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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
August, 1936
He enables us to ex perience. Since He has commanded us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, He will not withhold from us the ability to obey His command, but the mo ment one is willing to obey, one will be filled. It is our blessed privi lege to accept by faith the filling of the Spirit. I f there be one fur ther requirement, it would be (though this would be taken for granted) that we must follow the leading o f the Spirit implicitly. ‘ ‘ Q u e n c h not the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5 :19 ). He is a fire which must be allowed to burn. His fire can be quenched by an un
T he I ntercessor ’ s A bandonment of S elf How can I qualify for the office o f an intercessor? If the Holy Spirit is to do in me what the Lord Jesus is doing for me, what sort o f person must I be ? Specifically what must I do in order that it may be possible for the Holy Spirit to make intercession through me ? I must renounce self as the source o f prayer. In John 16:13 we are told that the Spirit does not speak of Him self, but whatsoever He hears, that He speaks. W e under stand that to mean that He does not speak out from Him self, or on His own authority. His source is not within Himself. He speaks what He hears from the Lord Jesus. The relations between these two persons of the divine Trinity are most tender and beautiful. When the Lord came into this world, He submitted Himself wholly to the control of the Spirit. He was born o f the Spirit, led o f the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, anointed by the Spirit, bap tized in the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, crucified in the strength o f the Spirit, raised from .the dead by the operations o f the Spirit, and finally taken to heaven in the bosom o f the Spirit. Then after the ascension of the Son to heaven, the Spirit subjected Himself to the control of the Lord Jesus. He came forth from the Father and the Son and is continuously proceeding from them to men. He came to take the things of Christ and to show them unto men, to speak the words which He should hear from heaven, to effectuate in believers the work which the Christ had done and was doing for them, in short, to be the vice gerent on earth of the Christ in heaven. In view o f the fact that the Spirit is drawing continu ously from heaven, shall we draw upon our own resources while pretending to serve the Spirit in His intercessory ministry? N o ; let us by that autonomy of the self which we call the will, utterly renounce self as the source of prayer. W e must also renounce self as the wisdom o f prayer. “ For we know not what we should pray for as we ought” (Rpm. 8 :26 ). That is to say, first, that we are ignorant of the proper objects o f prayer, and, second, that we may be mistaken as to the right method of prayer. Because of our infirmities we do not see things in their proper perspec tive with relation to God and the universe, and thus we need a Guide both as to the objects and the methods o f prayer. For example, a mother prayed for the healing o f her sick child and prayed in such a spirit that she was unwilling to take “ No” for an answer, regardless o f the will of God. The child got well and subsequently entered a life of sin, causing that mother the pangs o f a thousand deaths and sending her at last to the insane asylum. She was wrong both as to object and method because she prayed wholly in the energy of the flesh and not in the power o f the Spirit. T he I ntercessor and the H oly S pirit Having renounced self as the source and the wisdom of prayer, we must ask fo r the Holy Spirit. W e are instructed thus in Luke 11:13. It is sometimes urged as an objection to this teaching that when Jesus spoke these words, the Holy Spirit was not yet given, but that now we need never pray for the Holy Spirit. T o this objection we may answer that it is one thing to have the Holy Spirit for life, and it is quite another to have Him for power. True it is that no one has spiritual life apart from the Holy Spirit, and equal ly true is it that our spiritual power is measured by the degree with which we are possessed by, the Holy Spirit. Any experience that is worth having is a proper subject of prayer. Furthermore, the great saints in all ages have prayed to be filled with the Spirit. Having renounced self and prayed for the Holy Spirit, we must accept His presence and guidance by faith. “ Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5 :18). What God commands,
Spurgeon used to say that praying is like ringing a bell in heaven. Some persons puil the rope so gently that the bell merely tinkles. Others pull it with such vigor that it peals out with a resounding blast. One who prays in the Spirit will surely pull that rope with all his might.
yielding spirit on our part. Any failure on our part to follow His leadership, any tendency to resist His prompt ings, to choose some other way than His, or to hesitate to express the thoughts which He inspires, is to dampen His burning zeal. These, then, are the rules for him who would qualify as a servant o f the Spirit in his intercessory ministry: Re nounce se lf; seek the filling o f the Spirit; accept the filling o f the Spirit by faith; follow the leading of the Spirit S pirit -I nspired P rayer Now we are ready to ask, What kind o f a prayer does the Holy Spirit inspire? This question may be considered under the specifications for Spirit-filled intercession. When one prays with the Spirit as Intercessor, one’s prayer will be very fervent. The Spirit does not inspire dead, inert, indifferent, careless, dull, or sluggish prayers. His intercession is so earnest that it sometimes reaches the point where it becomes “ groanings which cannot be ut tered.” Spurgeon used to say that praying is like ringing a bell in heaven. Some persons pull the rope so gently that the bell merely tinkles. Others pull it with such vigor that it peals out with a resounding blast. One who prays in the Spirit will surely pull that rope with all his might. Again, the prayer which the Spirit inspires is always intelligent. W e know not what to pray for, but He knows. There is no ambiguity in .His prayers. Look at the Phari see and the publican in the temple and learn what prayer which reaches the ear of God is like. Unlike the Pharisee, the publican knew what he needed, asked for it, and got it. Finally, the Spirit-inspired prayer js invariably success ful because it is according to the will o f God. “ If we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth u s : And if we know that he hear us, . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired o f him” (1 John 5 :1 4 ,15). There is nothing that can stand against the person or the group that prays in the Holy Spirit. That kind o f praying can do anything that God can do, and God can do anything that He wills to do. Prayer is life’s greatest venture, the Son’s constant occupation, the Spirit’s unceasing ministry, the saint’s most blessed experience, and this world’s greatest need. Let us study to pray in the Spirit as our first duty and our superlative privilege.
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