PRAYER
Part 4: Prayer & the Holy Spirit
by Marcia Greenwood
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What a privilege we have - an open invitation from God Himself to come and fellowship with Him.
Before Jesus' death, only the High Priest could enter into the Most
Holy Place in the temple where God abided. After Jesus died, God
tore the thick, heavy veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most
Holy Place. God, in His love, opened His arms wide calling us to
come and speak with Him. How awesome is that! God says to
come boldly to His throne of grace.
Through this four-part series on prayer, we learned how important
prayer, talking to God really is, what to include in our prayers and
different types of praying; all praying to the Father in the Name of
Jesus. Prayer is a two-way conversation, we do not have to be the
dominate speaker! Talk to God with your Bible open.
We have authority when we pray; we don't have to beg God for anything
and we are instructed to pray the word of God over any situation in our
lives.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the word of God is quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two-edged sword. (Now that is some power)!
Nothing should be standing in our way in fellowshipping with the
Father. The Bible says to pray continuously. This does not
always have to be formal prayer; but anywhere, anytime, our focus and
desire should be to spend time just talking to God. Jesus did!
God loves us, He doesn't condemn us. He forgives us, accepts us,
and gave His Son for us and fills us with His Holy Spirit - when we ask.
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I
John 5:14-15 says - This is the confidence that we have in him (God),
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us; And if we
know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the
petitions that we desired of him.
God's
word, the written Bible tells us God's will. It teaches us how God
thinks, speaks and acts; and how we are to follow living according to
His example - the same way Jesus lived.
Now, with all this instruction on praying - there comes a point when we
have exhausted all that we may know how to pray for someone in our
natural language.
But we can allow the Holy Spirit to pray through us - in our heavenly
language - in tongues. Why are some Christians so afraid of
speaking in tongues? Because they are thinking with their minds
and not with their spirit. (We are a 3-part being: spirit, soul,
and body.) Speaking in tongues comes when you put your faith in the
Holy Spirit speaking through you.
All prayer should be done in faith, nothing doubting, and not in fear
or guilt. Living in faith pleases the Father. For this is
how He lives. It's OK to start out slowly then progress as you
become more and more comfortable with spending time talking to
God. The Holy Spirit is your teacher, and the very best!
Paul, the apostle spoke in tongues, so did the other apostles. So if
you wish to be filled with the Holy Spirit and receive your own prayer
language go to Luke 11:13 and do what God instructs you to do.
Jesus had some instructions for the apostles before He left for
Heaven. One of the signs that would follow a believer was -
speaking with new tongues.
Now, I am not speaking of receiving the gift of tongues that is one of
the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit to give to whomever He wishes.
This is speaking in tongues in a group and another gift is present;
someone to interpret the message given in tongues. Read 1 Corinthians
12.
The Holy Spirit is not spooky; He will not pounce on you somewhere,
where you least expect it and start blurting out. When you speak,
in any language, it is your choice; you just open your mouth and speak
out loud. God is not the author of confusion, but
order. Well, why do I need to speak in tongues? You don't,
but it is a powerful way of praying.
It is our personal choice to be hungry for everything God has for us
and receive it or not. Things change when you speak in tongues.
Paul says you can pray with your mind and with your
spirit; you can even sing in the natural and sing in the spirit.
How cool is that - God has given us a special language to praise
Him! Praying in tongues is a blessing from God to us - it builds
our spirit man up (Jude 1:20).
I remember when I was first learning of the infilling of the Holy
Spirit (Luke 11:13) and speaking in tongues, I was a bit afraid of this
unknown thing (to me) but it was in the Bible. So I said to God
"If this is from you then I want it". IT WAS - He filled me with
His Spirit and life has never been the same!
You receive His Sprit by faith; just as you do anything from God.
John 14:16-17 - The Spirit of truth. Verse 26 - He is the
Comforter, He teaches us all things.
You see God knows all things, you and I do not. Someone can tell
us about a situation; but it is typical of a person to swing the facts
one way or another. Nothing is hidden from God.
Romans 8:26-27 - The Holy Spirit helps us and makes intercession for us
according to the will of God. Speaking in tongues can stop a
situation from happening before it erupts into something terrible!
Get your mind off of living in this earthly realm - learn to think,
pray and live in the Kingdom of God realm; accept God's invitation to
come, spend time with Him, speak from your heart and just have a great
time of fellowship anytime you desire.
Well in this 4-part series on prayer we just barely scratched the
surface - do your own Bible study on prayer; ask God to help develop
your prayer life; and invest in yourself or someone else and order one
or more of the prayer resources we have advertised in these
newsletters.
TGM
"PRAYER - God Is Calling You To Come To Him"
Do
you have difficulty praying, not knowing how or what to pray? Do you
desire a more personal, intimate and effective time with God?
Learn how to pray prayers of all types; using your authority, in faith, to make a difference in this world!
This 4-CD Audio Series is
Now available at the
TGM Resource Center:
www.tgm.org/store
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