This article is transcribed from a sermon preached at Greenville Presbyterian Church in Taylors, South Carolina on August 15, 2021
“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”— Luke 11:1
Prayer is the element of worship which is most often mentioned in the Scriptures. From Genesis, chapter 4, when men began to call on the name of the Lord, to Revelation, chapter 22, when the church prays, “Come, Lord Jesus,” the Bible is full of prayer. I believe the reason why the Bible emphasizes prayer so much is because prayer is at the very heart of the true faith. Prayer exhibits fellowship. God in heaven hearing and fellowshipping with us on earth; we praying to and fellowshipping with God in heaven.
This afternoon, I want to focus on one kind of prayer, and that is, closet prayer. This phrase is rather popular, at least it was, it’s dying out now, but closet prayer comes from Matthew, chapter 6, verse 6. And our Lord is teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, and He says, “When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.” So when we speak of closet prayer, we simply mean private prayer, when you go away from everyone, and all your duties, and go where you go, close the door, no one’s around, no one hears, and you give yourself to prayer with God. Closet prayer is wonderful, because I don’t need to travel to Jerusalem and pray toward a temple. Once upon a time, in redemptive history, that was Biblically required from God, but due to Christ, who has come, we can pray to God anytime, anywhere. But closet prayer is also difficult. We, as believers, may struggle to have daily, consistent, vital prayer lives. There are good seasons, there are bad seasons. And because there it is both wonderful and difficulty, due to our flesh, we need continual encouragement and instruction. And so, this afternoon, this is exactly what I want to do. I want to encourage you and instruct you, in your own closet prayer. We receive our encouragement and instruction from Jesus Christ Himself, as He teaches many things concerning prayer, in Luke, chapter 11, 1 to 13. And the first thing we see here, is the nature of prayer; 2) the content of prayer; 3) the importunity of prayer; 4) the gift of prayer.
First of all, the nature of prayer.
In verse 1, it says, “and it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray.” You can imagine the scene here. Christ is praying to His Father. A disciple, or maybe there were more, many disciples, see and hear Christ praying to His Father. And when Christ concludes His prayer, the disciple is so impressed, he must ask, “Lord, teach us to pray.” And if we desire to grow in our prayer lives, we must come to Jesus Christ and also ask, “Lord, teach us to pray.” There are many wonderful resources to prayer. You can hear men who are gifted in prayer. You can read books teaching you about prayer, and you can even pick up books like The Valley of Vision, and Matthew Henry’s book, Method for Prayer, and you can read prayer. But if you want the best, you go to the greatest man who ever prayed, and that was Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ prayed from three motivations: duty, dependence, delight. Prayer was Jesus Christ’s duty. In Galatians, chapter 4, verse 4, he was sent from the Father to be “made of a woman, made under the law.” And prayer is a command for all people. True religion has certain ordinances, and prayer is one of these. And Jesus Christ obeyed, and therefore prayed.
Secondly, Jesus Christ prayed in dependence. In Philippians, chapter 2, we have a language that says, He who is God humbled Himself (verse 8). And He’s humbled Himself to be a servant of God. This means, under the state of humiliation, He must depend upon God for all things: for guidance; for power. And Jesus Christ glorified His Father by praying to Him in dependence.
Thirdly, prayer was Christ’s delight. You see this in Matthew 11, when the Son prays to the Father, and it says that He rejoiced in spirit. And it says, no one knows the Father but the Son, and no one knows the Son but the Father (verse 27). That knowing is what we often call an experimental knowing; it’s the knowledge of experience, love, and joy. And Christ delighted to pray. And when you look at Jesus Christ’s life, when you read the gospels, He was full of prayer. Luke, chapter 3 tells us that when Jesus Christ was being baptized, “as he was praying,” the Father spoke to Him (verse 21). When Christ went out into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights, He fasted. And if you read your Bible, there’s no such thing as fasting without prayer. In Luke, chapter 1, verse 35, Christ is in the middle of a busy ministry. People are knocking at His door, heal, cast out demons, even Peter said, Lord, there’s so many people at the door, come and heal them. What does He do? It says gets up early in the morning before sunrise, and goes away to be alone to pray. When Jesus Christ was calling the twelve apostles to be twelve apostles, what did He do the night before? He spent all night in prayer (Luke 6:12–13). When our Lord was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, what was He doing on the mount? “As he prayed,” he was transfigured (Luke 9:29). When Christ had to wrestle—the only way to save His people, was to drink from the cup of wrath, He prayed (Matt. 26:39). When He stands to represent His people as a High Priest, He prays for them. On the cross, when He’s suffering the agony, He prays, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). And Jesus Christ’s ministry here and now, what is He doing? As we heard this weekend at our conference, “He ever liveth to make intercession for [us]” (Heb. 7:25). He’s a man of prayer. So, if you want to learn how to pray, get out your Bibles, read your Gospels, and study the prayer life of Jesus Christ, and copy Him. You’re united to Him, so as He does, you do too.
And why do we pray? The same reasons as Christ. Number one, it’s our duty. God uses the word “prayer” with the imperative many times, and we are commanded to pray. If we are not praying, we are sinning. And therefore, because we love God, out of duty, we obey His commandment, and we pray. We also pray because we’re dependent upon Him. We have nothing in the sight of God, spiritual, temporal, nothing, and therefore, in dependence upon God, we pray. We also pray out of delight. It is a pleasure to the soul of the believer to pray unto God. But is it yours? How do you describe prayer in your life? Pleasure? Joyful? A delight? It should be. You also are fellowshipping with the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. You can unburden yourself unto Him. You can glorify and praise Him. You can give Him thanks every day for who He is and what He’s done for you. Make prayer a delight to yourself.
Well, we’ve used the word “prayer” a lot, and we’re assuming we all know what we mean by that, but what do we mean, “praying to God?” Well, the Greek word used for prayer here, in verses 1 and 2, is the ordinary, generic word for prayer. It means the religious act of humbling yourself before God, entering His presence, and asking for help. Prayer is to be a means of grace. Andrew Gray, the Scots Presbyterian of the 1600s, he defined prayer as “The travel of the soul between emptiness and fullness, between misery and mercy, between inability to help ourselves, and complete ability in Him to help us. Prayer is one depth crying out to another depth. It is the depth of our necessities crying out to the depth of the fullness of God. Prayer is the messenger of the soul, by which the soul keeps intimate and familiar correspondence with heaven.” That’s prayer. When we pray, there should be the reception of something. If you’re weak, and you’re praying to God, you should be strong after prayer. If you feel empty, and you pray to God, you should have a sense of filling after prayer. Prayer is not us petitioning whosoever is out there, lots of arrows and there’s a one percent chance the arrow will hit the board, nevermind the bull’s-eye. Prayer is a means of grace. In Philippians, chapter 4, in verses 6 to 7, be anxious, “be careful for nothing”—don’t worry or be anxious about anything. Now, we’ve all been anxious, we’ve all been worried, we’ve all been full of care. What should we do, Paul? Make your prayers, your requests, your thanksgiving “be made known unto God”—prayer. And what’s the result? “And the peace of God,” through Jesus Christ, will keep our hearts. See what’s happening there? There’s a problem—anxiety; there’s the activity—prayer; and then the response—there’s peace that keeps you. Or think of Hannah, in 1 Samuel, chapter 1. She doesn’t have a child. The wife of her husband has children. She’s hated, she’s mocked, she’s laughed about, she’s full of care. So what does she do about it? She comes to the temple and prays. And once she prays, she’s very different. It says, in 1 Samuel, chapter 1, verse 18, “And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.” She understood prayer. She couldn’t eat, she was sad, she was full of worry. She went to the temple, she prayed to God, and grace came to her. She was no longer sad. That’s what prayer should be like? How do you make prayer a means of grace? The best help I’ve ever found is the definition of prayer by B. B. Warfield in a Princeton Chapel sermon. And he says, “Prayer is the adjustment of the heart for the reception of grace.” Prayer is like those kinds of flowers which heads are down, but when it starts to rain, their heads open up and receive the rain. And so, when we pray, we want to pray in such a way that our hearts are adjusted for the reception of grace. Now, when B. B. Warfield teaches that, he doesn’t tell you how to do that, so you have to think of that for yourself. But I have four helps, so that you can adjust your heart for the reception of grace, and make prayer a means of grace.
And the first one is faith. You must exercise faith in prayer. Notice what I didn’t say: you must “have faith” in prayer. Now to be heard, do you need to have to have faith in Christ? Absolutely. But you can have faith, and not exercise that faith. And we often come to God as believers, and fail to exercise that faith, and just blurt out words, not really hoping or expecting anything—“amen,” and move on—and we wonder why there’s no grace given to us. In Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” So faith takes that which you cannot see, can’t feel it, you’re not aware of it with the senses, but faith makes it real and true in the soul. So when you pray, stop, and do not rush into prayer. Stop, and have your faith exercised. Knowledge—I am speaking to God, God is now my Father. Psalm 65 says He is the hearer of prayer. He has given me the Savior, and I’m praying in His name, and through Him, all my prayers, which may have sin, are perfumed and accepted in the Father’s sight. I am enabled to pray because I have the indwelling Holy Spirit, and therefore, when I pray, God will hear everything I’m saying. And you trust in that, and you believe that. And therefore, whether you feel or you don’t feel, whether you sense or you don’t sense, faith is exercised! God is here! God is with me! and God’s listening to me.
Secondly, time—time. There’s a time and a place for arrow prayers. Something happens, a ten-second prayer. But that’s not to be a closet prayer. Closet prayer is to be with God. In Luke, chapter 10, Martha and Mary. And Jesus rebukes Martha. He says, “Martha, Martha, thou art troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary has chosen that good part” (verses 41–42). We’re often like Martha and we don’t pray, because we’re cumbered by so many things; distracted and drawn away by busyness. And it’s unbelief, because it’s basically saying, God, we can do all this without you, so let me get to this, and I’ll get to prayer when I can. There’s always going to be busyness in life. Mothers, they’re always going to be busy. Fathers, workers, students, they’re always going to be busy. But there is eternity. And we must redeem the time. We have to make sure we’re disciplined every day; there’s a set time, when you can go, and be alone, and give yourself to prayer. Fathers, you may have to help your wives. You have to say, Honey, have you had a word in prayer today? No, I haven’t, I’ve been too busy. The kids are mine, give me the kids, give me that duty. Whether it’s thirty, forty, forty-five minutes, whatever—mine. You go, and you be with Christ, you need Him. Get yourself, in time, to prayer.
Thirdly, the Word. So often when we come and we want to pray, you have a spirit of prayer, but your mind’s closed, and the mind’s a fog. Let the Word of God shape and fashion your prayers. Your ordinary daily Bible reading and study, use that as the grid to pray to God. Or come to a Psalm—read a Psalm, think about it, and use that as the theme of your prayer. That will really kindle the fire of your soul. Listen to God first, reading the Word, and then speak to God—prayer.
Fourthly, engage your heart in prayer. Don’t be halfhearted. Don’t give Him the dregs. Give Him your all—all your strength, all your focus, all your might. It is, after all, fellowship. It is our heart towards the eternal Spirit. Father, Son and Holy Ghost, in a wonderful, blessed fellowship. So engage your mind and think. Engage your heart and affections. Engage your will, and pray to God. If you do these four steps, you will pray as a means of grace. And you’ll be amazed, by the time you say “amen,” what you are praying for, because your mind, your soul, and the Word was being engaged. God will give grace to you.
But secondly, the content of prayer.
Now, we know what is prayer, and we know the spirit of prayer now, we are to ask, What exactly should I pray for? And in verses 2 to 3, our Lord gives what we call, The Lord’s Prayer. “And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth,” and so on. The Lord’s Prayer—this is the greatest help for you, if you want to know how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer has been used for 2,000 years, as the basis of the content of vital Christian prayer. Whether it’s all the church fathers expositing it, whether it was our own Westminster Divines giving huge sections to it, in both the Shorter Catechism or the Larger Catechism, the plethora of sermons and writings and books throughout the generations—why has the church been so obsessed with the Lord’s Prayer? Because it is so helpful in the Christian life. After all, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and then He teaches us the Lord’s Prayer. And the Lord’s Prayer can help you in two ways: one—form; two—pattern. Form means, you can use the words, in and of themselves, and pray them to God. I think it very fascinating asking Presbyterians if they do this or not, I think it even more fascinating asking office-bearers, Do you think that we’re able to pray the words of the Lord’s Prayer? I’m not talking here about the popish worship service, where we all recite the Lord’s Prayer together. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about, in and of yourself, in your own closet, using the very words of the Lord’s Prayer. During the Puritan era, there was only one group who was against us—the Brownists. These were the radical Independents. If you read George Gillespie, he writes against Independents who say we can’t pray the Lord’s Prayer. In our own Larger Catechism, #187, says, “How is the Lord’s Prayer to be used? The Lord’s Prayer is not only for direction, as a pattern, according to which we are to make other prayers; but may also be used as a prayer, so that it be done with understanding, faith, reverence, and other graces necessary to the right performance of the duty of prayer.” So can you pray the Lord’s Prayer, as a mere religious duty? No, no. Can you pray the Lord’s Prayer with faith, reverence, understanding, and adoration? Yes. Parents, teach your children the Lord’s Prayer. Teach your children to pray the Lord’s Prayer. I’ve been through barrenness in my spiritual life many times, as everyone has. And when I’ve struggled in my prayer life, when I have, verbatim, with faith, reverence, adoration, and understanding, repeated the Lord’s Prayer, I’ve been amazed how many times the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Spirit, has kindled an almost inexistent flame. Because the truths of each clause came to my mind and affected my heart. So, use the Lord’s Prayer as a form.
But also use it as a pattern. Martin Luther was known as a man of prayer. But he was an ordinary man, who would go and get his haircut from his barber. And his barber was a Christian believer, but he struggled with prayer. And one day, this barber asked Martin Luther, Can you give me any helps for prayer? Martin Luther went home and he wrote a personal letter to his barber, and it’s still used today—it’s a little booklet called, A Simple Way to Pray. And one of the things he does is, he says, take the Lord’s Prayer, understand each of the themes in the Lord’s Prayer, and think of how you can use these themes and clauses, in your own language, in praying to God. And he says, if you learn to do that, it will improve your prayer life. And I would say, if you read something of the Larger Catechism—study the preface, the petitions, the doxology—understanding now, and think of each theme, and use that theme to pray to God, you’ll find there is much to improve your prayer life.
Let us note four brief points, because we cannot exposit the whole Lord’s Prayer, of course. First and foremost, “Our Father.” You should pray, Our Father, and that should give you confidence in prayer. You’re adopted by the grace of Jesus Christ, and the Father, in love, has elected you, and the Father, in love, sent the Son to die for you, and the Father, in love, has adopted you, and the Father’s love is within you. And therefore, when you pray, you think by faith, with reverence, with an evangelical boldness and confidence. That should help you in your prayer.
Secondly, the first three petitions are all about God. Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Prayer is, first and foremost, worship of God. Prayer is, first and foremost, worship of God. It’s not about you, it’s not about me. And we often struggle in prayer, and our prayers are dry, because we’re busy trying to think about what do I want from God. Start with God. Read your Bible, consider a truth of God, and glorify Him. Let’s say you’re reading, and you’re reading a Psalm, and He’s clothed with righteousness. “Oh, God of heaven and earth, thou art perfect and infinite in thy righteousness; thou art holy and spotless, with no sin, and thou wilt rightly judge and condemn sinners in hell for all eternity. But thou hast magnified thy righteousness at the cross. There you sent the Lord our Righteousness, Jesus Christ, and by His propitiation, thou art just and the justifier of them which believe in Jesus. How I glorify thee for thy awesome righteousness.” That’s how you pray to God.
Thirdly, notice how influential your prayers are for the kingdom. “Thy kingdom come.” There is a direct link between how you pray, and the accomplishments of God’s causes on this earth. I am not for one moment saying that it’s completely dependent on you, because God is sovereign, and He can use us or not use us. But ordinarily, God uses the prayers of His saints. We’re in America—you have a General Assembly in Edinburgh, Scotland, every May. It’s thousands of miles away, what can you do about that? Prayer. I remember reading in John Rabbi Duncan, the Free Church father, and he says, “We little think how much a poor, praying woman, far off, perhaps at St. Kilda”—which is the farthest island from the UK—“may have to do with the decisions of our General Assembly.” You can affect what happens every May, in the General Assembly—how? Your prayers. And you can affect missions, and evangelism, and conversions, and the state of nations, and everything that comes with this. By your prayers. In the language of William Carey, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” And there’s nothing greater than prayer. Are you all doom and gloom, mumbling and moaning about the state of America? Do you get together and say, Oh, did you hear about this? Oh, did you hear about that? Oh, did you hear about the government? Did you hear about the universities? Okay, what are you doing about it? What are you doing about it? And all the rest of Christendom in America mumbling and moaning and complaining, and yet, the prayer meeting is the least attended—if there is one—in the whole of the church! Real believers look at the state of things, and have a godly sorrow, and they are genuinely grieved by it, and they take that to God, believing that mountains can be moved, rulers can be displaced, or converted, and believe the kingdom can come with power, again, because the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! No weakling! Omnipotent! And therefore, by faith, they take the throne of grace, and hold Christ, and say, “Thy kingdom come!” Pray! Because your prayers affect the kingdom.
And fourthly, God cares about you. “Give us this day, our daily bread. Forgive us our sins. God cares! “Casting all your cares upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). Though prayer is first and foremost about worship, it’s also about giving God our heart’s desires and needs. He cares about your temporal needs. He cares about your sufferings. He cares about your perplexities. Don’t go to God and think, You know, at the end of the day it’s nothing, I’m just going to pray for these big things. That is a big thing you Him, because He is a Father to a child, and if the child has a tiny, little, wee grazed knee, He’s going to bend down and hug you. And that’s who God is to us. When you’re suffering, when you’re perplexed, go to your Father in heaven—He cares for you. Study the Lord’s Prayer, and use the Lord’s Prayer.
Thirdly, the importunity of prayer.
In verses 5 to 8, Jesus Christ gives us a picture of how we are to pray. A friend has come to you at midnight. You’re looking at the cupboard, you’re opening the fridge, there’s nothing, and your friend’s starving after a long journey. So you go next door, and you’re knocking at the door, and the man gets up, and Jesus Christ says, that man’s not going to give you bread just because he’s your friend. He’s going to say, Be quiet, go away, my it’s midnight, my kids are in bed, wait. But then He says, Because of “the importunity,” the man will arise and give you bread. And so He takes that, and He says, When you pray to your Father in heaven, you need to pray with importunity. Now, that might be or may not be a popular word, but what does the word “importunity” mean? The root idea means “without shame or embarrassment.” The idea that you have no embarrassment and no shame, you desire something, and you’re going to ask, and ask, and ask, and ask, until you get your answer. I’ve visited some foreign countries, and in some foreign countries, there are hawkers. These are people who have all sorts of gifts, and they go tourist places, they go to the beach in these things, and they absolutely pester you until you buy something. They have no shame. They’re not embarrassed. They don’t care if you’re with your family, they don’t care if you’re tired and busy, they’ll come to you, and they’ll be asking, and asking, and asking, and asking, until you buy something from them. That’s what God wants in our prayers. He wants us to pray the prayer of importunity. Christopher Love, the Puritan, he gives a very helpful definition of importunity. He says, “Importunity is the gathering together of all the affections of the soul, a stirring them all up in prayer, whereby the soul is so earnestly desirous of the good it wants, that it will not rest nor leave off the duty until it finds some return or answer to prayer.” That’s what God wants. So how can we pray the prayer of importunity?
Number one: faith—notice, you always start with faith. What is faith? Hebrews 11, verse 6, faith believes “that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Faith believes that He is—He exists, and He exists in and of Himself, and He who exists is infinite and abounding in goodness, grace, love, and mercy. Faith believes that God the Father has called us to pray according to His will, and He wants to hear our petitions, and He will reward them who diligently—not lazy—diligently seek Him. And we lack faith, when we pray once or twice and give up. But Biblical faith is when we believe He is, and He’s a rewarder—an answerer of prayer—to those who diligently seek Him. So when you pray, maybe you have something—what are you praying for? Is it for the conversion of someone? Is it that spiritual maturity will come to you and the congregation? Are you praying for the love of Jesus Christ to be shed abroad in our hearts? Are you praying, what are you praying for? Whatever it is, we have faith that He is, and He rewards.
Secondly: fervency. Importunity is for the fervent. James, chapter 5. Elijah is a man of like passions—that’s encouraging. He struggles, he fights, he battles—it’s not easy for him. Effectual prayer. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). Effectual and fervent is actually one word. It’s such a rich word, it takes two words to translate it. It’s the idea of energetic workings—someone who is exercised, and is working hard, and the heart is engaged. The word “avail” means to overcome. You overcome God. Is that not Jacob? Jacob’s name was changed from Jacob to Israel, because he was a prince with God, who overcame God. That’s not to say God can be literally overpowered—it’s metaphorical. When the angel came to Jacob and Jacob had to wrestle him and overcome him, that was God proving Jacob to be a man of working, energetic faith. And so, if we really want something, you don’t just give up twice. You’re energetic, you’re working, your fervent, you’re zealous, you’re diligent, and you’re going after it with all your might! Like the Canaanite woman, her daughter has been demon possessed! and Jesus answered her not a word. And she continues! I’ve only come for the lost sheep of the house of Israel; she’s a Gentile Does she stop? No! she continues! It is not fitting to give bread to dogs. Your crumbs are sufficient for me, Lord. “O woman, great is thy faith.” (Matt. 15:22–28) That’s the faith, that energetic, working faith that persists! Because importunity means there’s going to be doors closed, and barriers, and you don’t give up—you persist, and you wait until God answers. How’s your prayer?—for the lost loved one; for more holiness; for a greater love of Christ; for a more enlightenment and the hope of your inheritance; for mortifying that sin; for growing that particular grace you’re lacking? How’s your prayer? Are you persisting? Are you asking? Are you pleading? Are you saying, Except thou bless me, I will not let you go (Gen. 32:26). That’s the prayer God wants. He looks at your heart, and says, Do you really want what I can offer? And when you come with the prayer of importunity, He delights, and answers your prayer. Pray, persist until He answers.
Fourthly, the gift of prayer.
Verse 13 says, “how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” There’s a quasi antinomian, redemptive historical, very mechanical, robotic view of the Holy Spirit in the Reformed churches these days. And they say, once the Holy Spirit is given, it cannot be decreased or increased—that’s unbiblical. It says here, “ask for the Holy spirit,” but every believer already has the Holy Spirit. Because Paul says, elsewhere, we can quench and grieve the Holy Spirit, so His influences can decrease in our lives. And Paul says, in Ephesians 5, “Be ye filled with the Spirit.” That’s a present continuous: continually be filled with the Spirit. The Holy Spirit permanently, permanently indwells the true believer, but the influences of the Holy Spirit can increase and decrease. And we need the Holy Spirit for everything. Do you desire the presence of God? Well, it’s the Holy Spirit who comes and gives the presence of God to us individually, and to us as a congregation. Do you desire the preaching of this pulpit from your Pastor to be powerful? Well, it must come in demonstration of power and of the Holy Spirit. Do you want your Lord’s Suppers to be efficacious to your soul? That’s determined by the efficacy of the Holy Spirit. Do you desire to experience the love of God more? Romans 5:5, It is the Holy Ghost who sheds abroad, in our hearts, the love of God. Do you desire sanctification? 1 Peter, chapter 1, verse 2: the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. Do you desire to kill flesh and the sin? It is through the Spirit we mortify the deeds, Romans 8:13. Do you desire to abound in love, joy, and peace, and sobriety, and meekness, and so on, and so forth? That’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). Do you want to understand your Bible more, theology more, doctrine more, and have the wisdom to apply it? Ephesians 1, Colossians 1: It is the Holy Spirit who enlightens and gives spiritual understanding. We need the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ says, ask Him. Ask Him. Do you sincerely ask God the Father for the Holy Spirit every single day? Do you ask Him for the Holy Spirit for all the graces and power you need as a mother that day, as a father that day, as a worker that day, as a student that day, as a child that day? Do you ask for the Holy Spirit every time you gather for corporate prayer, for the blessing of this congregation, for the blessing of all your congregations? Ask Him every day. But how do you know he’ll answer you? How do you know? Well, Jesus Christ, in this passage, says, verses 11 to 13, He points His finger to the fathers, and He says, If your child comes to you, and he asks for bread, would you give him a stone? Of course not, you’d give him bread. If your child comes to you and asks for a fish, would you give him a serpent, a snake? No, you wouldn’t, you’d give him a fish. If your child comes to you and asks for an egg, would you give him a scorpion? No, you’ll give him eggs. And He says, You fathers, who are evil, because you’re sinners, you know that when your child comes, you’ll give him good things; how much more your heavenly Father, who is perfectly good, will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. James 4 says, You receive not, for you ask not. And Christ says, You ask, and you shall receive. So if you desire the Holy Spirit, and more and more, and more of His influence in your life, in your family, in your marriage, in your congregation, in the church of Jesus Christ, daily, weekly, ask for the Holy Spirit and He shall be given to you.
So what do we do with this? We pray. Individuals, use these encouragements and instructions to refuel your closet prayer life. Use these things for practice today. Do not wait till Monday. Do not wait for Monday—your flesh and the devil will snatch any blessing you’ve got. Tonight, today, pray. Families, are you daily, consistent, and vital in family prayers? Use these things for encouragements. And if I turn up here on Wednesday, will I see the same number of people here? Now, if someone has physical problems, or they have a job and these things, and they just cannot, cannot, cannot get the time off work, no one’s talking about that. But if someone’s able, but at the end of the day, just does not want to be here, they have a deep spiritual problem. It’s a problem of pride and self-dependence. But a people who are humble, and know everything comes from God, it is their duty, dependence, and delight to pray—their prayer meetings are full. And if we use these encouragements and instructions, we will take hold of God, and God will shower, and shower, and shower His blessings upon this congregation—I have no doubt. So let us all ask, “Lord, teach us to pray.” He’s taught us, so let us pray.
Our Father, we rejoice in thy Son’s encouragements and instructions concerning prayer. We ask that every one of us would be built up, and that as we come to the closet today and this week, we would be filled with the Spirit, and we would pray. And we ask that, as we do pray, it would be a means of grace. Lord, teach us to adjust our hearts for the reception of grace. In the name of thy Son. Amen.
