Teach Me to Pray - Week #28: The Holy Spirit and Prayer

"In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you." John 16:23-24, 26-27

"In that day" refers to the day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the glorified Jesus came to be the life of His disciples; one of the marks of this coming of the Spirit was to be a power in prayer never before experienced.

"In the intercession of Christ, the continued efficacy and application of His redemption is maintained. Through the Holy Spirit descending from Christ to us, we are drawn up into the great stream of His ever-ascending prayers. The Spirit prays for us without words. In the depths of the heart where even thoughts are at times formless, the Spirit takes us up into the wonderful flow of the life of the triune God. Through the Spirit, Christ's prayers become ours, and ours are made His; we ask what we will and it is given to us."

Murray goes on to say that the logical conclusion of this truth is that we need to ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus and that this is more than what we see of Him in the Old Testament and in the conversion and regeneration of the disciples before Pentecost; and this is more than a measure of His influence and working...."This is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the glorified Jesus in His exaltation power, coming on us as the Spirit of the indwelling Jesus, revealing the Son and the Father within (John 14:16-23). When this Spirit is the Spirit not only of our hours of prayer but also of our whole life and walk; and when this Spirit glorifies Jesus in us by revealing the completeness of His work, making us wholly one with Him and like Him; then we can pray in His name, because we are indeed one with Him."

"HOW WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND AND BELIEVE THAT TO BE FILLED WITH THIS SPIRIT OF THE GLORIFIED ONE IS THE ONE NEED OF GOD'S BELIEVING PEOPLE! THEN WE WILL UNDERSTAND "AND PRAY IN THE SPIRIT ON ALL OCCASIONS WITH ALL KINDS OF PRAYERS AND REQUESTS" (Ephesians 6:18), and "PRAY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT" (Jude 1:20)."

An effective life of prayer in God is impossible with the Holy Spirit dynamically at work in and through us. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8 that we are weak in knowing how to pray but the Holy Spirit comes to our aid and makes intercession for us.

Exalted Jesus, send forth Your Spirit; baptize and fill us, Your people, with Your Spirit so that we may become a people of effective prayer. We confess that we need You and cannot hope to learn to pray without You. Thank You for hearing and answering our cry, in Jesus' name. Amen.