Thomas Goodwin on the Necessity of Illumination

“…no man’s or men’s private understandings, without the aid of that public secretary of heaven, can understand them…he only hid the treasures of knowledge in that field, and he only knows where they lie; what an advantage is it then by prayer to unlock God’s breast, obtain the key of knowledge that unlocks God’s study, and can direct to all his notes and his paper.” 

-Quoted from JI Packer, The Quest for Godliness