"And partly, because a man will not be fit to pray in public and in company, which doth not often pray in secret: he will lose his savour and delight in this exercise, and soon grow dry, barren, sapless, and careless of God. Look, as in the prophet Ezekiel, you read there that the glory of the Lord removed from the temple by degrees : it first removed from the holy place, then to the altar of burnt-offerings, then to the threshold of the house, then to the city, then to the mount which was on the east side of the city ; there the glory of the Lord stood hovering a while, as loth to be gone, to see if the people would get it back again ; this seems to be some emblem and representation of God's dealing with particular men. First, God is cast out of the closet, private intercourses between God and them are neglected; and then he is cast out of the family, and within a little while out of the congregation; public ordinances begin to be slighted, and to be looked upon as useless things; and then men are given up to all profaneness and looseness, and lose all: so that religion, as it were, dieth by degrees, and a carnal Christian loseth more and more of the presence of God. And, therefore, if we would be able to pray in company, we must often pray in secret." - Thomas Manton, English Puritan Preacher, page 17 of his "Exposition of the Lord's Prayer," from his complete works.
Pilgrim Pastor... "Lord, teach me how to pray."
