power

Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit to make God known

Why should I pray in the power of the Holy Spirit?

To keep myself in the love of God.

Prayer is a means of divine grace because I cannot keep myself in the love of God on my own terms or in my own strength. God is the decisive keeper of my soul. If God does not keep me, I will not persevere in faith. I will die.

But you, my friends, keep on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and keep yourselves in the love of God, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy to give you eternal life. – Jude 1:20-21 GNT

It is this kind of praying that gives me the power to pray the kind of prayer that Jesus gave when He was on the cross.

Jesus said, “Forgive them, Father! They don’t know what they are doing. – Luke 23:34 GNT

I wonder what Jesus’ prayers sounded like when He was praying for the Pharisees or the Saducees. On the cross He had no quiet or private space and so everyone heard it.

He knew their blindness was not of their own, no excuse though, and yet He gave them the opportunity to be seen in a different light.

“If ignorance do not excuse a crime, it at least diminishes the atrocity of it. However, these persons well knew that they were crucifying an innocent man; but they did not know that, by this act of theirs, they were bringing down on themselves and on their country the heaviest judgments of God. In the prayer, Father, forgive them! that word of prophecy was fulfilled, He made intercession for the transgressors, Isaiah 53:12.” – Clarke

This has to be one of the hardest prayers anyone has to pray. I am thankful for the miracle in my life that allowed me to do so. Unfortunately there have been many I have discipled that refuse to go down this path and ultimately make the decision to no longer be discipled.

In the Middle East, the power of forgiveness happens more times than in my Canadian context.

I know that I cannot pray this prayer. However, as soon as I invite the Holy Spirit in as my Helper and my Advocate, I can see myself growing in this prayer. To make God known to myself is one kind of prayer but the real power and miracle is seeing Him make Himself known to those are not just wrong and evil, but incredibly lost.

Paul beseeches the saints in Rome to STRIVE together with him in their prayers. The word translated “strive” means primarily to contend as in athletic games or in a fight. In other words, the prayer that prevails with God is the prayer into which we put our whole soul, stretching out toward God in intense and agonizing desire. Much of our modern prayer has no power in it because there is no heart in it. We rush into God’s presence, run through a string of petitions, jump up and go out. If someone should ask us an hour afterward for what we prayed, oftentimes we could not tell. If we put so little heart into our prayers, we cannot expect God to put much heart into answering them. – R. A. Torrey

Distress,desperate cries, injustice

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I believe that with the power of prayer, I have to take the time and be on the lookout for those who are being exploited and then I have to care enough to get angry and get involved. That may mean I have to stand up to a bully, it may mean I need to engage in fervent prayer, and it may mean that I need to give a helping hand.

It is my praying for God’s Kingdom to come on earth that my discipleship methods reaches out to those captured in the practices rooted in our fallen humanity. As Nehemiah points out, these people exist among the people of God as in the world. It is only in authoritative prayer that we have the courage and determination to speak into that world.

Some time later many of the people, both men and women, began to complain against the other Jews.  Some said, “We have large families, we need grain to keep us alive.”

Others said, “We have had to mortgage our fields and vineyards and houses to get enough grain to keep us from starving.”

Still others said, “We had to borrow money to pay the royal tax on our fields and vineyards. 5 We are of the same race as the other Jews. Aren’t our children just as good as theirs? But we have to make slaves of our children. Some of our daughters have already been sold as slaves. We are helpless because our fields and vineyards have been taken away from us.” – Nehemiah 5:1-5 GNT

Maybe it is because I am praying that I hear the cry from the people. Jesus seemed to perceive their needs. Interesting to note that His only time for quietness and a place to pray was night time. I think the world is looking for someone to hear their cry for help.

When we give of our time and energy and are spent, we may pray the same prayer Nehemiah did.

I pray you, O God, remember to my credit everything that I have done for this people. – Nehemiah 5:19 GNT

 

Prayer is the only entryway into genuine self-knowledge. It is also the main way we experience deep change—the reordering of our loves. Prayer is how God gives us so many of the unimaginable things he has for us. Indeed, prayer makes it safe for God to give us many of the things we most desire. It is the way we know God, the way we finally treat God as God. Prayer is simply the key to everything we need to do and be in life.

We must learn to pray. We have to. Timothy Keller