Romans 11:35,36
It is quite possible that the greatest detriment to an effective prayer life is that we simply do not realize that it is not our job to originate prayer. Prayer originates in the heart of our Lord, and He inspires us to pray what His will is, so that He can do it. The Apostle Paul was appalled at the self-effort continually exercised by the Galatians, because their self-effort kept their Christian life from working. “You foolish Galatians!—After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Gal. 3:1-3)
No doubt he would say the same thing to us today if he were to observe our praying, noticing how much we pray our own will at God, rather than seeking Him until He has revealed His will to us.When you come right down to it, all of the Christian life is lived through the enabling of the Holy spirit—it is Jesus who lives the Christian life in us—it is not we who live the Christian life by ourselves.
Many believers know this fact, and practice dependance on the Lord for service, for witnessing, for preaching, for getting through hard circumstances, and then when it is time to pray, began to beg and plead for what their own idea is! Throughout the New Testament, we must take a look at all ofthe verses that contain the term “through Christ” or “in the Spirit”—these are terms that have to do with us doing the work, or the praying, in the energy of another. Doing things for Christ is one thing, and doing things through Christ is quite another thing.
I began wondering one time why it was that Israel had so many battles with the Philistines in the Old Testament. The Philistines were Israel’s worst enemy, and they were always battling with them. David’s victory as king was made possible because he defeated all of his enemies, including the Philistines. But David’s battle cry was “the battle is the Lord’s” and he only fought battles that the Lord had told him ahead of time were already won.
Eventually I looked up the meaning of the word ‘philistine’ in a concordance and found that the spiritual meaning of the word is to “wallow in self”—no wonder this enemy was the one that had to be fought the most. The tendency to do things in our own power, when only the power of Christ will suffice is a human tendency.
It takes practice learning to pray by relying on the Holy Spirit for the content of our prayers. But we can learn to discern the gentle leading of the Spirit all the time, hour by hour and day by day. Onlyin this way will we find our prayer life effective, because God only answers the prayers He inspiresLet’s ask the Lord to give us the gift of “ears” that we might hear His sweet voice, so that we can pray according to His will.
Because of our natural aversion to prayer God Himself must stir up the work of prayer in us. Just as faith is a gift of God, so prayer is a gift of God. Therefore, praying people are a gift from God, and movements of prayer are a gift from God. And if God is giving this gift, He will not fail to answer the prayers that He Himself has actually stirred up to begin with.
David Bryant.
I do not see prayer as man acting upon God, but God acting upon man. It is Jesus expressing His own ministry of intercession through those He has drawn and energized by His Spirit.
John Dawson
The lesson that has become more basic to my thinking than any other is that prayer begins and ends with God.John White
The efficacy of prayer does not depend upon my ability as a ‘prayer’ or on the intensity of my praying. It does depend upon my trust. But even my trust, my faith, is not strictly my own doing. “It is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8,9)
Roger Palms
Prayer is a grace, a gift from God. Karl Barth
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