February 4, 2013
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... while He prayed, the heaven was opened. And the Holy Spirit descended...
" ... while He prayed, the heaven was opened.
And the Holy Spirit descended..."
(Luke 3:21-22)
Holy God, You have opened our eyes to the decay and ruins in the Church today.
We confess there is no help to be found in and of ourselves,
no strength to be found in and through the arm of the flesh,
consequently, we long for the heaven to be opened,
and for Your Holy Spirit to descend.If You,
"the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all worlds,
God of God,
Light of Light,
Very God of Very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made" ¹
prayed that the heaven might be opened and the Holy Spirit would descend
how much more so ought we pray!
And yet we confess that we do not pray as we ought.
We do not pray in the manner You prayed.
We are not instant in prayer.
We are not unceasing in prayer.
We are not importunate in prayer.Lord Jesus, forgive us for not praying as we ought,
and strengthen us to pray as we ought,
to give You no rest
till You establish and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth,
Till You rend the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might shake at Your presence...
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Your presence.
(see Isaiah 62:6-7 and Isaiah 64)If You,
our Great High Priest,
now seated at the right hand of God,
are ever living to make intercession for us . . .If You,
Holy Spirit of God,
make intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered . .Should we not watch along with You?
Should we not pray along with You?Is it not our heavenly Father's desire to give His children the Holy Spirit?
Forgive us, Holy Father, for not praying as we ought for the Gift of all gifts: Your blessed Holy Spirit,
for apart from our being endued and anointed with the fresh oil of the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son, we can do nothing!"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him."
(Luke 11:13)... you do not have because you do not ask.
(James 4:2d)Lord, teach us to pray!
Lord, teach us to pray as You prayed – and as You continue to pray!
Pour out upon Your children the Spirit of grace and supplications so we might pray as we ought!Here in the year 2013, we stand in desperate need of the heaven to be opened, that Your Spirit might return to us.
O! Open our eyes more and more to the severity of our need, so we might pray as John Elias prayed in 1837:But Oh! we stand in need, both in Wales and London [you can add your own city here], of those fresh powerful manifestations from heaven. We are, alas! accustomed to go on with the service of God in human strength; praying, hearing, and preaching in that way! We are so lukewarm without the light and the power of the Spirit! We neither feel nor see others experiencing his powerful operations! It is very seldom you hear a sermon that is fully and evidently different from a speech that is of man's own production! You scarcely ever perceive stronger effects produced on the hearers of a sermon that on persons that listen to any other speaking. It is not often that unbelievers may, when they come to our congregations, cry out, 'God is of a truth among you'. It is but seldom that we have clear proofs of men being converted and saved. And, alas! there is but little lamentation on that account. Moreover the children of God are great strangers to much comfort, and strong assurance. What shall we do? At Bala we appointed the 8th of August as day of humiliation and prayer on that account. O! that it may please the Lord to bestow upon us the Spirit of grace and of supplications!
~ written by John Elias on July 3, 1837, found in "John Elias: Life, Letters and Essays" by Edward Morgan (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1973, revised edition published in one volume), 135.* Please add your PRAYERS below, as the Holy Spirit leads you. *
(PLEASE NOTE: If you are new to this site, or would like more information, you can read more about tent of meeting in this post.)Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. // ¹From The Nicene Creed. // Work found at http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/piero-della-francesca/baptism-of-christ-1450 / {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}
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