptize his two daughters, Catherine Holbrow and Sophia. This happy event took place May 18th, 1798, and at the end of the following year his Master called for him, and he entered into rest.* The elder daughter became the wife of Mr. Thomas Flint, at that time assistant minister at Shortwood, and who, after the decease of his venerable father-in-law, succeeded to the pastorate. He finished his course at Weymouth, where the remembrance of his eloquent and faithful ministrations is still fresh and fragrant with the few of his friends and hearers who yet survive,  Mrs. Heskins, whose removal is now recorded, was united in marriage to Mr. John Heskins in the year 1802. A more suitable and happy connection could scarcely have been formed. Both had been born and nurtured in an atmosphere of piety, and all their early impressions were favourable to the formation of character, which must ever be valuable in the church of God. The writer would love to dwell on the excellences and the high qualifications of his once dear friend and counsellor—a man whose name cannot be mentioned in any circle where he was known without calling up the sincerest feelings of esteem and veneration. From their outset in domestic life, this admirable couple were not only helpmeets to each other in the ways of God, but they were eminently fellow-helpers to the truth. They had the fullest sympathy with each other in all good, and being without a family, they were enabled to give expression to their deep interest in the cause of Christ by unremitted exertions. Mr. H.'s father long held the office of deacon, with honour and usefulness, and the son, in the same office, became yet more honoured and useful than the father. During the later years of Mr. Winterbotham's pastorate, when that eminent servant of God was prevented by infirmity from engaging much in directly pastoral work, Mr. H., released from the cares of business, devoted himself almost exclusively to the service of the church, visiting the afflicted and the poor, with a heart full of love, and with a sound judgment, comforting, counselling, and in every way fulfilling the apostolic injunction, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." At the same time neighbouring churches were often indebted to him for gratuitous and most acceptable ministrations. Mr. H. finished his course October 17th, 1838.*

While giving herself heartily to every good word and work, Mrs. H. was specially devoted to the interests of the young. The Sabbath school was instituted in the year 1802, and from its commencement to the close of her days, it engaged her head, and heart, and hands. For many years, in connection with one who was sooner compelled to retire from active life, but who has not yet been welcomed home, our dear friend superintended the girls' school, and often has the writer' heard the expressions of grateful love from those who, no longer young, could recur with deepest interest to the days when they shared in her attentions, and rejoiced that their children were permitted to come under her care. Mrs. H. was not a person to do anything by halves, nor was she one of those who are guided rather by impulse than by principle —a class of persons whose zeal depends on external stimulants, and on whom no reliance can be placed in a dark and clouded day. She was not fitful, but firm. Her hold on any good cause was intelligent and hearty, and was sustained by reflection and prayer. This was very manifest in every department of Christian service, but especially in the Sabbath school. She never forgot those who had once shared an interest in her efforts and her prayers. In after life she would accost them as often as opportunities occurred. If they had not become followers of Christ, she renewed her attempts to gain their hearts for him. If they were numbered with his people, she had always an appropriate word of congratulation, counsel, or caution. It is impossible for the minister of Christ to know the full amount of usefulness with which his labours have been attended, and the same is true of those who heartily and perseveringly devote themselves * A memoir of Mr. Heskins appeared in the Magazine for February, 1840. to works of faith and labours of love. This will apply to the dear friend of whom we write. But "the day will declare it," that day when all secrets will be revealed, and when the Lord himself will own his servants, and receive them to his glory. Mrs. H. was an habitual and devout reader of the Scriptures, hence she derived her motives and her strength. She could say, "Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever; for they are the rejoicing of my heart." In her early days she had been taught to prize the word of God, and her love for it increased with advancing years. In the hours of deepest sorrow, when bowed down under the bereaving stroke which left her a mourning widow, she often quoted the lines — "Thy word, which I have made my choice, Shall cheer my darkest hours." When she had attained to ripeness of years and of Christian experience, she was invariably anxious to engage young Christians in the delightful aud profitable work of searching the Scriptures. She did that herself, not simply as a devout person, but with a keen sense of their beauty and fullness, and was ever delighted with such works as served to bring out those features of the word of God which an ordinary reader would scarcely look for. Indeed, while our departed friend cannot he described as a literary person in the ordinary sense of the term, she was a reader and an admirer of good books. Her mind was above the common level, and she discovered its superiority in the class of works which she preferred. And this prepared her to enjoy the conversation of the eminent men who delighted to visit the dwelling where the holy and happy couple resided. There, among others, Chalmers and Hall spent pleasant hours, and left with strong impressions of the Christian worth and dignity of its inmates. Beneath that roof ministers and missionaries ever found a hearty welcome and a congenial home; and our beloved friend was never more gratified than when she could show hospitality in the Saviour's name to the Saviour's friends, and especially to those who lived and laboured to "testify the gospel of the grace of God." It will be inferred from the foregoing remarks, that Mrs. H. was a truly valuable member of the church with which her connection extended over more than half a century. This may be ascribed, in a great measure, to the early adoption of settled views on religion, its doctrines, and its duties. For this she was indebted in no small degree to Mr. Winterbothani's ministry, which she enjoyed without interruption during the twenty-five years of his pastorate. Sound, judicious, talented, in the best sense of the term, as full of the pure gospel as it was free from eccentricity and extravagance, dealing fairly with the whole counsel of God, and rendered attractive by an affectionate manner and by an unusual knowledge of human nature, Mr. W.'s teachings were greatly blessed to the formation of character. The influence of such a ministry on one who was fully alive to its value, must have been considerable; and then her devotional habits, and her earnest and deep regard for the word of God, concurred to establish and ripen her principles. So, with a spirit eminently catholic and loving towards all, she was firm as a rock on every question touching the essentials of the faith. The church was her home, the friends of the Saviour were her friends. She was no trifler with the Sabbath, with the house of God, with the social gatherings of the saints. She had no sympathy with those who talk of profiting by a private reading of the Scriptures, instead of honour ing the ministry of the word or the meetings for prayer; nor did she think that time well spent in whicli other engagements were needlessly permitted to interfere with those of the sanctuary. It has been the privilege of the writer to have his hands sustained, and his heart comforted, by the steadfastness of those who, in advanced years, like our departed friend, were patterns in this respect to the younger members of the flock. And if in such a case we may apply the Almighty's words, " Them that honour tnc I will honour," may we not conclude that the eminence of their piety was the result of God's blessing on their fidelity in this respect, and that their everlasting joys will be proportionably enhanced. In a brief record like the present, it would be improper to attempt an analysis of character, and the writer will only add, that, in connection with the graces which commended her to the esteem and love of her fellow-Christians, Mrs. H. possessed those qualities which all can admire—public spirit as far as it may co-exist with feminine delicacy; a high sense of honour; integrity the most unbending; activity, unshrinking and untiring, in works of general benevolence. She did not deem it necessary to seclude herself from the haunts of men, or to refrain from the enjoyments of social life, or to profess indifference to the beauties and the glories of the visible creation. Her piety enabled her both to enjoy God in all things, and to commend her religion wherever she went. At length, in a good old age, it pleased her heavenly Father to call her to a more exalted fellowship than that which she had loved and enjoyed on earth. After an affliction, not long but very severe and distressing, she died serenely, and was for ever re-united to beloved ones who had gone before to the eternal mansions and to the presence of the Lamb. If holy aud unbroken peace, child-like acquiescence in the will of God, longings after perfect holiness, a loving, grateful, tender spirit, the sweetest and most perfect reliance on the sufficiency and immutability of Christ—if these qualities, in rich and beautiful combination, •prove a soul to be on the very confines of heaven, her sorrowing friends were right when they looked on the worn and faded form with high thoughts of the glory on which she was about to enter. Utterances few but expressive, intimated that all was well. And herein was the grand power of the Cross. At the Cross she became a Christian; near the Cross she lived; the transforming influence of the Cross she had experienced; and in a dying hour the Grots was everything. Often had she sung with delight:— "Oh! the sweet wonders of that Cross On which my Saviour loved and died! Her noblest life my spirit draws Prom his dear wounds and bleeding side!" And when death was laying his cold grasp upon that outer and visible form over which he was allowed to triumph, that "noblest life" in the soul, the pure immortal vitality, defying death and hell, and secure in union to its glorious Head, had only to ascend to the world of life above. She died May 3rd, 1857, but died to live for ever. "Thus star by star declines, Till all arc pass'd away; Ac morning high and higher shines To pure and perfect day j Nor sink those Btars in empty night,
But hide themselves in heaven's own light,'*

* A memoir of Mr. Francis, with the funeral sermon, by Dr. Ryland, attached to it, was published in 1800.
+ An obituary of Mr. Flint will be found in the Magazine for June, 1844.

Heskins Beddome connection

Further to the earlier statement that a Beddome son was apprenticed to John Heskins of Nailsworth, see this advertisement in the British Museum here. It is not entirely clear which Beddome son was involved. The Norton is Robert Norton 1744-1808, originally a clothier in Bristol.

John Heskins etc

In an article on The Morgans of Birmingham found here, F W Butt-Thompson says that John Heskins had a long connection with the Baptist Church at NaiIsworth. His son, John Heskins jr (1778-1838) married Sophia, daughter of Benjamin Francis, pastor at Nailsworth for 42 years. Sophia was born 1784. The marriage was childless. Both Heskins were Shortwwod deacons (Junior from 1807). Mary Francis died in her early twenties. Francis' other daughter, Catherine Holbrow Francis, married a minister, Thomas Flint (d 1819) who briefly succeeded his father-in-law, She lived to the age of 67. Flint's father, also Thomas, was an Ashford ironmonger.
Their son Abraham March Flint joined a Shortwood deacon (from 1816) Samuel Enoch Francis in the clothing business. he married his first cousin Lydia Jane Flint and they called their daughter Catherine Holbrow Flint. She married Thomas Mayow Newman, son of another successor of Francis' at Shortwood, Thomas Fox Newman, pastor 1832-1864.

He also says that an apprentice of John Heskins was one of the sons of Benjamin Beddome, of Bourton-on-the-Water.

Heskins, like his father before him, a clothier, was a deacon in Nailsworth. Heskins Senior served in that capacity for 50 years. The father at one time ran Nailsworth Mills.
John Heskins Senior (c 1731-1813). He married Hannah Horwood in 1755 and she died in 1772. No children are recorded from this marriage.
He then married Mary Bliss in 1775 and had four children - John junior, and three girls, Mary, Sarah and Hannah.
Hannah married Abraham Flint, brother of Thomas Flint and died of complications during her first pregnancy. He was a Shortwood deacon from 1816 and subsequently married Mary Shurmer. Her twin Hannah had married William Clissold (1779-1820) in 1802, yet another Shortwood deacon (from1816) who was a clothier. His father of the same name had been a deacon in the church too.
Sarah married Edward Barnard and had numerous children but the male line died with John. Clissold Junior had two sons who became deacons in due time.
Also see here.

Portrait

This portrait appears in the Evangelical Magazine 1796

Letter to Nephew Stephen Davis

Baptist Magazine Vol 16, 1824

Copy of an original Letter from the late Rev. Benjamin Francis, to the Rev. S. Davis of Clonmel, when a Youth of the Age of Twelve Years.

My dear young Nephew,

I take it kind that you have written to me, and am glad you write and spell so well. Be sure to learn the English Grammar, and always endeavour to speak and to write grammatically. Early and constant practice will render speaking, writing, and spelling correctly, easy and familiar to you, which will be very ornamental and commendable. Be determined to be a good English scholar. Read much; think more. You know not as yet of what great future advantage learning may be to you. But learning without virtue will only do you harm; above all things, therefore, seek the grace of God, and the kingdom of heaven. Let your prayer be, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Set the Lord always before you, Watch over your thoughts, words, and actions. Abominate hypocrisy, and every secret sin. Cultivate a humble, meek, placid, even, contented, loving, and benevolent disposition of mind, which is both amiable and beneficial. Be always very obedient to your parents. Hate all evil, love all moral good, and Oh! rest not without Christ in you the hope of glory.

You are the descendant of eminently pious ancestors; you are the child of many prayers; Oh be much in secret prayer! I shall rejoice to see you a good, a happy, and a useful member both of civil and religious society. Oh my dear S-, be a son of consolation to your affectionate parents, an honour to your relations, and an ornament to the Christian religion. God bless you with grace and glory!

My dear Stephen,

Your affectionate Uncle,

B Francis

Horseley, March 12, 1796

(Francis had a cousin in the ministry, Abel Francis and his eldest son, Jonathan Francis, was long a faithful minister. His son, Enoch Francis, became pastor of a Baptist church at Exeter. A second son, Nathaniel Francis, a pious and promising youth, died at 18. Two of Abel Francis's daughters were eminent Christians, and in prosperous circumstances. Another daughter married Rev. Stephen Davis, pastor of one of the Baptist churches in Caermarthen, who was also a man of considerable distinction in society as to wealth and influence. His grandson was the above Rev. Stephen Davis of Clonmel, Ireland, a missionary on behalf of the Irish Baptist Society.)

Michael Haykin on Benjamin Francis Part 3

See here

Part III. Benjamin Francis and prayer

In the archives of Bristol Baptist College there is an unpublished manuscript that records a precious friendship. It was between Benjamin Francis, whose ministry we have been exploring in Parts 1 and 2, and fellow Welshman Joshua Thomas (1719-1797), who was pastor of the Baptist cause in Leominster for forty-three years.

The manuscript is actually a transcript, drawn up by Thomas, of letters that passed between them from 1758 to 1770.

Questions and answers

The practice of Francis and Thomas appears to have been for one of them to mail two or three queries periodically to the other. Then, some months later, the recipient mailed back his answers, together with fresh questions of his own.

The recipient made comments on these replies, the new questions were answered, and both comments and answers were despatched along with new queries, and so on. All in all, there are sixty-eight questions and answers in two volumes – fifty-eight in the first volume, the remaining ten in Volume II.

Only once during the years from 1758 to 1770 was there a noticeable gap in correspondence. That was in 1765 when Francis lost his wife and his three youngest children.

It is noteworthy that at the beginning of the correspondence the two friends sign their letters simply with their names or initials. However, as time passes, their mutual confidence and intimacy deepens, and they begin to write ‘yours endearingly’ or ‘yours unfeignedly’ (even ‘yours indefatigably’ or ‘yours inexpressibly’!).

It was in October 1762 that Thomas first signed himself ‘your cordial Brother Jonathan’ and, in the following February, Francis replied with ‘your most affectionate David’. From this point on this is how the two friends refer to each other.

Instructive

The questions and their answers are extremely instructive, revealing the areas of theological interest among mid-18thcentury Calvinists. For instance, the question is asked: ‘When may a Minister conclude that he is influenced and assisted by the Spirit of God in studying and ministring [sic]the word?’ (Query 5).

Queries are raised about the eternal state of dead infants (Query 17, 22); how best to understand the remarks in Revelation 20 about the millennium (Query 18); and whether or not inoculation against smallpox, the dreaded killer of the 18thcentury, was right or wrong (Query 45).

A good number of the queries relate to what we would call ‘spirituality’. In 1763, for example, Francis asked Thomas: ‘Is private fasting a moral or ceremonial Duty? and consequently is it a duty under the gospel?’ (Query 43).

When Thomas sent his response, one of his questions in return was: ‘What are the best means of revival, when a person is flat and dead in his soul?’ (Query 47).

Other similar questions were asked: ‘How often should a Christian pray?’ (Query 44, by Francis); ‘When may a Christian be said to be lively and active in his Soul?’ (Query 48, by Francis); ‘Wherein doth communion and fellowship with God consist?’ (Query 55, by Thomas).

Let us look more closely at the questions and answers that relate to prayer.

Teach me to pray!

‘How often should a Christian pray?’ To this very vital question posed by Francis, Thomas has an extensive answer.

He deals first with what he calls the ‘ejaculatory kind’ of prayer – prayers that arise spontaneously during the course of a day’s activities. He then considers prayers offered during times set apart specifically for prayer (what a later generation of Evangelicals would call ‘the quiet time’).

Addressing his friend as ‘my Jona-than’ (a reference to the bond of fellowship between the Old Testament figures David and Jona-than), Francis confesses:

‘I wish all our Brethren of the Tribe of Levi were so free from lukewarmness, on the one hand, and enthusiasm, formality and superstition on the other, as my Jonathan appears to be.

‘I am too barren in all my Prayers, but I think mostly so in Closet prayer (except at some seasons) which tempts me in some measure to prefer a more constant ejaculatory Prayer above a more statedly Closet prayer, tho I am persuaded neither should be neglected.

‘Ejaculatory prayer is generally warm, free, and pure, tho short: but I find Closet prayer to be often cold, stiff or artificiall [sic], as it were, and mixt [sic] with strange impertinences & wandrings [sic] of heart.

‘Lord teach me to pray! O that I could perform the Duty always, as a duty and a privilege and not as a Task and a Burden!’

Smoke on a windy day

In another of Francis’ comments we find the same honesty and humility: ‘How languid my faith, my hope, my love! how cold and formal am I in secret Devotions!’ (Remarks on Thomas’ answer to Query 48).

These remarks surely stem from deep-seated convictions about the importance of prayer. Francis would undoubtedly have agreed with Thomas that a believer’s ‘Great and chief delight, his meat & drinke [sic], the life of his life’ is his ‘closet prayer and communion with God’ (Query 48).

Francis’ frank remarks also arise from his belief that because the Lord had led him to Christ at a very young age – and, in his words, ‘overwhelmed me with Joy by a sense of his Love’ – he should be more eager to pray out of a sense of gratitude.

Instead, he confessed, ‘A stupid, indolent, sensual or legal Temper sadly clog the Wings of my Prayers’ (Remarks on Queries 7-8, Volume II).

Thomas sought to encourage Francis by reminding him that ‘closet prayer [is like] the smoke on a windy day. When it is very calm the smoke will ascend and resemble an erect pillar, but when windy, as soon as it is out it is scattered to and fro, sometimes ’tis beaten down the chimney again and fills the house.

‘Shall I not thus give over? Satan would have it so, and flesh would have it so, but I should be more earnest in it.’

Francis sought to pray to God twice daily, but confessed that he had difficulty in following the discipline of a set time for prayer because he was away from home much of the time.

He also admitted that he had taken up ‘an unhappy Habit of Sleeping in the Morning much longer’ than he should. And this cut into valuable time for prayer. He did not try to excuse such failings.

How much has changed since Francis’ day – and yet how much remains the same! We have the same struggle with sin and poor habits that hinder our praying and devotion.

Answered prayers

In 1767 Thomas asked: ‘How may one know whether his Prayers are answered or not?’ (Query 2, Volume II). Thomas gives six brief answers:

‘By the removal of the evil pray’d against, or the reception and enjoyment of the good pray’d for.

‘By the peculiar and extraordinary circumstances that may attend the removal of the evil or the reception of the good: as the success of Abraham’s servant etc.

‘When one does not receive the Blessing pray’d for, but receives another, perhaps not thought of by him, yet more seasonable, needful and useful.

‘When he is assisted by the Spirit to pray, to pray in Faith, and to wrestle with God. His Prayer will then be answered, whether he perceives it or no, or whether he lives to see it or no, yea tho’ he does not receive the particular good he prays for.

‘When God meets, that is, revives and relieves him in prayer, that is a speedy way in which God answers the Prayer of his People. “I will not remove thy sore affliction, Paul, tho thou hast intreated me thrice; but my grace shall be sufficient for thee to bear it”. Thus God sometimes answers a Prayer with a Promise, but not the immediate Blessing.

‘In general one may conclude that God answers his Prayers, when he is made more Holy and resigned to the will of God, and enabled to persevere in all the Duties of Religion, and to rejoice in the God of his salvation.’

Fervent prayers

The last of these six answers is especially important. It displays the mature realisation that four of the most important things for which we can pray are: (1) growth in holiness; (2) unreserved commitment to God’s sovereign will over one’s life; (3) perseverance; and (4) a heart of joy in God.

When Francis died in 1799, it is noteworthy that what his close friends remembered most, in regard to his devotion, were his ‘fervent prayers’. Given what has been noted above, this would have surprised Francis, who felt his prayer life to be so full of faults and failings. This surely indicates that often a man is not the best judge of his spiritual strengths and weaknesses.