Prayer: Your Comfort and Strength

Pastor Mike Turner

308 E. Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072
lexingtonbaptist.org
Copyright 2014 by Lexington Baptist Church,
Lexington, South Carolina.
All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.
All rights reserved.
Some Scripture quotations are from the The Message translation by J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Mod-
ern English, 1962 edition, published and copyrighted by HarperCollins.
Chapter One: Characteristics of Prayer
In this book, Prayer: Your Comfort & Your Strength, we will
unpack much of the Bibles teaching on prayer. It is not my in-
tention to give you more head knowledge of prayer, but sim-
ply to give you the opportunity to learn more how to pray.
As we start talking about prayer, I want to tell you a little of
my personal journey in order to set a framework for this se-
ries on prayer. Prayer for me as a man, a husband, a dad,
someone trying to do right by my family and live life as Je-
sus wants, prayer has been a journey. The journey for me
has been one from my head to my heart. This may resonate
with some of you. I think this is a key issue for many peo-
ple. What I knew in my head, I did not grasp in my heart. My
dissertation for my doctorate was on intercessory prayer. It
is in a nice, thick, green binder in my offce right now. I went
through the Bible and exposited the Hebrew and the Greek
of the great prayers of the Bible. I fnished the dissertation
after one year, completed the statistical work and taught the
material to people in my church. Even though my dissertation
was on intercessory prayer, I can tell you what the Bible says
about intercessory prayer and what the great fgures of the
Bible help us to see about intercessory prayer (fgures like
Samuel and Paul), even though I had the knowledge, I did
not get what it meant to pray for someone else. There was a
disconnect between my head and my heart. Really, much of
my walk with Jesus has been about getting out of my head to
my heart; prayer is certainly about that. Prayer is less about
knowledge and more about knowing your Abba Father, know-
ing how to be still in the presence of the Lord, knowing how to
listen to the voice of the Spirit of God, knowing how to speak
and how to be silent.
So out of this journey between head and heart, let me tell you
what I have learned and believe about prayer.
First, I believe prayer makes a difference. There is a differ-
ence in the lives of people who pray. This is not in the sense
of the billboards I see that say prayer works. To say that
prayer works implies that prayer is a tool we can use to get
God to do our bidding, in order to get our circumstances as
we want them. Prayer is not a tool used to manipulate or co-
erce God at our own discretion, but prayer does make a dif-
ference in the way we live and in what directions our lives
take.
Here is how prayer makes a difference. When you pray, you
have more peace. As we learn to live less out of the fesh
and focus more on the Spirit of God, prayer is absolutely es-
sential. Romans 8:9 says, Those who are in the fesh cannot
please God. If you are in the fesh, you cannot please God. If
you are in the fesh, you are not going to pray, but living and
praying in the Spirit brings peace.
Secondly, to be a praying person makes a difference not only
in terms of peace, but also in maturity. Mature believers are
mature because they pray. People who dont pray, dont grow
to be mature believers. A lot of people are very active, say
the right things, have a lot of head knowledge, are very visi-
ble, but if they are not praying, they are not mature.
Heres another way prayer makes a difference. Prayer makes
a difference because it brings you more authority. I do not
mean authority in the sense of getting people to do what you
want, but in the sense that when a mature, humble, godly
person prays according to the promises of God, that moves
God. I dont know of any more authority than that.
Also, prayer makes a difference by giving you more Jesus.
Prayer gives you more Jesus. The more you pray, the more
Jesus you have. I do not know that I can defend this state-
ment theologically, but I know that people who pray are closer
to Jesus, and people who do not pray are distant to Jesus.
Another way prayer makes a difference is prayer makes
you more useful for the Kingdom. You can do a lot of good
church stuff without praying, but you will not do much for
the good of the Kingdom without praying. Usefulness for the
Kingdom does not come from activity, it comes from prayer.
Only God can do, in peoples lives and in the world, what
needs to be done.
So, prayer makes a difference. Thats the frst thing I believe
about prayer. The second thing I believe about prayer is we
talk about prayer more than we pray. We talk about prayer,
we ask others to pray, we read books on prayer, listen to
teaching on prayer, but actually praying is not a natural act for
most people. We must talk less about prayer, and pray more.
The third thing I believe about prayer is that the purity of our
hearts determines the quality of our prayers. In other words,
when we do not seek purity of heart it will affect our rela-
tionship with Jesus and will diminish our prayers. Now, God
is sovereign and will answer prayer for His own purposes,
but the purity of our hearts affects the quality of our prayers.
Where our hearts are impure, there is an interference that
keeps us from where God wants us to be.
Here is a fourth thing I believe about prayer. The best prayer
is hidden. We live in such a social media driven age in which
everybody knows everything within minutes of an event. In
this age, the thought that something needs to be hidden, that
you do not have to share everything with everybody, that
much of our relationship with God needs to stay between us
and God, is rare. We need to be vulnerable with each other,
especially in our marriages, but we connect with God in deep
ways which do not necessarily lend themselves to public dis-
closure. In fact, the more you disclose some things publicly,
the less valuable they become. I am not talking about public
witness, I am talking about the deep true place in your life in
which you are connecting with Jesus. Just think for a moment
about Jesus in the Garden at Gethsemane. That was a mo-
ment of quietness and stillness and hiddenness that He had
with the Father, and we see this throughout the Gospels. He
spent all night in prayer, alone, before choosing His disciples
(Matthew 14). There is a hiddenness to His prayer life. For
many of us, we do so much publicly that there is no depth to
us. Psalm 62:1 says, My soul waits in silence for God only.
Heres a ffth thing that Ive learned about prayer. Prayer is
both a discipline and a gift. I mentioned that prayer is not a
natural act for most. Instead, prayer is a discipline in that you
have to set a time and a place to pray. It does not have to be
the same every day, but if you are not disciplined, and stra-
tegic and intentional about praying, you will not pray. Prayer
is also a gift. You cannot psych yourself up for a special rev-
elation from God. Special revelation is a gift of the Holy Spir-
it, and there will be times in your discipline of prayer that the
Holy Spirit will gift you with a revelation and a presence that
He otherwise would not do. Prayer is a gift, and prayer as a
gift and a discipline absolutely work together.
Here is a sixth thing I believe about prayer. Prayer chang-
es things. It changes us, it changes our life circumstances. I
absolutely believe in a miracle-working God who works mir-
acles in response to our praying. Prayer changes the world,
and prayer changes the way the Kingdom of God impacts
the world. Thats why great revivals are always preceded by
great prayer, because prayer changes the way Gods King-
dom impacts the world.
And then fnally, prayer moves God to act. Dont ask me to
theologically explain that to you; Im not sure I can. God is
sovereign, I get that. God doesnt change, I get that. But God
has so set up our souls as such that there are things He will
not give to us, except when we ask. That is what I mean by
saying that prayer moves God to act. Prayer is what moves a
Church into revival, because God acts in response to prayer.
Prayer is what moves our families into a new season of spiri-
tual life, because God acts in response to our prayers.
So these seven things are the framework for where Im com-
ing from when I speak to you and try to teach and demon
Chapter Two: When You Pray
Now, lets look at our scripture in Matthew chapter 6, vers-
es 5-15. This is a great passage of Scripture. Some of you
know and have studied it. I hope to pull out some things that
will be a real encouragement to you.
Matthew 6:5-15:
5
And when you pray, you must not be like the hyp-
ocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the syna-
gogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen
by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their
reward.
6
But when you pray, go into your room and shut
the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And
your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7
And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases
as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard
for their many words.
8
Do not be like them, for your Fa-
ther knows what you need before you ask him.
9
Pray
then like this:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11
Give us this day our daily bread,
12
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
14
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heaven-
ly Father will also forgive you,
15
but if you do not forgive
others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive
your trespasses.
This passage from Matthew 6 is part of the Sermon on the
Mount (Matthew 5-7), the basic teaching of the normative
Christian life. In the middle of this sermon, we fnd this teach-
ing on prayer. Notice in Matthew 6:2, Jesus assumes three
disciplines that will be practiced among His followers: when
you give, when you pray, when you fast. These three dis-
ciplines are assumed to be a part of the normative Christian
life.
Now, I am not preaching right now about fasting, but fasting
is assumed to be part of our lifestyles. Giving is, praying is,
and fasting is. Fasting is an extremely valuable spiritual disci-
pline. The Daniel Fast, especially, is one I commend to you.
In Daniel 1 and 10, he lays out a fast that is doable and has
great impact in the lives of believers.
So, lets look in verses 5-15 of Matthew chapter 6.
Matthew 6:5, when you pray, you must not be like the
hypocrites
Now, I mentioned that in verse 5 it says, when you pray. We
talked about the three spiritual disciplines of giving, praying
and fasting, but here in verses 5-7, it says when you pray
three times. Notice frst of all it says, you must not be like the
hypocrites. Hypocrite, in the Greek language of the New
Testament, means a stage actor, particularly someone who
assumed a role for the sake of the drama they are perform-
ing. My sons wife has a degree in theatre. We saw her in her
frst production. She had the role of Shelby in the play, Steel
Magnolias. Shelby is a bouncy, fighty, southern gal and my
daughter-in-law is none of those things, but she played the
role perfectly. However, I know this young woman, and thats
not her. She put on a mask for the sake of the role. The text
says when we pray, we must not be like the hypocrites. You
cannot put on a mask before God. You cant play a role be-
fore God. You cant pretend to be more spiritual than you are.
You cant pretend that you hurt less than you really do. You
cant pretend that you dont feel betrayed, or angry, or hurt, or
disappointed when you really feel that way. We are so busy
trying to appear before God like we think He wants us to ap-
pear, as though there is some sort of artifcial performance
standard we are trying to maintain. It is no wonder prayers
are not answered. When we are playing a role, we are start-
ing from a posture of dishonesty. You dont have to play a role
before God. When you pray, you must not be a hypocrite.
By the way, the word prayer is mentioned in verse 5 three
times. There are three different words in Greek for prayer
in the New Testament. The use of prayer in Matthew 6:5 is
a combined word, meaning to move in a direction and to
be near. So in combination, these two smaller Greek words
mean to move in the direction of nearness. So prayer is to
move into the direction of where Jesus is.
Matthew 6:6, your Father who sees in secret will reward
you
So the hypocrites stand in the synagogues and street cor-
ners and are seen by others, and there is a reward for being
a hypocrite. There is a reward for others thinking more of you
than is really there. The reward is that others look up to us
and think we are important, and we think we are important,
too. We are convinced if others think we are spiritual, God
thinks we are spiritual. So, mark that word reward. But
when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and
pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father
who sees in secret will reward you. I dont know about
you, but I dont want the reward of the hypocrite. I have had
that reward in the past, and it means nothing. I want the re-
ward that God gives. The Father who sees in secret will re-
ward you.
Now heres the question, what is the reward? It is not to build
your self-esteem; it is not to build your image in front of other
people. What is the reward that God gives? The reward God
gives is Himself. The reward is intimacy with the Father. The
deepest, truest part of prayer, my friends, is when you rest in
His presence and your heart simply calls out, Abba, Father.
Thats the place of rest. Thats the place of truth. Thats the
place of peace. That is the reward He gives. Now the partic-
ular things pressing on your heart, mind and life, He invites
us to bring that to Him. But the real reward is God. He is your
inheritance. Hes your reward.
So, dont be like the hypocrites. They have their reward in full,
but we have our reward. Now, lets look at the next verse.
Matthew 6:7-8, And when you pray, do not heap up
empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that
they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like
them, for your Father knows what you need before you
ask Him.
I dont know how you pray, you dont know how I pray. Ev-
eryone has his own style and rhythm. (By the way, have you
read The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson? If you havent,
you need to get it. Best book on prayer Ive read in a long
time.) Prayer comes in many different ways. Dont try to nar-
rowly defne prayer. Sometimes, prayer is sitting still, reading
your Bible, folding your hands and saying words. Sometimes
prayer is fat on your face weeping before the Lord. Some-
times prayer is kneeling. Sometimes prayer is walking. Some-
times prayer is holding your hands up. Sometimes prayer is
being still. Sometimes prayer is being active. The point is not
what your body is doing but how your heart is opened. How-
ever, do not underestimate what you do with your body in
prayer. We see in Daniel 10 that Daniel prayed for 21 days to
break through demonic opposition. When the angel appears
to Daniel, he falls on his face before the Lord. Then the angel
reaches down and touches Daniel, and Daniel comes to his
knees; then the angel touches him again, and Daniel rises
to his feet. The posture of his body refects the attitude of his
heart. Many of us are so programmed as to how we should
pray, that the thought of being spontaneous even when we
are alone is foreign. There are times for all of us when we
should be on our knees and times we should be on our faces.
So, now we are into the Lords Prayer, itself. We also fnd a
fuller description of the circumstances of the Lords prayer
in Luke 11:1, when the disciples ask Jesus how to pray. We
also see it here in Matthew 6.
Matthew 6:9, Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will
be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Jesus teaches that there are six petitions in this particular
prayer that form a template for prayer. The frst petition is that
Gods name be hallowed or glorifed. The second petition is
that He will bring His Kingdom. The third petition is that He
will do His will. Now you may ask, Why should we pray for
these things, wont God do it anyway? My friends, you and
I have authority, and there are many things God will not do
until and unless we ask. So as we align our hearts with the
heart of God and ask Him passionately, fervently and humbly,
Honor Your name, bring your Kingdom and do your will, this
becomes part of the miraculous, mysterious, powerful, au-
thoritative position you and I are in because of Jesus. You are
precious to God because you are in Jesus.
Notice, all three of these positions (honor Your name, bring
Your Kingdom and do Your will), are vertical, between God
and man. The next three petitions are more horizontal, how
we connect with one another: give us what we need to live,
forgive us and lead us.
So these six petitions form the template for prayer in two
ways: First, it aligns us properly. Prayer begins by looking up,
by our connection with God, our desire for His glory, His will,
His Kingdom. Prayer begins not with us, but with God. Sec-
ond, we see the major things for which we must pray: give us
what we need, forgive us for our sins and lead us through this
diffcult, treacherous world. So that is the template for prayer.
But there is one other thing we see in verse 14, For if you
forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you. Now this builds off of what He just said in
the Lords prayer in verse 12 (forgive us our debts, as we
also have forgiven our debtors). This is the hardest part of
our prayers, I know. But God hears our prayer according to
how willing we are to forgive people who harmed us. In real
prayer, effective prayer, prayer that moves God, there is a
price to be paid. According to our willingness to forgive oth-
ers, to that degree, God is willing to hear our prayers. Earli-
er, in Chapter 5 of Matthew, Jesus says the same thing. He
says when you bring a gift to the altar (that gift is prayer), and
you remember your brother has something against you, dont
make the offering; frst, go get it straight with him before you
come back to the altar.
So, thats the basic explanation of what prayer is. Let me fn-
ish with three defnitions of prayer.
First, prayer is communication with God. This is communica-
tion, not in the sense of talking on the phone, but more in a
military sense. Communication with units in the feld is much
deeper and more important than just picking up a phone and
calling someone. If there is a platoon leader who has to com-
municate with his company offcer, and then the company
offcer back to his battalion, that line of communication is ab-
solutely crucial. According to that communication, they know
where they are in terms of the grand battle plan, they know
who to call when they need resources, it is how they stay in
touch to know what is safe and what is not, where the ene-
my is and is not. Communication makes all the difference in
the world. When we say prayer is communication, it is not
like picking up the phone and calling someone. Prayer is how
Gods resources become available to you, and how you stay
in touch to receive them.
Secondly, prayer is our authority with God. God, in this in-
credible, uncondescending, humble way, gives you authority
to pray. Your prayers move God.
And third, prayer is our intimacy with God. It is in prayer that
we call out, Abba, Father. Beyond all communication, be-
yond all resources, beyond all authority, it is the intimacy with
the Father that our hearts yearn for more than anything else.
Chapter 3: What Does Prayer Accomplish?
There are those who think that prayer doesnt really change
anything except the one who prays; that prayer doesnt
change the way the world is, the way that God is responding
to your situation, but prayer is just a way to help you feel bet-
ter. I reject that completely. Now prayer does have an impact
on us, but prayer is much more than that. What we said is
that prayer accomplishes four things.
First, prayer aligns you with Gods purposes. When I come to
prayer, I am placing myself under Gods authority and align-
ing myself with Gods purposes.
Second, prayer confrms your new identity in Christ. Colos-
sians 3 refers to the new birth. When you come to Christ,
a new self is birthed within you. Its the new birth. There is
a newness to your life, a new identity, a new self. And the
Christian life is receiving more and more the fullness of that
new self that God has birthed within you. Until we go through
that new birth, we dont really know Jesus. We know about
Jesus, but we dont know Him personally. o prayer confrms
that new identity in you. The more you pray, the more you
connect with God in prayer, the more that new self has the
fullness, the expansiveness, the reach and the impact that it
can have.
Third, prayer connects you with Gods power. A prayer-less
life, is a powerless life. To pray is to be connected with Gods
power.
Fourth, prayer permits you to be audacious with God. There
is an audacity to God. Its never irreverent. Theres a marvel-
ous passage in the Gospel of Luke of the persistent woman,
who was not a nice woman, but she got what she needed
from the judge because she was audacious in how she ap-
proached the one able to grant her what she needed. Thats
what prayer is. There is an audacity to God. Again, not irrev-
erent, not commanding God in any sense Hes still God and
were still human. And yet, there is granted to us the permis-
sion to be audacious with God.
Chapter Four: What Matters When You Pray
In these chapters, were talking about Prayer: Your Comfort
& Your Strength. What we are doing is giving you a practi-
cal guide to prayer. We are focusing less on the doctrine of
prayer although thats important and really trying to focus
on the practical ways in which we pray. I know many of you
are faithful in prayer and have been for many years, but my
aim for you after reading this book, is that you will be person-
ally more engaged in prayer. Im not saying that you should
be praying ten more hours a week, but I am saying that you
will have a greater understanding not so much of the theolo-
gy of prayer, but the practical way in which you pray. I am try-
ing to equip you in these pages to be praying people.
Its hard to teach about prayer. We can see what the Bible
says, and what the Bible says is true. But it is hard to teach
people how to pray. You really have to experience prayer.
The best way that I have understood and grown in praying is
by praying with people who pray better than I do. Does that
make sense? Ive learned so much that way. You have to
connect with that. Learning to be a praying person, you have
to be coached, you almost have to be mentored.
My wife, Pams, Grandmother was called Grandmother Irby.
She was from Anderson, SC. She was a godly woman, a
praying woman. She didnt put up with anybodys foolishness,
I want you to know. Grandmother Irby had tiny feet. Because
of her tiny feet, it was hard for her to walk. So whenever she
went into town, she prayed to fnd the closest parking space
to the store, and God answered that prayer. That commit-
ment to prayer, and that model of prayer, impacted Pam and
the whole family. You have to be in the presence of someone
who understands how prayer works, for it to rub off. You can
study it, you can learn about it, you can sit in church prayer
meetings, but, my friends, youd better fnd a way and a place
to dive into the water, as that is the only way you really learn
how to pray. So now, we are going to look at the practical way
to do that.
The coach we will look to in the next chapter is Hannah, in 1
Samuel, chapter 1. Now I do a bit of wandering around when
I preach, as you may be well aware, so were going to do
a bit of wandering before we get there. I want to talk to you
frst about six things that dont matter when you pray, but you
think they do. And secondly, I want to talk to you about six
things that do matter, but you think they dont.
Six Things That Dont Matter When You Pray
First of all, when you pray, it doesnt matter how much knowl-
edge you have. Let me just add this caveat: the more of
Gods word you know, the better youre going to pray. But
God is going to hear your prayers whether youre a PhD or
high school drop-out. Look with me in Matthew 6:7-8. I love
this passage. Jesus says, And when you pray, do not heap
up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think they will
be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them,
for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. I
have been in prayer meetings where I wanted to run out the
back door because people were praying so long with such
fowery language. And Ive been in prayer meetings where
people wanted to run out the back door while I prayed so
long with such fowery phrases. Its not how much you know.
Its a matter of your heart.
Secondly, your location doesnt matter. It just doesnt matter.
You dont just pray in church. You dont just pray at the din-
ner table. You dont just pray in some religious location that
somehow resonates with you. The place where you are sim-
ply doesnt matter. In 2 Chronicles 6, we fnd Solomons mar-
velous prayer of dedication for the temple. You may know the
story, God did not permit his father, David, to build the great
temple, but Solomon built it. And upon the dedication of the
temple, Solomon prays. And this is what he says in 2 Chron-
icles 6:18, But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth?
Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You.
How much less this house that I have built? Heaven itself
cannot contain God, why do we think church can? Now its
good to have places to pray, where you can be quiet and
still before the Lord, but lets not make any mistake about it.
There is no specifcity, no location: God is everywhere.
Next, your posture doesnt matter. It just doesnt matter what
you do when you pray. You dont have to sit still with your
eyes closed, your head bowed and your hands folded in front
of your face. You dont have to stand up and hold your hands
up. You dont have to lie on your face. Now there are times
and moods and seasons where youre doing some of those
things, but my point is, there is no holy position. Prayer is
a matter of your heart. My best praying is done while walk-
ing around my neighborhood with my eyes wide open, pray-
ing before daylight. Thats my style, I dont know what youre
style is.
Heres something else, and this is going to blow your mind.
It doesnt matter about your level of spiritual maturity. Hear
what Im saying. Some of us think that when were more spir-
itually mature, thats when well pray. If thats your thought,
you are confusing cause and effect. The fact is, praying is
what leads you into maturity. You dont have to wait until you
reach some kind of level of spiritual maturity- this is a lie of
Satan to keep you from praying. Pray where you are, and
God will then through your prayers, lead you to where you
need to be.
Heres something else that youre not going to like. It doesnt
matter your level of perfection. It doesnt matter if your life is
broken and a train wreck or if you are a shining example of
godliness. Now, the more you are pursuing God with your life
and your life is conforming to what God wants you to be, your
prayers are going to have a different tenor to them. And yet,
if we wait until we are where we think we ought to be in terms
of our lives being organized and well-lived, perfect, moral, if
you wait for that, youre never going to pray. Let me show you
something in Psalm 51. This is where Davids life totally falls
apart - immorality, adultery, Bathsheba - and this is his prayer
in response to that. Psalm 51:1, Have mercy on me, O God,
according to Your steadfast love; according to your abundant
mercy. Verses 10-12, Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from
Your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to
me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to
sustain me. There is no greater prayer than that, and it was
prayed at a moment of total failure. Again, its a lie of Satan
to keep you and me in bondage, if we think that because our
lives are messed up at a particular moment, we shouldnt be
praying.
Another thing that doesnt matter is time. I simply mean that
the common response for many people is I dont have time
to pray. Youve got the same 24 hours everybody else does.
Time, by itself, isnt a limitation to our praying. Our problem,
of course, is discipline and desire. Its not time.
Six Things That Do Matter When You Pray
So those are the things we think matter, but really dont. Now
lets look at things that do matter, but were not convinced
they really should. Look with me over in Luke, chapter 18.
This is another great prayer in Scripture. Heres Luke 18:9-
14: Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the
temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax col-
lector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: God I
thank you that I am not like other people robbers, evil-
doers, adulterers or even like this tax collector. I fast
twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax col-
lector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to
heaven, but beat his breast and said, God have mercy
on me, a sinner. Verse 14, Jesus says, I tell you that
this man, rather than the other, went home justifed be-
fore God. For all those who exalt themselves will be hum-
bled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
There are six things here you have to know about prayer, that
matter.
First, authenticity matters. You cant play games with God.
He knows. You have to be honest before God. You cant pre-
tend before God and expect it to mean anything. You have to
be authentic.
Secondly, intentionality matters. You have to be intention-
al when you pray. Prayer does not happen by accident. If
youre waiting until you wake up one morning and say, Im
going to pray today, it wont strike you like that. You have to
be intentional and make a choice to pray. We have a group
that meets at our church on Sunday afternoons to pray. The
group is called Praying for Prodigals These are folks whose
grown children have left their faith behind and are living some
of the most damaging kinds of lives. These grieving parents
meet once a week to pray for their prodigal children, that the
Lord would lead them to repentance and bring them back.
They meet every Sunday and pray. Theyve had one or two
victories through this, amazing miracles. But folks, thats not
by accident. They choose to pray. They are intentional in
prayer. Intentionality matters.
Third, humility matters. We learned towards the beginning
of this book that the basic position of prayer is this: You ask,
God responds. This is, essentially, humility, isnt it? We hum-
bly understand that in prayer, I am placing myself at the dis-
cretion and under the prerogative of God. Its not about me,
its about Him. I ask, He responds. So what we see in the sto-
ry here in Luke 18 is this kind of humility.
Fourth, desperation matters. Desperation matters a lot.
Prayer is a matter of desperation. We turn to God in prayer
when we have nowhere else to go. In Mark 10, Jesus is leav-
ing Jericho, moving to Jerusalem, heading toward the cross;
and as He leaves the city gates of Jericho, theres a blind
beggar named Bartimaeus sitting by the side of the road. The
blind beggar has no other recourse and is dependent upon
the kindness of people throwing him coins to live. As Jesus
and the crowd leave, the blind beggar hears the crowd going
by and hears that its Jesus, and do you remember what he
does? He starts crying out, Lord Jesus, son of David, have
mercy on me! How awkward is that? Pam and I were visiting
a church recently in downtown Columbia. Were sitting there,
one of the few times were able to sit in church together and
have the Lords supper together, and this guy from the street
just wanders in. He sits down and starts moving around. It
was kind of awkward in the middle of the service. The sermon
was kind of boring, so I found it interesting to watch the guy.
And I was thinking, if I were the preacher right then, my anxi-
ety would go sky high. This preacher handled it very well, but
you wonder what the deal is. The church apparently knew
the guy and embraced him, and it was pretty cool the way it
worked out. But it was just something that kind of jars you,
and we fnd this same sort of thing in Mark 10 that this blind
beggar cries out to Jesus. But it was the desperation in his
heart that Jesus responds to. Jesus heard him, stopped and
healed him because the guy was desperate.
Fifth, is persistence. That matters. Again, in Luke 18, the tax
collector is crying to God to have mercy on him. The Lord
responds to persistence in prayer. In, The Circle Maker,
Mark Batterson makes a great point- what if God is waiting
on you to pray about a matter a certain number of times and
you stop before you get to where He wants you to be? What
if you stop one day too soon? What if you stop one hour too
soon? And one more hour, one more cry out to God, one
more model of persistence in you and the answer would have
been given. You see, persistence matters.
And fnally, faith matters. Lets look in Hebrews 11:6. This is a
well-known passage that says so much to us. Without faith it
is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to
Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those
who earnestly seek Him.
Chapter Five: Ways to Pray
In this chapter, were going to look to our coach, Hannah, and
dig deep into her fervent prayers. From her example, well
better learn how to pray. Then, we will take a look at six prac-
tical ways to pray.
Hannah
Now, lets look at our coach for this chapter and see what
we can learn. In 1 Samuel, chapter 1, we see these practical
things played out in the life of Hannah. This is a rich passage
of scripture. Follow with me in the frst few verses of Samuel,
There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the
hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son
of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an
Ephrathite.He had two wives. The name of the one was
Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Pen-
innah had children, but Hannah had no children. This is
setting the stage for us. Elkanah has two wives, and you no-
tice Hannah has no children. This story, like so many others
weve talked about recently, starts with barrenness. Remem-
ber the scriptures, weve encountered this with Sarai, Abra-
hams wife, and others. Its not only the physical barrenness,
but also the spiritual barrenness that goes with it. Certainly,
in Hannahs case, the nation of Israel was barren, dry and
empty spiritually. Samuels miraculous birth that was about
to happen, responds not just to Hannahs plea, but also to
the plea of all of Gods people in Israel. Verse 3, Now this
man used to go up year by year from his city to worship
and to sacrifce to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where
the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of
the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrifced, he would
give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons
and daughters. Now we saw earlier that Peninnah had
children, but now she has a bunch of children. But notice the
contrast.
Verses 5 and 6, But to Hannah he gave a double portion,
because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her
womb. And her rival used to provoke her grievously to ir-
ritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. This
is a painful and broken situation. There is woundedness in
Hannahs heart already because she cant bear children, but
then the rivalry provoked by the other wife toward her just re-
inforces that pain.
Verse 7, So it went on year by year. As often as she
went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke
her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. Year by
year. Dont gloss over that. Some things just dont end quick-
ly. Some pain doesnt resolve as soon as we think it should.
There are some of you who have been going through circum-
stances not just for months, but for years. Maybe some of
you for decades. Maybe its a health situation, maybe its a
family situation, whatever it might be, things dont resolve as
quickly as we wish they would. So this continues on for Han-
nah. This is the circumstance out of which were going to see
prayer growing. This is not clean cut, is it? This is not some-
body sitting down, kneeling, closing their eyes, folding their
hands and praying a nice little sweet prayer to God. This is
something that is birthed in pain. This is a desperate moment.
Verse 8, And Elkanah, her husband, said to her, Han-
nah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And
why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten
sons? I cannot read past that without noting, thats just the
stupidest thing he could have said. Would that have made
you feel any better? No! You shouldnt be upset, look at me.
Im much better than ten sons. No, you arent! This is like the
sorry comforters of Job, isnt it? What is it about us that we
get in a circumstance and feel a need to speak? Sometimes,
we just have to blurt out something. Im a preacher, and Im
supposed to know something. But Ive been in way too many
pastoral situations where Ive just blurted out something, and
I think, Lord, just shut my mouth!
Verses 9-11, After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh,
Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat
beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.

She
was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD and wept
bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of
hosts, if you will indeed look on the affiction of your
servant and remember me and not forget your servant,
but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to
the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch
his head. This is similar to the Nazarite vow. Im not here to
defend the theology of this. This is kind of like a bargain that
Hannah makes with God. You dont bargain with God. Im just
reporting what she does. And yet, here, it does refect that
she is deeply distressed. She weeps bitterly. This is a desper-
ate woman. And desperation is going to reach an even deep-
er level in just a moment.
Verses 12-15, As she continued praying before the LORD,
Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was speaking in her
heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard.
Therefore Eli took her to be a drunken woman. And Eli
said to her, How long will you go on being drunk? Put
your wine away from you. But Hannah answered, No,
my lord, I am a woman troubled in spirit. I have drunk
neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring
out my soul before the Lord. She is brutally honest with
herself and with God.
And Verse 16, to me, is the most painful in the passage, Do
not regard your servant as a worthless woman. She
cant have children. Already, as a woman, she is powerless in
that age. She is vulnerable, feeling worthless. And she goes
on to say, All along I have been speaking out of my anxiety
and vexation. I want you to look at something here. Were
seeing the birth of prayer, the practical way in which prayer
is birthed within us. Its messy, its painful, its conficted, its
full of stops and starts, it goes on for a long time. But dont
miss this crucial point: it occurs in an environment of wor-
ship. Worship and prayer are absolutely linked. When you
worship well, you are praying well. When you pray well, you
are in worship. Prayer is not just getting God to do something
for you. Prayer is when you pour out your heart before God,
which is worship. Dont miss the link between worship and
prayer. They go absolutely together. When we separate them,
we reduce prayer to nothing more than a mechanical device
to manipulate God.
Verse, 17, Then Eli answered, Go in peace, and the
God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to
him. And she said, Let your servant fnd favor in your
eyes. Then the woman went her way and ate, and her
face was no longer sad. Have you all read this? This is an
incredible moment, in this account. This is the moment when
everything changes. Not at the birth of Samuel, but when
Gods prophet spoke the prophetic promise to Hannah and
said, Your prayers are going to be answered. This is uncom-
fortable for Baptists, right? Here is a prophet who says to a
praying person, God told me to tell you your prayer is about
to be answered. That is a matter of great spiritual authority
that the prophet has. But dont miss that in an environment of
worship when there is a relationship, in this case between Eli
and Hannah, the Spirit speaks to Eli and gives him the word
to tell her. This is something beyond Hannah praying, this is
the interjection of the Holy Spirit in the whole process, speak-
ing through His prophet to this woman. This is hugely import-
ant. This is the moment when Hannahs faith changes.
Verse 19, They rose early in the morning and worshiped
before the LORD; then they went back to their house
at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and
the Lord remembered her. And in due time Hannah con-
ceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel,
for she said, I have asked for him from the Lord.
Let me fnish up this chapter with six practical things for you
to use in your prayer life.
Six Practical Ways to Pray
Here is the frst one: if youre going to see impact from your
prayer, you have to start where you are. If youre in pain, start
where you are. You have to begin at the place where you
are. Dont wait until that day when you feel youre adequately
mature, or your life is in perfect shape, or all the forces come
together so that now you can pray. Hannah prayed out of her
vexation; so however messy or conficted, start where you
are.
Secondly, be intentional. Hannah chose to pray. She didnt
stumble into it by accident. She chose to pray.
Third, learn as you go. When I was in Central Asia, I talked to
several missionaries who have teenage children and want-
ed to talk to me about raising teenage children. I dont have
a clue! I dont know how to do it. You fy by the seat of your
pants. You learn as you go. Its not easy and you do the best
you can, but you learn as you go. Prayer is like that, too.
Fourth, prayer and worship go together. Hannah didnt just
pray by herself. She was in an environment and context of
worship. She and Elkanah continued to go to the place of
worship. It was in the attitude of worship that her prayer took
place.
Fifth, do whatever you need to do to be honest with God.
Hannah wept, Job complained, David danced, others knelt,
some fasted. Whatever you need to do to be honest with
God, you have to do that.
And sixth, accept the prophetic word from people around
you. You have to be careful with this. There are some who
will say, I have a word for you, and theyll speak a word for
you and its the craziest thing youve ever heard. You still
have to respond and make a determination whether you will
receive that word or not. But then, there are some people
who will speak a word of encouragement, a prophetic word
as the Spirit leads them that really brings a special sense of
encouragement that Gods answer is on the way. Be open
to receiving that. As a word of caution, be careful with this, it
can get out of control easily. But when you are in relationship
with somebody, when you are in a community of faith, and
someone you are in journey with speaks to you, you should
be open. If you know them and know where their heart is and
that they are trusting God, when the Lord speaks to them to
speak to you, you should be open to receiving that. That can
be a very powerful incentive and a very powerful way to pray.
So those are your six practical ways of praying. Start where
you are, be intentional, learn as you go, prayer and worship
go together, do whatever you need to do to be honest with
God and accept the prophetic word from people around you,
but with care.
Chapter Six: The Holy Spirit and Prayer
Let me tell you upfront, this is going to be something that I
hope will be very useful to you, and very inspirational to you,
but were going to go into some deep waters. I want to take
you to some deep places as we talk about the Holy Spirit
and prayer. First, were going to explore general New Testa-
ment teaching on who the Spirit is and how He operates in
our lives. Then, were going to look at a fabulous passage of
Scripture in Romans 8 that takes us into the Spirits operation
and the dynamics He brings into our prayer lives. Then were
going to fnish by pointing out the different kinds of praying
we can do. But the Spirit-driven prayer is by far, the deepest,
truest way we can engage with prayer.
The Holy Spirit and His Role in Our Lives
So lets begin by looking at John 16:7-15, and begin talking
in general about the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives. He
is the third Person of the Trinity, so lets look at how He op-
erates in our lives. Lets look at John 16, in which Jesus is
speaking to His disciples the night before He is crucifed.
John 16:7-15 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to
your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the
Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to
you. And when he comes, he will convict the world con-
cerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concern-
ing sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning
righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will
see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the rul-
er of this world is judged. I still have many things to say
to you, but you cannot bear themnow. When the Spir-
it of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for
he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he
hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things
that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what
is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is
mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and
declare it to you.
Now there are a couple of things immediately that we notice
in Verse 7 that really lay out for us in brief, an entire under-
standing of who the Holy Spirit is. First, is in the name Jesus
gives Him. He calls Him the Helper. Some of you know that
word is literally rendered, paraclete. It comes from a very
particular Greek verb that means to comfort, encourage,
cheer up; an advocate, an intercessor, or a helper. Thats
what the word paraclete means. Now something else youll
notice about the way Jesus phrases this, the word paraclete
means someone called alongside to help. That verb is in the
passive voice. In other words, the Spirit does not act on His
own initiative. The Spirit is sent by the Father to bring glory to
Jesus. You need to get that very clearly because that makes
a huge difference in how we go about connecting with the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity.
He is fully God, just as is Jesus and the Father God. One tri-
une God in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And
there is a passiveness and submissiveness to the Holy Spirit
in that, He does not act on His own initiative, but only by the
initiative of the Father as He sends Him to move and bring
witness to the Son.
Now youll notice further in Verse 8 of John 16, and when
he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and
righteousness and judgment. The Spirits work is the
work of conversion. We dont win anybody to Jesus Christ.
We present the Gospel. Were faithful to the call to offer tes-
timony. But we cant change anybodys heart. Only the Spirit
of God can do that. He brings conviction to people, to bring
power to the Gospel.
Im going to read a little further in verse 9, concerning
sin, because they do not believe in me; this is the convic-
tion that the Spirit brings. Verse 10-12, concerning righ-
teousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see
me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of
this world is judged; concerning righteousness, because
I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; con-
cerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is
judged. I still have many things to say to you, but you
cannot bear them now. And verse 13, When the Spir-
it of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for
he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he
hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things
that are to come. So He not only convicts, but He guides
into righteousness. When we read the Word of God, we read
it with our minds, and it perhaps can even elicit certain kinds
of emotional responses in us. But in the fnal analysis, it is
the Spirit of God, the third Person of the Trinity, who dwells
within the believers life, it is the Spirit of God who illuminates,
who reveals the truth of Gods word. The Spirit never acts in
contradictory ways to the Word of God. He only reveals the
truth of the Word of God. And then notice with me in verse 14
and 15, He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and
declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I
said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. The
Spirit of God revels Jesus to us, He flls the believers heart
with eth power and glory of God. Indeed, apart from His work
within us, we will not know what Gods will is. Again, in con-
junction with His Word, the Spirit and the Word work togeth-
er. His task is to glorify Jesus. So, thats the word that Jesus
speaks to His followers just before His crucifxion. And really,
this is much of the fundamental truth of who the Spirit of God
is in our world. He is still the same Spirit operating today as
He did then.
Now, when we turn over to Acts 2, we see the action of the
Spirit of God in even a more dramatic way. You know this
passage well, but Im going to pull something out of it thats
very important for us. Following Jesus crucifxion and res-
urrection, Jesus has ascended into Heaven. In response to
that ascension, the Spirit of God comes fulflling Jesus prom-
ise that we just read in John 16. Jesus says, when I go away,
Im going to send you the paraclete, the Helper. Now we see
how that happens.
Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were
all together in one place. And suddenly there came from
heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it flled
the entire house where they were sitting. And divided
tongues as of fre appeared to them and rested on each
one of them. And they were all flled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave
them utterance.
Now were not going to unpack all of this right now, but let
me point your attention to chapter 16 of the Gospel of John,
where Jesus is speaking personally to the disciples, say-
ing He will send them the Holy Spirit. But in addition to that,
there is a corporate way in which the Spirit comes. The Spir-
its action is both individual and personal, and corporate or
Church. And what we see in Acts 2, is the Spirit coming to the
Church as a whole, who was welcoming to the Spirit, looking
for the Spirit, and ready to receive the Spirit of God when He
came. Now what I want you to see in Acts 2 is this connec-
tion to the Church and the Spirit of God. There would be no
Church apart from the Holy Spirit. Its the Spirit who created
the Church in obedience to Jesus, glorifying Jesus. Its the
Spirit who descended, leading the Church into worship: its
the Spirit who moves among Gods people to call us to wor-
ship. He is leading the Church into fellowship: we cannot love
each other, we cannot be unifed, apart from the Spirit of God
doing this divine work within us. And He is leading the Church
into mission: they spoke the Gospel in different tongues as
the Spirit gave them utterance. This is the miracle of the Spirit
leading them to present the Gospel to all the nations repre-
sented there at the Jewish feast of Pentecost. So I want you
to get into your head that what Jesus said in John 16, now
is fulflled on a corporate level in Acts 2, where the Church is
now the result of the Spirit of God in worship, in fellowship,
and in mission.
I appreciate you hanging with me so far. Were not done yet.
Weve got a little bit further to go. Its almost like when we
talk about these things, we see the Spirit of God as this im-
personal divine force that falls on Gods people. Thats not
the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is personal. He has per-
sonality, just as the Father and the Son do. In fact, through-
out Scripture, we see how the Spirit of God responds to and
reacts to situations and circumstances in our lives. Look with
me in Ephesians 4:30, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
by whom you were concealed for the day of redemption. In
other words, the Spirit is not a personal force, He is a person
who can be grieved. When we are disobedient, we can grieve
the Holy Spirit. Look with me in Matthew 12:31-32. Here, we
fnd another kind of emotional response from the Spirit of
God. Verse 32, Whoever speaks a word against the Son
of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the
Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in
the age to come. And verse 31 explains that, Therefore
I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven peo-
ple, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be for-
given. Blasphemy against the Spirit of God, the unforgive-
able sin, is when we have persistent unbelief toward Jesus.
Thats a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Look with me in
Hebrews 10:29. This is another kind of emotional reaction or
response of Gods Spirit, How much worse punishment, do
you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled un-
derfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the
covenant by which he was sanctifed, and has outraged the
Spirit of grace? Im reading from the English Standard Ver-
sion, some of your Bibles may read insulted, but insulted
or outraged, thats a deeply personal response. He can be
grieved, He can be insulted, He can be blasphemed. Look
with me in Acts 5:3. This is the story of Ananias and Sapphi-
ra, But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan flled your
heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? You can lie to the Holy
Spirit. And the last one in Acts 7:51, Peter tells us, You
stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always resist the Holy Spirit. Blaspheme, lie against,
grieve, insult, outrage. Im not trying to scare you off here. Im
just saying the Holy Spirit in your life wants to be welcome.
The New Testament compares the Holy Spirit to a dove,
doesnt it? And doves are easily frightened away. The Spirit
of God has to be welcomed, listened to, obeyed, cherished,
nurtured. The Holy Spirit has a personality.
Now, one other thing and then were going to talk about
prayer. Look with me in Ephesians 1:13-14. The Holy Spir-
it comes into our lives when we come to faith in Jesus. In
him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gos-
pel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with
the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our in-
heritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of
his glory. At the moment we receive Christ, the Holy Spirit
comes into our lives. Now we dont always yield all that is in
us to His indwelling presence. We often shield parts of our
lives from him, we try to hide parts of our lives from him, we
dont submit parts of our lives to him, but the Spirit of God is
in the believers heart. It is our great joy to more and more
yield our lives to him.
The Holy Spirits Action in Our Lives
Now with all of that said, lets turn to what I really want to talk
to you about. And I appreciate your patience with my long in-
troduction, again. Lets look now at the Holy Spirits action in
our lives.
Romans 8:4-8, [we] who walk not according to the fesh
but according to the Spirit.
5
For those who live accord-
ing to the fesh set their minds on the things of the fesh,
but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds
on the things of the Spirit.
6
For to set the mind on the
fesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and
peace.
7
For the mind that is set on the fesh is hostile to
God, for it does not submit to Gods law; indeed, it can-
not.
8
Those who are in the fesh cannot please God.
Ive got to tell you, I read that last verse (verse 8) a few
months ago, and it was almost like the frst time. Ive read it
for years, and it just caught my attention in a new way a few
months ago. What those verses tell us is that there are two
ways you can live, and really only two ways. You can either
live according to the fesh, your old nature, your sinful nature;
or you can live according to the Spirit. You can be a believer
and still be living according to the fesh. Indeed, that happens
all the time. You can be saved, you can be on your way to
heaven now your trip there is going to be pretty miserable,
let me tell you but you can get there. In fact 1 Corinthians,
in the J.D. Phillips translation, I love it when it says people
living in the fesh will get into heaven but with their tail feath-
ers singed. Thats a great translation, isnt it? We make the
choice whether to live in the fesh or in the Spirit. We choose
whether we will live in our own minds, our own thinking, ac-
cording to our own efforts, according to our own energy; or
if we will instead obey the promptings of the Spirit of God,
yielding ourselves more and more to his indwelling presence
in our lives. This is well and good, and Im not trying to paint
a rosy picture here, but what catches your attention is verse 8
of Romans 4. Look what verse 8 says: if youre in the fesh,
you cant please God. Not that its unlikely that youll please
God, it doesnt say if youre in the fesh youll have to work
harder to please God. It doesnt say if youre in the fesh may-
be things will work out. No, it says you cannot please God in
the fesh. So the choice before us really is will we live in the
Spirit, welcoming the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives,
obeying him, listening to his voice; or will we try to strive in
our own fesh and live in a way that we think is religious and
we think is good, but essentially is driven by our own ego and
energy.
Romans 8:9-11 You, however, are not in the fesh but in
the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any-
one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not be-
long to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body
is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righ-
teousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the
dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his
Spirit who dwells in you.
We talk about this a lot. The life of God that He wants to pour
into your life comes only from His Spirit. Apart from His Spirit,
were dead.
Romans 8:12-13, So then, brothers, we are debtors, not
to the fesh, to live according to the fesh.

For if you live
according to the fesh you will die, but if by the Spirit
you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Those two verses tell us the Spirit of God is bringing us life as
we obey him and welcome him. But the Spirit of God also is
what makes us holy. The Spirit of God sanctifes us. Indeed,
the only way to defeat the old man, to die to the old man,
to change from the inside, is not from resolutions. By March,
how many of us have kept our New Years resolutions? Reso-
lutions are just an empty way to try to do it. But what happens
is the Spirit of God makes us holy from the inside, out. Apart
from an active, vital pursuit of Gods Spirit in our lives, we will
not be holy.
Now, Romans 4:14 says, For all who are led by the Spirit of
God are sons of God. We can add that to the list of person-
al things that we said dont offend him, dont lie to him, dont
grieve him, but we are instead to be lead by him.
Romans 8:14-17 For all who are led by the Spirit of
God are sons of God.
15
For you did not receive the
spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have re-
ceived the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we
cry, Abba! Father!
16
The Spirit himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God,
17
and if chil-
dren, then heirsheirs of God and fellow heirs with
Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may
also be glorifed with him.
The Spirit of God adopts you into Gods family. Through the
cross of Jesus Christ, to the resurrection of Jesus, the Spirit
of God now descending unto Gods people, is what brings us
in. Its a deeply spiritual issue.
Chapter Seven: The Spirit-Driven Prayer
Now, heres where weve been going. We had to walk
through some of Romans 8, because the verses Im about
show you, we know them but we dont know them. This is
because we read them separated from the larger teaching of
who the Spirit of God is, how he reacts, how he relates to us
in our lives and how we respond to him. Its only in the larger
context that we really can grasp what verses 26 and 27 really
speak to us about.
Romans 8: 26-27:

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our
weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we
ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with
groanings too deep for words.
27
And he who searches
hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the
Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of
God.
Has everybody read this? Some of you know this verse. We
could spend a long time here, but it fts exactly into what
weve been talking about with the work of the Spirit of God.
Now we come to this work of prayer that the Spirit of God
does in your life.
Weve been talking these last chapters about prayer in a
number of ways, but I want us to really drill down right now
into the Spirit-driven prayer. Theres so much more to prayer
than what we sometimes think about. Dr. Greg Frizzell has
talked about this, and I love how he says it. Many of us are
caught up in a devotional approach to prayer, as he called
it. The devotional prayers we pray at meals, the devotion-
al prayers we pray perhaps as we read a quick devotional
with a prayer printed at the bottom of the page, the devo-
tional prayers we read sometimes about a circumstance we
want God to fx. And theres nothing wrong with devotional
prayers, unless you just stay at that level. There is something
real about it, God invites us to pray, but at the end of the day,
if thats all youre doing, there is something deeply unsatisfy-
ing about it. Maybe you dont know how to articulate that, but
the reality is if thats the only way were praying, were miss-
ing the fullness of what prayer is about.
Theres another level of prayer we can talk about. We can
talk about contemplative prayer. Thats a formal way that
some denominations talk of contemplative prayer in a mys-
tical sense. You can read Catholic writers about contempla-
tive prayer, where you let your mind go and link up mystically
and spiritually with God. You can fnd some evidence of some
of this in Scripture, but contemplative prayer by itself is not
strictly Biblical. Theres more to prayer than just resting in
Gods presence. Resting in Gods presence is very important,
but the fullness of prayer is more than that.
We can talk about liturgical prayer, or formalized prayer, print-
ed prayers. You know, I sometimes fnd printed prayers that
really, deeply move me. You can fnd some printed prayers
that express some things that are superior in terms of their
terminology and the way they approach God. Yet, while pray-
ing someone elses voice may help sometimes, thats not my
voice.
So, beyond devotional, beyond contemplative, beyond li-
turgical or formal prayers, we enter now into a deeply, Holy
Spirit-driven, intercessory kind of prayer, unlike anything
else. What these verses (Romans 8:26-27) tell us, is that in
the deepest part of your spirit, there is a way to pray, there
is an engagement with prayer, that is certainly mental to a
degree and a matter of your heart, but deep into your spirit,
the Holy Spirit himself, dwelling in your heart through faith,
comes alongside. Weve already seen what paraclete is: He
comes alongside to help, to encourage, to intercede, to be an
advocate for you. What greater time do we need an advo-
cate, but in those times of prayer when we dont know what
to say? Something in our heart is stirring to cry out to God,
but we dont know what to pray for. Yet, at that moment, if
were listening and paying attention, we are told the Spirit of
God comes alongside, calls out for us, intercedes for us. The
verbiage here in the text used is in groanings too deep for
words, he calls out in language to God that we might not be
able to put our fnger on, and yet, God hears and responds to
it. That is some deep, powerful truth. He intercedes for us.
This kind of Spirit comes alongside us, only if we welcome
him, only if we dont grieve him, only if we dont run him off,
only if we are seeking the heart of the Father through His
Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes alongside us in prayer. So there
are three things I want you to get in Romans 8:26-27. First, it
is a deeply sanctifying experience. To pray in this way makes
us holy (not perfect). The Spirits work is to sanctify us. So
the more we connect with prayer in this way, the more like
Jesus were going to become. Secondly, its a secret kind of
prayer. It says here you cant put it into words. What God is
doing deep in our spirits, were not always able to articulate
that to other people, nor should we be trying to articulate that
to other people. You dont have to explain or apologize for it.
You just have to obey it and welcome the Spirit of God in your
life. Weve talked a couple times through these pages about
what public lives we lead right now through Facebook and
Twitter and all the other stuff. Everything we think about and
talk about is already out there for everybody to connect with.
But there is something secret in prayer. If you really want to
go further with the Spirit, a lot of it is going to be in your own
heart, and you have to be willing to be silent. Silence is gold-
en a lot of times. Theres this thing that happens in our spirits
sometimes, that the more we talk about it, the less real it be-
comes. Its almost as if weve diluted it somehow. You have
to be careful. And then third, this prayer is deeply supernat-
ural. Isnt that what it says? This is God praying in you, to
God. There is just something by defnition supernatural about
it. This is beyond our capacity, this is beyond our ability, that
God Himself steps in and takes a hand in our prayer life.
Now, fnally, lets look over at 1 Corinthians 2 and we see
more of the dynamic of how this kind of praying operates. In
this context, we gain a broader understanding.
1 Corinthians 2:9-16: But, as it is written, What no eye
has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him these
things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the
Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.

For
who knows a persons thoughts except the spirit of that
person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends
the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we
have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
who is from God, that we might understand the things
freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not
taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, inter-
preting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The
natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of
God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to un-
derstand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself
to be judged by no one. For who has understood the
mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the
mind of Christ.
Final thought. Something Dr. Greg Frizzell has said, and per-
haps youve heard this in other venues as well, is of a kind of
prayer in which you are seeking Gods heart, and He gives
you a promise from His word. And you pray that word in faith
and you hold God to it until He brings it to pass. Now, that
may sound like magic to you, or holding God hostage. Thats
not what it is at all. The spiritual process by which that kind of
prayer operates is what we just read, when the Spirit of God
reveals to you the promise of God that is for you, for your
circumstance, from His word. We dont get to choose that at
random. We dont get to pretend that God gives us a word
when He doesnt. When youre acquainted with the Spirit of
God and praying through something, when He brings you a
word, you can pray that with confdence. Thats a powerful,
intercessory-tupe prayer that shakes things up in some dra-
matic ways.
In these pages, weve talked about what prayer is, what it
accomplishes, how you pray and fnally, the Holy Spirit in
prayer. I pray this has touched your heart and will help you
pray.