1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:03,200 Many of us are working very hard to keep in shape physically. 2 00:00:04,320 –> 00:00:07,440 And over these Sunday mornings, we’re taking a look at what 3 00:00:08,160 –> 00:00:12,480 it takes to keep in good spiritual shape. What does that look like, 4 00:00:13,440 –> 00:00:19,120 and what kind of exercises are we needing to do to keep our inner lives, our souls, 5 00:00:19,760 –> 00:00:25,360 in good shape? Because that is going to be something that ultimately is of far greater 6 00:00:25,360 –> 00:00:33,360 importance even than the condition of our body. Jude, the writer just before the book of Revelation 7 00:00:33,360 –> 00:00:39,520 at the end of the New Testament, gives us seven workouts for a healthy Christian life. 8 00:00:39,520 –> 00:00:44,400 And we’re following them together. Last time we saw the first, that we’re to build ourselves 9 00:00:44,400 –> 00:00:49,439 up in our most holy faith. We do that by giving thanks for the faith that you have, affirming 10 00:00:49,439 –> 00:00:55,520 your faith, exercising your faith, and feeding your faith on Jesus Christ. I’ve found that I’ve 11 00:00:55,520 –> 00:01:02,000 needed that workout in my own life in the last week. I’ve used it, found it very helpful. 12 00:01:02,000 –> 00:01:06,400 Now today we’re going to come to the second workout, and you find it in the letter of Jude 13 00:01:06,400 –> 00:01:12,720 just before the book of Revelation, just one very short letter. And they’re in verse 20. Jude, verse 14 00:01:12,720 –> 00:01:22,559 20, pray in the Holy Spirit. Now I think that there are many of us this morning who would say, 15 00:01:22,559 –> 00:01:30,160 you know I’m doing okay in some areas of my Christian life. But when it comes to this whole 16 00:01:30,160 –> 00:01:38,080 business of prayer, I really feel that I’m terribly out of shape. I spoke last week about the value 17 00:01:38,080 –> 00:01:47,519 of an occasional conversation with a pastor about where your spiritual life is, and on the many 18 00:01:47,519 –> 00:01:54,160 occasions when I’ve had the opportunity just to have a no agenda kind of discussion like that, 19 00:01:54,160 –> 00:02:00,720 I have used a little discussion starter tool that we’ve developed. There’s half a dozen envelopes, 20 00:02:00,720 –> 00:02:05,919 and when someone comes in and sits down for a discussion like this I say to them, 21 00:02:06,000 –> 00:02:08,960 we’ve got an hour to talk, we can talk about anything you want to talk about. 22 00:02:09,839 –> 00:02:13,679 But if there’s nothing particularly in your mind maybe you’d like to choose one of these 23 00:02:13,679 –> 00:02:18,320 questions, and there’s a question on the front of each of these six envelopes. And they’re 24 00:02:18,320 –> 00:02:22,399 questions about faith, and about spiritual growth, and about prayer, and about worship 25 00:02:22,399 –> 00:02:27,839 and service, and so forth and so on. Now I would say that fully half of all the people that I’ve 26 00:02:27,839 –> 00:02:33,199 sat down and spoken with one-on-one picks one envelope, and it has a question on the front 27 00:02:33,199 –> 00:02:39,440 that simply says this, how would you describe your prayer life? And about half of all the 28 00:02:39,440 –> 00:02:44,479 folks who have sat down with me, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with them, over past months, 29 00:02:46,160 –> 00:02:50,160 have chosen that question and said, pastor, if I’ve got an hour to talk with you I’d like to 30 00:02:50,160 –> 00:02:57,679 talk about this. I would like to talk about where my prayer life is. Now inside the envelope, 31 00:02:57,679 –> 00:03:01,520 when we open it up, having decided that that’s what we’re going to spend the time talking about, 32 00:03:02,320 –> 00:03:08,320 there are a number of different cards. Each card has one word on it. The question is how would 33 00:03:08,320 –> 00:03:13,199 you describe your prayer life, and inside are various words, some of them are positive, 34 00:03:13,199 –> 00:03:18,559 some of them are negative, some a little bit in between, and folks are invited just to sort out 35 00:03:18,559 –> 00:03:24,720 which word would best describe your prayer life as it is right now. I’ll tell you the two words 36 00:03:24,720 –> 00:03:30,720 that by far and away are most often picked up, and folks will say, I think this is where I’m at. 37 00:03:32,160 –> 00:03:40,880 The first word is irregular and the second word is aimless, and it’s been my great 38 00:03:40,880 –> 00:03:46,320 privilege to be able to sit and to talk about where you go from there if you feel that that’s 39 00:03:46,320 –> 00:03:54,000 the reality of your prayer life. So, I think therefore that there is a great hunger among 40 00:03:54,960 –> 00:04:01,440 congregation to know more of what it means to pray in the Holy Spirit. 41 00:04:02,399 –> 00:04:07,199 See, sooner or later everybody prays. Someone has put it, there are no 42 00:04:07,759 –> 00:04:14,880 atheists in foxholes. And you may think that you can get through your life without God, 43 00:04:14,880 –> 00:04:19,200 but sooner or later you will come to a situation in which you will want to say, 44 00:04:19,200 –> 00:04:25,279 oh, God help me. The first question then, of course, is going to be, which God? 45 00:04:26,640 –> 00:04:32,720 Well, you say, well, there’s surely only one God. Yes, but who is he? How can we know him? 46 00:04:34,079 –> 00:04:38,720 Now, some people say, in answer to that question, well, you know, God is whoever you think him to 47 00:04:38,720 –> 00:04:45,679 be. The trouble with that is that if God is whoever you think him to be, then when in 48 00:04:45,679 –> 00:04:52,559 your foxhole you pray, you are actually praying only to whoever you think about in your own mind, 49 00:04:52,559 –> 00:04:56,640 in other words, who you have made up, a figment of your imagination, and there is 50 00:04:56,640 –> 00:05:01,119 therefore no objective reality to correspond to the one to whom you call. 51 00:05:02,880 –> 00:05:12,000 What we’re saying, what the Bible is saying, is that there is indeed one God and you can know him 52 00:05:12,959 –> 00:05:20,880 because he has made himself known to Abraham and to Moses and to the prophets and supremely in 53 00:05:20,880 –> 00:05:29,440 Jesus Christ. You can come to know him and you can speak not to some figment of your imagination 54 00:05:29,440 –> 00:05:38,399 but God as he is and there is no greater privilege that a man or a woman can know in this life. 55 00:05:38,399 –> 00:05:45,040 Let me make three foundational statements about Christian prayer, and then we’re going to get 56 00:05:45,040 –> 00:05:50,799 into the second work out with some practical steps as to how you can grow in what it means 57 00:05:50,799 –> 00:05:58,959 to pray in the Holy Spirit. First, true prayer, if we’re to understand it aright from the bible, 58 00:05:58,959 –> 00:06:06,880 is prayer directed to God the Father. Now, someone sent me quite unsolicited just this week— I don’t 59 00:06:06,880 –> 00:06:13,119 know who it was, but I was grateful for it—someone sent me a magazine from a famous and wonderful 60 00:06:13,119 –> 00:06:21,279 hospital. It had an article on the front page about spirituality and healing, and the hospital 61 00:06:21,279 –> 00:06:32,399 chaplain wrote about the value of quote, ”prayer to God, or to a higher power.” Now, we hear that 62 00:06:32,399 –> 00:06:37,119 kind of language, you must have heard that phrase many times, ”prayer to God or to a higher power.” 63 00:06:37,119 –> 00:06:42,720 I heard it Larry King several times in the last month. It’s almost universal language in our 64 00:06:42,720 –> 00:06:48,880 culture. To God, or to a higher power. What I want you to understand from the Bible today 65 00:06:49,679 –> 00:06:57,440 is that there is all the difference in the world between these two things. You see, there are many 66 00:06:58,000 –> 00:07:04,799 powers in the spirit world. The Bible makes that very clear. Jesus Christ, we’re told, is seated 67 00:07:04,799 –> 00:07:14,799 above angel’s authorities, with powers in submission to him. In fact, the prophet Isaiah 68 00:07:14,799 –> 00:07:23,279 in the Old Testament tells us about a day when God will deal with the higher powers. Look at this 69 00:07:23,279 –> 00:07:31,760 verse from Isaiah chapter 24, in verse 21. In that day, the Lord, four capital letters, because this 70 00:07:31,760 –> 00:07:38,799 is the name of the God who reveals himself in the Bible, the Lord will punish the powers in 71 00:07:38,799 –> 00:07:45,040 the heavens. He’ll punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. 72 00:07:45,040 –> 00:07:50,480 Now, that’s a very clear statement, isn’t it? There are other higher powers, and one day God 73 00:07:50,480 –> 00:07:56,640 will punish them. To read on Isaiah’s words, he says, they, the powers, will be herded like 74 00:07:56,640 –> 00:08:01,440 prisoners, bound in a dungeon. They’ll be shut up in a prison and punished after many days, 75 00:08:01,440 –> 00:08:07,760 for the Lord Almighty will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before its elders gloriously. 76 00:08:07,760 –> 00:08:16,720 Now, if that is the ultimate destiny of the higher powers, we have no business praying to them 77 00:08:17,440 –> 00:08:22,799 or associating with them. Why would you want to pray to a power that God will one day judge? 78 00:08:25,760 –> 00:08:32,239 Whatever temporary help the higher powers may be able to give to you now, 79 00:08:32,799 –> 00:08:36,320 they are under the condemnation of God, the Bible says, 80 00:08:36,960 –> 00:08:40,400 and you do not want to be identified with them in any way. 81 00:08:42,320 –> 00:08:46,159 Now, that will be something worth your while remembering next time someone talks to you about 82 00:08:46,159 –> 00:08:54,960 praying to God or a higher power. True prayer is directed to God the Father. 83 00:08:56,400 –> 00:09:03,440 Secondly, true prayer is offered through God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 84 00:09:04,080 –> 00:09:09,280 Now, once we’ve grasped that there is one God—that He’s not whoever we want Him to 85 00:09:09,280 –> 00:09:14,640 be or imagine Him to be, but He is who He is as He has revealed Himself to us—the 86 00:09:14,640 –> 00:09:23,919 next question is, how do we come then to Him? Now, when you ask the question, how do I come 87 00:09:23,919 –> 00:09:33,280 to God? The answer is, it all depends on what you want to receive from Him. 88 00:09:33,280 –> 00:09:43,840 You see, the Bible uses a very powerful picture to make this clear to us. There 89 00:09:43,840 –> 00:09:55,460 is one God, but He has more than one throne. Now, that is something that is very easy for 90 00:09:55,460 –> 00:10:03,179 a person from Britain to understand. There is one queen in Britain, but she has more 91 00:10:03,179 –> 00:10:09,719 than one throne. There’s a throne in the palace—actually, there’s probably several. 92 00:10:09,719 –> 00:10:16,179 There is a throne in the house of lords. The different thrones that the queen has in Great 93 00:10:16,179 –> 00:10:23,859 Britain relate to different functions that she performs. She uses the throne in the house 94 00:10:23,859 –> 00:10:29,299 of lords, for example, when she reads the government programme for the state opening 95 00:10:29,299 –> 00:10:33,900 of parliament, that you may have seen on television. It’s a marvellous, marvellous occasion of 96 00:10:33,900 –> 00:10:41,940 pageantry. Now, using that picture, the Bible also makes it clear that there is one god 97 00:10:41,940 –> 00:10:49,520 but he has more than one throne. The Bible speaks, for example, of a great white throne 98 00:10:49,679 –> 00:10:55,000 from which God on the last day will dispense justice and judgment to every person who has 99 00:10:55,000 –> 00:11:02,000 ever lived, but the Bible also speaks about a throne of grace, a throne of grace where 100 00:11:05,559 –> 00:11:14,239 God gives mercy to sinners, where God gives strength to weak people, where God reaches 101 00:11:14,239 –> 00:11:21,239 out and embraces us in his covenant love. Now, very simply, if you want to come to the 102 00:11:24,239 –> 00:11:30,619 great White Throne, you can come any way you want, and you will get the justice of God. 103 00:11:30,619 –> 00:11:37,619 But if you want to come to the throne of grace, you have to come through the Lord Jesus Christ. 104 00:11:38,520 –> 00:11:42,219 This is made very clear right throughout the Bible, not only in the New Testament, but 105 00:11:42,280 –> 00:11:48,859 even in the Old, where those who sought the grace of God had to come with a sacrifice. 106 00:11:48,859 –> 00:11:54,700 So for example, we’re told in Hebrews chapter 4. Since we have a great High Priest, Jesus, 107 00:11:54,700 –> 00:11:59,200 the Son of God, who’s gone through the heavens, we should do two things. Hebrews 4 in verse 108 00:11:59,200 –> 00:12:06,200 14, hold firmly to the faith we profess. Hebrews 4 and verse 16. Come boldly, come with confidence 109 00:12:06,599 –> 00:12:12,280 to the throne of grace. Because of Jesus, we should come to this throne of grace that 110 00:12:12,280 –> 00:12:17,719 we may receive grace and mercy to help us in our time of need. So there is one God, 111 00:12:17,719 –> 00:12:24,719 but there is more than one throne. And if you want access to grace, access into that 112 00:12:25,260 –> 00:12:32,260 room, access to that throne, is opened by Jesus Christ. Grace and truth have come in 113 00:12:33,219 –> 00:12:40,200 Jesus Christ. So if we’re to understand true prayer, here are the first things that we 114 00:12:40,200 –> 00:12:46,320 need to understand, that it is directed to God the Father and that it is offered through 115 00:12:46,320 –> 00:12:51,520 God the Son. You will remember that there was a great storm of controversy after Franklin 116 00:12:51,520 –> 00:12:57,900 Graham at the presidential inauguration ended his prayer by saying the words, in the name 117 00:12:57,900 –> 00:13:07,539 of Jesus Christ. Now, that is not just a tagline that Christians like to use as a convention. 118 00:13:07,539 –> 00:13:16,380 It is a statement of our fundamental conviction that grace is released through Jesus Christ. 119 00:13:16,380 –> 00:13:23,299 This is why he came into the world. It is fundamental to our whole position. For if 120 00:13:23,299 –> 00:13:30,679 that were not true, he need not have come. Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ. 121 00:13:30,679 –> 00:13:36,159 So, true prayer is then directed to the Father, it is offered through the Son. Then thirdly, 122 00:13:36,159 –> 00:13:41,700 it is empowered by the Holy Spirit. Now, this is one of the most marvelous and least understood 123 00:13:41,700 –> 00:13:49,739 teachings of the whole of the Bible. When you come to faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy 124 00:13:50,159 –> 00:13:57,500 Spirit comes to live with you and in you. And one of the many things that he will help you 125 00:13:57,500 –> 00:14:04,960 to do is to pray. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8 in verse 26, as we read, that the 126 00:14:04,960 –> 00:14:12,380 spirit helps us in our weakness. See, we do not know what to pray for, Paul says, but 127 00:14:12,380 –> 00:14:17,780 the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 128 00:14:17,780 –> 00:14:25,880 Now, to try and make this a little clearer, I want you to imagine with me for a moment 129 00:14:25,880 –> 00:14:32,780 a computer geek at high school. And he works away every evening in his basement and he 130 00:14:32,780 –> 00:14:42,359 is writing software. And he thinks to himself, if only I could get this into the hands of 131 00:14:42,359 –> 00:14:52,320 those good folks at Microsoft. So he writes to Microsoft. He’s full of ideas and he never 132 00:14:52,320 –> 00:14:57,380 hears a solitary thing. He’s disappointed but he’s not surprised. After all he knows 133 00:14:57,380 –> 00:15:01,840 nobody at Microsoft. He has no idea how to introduce a new idea to Microsoft and who 134 00:15:01,840 –> 00:15:07,619 knows how many suggestions these folks at Microsoft receive in a single day. 135 00:15:07,859 –> 00:15:13,460 Then one day while the kid is working away on his computer writing software in the basement 136 00:15:13,460 –> 00:15:21,599 there is a knock at the door. And there stands to his absolute astonishment a rather short 137 00:15:21,599 –> 00:15:32,460 middle aged guy with reddish hair and glasses. Hi he says, I’m Bill Gates. The kid nearly 138 00:15:32,619 –> 00:15:38,960 falls over but the next thing he’s sitting in his basement working away on his computer 139 00:15:38,960 –> 00:15:49,299 with Bill Gates sitting right there at his elbow. Listen says Bill, let me tell you where 140 00:15:49,520 –> 00:15:56,340 Microsoft is heading right now. You see, if you can move your work in the direction that 141 00:15:56,359 –> 00:16:04,119 we’re going maybe we can become partners together. The kid’s eyes are boggling wide-open. The 142 00:16:04,140 –> 00:16:11,020 kid begins to work on what Bill has told him. Then he sends a new proposal to Microsoft 143 00:16:11,020 –> 00:16:18,020 just as Bill had described and now the kid sends it not with a kind of hopeless shot 144 00:16:18,099 –> 00:16:24,659 in the dark attitude but with great confidence. Why? Because he knows that what Bill Gates 145 00:16:24,840 –> 00:16:31,840 has prompted, Bill Gates will receive. Now, if that illustration is stretching the boundaries 146 00:16:33,119 –> 00:16:38,119 of your imagination as it does mine, here is something far greater to completely blow 147 00:16:38,119 –> 00:16:46,619 your mind. You see, Almighty God comes to every believer by his Holy Spirit to teach 148 00:16:46,619 –> 00:16:53,619 us how to pray, to prompt us of the direction in which God himself is moving so that we 149 00:16:54,479 –> 00:17:01,479 may come into alignment with that and enter into his purpose so that my prayer is not 150 00:17:01,739 –> 00:17:08,739 some kind of vague shot in the dark, but is a reflection of what God himself is doing. 151 00:17:09,420 –> 00:17:16,420 It is an entering into partnership with the living God. And that’s why John says in 152 00:17:16,939 –> 00:17:21,780 his letter, this is the confidence that we have in approaching God. If we ask for anything 153 00:17:21,780 –> 00:17:28,060 in his will, he hears us. And we know that if he hears us, whatever we ask, we have what 154 00:17:28,060 –> 00:17:32,060 we have asked of him. We read a verse like that and say, I’m not sure I really understand 155 00:17:32,060 –> 00:17:39,000 that. And the reason we find it hard to understand is that we sometimes do not know much about 156 00:17:39,000 –> 00:17:46,359 praying in the spirit. We’re like the geek alone in the basement. 157 00:17:46,439 –> 00:17:52,400 No. True prayer is a partnership. There is a sense in which you never truly pray alone. 158 00:17:52,400 –> 00:17:57,739 It is a partnership involving father and son and Holy Spirit. 159 00:18:01,420 –> 00:18:03,239 Now it sounds marvelous, but the obvious question 160 00:18:03,239 –> 00:18:10,099 is okay, but where do I begin in practice? I feel right now that my prayer life is just 161 00:18:10,099 –> 00:18:15,719 irregular and aimless and you’re talking about something from the Bible that sounds very 162 00:18:15,800 –> 00:18:23,380 wonderful. How do I begin to move in that direction? So here are three simple exercises 163 00:18:23,380 –> 00:18:27,420 in the second workout to keep yourself in spiritual shape. 164 00:18:27,420 –> 00:18:34,140 Number one, if you want to learn what it is to pray in the Spirit, then soak yourself 165 00:18:34,140 –> 00:18:42,060 in the Spirit’s prayers, the Spirit’s prayers. You see, the Bible contains some marvelous 166 00:18:42,500 –> 00:18:46,859 prayers which, if you think about it, were actually breathed our by the Spirit of God 167 00:18:46,859 –> 00:18:53,859 Himself. You’ll find them in the book of Psalms. The whole Bible was written as men were carried 168 00:18:54,859 –> 00:19:01,859 along by the Holy Spirit. And as you fill your mind with the Word of God, as you fill 169 00:19:02,640 –> 00:19:09,640 your soul with the prayers of the Spirit, you will find that you begin to think God’s 170 00:19:10,739 –> 00:19:16,780 thoughts after Him. And if you can learn to form your prayers 171 00:19:16,780 –> 00:19:23,780 in a way that reflects the Bible, you will be praying in the Spirit, because you are 172 00:19:23,939 –> 00:19:28,219 praying in a way that reflects the mind and the heart of God. 173 00:19:28,359 –> 00:19:34,619 One of the greatest pieces of Spiritual Counsel I ever received was that, 174 00:19:34,619 –> 00:19:38,979 Keep the tight connection, Colin, between your reading of the bible and your praying. 175 00:19:38,979 –> 00:19:43,619 Relate the two together. So you may, for example, like to begin praying 176 00:19:43,619 –> 00:19:48,319 through the Psalms. Psalm Number 1 begins like this, 177 00:19:48,319 –> 00:19:52,380 Blest is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. 178 00:19:52,380 –> 00:19:58,140 I could pray that, Lord, help me to realize advice that is really wicked. 179 00:19:58,160 –> 00:20:02,300 Counsel that dishonors you, and guide me so that I do not go down this 180 00:20:02,300 –> 00:20:05,699 path. Blest is the man who does not sit in the 181 00:20:05,699 –> 00:20:10,459 seat of mockers. Lord, I’m sometimes in danger of a bit or 182 00:20:10,459 –> 00:20:14,180 cynicism. Help me to identify that and to cut that 183 00:20:14,180 –> 00:20:18,739 off. His delight is in the law of God. 184 00:20:18,739 –> 00:20:24,060 Lord, I’m not sure how great my love is for your law, 185 00:20:24,060 –> 00:20:27,339 but would you increase that within my soul? 186 00:20:27,500 –> 00:20:32,780 You’re praying that which has already been breathed out by the Spirit, 187 00:20:32,780 –> 00:20:36,739 you’re beginning to enter in to the first dimension of 188 00:20:36,739 –> 00:20:41,819 what it means to pray in the Spirit. Turning the Scriptures into prayer 189 00:20:41,819 –> 00:20:45,459 will help you keep your prayers fresh, because when you get to Psalm 2 190 00:20:45,459 –> 00:20:49,540 the next day you’ll find it’s all about the nations and international conflict, 191 00:20:49,540 –> 00:20:52,920 and you’ll be prompted to pray at that level. 192 00:20:52,920 –> 00:20:57,119 Another way in which you can do that is by praying the Lord’s prayer. 193 00:20:57,119 –> 00:21:01,760 I don’t simply mean by repeating it. Let me explain how many have found 194 00:21:01,760 –> 00:21:08,319 this helpful. Martin Luther, for example, structured his entire prayer life 195 00:21:08,319 –> 00:21:12,699 around the Lord’s prayer every day throughout his lifetime. 196 00:21:12,699 –> 00:21:15,760 What he did was simply this. He saw that the Lord’s prayer essentially 197 00:21:15,760 –> 00:21:20,359 contained five headings that were basically the categories for his 198 00:21:21,119 –> 00:21:26,160 Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name. He began to pray about all that 199 00:21:26,160 –> 00:21:29,359 It means for God to be honored in his life, the Church in the nation. 200 00:21:29,359 –> 00:21:32,239 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 201 00:21:32,239 –> 00:21:36,199 He prayed for God’s kingdom for what is just, for what is true, and for what is right. 202 00:21:36,199 –> 00:21:40,119 Give us this day our daily bread 203 00:21:40,119 –> 00:21:44,319 He brought before God all of his daily needs. 204 00:21:44,319 –> 00:21:49,319 Money, energy, peace, direction, patience, guidance, all that I need to live today, God. 205 00:21:49,319 –> 00:21:52,079 Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. 206 00:21:52,079 –> 00:21:56,880 He prayed about his own sins, tried to identify them, and asked for God’s help in forgiving 207 00:21:56,880 –> 00:21:59,400 the wounds that others had inflicted on him. 208 00:21:59,400 –> 00:22:02,119 Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil. 209 00:22:02,119 –> 00:22:07,800 He identified and called on God for areas in which he saw temptation and asked for eyes 210 00:22:07,800 –> 00:22:12,319 that would be open to see temptation and to be given triumph over it. 211 00:22:12,319 –> 00:22:17,400 Now, that covers the whole of life, these five things, and you could pray into these 212 00:22:17,880 –> 00:22:22,540 headings every day for the next month and you would find something fresh to say as life 213 00:22:22,540 –> 00:22:24,219 moves on every day. 214 00:22:24,219 –> 00:22:31,239 You would be praying in the Spirit because you are praying in line with the very purpose 215 00:22:31,239 –> 00:22:32,699 of Jesus Christ. 216 00:22:32,699 –> 00:22:38,939 Now, some of our prayer I think runs into the staleness of our own spontaneity. 217 00:22:38,939 –> 00:22:44,359 We run dry because our minds are not that fruitful, and we’re missing sometimes the 218 00:22:44,760 –> 00:22:47,979 prompting of the Spirit that’s given to us in the Scripture. 219 00:22:47,979 –> 00:22:53,560 If you want to pray in the Spirit, if you want to pray in a way that is daily fresh, 220 00:22:53,560 –> 00:23:00,000 then use that which God gives you in Scripture, as it were, to prime the pump of your prayer. 221 00:23:00,680 –> 00:23:05,819 And you will find that your prayer is renewed and that you’re beginning to grow in what 222 00:23:05,819 –> 00:23:08,319 it means to pray in the Spirit. 223 00:23:08,319 –> 00:23:11,359 Here’s the second thing. 224 00:23:11,359 –> 00:23:16,359 Align yourself with the Spirit’s purpose. 225 00:23:16,359 –> 00:23:22,839 Not only to soak yourself in the Spirit’s prayer—you get your Bible open—but align 226 00:23:22,839 –> 00:23:25,500 yourself with the Spirit’s purpose. 227 00:23:26,500 –> 00:23:30,780 Here’s another area in which we very practically can run into difficulty in our prayers. 228 00:23:30,780 –> 00:23:35,119 James says, when you ask, you don’t receive—what’s the reason? 229 00:23:35,119 –> 00:23:36,660 Well, you’re asking with wrong motives. 230 00:23:36,660 –> 00:23:41,199 He says that you may spend what you get on your pleasures, and he’s writing to a group 231 00:23:41,199 –> 00:23:45,579 of Christians just like us, and he’s saying, the fundamental problem that many are experiencing 232 00:23:45,579 –> 00:23:48,979 in prayer is simply that it’s about me. 233 00:23:48,979 –> 00:23:54,739 It’s my shopping list being brought to God. 234 00:23:55,219 –> 00:24:03,339 Now, one of the wonderful things that begins to happen when you pray in the Spirit is that 235 00:24:03,339 –> 00:24:13,680 your mind and your heart and your will become re-aligned with the very purposes of God. 236 00:24:13,680 –> 00:24:15,780 Let me give you an example. 237 00:24:15,780 –> 00:24:21,359 Paul speaks about a particular affliction in his life, a problem that came to him that 238 00:24:21,359 –> 00:24:24,560 he only tells us was a thorn in the flesh. 239 00:24:24,560 –> 00:24:29,699 We don’t know precisely what it was, but it was a problem that felt like a thorn in 240 00:24:29,699 –> 00:24:30,699 his flesh. 241 00:24:30,699 –> 00:24:32,640 He just couldn’t get away from it. 242 00:24:32,640 –> 00:24:36,520 Now, three times he tells us he prayed that God would take it away. 243 00:24:36,520 –> 00:24:38,560 That’s the most natural thing in the world. 244 00:24:38,560 –> 00:24:40,619 Lord, take away this thorn in the flesh. 245 00:24:40,619 –> 00:24:42,599 You think of some immediate problem in your life. 246 00:24:42,599 –> 00:24:43,680 Lord, take it away! 247 00:24:43,680 –> 00:24:44,739 Lord, take it away! 248 00:24:44,739 –> 00:24:45,819 No doubt he fasted. 249 00:24:45,819 –> 00:24:48,040 No doubt she prayed for extended periods of time. 250 00:24:48,040 –> 00:24:50,859 And all the rest of it. 251 00:24:50,859 –> 00:24:57,520 But then he tells us in 2 Corinthians in chapter 12 that in the course of his praying, 252 00:24:57,520 –> 00:25:08,359 he began to discern through the Holy Spirit that God had another purpose in this. 253 00:25:08,359 –> 00:25:14,959 He said to me, Paul says, My grace is sufficient for you. 254 00:25:14,959 –> 00:25:20,000 My strength is made perfect in weakness. 255 00:25:20,760 –> 00:25:27,920 In other words, it was in the process of prayer, asking for one thing, that Paul discerned 256 00:25:27,920 –> 00:25:34,119 that through a problem in his life God was doing another thing. 257 00:25:34,119 –> 00:25:40,959 In other words, prayer became the place where he was changed, where he grew, where he began 258 00:25:40,959 –> 00:25:46,439 to move from his own agenda of, I’d like this problem to be gone, to saying, I see 259 00:25:46,439 –> 00:25:49,160 that God is at work in this problem. 260 00:25:49,160 –> 00:25:54,520 That’s a radical transformation in a man or a woman’s heart, is it not? 261 00:25:54,520 –> 00:25:58,520 But here’s, if you like, the second dimension of praying in the Spirit. 262 00:25:58,520 –> 00:26:03,359 It involves aligning yourself with the very purpose of God. 263 00:26:03,359 –> 00:26:12,199 Think of the level of fellowship with God that is involved in this. 264 00:26:12,199 –> 00:26:18,219 I confessed to you last week that I’ve become nearly a professional eater of breakfast, 265 00:26:18,339 –> 00:26:20,640 and those of you who are in business know all about this. 266 00:26:20,640 –> 00:26:26,020 You know, you go over in a business, the project’s in hand, you identify the key questions, you 267 00:26:26,020 –> 00:26:30,979 interact on what needs to happen next, there’s synergy, there’s discussion, all very stimulating 268 00:26:30,979 –> 00:26:33,719 if it’s a good working project, and so forth. 269 00:26:33,719 –> 00:26:37,839 Now, let’s think about it this way. 270 00:26:37,839 –> 00:26:43,020 God invites you to breakfast. 271 00:26:43,060 –> 00:26:49,739 God says, let’s schedule some time for you and me to sit down and to interact together 272 00:26:49,739 –> 00:26:53,699 about what’s going on in your life. 273 00:26:53,699 –> 00:26:59,140 But some of us have daytimers too full for this appointment. 274 00:26:59,140 –> 00:27:07,939 And so we dash into the restaurant, one minute before the train leaves for the city. 275 00:27:07,939 –> 00:27:12,739 As it were, find the Lord sitting there at the table, and we’ve scribbled Him a little 276 00:27:12,739 –> 00:27:15,859 list, and we’ve said, sorry, no time for breakfast today. 277 00:27:15,859 –> 00:27:17,459 Catch up with you another time. 278 00:27:17,459 –> 00:27:18,660 These are the things I need today. 279 00:27:18,660 –> 00:27:19,660 I’m off. 280 00:27:19,660 –> 00:27:22,540 I’ve got to catch the train. 281 00:27:22,540 –> 00:27:28,560 And we know little or nothing of fellowship with God, little or nothing of prayer actually 282 00:27:28,560 –> 00:27:34,880 changing us, because the interaction that is at the very heart of prayer has been completely 283 00:27:34,880 –> 00:27:35,880 absent. 284 00:27:35,880 –> 00:27:37,239 All we have done is trott it off. 285 00:27:37,300 –> 00:27:44,000 We’ve played a needs list, and we’ve learned nothing of what God, the other side of the 286 00:27:44,000 –> 00:27:48,680 breakfast table, wants to do in our lives. 287 00:27:48,680 –> 00:27:55,660 I’ve asked the question, you know, why is it that so many Christians can go so many 288 00:27:55,660 –> 00:28:00,339 years with so little change? 289 00:28:00,339 –> 00:28:05,859 And I guess that if we’re doing the throw the list over the breakfast table thing, and 290 00:28:05,859 –> 00:28:16,079 that’s the level of our prayer, we’re not going to see very much change at all. 291 00:28:16,079 –> 00:28:21,660 Prayer is not about you trying to bring God into your world to fix things. 292 00:28:21,660 –> 00:28:27,859 Prayer is about God bringing you into his world, so that you may collaborate and become 293 00:28:27,859 –> 00:28:32,839 part of his eternal purpose. 294 00:28:32,839 –> 00:28:37,400 And that’s why you see praying in the Spirit is only possible first for those who love 295 00:28:37,400 –> 00:28:43,280 God, second for those who have died to themselves, and it is only possible, therefore, in the 296 00:28:43,280 –> 00:28:46,280 power of the Spirit. 297 00:28:46,280 –> 00:28:49,199 That takes me to the last thing. 298 00:28:49,199 –> 00:28:55,219 How are we to grow into what the Bible describes here – this wonderful thing – praying in 299 00:28:56,079 –> 00:28:57,119 the Spirit. 300 00:28:57,119 –> 00:29:03,880 Soak yourself in the Spirit’s prayers, align yourself with the Spirit’s purpose, and 301 00:29:03,880 –> 00:29:10,560 then you’ll find a third thing happening, enter into the Spirit’s passion! 302 00:29:10,560 –> 00:29:16,719 Now, I want you to picture in this last point a couple in a restaurant – we’re having 303 00:29:16,719 –> 00:29:20,400 a lot of restaurant talk – let’s not make this breakfast, let’s make this an evening 304 00:29:20,400 –> 00:29:24,760 meal, and let’s put some candles on the table, okay? 305 00:29:24,760 –> 00:29:30,839 They love each other, but the marriage has gone stale. 306 00:29:30,839 –> 00:29:36,719 They enjoy the meal, and they share conversation. 307 00:29:36,719 –> 00:29:42,680 There’s conversation, but there’s no connection. 308 00:29:42,680 –> 00:29:48,099 There’s politeness, but there’s no passion. 309 00:29:48,099 –> 00:29:52,439 They spend time, but they do not share soul. 310 00:29:52,939 –> 00:29:56,599 Now, there’s no one here who doesn’t know what I mean by that. 311 00:29:56,599 –> 00:30:00,339 Now, the problem is, that our prayer can be like that too. 312 00:30:00,339 –> 00:30:07,319 You can say a prayer without having any emotional involvement or attachment towards God Himself 313 00:30:07,319 –> 00:30:09,780 at all. 314 00:30:09,780 –> 00:30:19,239 But when you pray in the Spirit, you will increasingly share the Spirit’s passion. 315 00:30:20,119 –> 00:30:23,880 Now, the best way I can describe this in these last moments is simply to give you 316 00:30:23,880 –> 00:30:27,239 a sample of what it can look like. 317 00:30:27,239 –> 00:30:32,300 My own home church in Edinburgh, Scotland, was born out of a revival nearly 100 years 318 00:30:32,300 –> 00:30:33,800 ago now. 319 00:30:33,800 –> 00:30:36,819 When I say revival, I don’t mean an organised series of meetings. 320 00:30:36,819 –> 00:30:43,339 What I mean is something that God did, a visitation from God that elevated the spiritual life 321 00:30:43,339 –> 00:30:45,339 of a whole community. 322 00:30:46,060 –> 00:30:53,000 I’d like to read part of the record, written at the time of those events. 323 00:30:53,000 –> 00:30:56,839 My grandmother would have been seven years old at this time. 324 00:30:56,839 –> 00:31:02,520 I wish with all my heart that I could have been there. 325 00:31:02,520 –> 00:31:06,040 The people were on the tiptoe of expectancy for a revival. 326 00:31:06,040 –> 00:31:12,239 A conference on January 22, 1906, addressed by several workers who had visited Wales, 327 00:31:12,239 –> 00:31:15,140 lasted from 3.30 until midnight. 328 00:31:15,140 –> 00:31:19,359 From that day it was felt that the fire of God had fallen, and as far as Charlotte Chapel, 329 00:31:19,359 –> 00:31:24,699 the name of the church, was concerned, God had answered prayer and reviving had come. 330 00:31:24,699 –> 00:31:28,280 The church had prayed one whole year without so much as a solitary break. 331 00:31:28,280 –> 00:31:32,540 Night after night, week after week, month after month, prayer meetings went on, increasing 332 00:31:32,540 –> 00:31:34,459 in numbers and intensity. 333 00:31:34,459 –> 00:31:40,260 It is impossible to convey any adequate idea of the prayer passion that characterized those 334 00:31:40,260 –> 00:31:41,660 meetings. 335 00:31:41,660 –> 00:31:44,420 It is necessary to be in it to know it. 336 00:31:44,459 –> 00:31:48,619 From the beginning to the close, the prayers ascended in one broken continuity. 337 00:31:48,619 –> 00:31:52,800 At time, prayer rose and fell like waves on the sea. 338 00:31:52,800 –> 00:31:55,099 There was no confusion. 339 00:31:55,099 –> 00:32:00,760 Towards the end of 1906, there were again indications that God was about to move in 340 00:32:00,760 –> 00:32:01,739 our midst. 341 00:32:01,739 –> 00:32:07,140 Attendances at the 7 a.m. prayer meeting on Sunday mornings increased, and the meetings 342 00:32:07,140 –> 00:32:10,040 were marked by a deepening spirit of prayer. 343 00:32:10,040 –> 00:32:13,819 This was followed up by the same spirit in week night prayer meetings. 344 00:32:13,920 –> 00:32:18,000 It was at a late night prayer meeting held in the evening at 9.30 that the fire of God 345 00:32:18,000 –> 00:32:19,000 fell. 346 00:32:19,000 –> 00:32:23,560 There was nothing, humanly speaking, to account for what happened, just quite suddenly, upon 347 00:32:23,560 –> 00:32:28,339 one and another, an overwhelming sense of the reality and the awfulness of God’s 348 00:32:28,339 –> 00:32:34,300 presence and of eternal things of life, death, and eternity, fell upon us, and suddenly, 349 00:32:34,300 –> 00:32:36,699 all things were laid bare. 350 00:32:36,699 –> 00:32:40,020 Then prayer broke out again, waves and waves of prayer. 351 00:32:40,020 –> 00:32:41,660 And the midnight hour was reached. 352 00:32:41,680 –> 00:32:43,420 It was the hours past like minutes. 353 00:32:43,420 –> 00:32:47,540 One who was present says, I cannot tell you what Christ meant to me last night. 354 00:32:47,540 –> 00:32:48,739 My heart was overflowing. 355 00:32:48,739 –> 00:32:52,780 If ever God was near to me, it was here last night. 356 00:32:52,780 –> 00:32:54,939 The pastor writes this assessment. 357 00:32:54,939 –> 00:32:59,760 I have yet to witness a movement that has produced more permanent results in the lives 358 00:32:59,760 –> 00:33:01,459 of men and women and children. 359 00:33:01,459 –> 00:33:05,359 There were some irregularities, no doubt, some commotion, yes. 360 00:33:05,359 –> 00:33:11,479 But such a movement with all its irregularities is to be preferred far above the dull, dreary, 361 00:33:11,640 –> 00:33:15,020 monotonous decorum of many churches. 362 00:33:15,020 –> 00:33:17,380 The pastor, Jack Kemp, writes these words. 363 00:33:17,380 –> 00:33:24,140 And as I read them to you, I want you to ask how many of them we need. 364 00:33:24,140 –> 00:33:31,140 If its genuineness can be attested by results, then we have no doubt regarding the genuineness 365 00:33:31,140 –> 00:33:33,900 of this movement of God. 366 00:33:33,900 –> 00:33:39,479 It has given us, and I quote, a full church night and morning. 367 00:33:39,479 –> 00:33:45,819 It has given us a most loyal and devoted band of workers, whose aim is the glory of 368 00:33:45,819 –> 00:33:49,140 God and the salvation of sinners. 369 00:33:49,140 –> 00:33:54,400 It has taught us to pray in a fashion that few of us knew before. 370 00:33:54,400 –> 00:34:00,880 It has given to both young and old a new love for the Bible. 371 00:34:00,880 –> 00:3415,000 And time would fail to tell of purified lives, changed homes, and the brightened outlook 372 00:34:15,000 –> 00:34:18,639 of hundreds. 373 00:34:18,639 –> 00:34:25,679 Scores of people came to faith in Jesus Christ over these two years, in which this movement 374 00:34:25,800 –> 00:34:35,000 of prayer, in the Holy Spirit, touched one church. 375 00:34:35,000 –> 00:34:41,979 You can’t generate this, but you can hunger for it. 376 00:34:41,979 –> 00:34:43,739 You can pray for it. 377 00:34:45,739 –> 00:34:53,199 I’m asking, as I think about these things, what do we know of them in our lives? 378 00:34:56,580 –> 00:35:01,159 What are we seeing that transformation of a home? 379 00:35:05,439 –> 00:35:11,560 What difference would it make to your family, to this church, to your business, if you learned 380 00:35:11,560 –> 00:35:14,239 to pray in the Holy Spirit? 381 00:35:14,239 –> 00:35:30,459 My question, as I’ve pored over and into this in these last days, is simply this, is 382 00:35:30,459 –> 00:35:39,199 there a hunger for such things among us? 383 00:35:39,199 –> 00:35:44,060 O breath of life come sweeping through us. 384 00:35:44,060 –> 00:35:49,580 Revive your church with life and power. 385 00:35:49,580 –> 00:36:04,360 O breath of life come cleanse, renew us, and fit your church to meet this hour. 386 00:36:04,360 –> 00:36:11,320 We’ve got some work to do to get ourselves in spiritual shape, don’t you?