Praying in the Spirit by John Bunyan. This message was written in the year 1662 while John Bunyan was in prison for preaching the gospel. The length of this message was approximately two hours and it has been edited and condensed to fit on a cassette and a CD. The full version of this message is available on Bible Bulletin Board at www.biblebb.com.

Praying in the Spirit by John Bunyan. We do not know what we ought to pray for. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. Romans 8.26. I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. 1 Corinthians 14.15.

Prayer is a command of God and is to be practiced both in public and in private. Yes, such a command brings those that have the spirit of prayer into great intimacy with God. And the prevailing prayer will receive great things from God, both for the person that prayed and for those that are prayed for. Prayer opens the heart of God and is a means by which the empty soul is filled. By prayer, the Christian can open his heart to God as to a friend and obtain fresh testimony of God's friendship to him.

My purpose today will be to show you the very heart of prayer, without which all your lifting up of hands and eyes and voices will be to no avail. My outline will be as follows. First, I will show you what true prayer is. Secondly, I will show you what it is to pray in the Spirit. Then I will show you what it is to pray with my spirit and with my mind. And lastly, I will make application of what we have learned.

What true prayer is. Prayer is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart and soul to God through Christ with the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit for such things as God has promised or according to the word for the good of the church with submission in faith to the will of God. In this definition, there are seven things that we need to consider.

First, prayer is to be sincere. Prayer is to be sincere. Prayer is a sincere pouring out of the soul to God. Sincerity runs through all the graces of God in us and influences all the actions of a Christian, or else our actions are not really from God. It is the same with prayer, as shown when David speaks about prayer. David said, I cried out to the Lord with my mouth. His praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened to my prayer. Part of the exercise of prayer is sincerity, without which God will not look upon it as prayer in its proper sense. God says in his word, you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. And why must sincerity be one of the essential ingredients of prayer which is acceptable to God? Because sincerity causes the soul to open its heart to God and to plainly tell him the situation without rationalization, to clearly condemn itself without deceit, to cry out to God as a friend without flattery. Sincerity is the same no matter if you are praying alone in a closet or before the face of the world. The sincere praying Christian does not know how to wear two masks, one before men and another in the closet. Rather, it must have God and be honest with him in prayer. God will not listen to lip service, for God looks at the heart and listens only to prayer which is accompanied with sincerity.

Secondly, prayer is to make sense. Prayer is to make sense. It is a sincere and rational pouring out of the heart and soul. It is not, as many take it to be, a few babbling, verbose, flattering expressions, but rather a sensible utterance of the heart. Prayer has in it a reasonable understanding of different things. For example, sometimes it's the sense of sin, and sometimes an understanding of mercy received. Sometimes it is an awareness of the need of mercy because of the danger of sin. Effective prayer bubbles out of the heart when it is overcome with grief and anguish. David experienced this, saying that he was feeble and utterly crushed, groaning in anguish of heart. His heart was pounding. His strength failed him. Even the light was gone from his eyes. The Lord heard Ephraim's moaning. Peter wept bitterly. Christ offered up prayers and petition with loud cries and tears. And all of this came from a sense of the justice of God, the guilt of sin, the pains of hell, and God's wrath. The psalmist said, the cords of death entangled me. The anguish of the grave came upon me. I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord. In all these instances, and in hundreds more that you might name, you will see that prayer carried with it a reasonable understanding of the situation, and that coming from a sense of sin. Sometimes in prayer, there is a sweet sense of mercy received, encouragement, comfort, strength, and instructive mercy. Thus David pours out his soul to bless and praise and admire the great God for his loving kindness to such poor by our wretches. Praise the Lord, O my soul. All my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul. And do not forget all of his benefits. He who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. And we can see that sometimes the prayer of saints are turned into praise and thanksgiving, yet they are still prayers. This is a mystery. God's people pray with their praises, as it is written, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. A conscious thanksgiving for mercies received is a mighty prayer in the sight of God, and it has great influence on his actions. A good sense of sin and the wrath of God, with some encouragement from God to come to him, is a better prayer book than all that which is taken out of the Roman Catholic mass book, which are nothing but the scraps and fragments of the invention of some popes, monks, and who knows what else.

Thirdly, prayer is to be an affectionate pouring out of the soul to God through Christ. Prayer is to be an affectionate pouring out of the soul to God through Christ. Oh, the heat, strength, life, vigor, and affection that is in the right kind of prayer. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, oh God. How I long for your precepts. I long for your salvation. My soul yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. My soul was consumed with longing for your laws at all times. Note in these verses that I just quoted how the psalmist pants, yearns, and is consumed for God and his word. Oh, what affection is revealed here in prayer. Again, it is a pouring out of the heart and soul. There is in prayer a disclosure of man's inner self. an opening of the heart to God, an affectionate outpouring of the soul in request, sighs and groans. All my longings lie open before you, said David, and my sighing is not hidden from you. And again he says, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet with God? These things I remember as I pour out my soul. Note the words, I pour out my soul. It is an expression signifying that in prayer, the very life and entire strength is poured out to God. And in another place, he says, trust in him at all times, oh people, pour out your hearts to him. This is the kind of prayer to which the promise is made.

For the delivering of a poor creature out of captivity and bondage, listen, But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul." Again, it is a pouring out of the heart and soul to God. This also shows the excellency of the spirit of prayer. It is the great and holy God that prayer is addressed to. When can I go and meet with God, he says, and it argues, that the soul which prays in this manner sees an emptiness in everything under heaven, that in God alone there is rest and satisfaction for the soul.

The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. David said, in you, O Lord, I have taken refuge. Let me never be put to shame. Rescue me and deliver me in all your righteousness. Turn your ear to me and save me. Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go. Give the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of evil and cruel men. For you have been my hope, O sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. Many speak to God with lots of empty words, but the right kind of prayer makes God his hope, his rest, and his all in all. The right kind of prayer sees nothing more important, nor worth looking after, but God alone.

Again, it is a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart and soul to God through Christ, through Christ. We must add that prayer must come through Christ, or else it is to be questioned whether it really is a prayer, even though it may appear so lofty and eloquent. Christ is the way through whom the soul has admittance to God the Father, and without Christ it is impossible that even one prayer request would be heard by our Heavenly Father. Jesus said, I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. This was Daniel's way in praying for the people of God. He did it in the name of Christ. Listen, now our God hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Likewise, David prayed, for the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

But note this. It is not everyone that makes mention of Christ's name in prayer that truly prays to God in the name of Christ. This coming to God through Christ is the hardest part of prayer. A man may be aware of his deeds and sincerely desire mercy, and yet not to be able to come to God through Christ. That man that comes to God by Christ must first have a knowledge of Christ, because anyone who comes to Christ must believe that he exists. And so he that comes to God through Christ must first know Christ. Moses said to the Lord, teach me your ways so that I may know you.

Number four, prayer is to be by the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is to be by the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit. These things are so dependent on one another that it is impossible that one could have an acceptable prayer without all the things working together. Without these things, it is only a prayer that will be rejected by God. For without a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the heart to God, it is nothing but lip service. And if it is not through Christ, then it falls far short of ever sounding acceptable to God's ears. In the same way, if it is not prayed in the strength and assistance of the Holy Spirit, then it is the same as the sons of Aaron presenting an offering with unauthorized fire. Any prayer which is not petitioned through the teaching and assistance of the Holy Spirit cannot possibly be according to the will of God.

Fifthly, Prayer is to be for things that God has promised. Prayer is to be for things that God has promised. It is a prayer when it is within the compass of God's word, and it is blasphemy, or at best vain babbling, when the petition is for things outside of God's holy book. David, when he prayed, kept his eye on the word of God, saying, I am laid low in the dust, Preserve my life according to your word. Again he says, my soul is weary with sorrow. Strengthen me according to your word. And remember, your word to your servant, for you have given me hope. And surely, my friends, the Holy Spirit does not immediately stir up the heart of a Christian without the word of God. Rather, it is by, and with, and through the Word, by bringing it to the heart, and by opening the sinful heart, whereby the man is provoked to go to the Lord, and to tell Him how it is with him, and also to plead and suffocate according to the Word. So I say, as the spirit is the helper and the governor of the soul, when it prays according to the will of God, so it is guided by and according to the word of God and his promise.

Therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ himself did not pray except in accordance with the word, even though his life was at stake. Jesus said, Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way? In other words, Jesus was saying, were there only a word for it in Scripture, I would soon be out of the hands of my enemies. I would be helped by angels. But the Scripture will not warrant this kind of praying, for it says otherwise. It is praying then according to the word of God. The spirit by the word must direct, both in the manner and the matter of prayer.

So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. There is no understanding without the word, for if they reject the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?

Prayer is to be for the good of the Church. Prayer is to be for the good of the Church. This means that the prayer must be for the honor of God, or Christ's advancement, or His people's benefit. For God and Christ and His people are so linked together that if the good of one is prayed for, then the Church, the glory of God, and advancement of Christ must also be included. For as Christ is in the Father, so the saints are in Christ, and he that touches the saints touches the apple of God's eye. He that prays for the peace and good of the church does, in fact, ask in that prayer for that which Christ has purchased with his blood, and also that which the Father has given to him for paying that price. Now he that prays for this must pray for abundance of grace for the church, for help against all its temptations, that God would let nothing be too difficult for it, and that all things might work together for its good, that God would keep the church blameless and harmless, the sons of God to his glory in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.

And in the last place, prayer must submit to the will of God. Prayer must submit to the will of God. As Christ has taught us, prayer must say, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Therefore, the people of the Lord in humility are to lay themselves in their prayers and all that they have at the feet of their God to be disposed of by him as he in his heavenly wisdom sees best. and never doubting that God will answer the desire of His people in a way that will be most advantageous for them and for His glory.

Therefore, when the saints pray with submission to the will of God, they are not to doubt or question God's love and kindness to them. But because they are not always wise, and sometimes Satan may take advantage of them so as to tempt them to pray for that which, if they had it, would neither be to God's glory nor for the good of God's people, Because of this, we have this confidence from the scriptures that says, this is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we ask of him.

For as I said before, that petition that is not prayed in and through the spirit will not be answered because it is outside the will of God. For only the Spirit knows the will of God, and therefore only He knows how to pray according to the will of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. But more of this later.

Thus we have seen what prayer is. Our second major point is, what it is to pray with my spirit what it is to pray with my spirit i will pray with my spirit there is no man nor church in the world that can come to god in prayer but by the assistance of the holy spirit the bible says for through christ we have access to the father by one spirit Therefore Paul said, We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

And because there is in this scripture a complete discovery of the spirit of prayer and of man's inability to pray without it, therefore I will in a few words comment on it. We, consider the person speaking, Paul an apostle, the extraordinary elder, the wise master builder, he that was taken up into paradise, says this, we do not know what we ought to pray for. Surely everyone will admit that Paul and his fellow apostles were able to have done any mighty work for God. Yet he says, we do not know what we ought to pray for. without the help and assistance of the Spirit. Should we pray for communion with God through Christ? Should we pray for faith, for justification by grace, and a truly sanctified heart? We do not know the answer to any of these things. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We do not know what we ought to pray for. Paul said, we must pray as we ought. And this we cannot do by the skill and cunning devices of men or angels. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the spirit. No, it must be the spirit himself that helps us in our weakness, not the spirit and man's lust.

What man's own brain may imagine and devise is one thing. and what they are commanded and ought to do is another. Many ask and do not receive, because they ask with wrong motives, and so they never enjoy those things they pray for. While we are praying, God is searching the heart, examining our motives and our spirit. The Bible says, and he who searches our hearts knows. that is, approves only what is agreeable to the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. For God only hears that which is in accordance with His will and nothing else. And it is only the Spirit that can teach us what to ask. Only the Spirit is able to search everything out, even the deep things of God.

Without the Holy Spirit, though we pray a thousand different prayers, yet we would be unable to know what to pray for because we have a built-in weakness that makes us absolutely incapable of praying correctly. These weaknesses within us, although it is difficult to name them all, yet the following are eight key weaknesses which prevent effective praying.

Weakness number one, not having the Holy Spirit within us. not having the Holy Spirit within us. Without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, man is so weak that he cannot think one right saving thought of God, of Christ, or of his blessed things. And therefore the Word of God declares about the man without the Spirit, it says, in all his thoughts there is no room for God, unless it is that they imagine God to be basically like one of them. For every inclination of the thoughts of an unsaved man's heart is only evil all the time. Thus, since unbelievers are not able to correctly conceive who God is, the very God to whom they pray, the Christ through whom they pray, nor the things for which they pray, as was shown before, then how will they be able to address themselves to God without the help of the Holy Spirit?

The acceptable prayer to God must, in the outward expression as well as in the inward intention, come from what the soul understands by the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, the prayer is condemned as a vain abomination, because the heart and tongue do not agree, neither can they, unless the Spirit helps us in our weakness. David knew this fool well, which caused him to cry out.

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise."

I suppose no one would doubt that David could speak and express himself as well as anyone in our generation, as is clearly manifested by his words recorded in the scriptures. Nevertheless, when this good man, this prophet, comes to worship God, then the Lord must help him too, or he can do nothing. He said, Oh Lord, open my lips and then my mouth will declare your praise. He could not speak one proper word unless the spirit gave him utterance. The spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for.

Weakness number two, not praying with the spirit, not praying with the spirit. We may have the Holy Spirit within us, but if we do not pray with the Spirit, then we are senseless, hypocritical, and cold, and both we and our prayers are abominable to God. It is not the quality of the voice, nor the apparent affection or earnestness of him that prays that means anything to God, for man as man is so full of all kinds of wickedness that he cannot keep a word or a thought much less a part of prayer pure and acceptable to God through Christ. And because of this, the Pharisees and their lengthy prayers were rejected. There is no question that they expressed themselves with excellent words and also said long prayers, but they did not have the Holy Spirit to help them. And therefore, in their weakness, they felt short of a sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of their souls to God through the strength of the Spirit.

Weakness number three, not being aware of our unconfessed sins, not being aware of our unconfessed sins. No one but the Holy Spirit can clearly show a person their sins and therefore cause them to have the proper attitude of prayer. Without a clear sense of the sin of our hearts, then our prayers are nothing but lip service to God. Oh, the cursed hypocrisy that is in most hearts, and that accompanies many thousands of praying men and women today, and all because they lack a sense of their sin. But now the Spirit will sweetly show the soul its sinful state, and exactly the area where the sin exists, and what is likely to be the consequence of that sin if it remains unconfessed, and also that it is an intolerable condition. For it is the Spirit that effectually convinces men and women of their sin and misery, and therefore causes the soul to pray in a pure, discerning, and tender way to God according to His Word.

Weakness number four, being aware of our sins and being unable to pray. Being aware of our sins and being unable to pray. Even if men and women are aware of their sins, Yet without the help of the Holy Spirit, they would not pray. For they would run away from God with Cain and Judas and utterly despair of mercy were it not for the Spirit. When a man is aware of his sin and God's curse on it, then it is very difficult to persuade him to pray. For his heart says, it is no use. It is vain to seek God. I am so vile, so wretched, and so cursed that I will never be forgiven. Now here comes the Spirit and calms the soul, helping it to hold up its face to God by letting into the heart some small sense of mercy to encourage it to go to God. And for that reason, the Holy Spirit is called the Counselor.

Weakness number five, not knowing how to come to God His way. Not knowing how to come to God His way. In order to pray, we must be in the Spirit. For without that, no man can know how to come to God the right way. Men may easily say they come to God through his son, but without being in the spirit, it is impossible to come to God the right way, his way. It is the spirit that searches all things, even the deep things of God. It is the spirit that must show us the way of coming to God and also what there is in God that makes him desirable. Moses said, teach me your ways so that I may know you.

Weakness number six, being unable to call God our father, being unable to call God our father. Without the Holy Spirit, though a man sees his misery and also the way to come to God, yet he would never be able to claim a share in either God, Christ, or mercy because God would not allow him. Oh, how great a task it is for a lost soul that becomes aware of his sin and the wrath of God to say in faith this one word, Father. I tell you, even the Christian finds it difficult to do this very thing. It cannot say God is its father. Oh, he says, I dare not call him father, and therefore the Holy Spirit must be sent into the hearts of God's people for this very reason, to cry out father. For without the spirit, it would be too difficult for any man to knowingly and believingly call God his father.

When I say knowingly, I mean knowing what it is to be a child of God and to be born again When I say believingly, I mean for the soul to believe, and that from experience, that the work of grace is completed in him. This is the right way to call God our Father, and not as many do, by saying in a babbling way the so-called Lord's Prayer from memory, just as it is written in the words of a book. No, here is the life of prayer, when with the Spirit, a man being made aware of his sin, and how to come to the Lord for mercy, comes in the strength of the Spirit and cries out, Father. That one word spoken in faith is better than a thousand prayers, as men call them, written and read in a formal, cold, or lukewarm way.

Many people think it is enough to teach themselves and their children to say the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and other sayings, when in reality God knows they are senseless of themselves, their misery or what it is to be brought to God through Christ. Oh poor soul, study your misery, cry to God to show you your blindness and ignorance before you get into the habit of calling God your father or teaching your children to do so. And know this, that to say God is your father without any work of grace in your souls is to say you are a Christian when you are not, therefore you lie to God. You say, our father. God says, you blasphemer. You say, I am a true Christian. God says, you are a liar. You are the synagogue of Satan. You claim to be a Jew, though you are not. You are a liar. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. And the more the sinner hypocritically boasts of God being his father, then so much greater is his sin.

The Jews did this to Christ in the eighth chapter of John, which made Christ, even in plain terms, to tell them of their doom because of all their hypocritical pretenses. And even today, prostitutes, thieves, drunkards, blasphemers, and liars are considered by some to be honest people because with their blasphemous throats and hypocritical hearts, they will come to church and say, Our Father. But because they obey the traditions of their religions, saying the Our Father over and over, they are considered to be members in good standing in their church. while God's true children are, as it always has been, looked upon to be troublesome, opposing, and a dissident people.

Weakness number seven, being unable to keep our heart in our prayers. Being unable to keep our heart in our prayers. Just as the heart must be lifted up by the spirit in order to pray acceptable prayers to God, so also the heart must be held up by the Spirit if it is to continue to pray correctly. It is impossible that all the prayer books that men have made in the world can lift up, keep up, or prepare the heart, for that is the work of God himself. And truly, here is the life of prayer, to keep the heart devoted to God while praying. We see in the book of Exodus that it was very difficult for Moses to keep his hands lifted up to God in prayer. Likewise, it is difficult to keep the heart in our prayers.

The lack of this heart in prayer is that which God complains of when he says, these people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. And truly, I can speak of my own experience. I can tell you the difficulty I have of praying to God as I should. For when I go to pray, I find my heart hates to go to God, and when it is with Him, it hates to stay with Him. Many times I am forced in my prayers first to beg God that He would take my heart and set it on Himself in Christ, and when it is there, that He would keep it there. Many times I do not know what to pray for. I am so blind, nor do I know how to pray. I am so ignorant. But praise God's grace, the Holy Spirit can help us in our weakness in prayer.

Weakness number eight, praying without the help and strength of the Spirit. Praying without the help and the strength of the Spirit. It is impossible for the heart to pour itself out before God with those groans and sighs that come from a truly praying heart without the assistance of the Spirit. It is not the mouth that is the main thing to be looked at in prayer. Rather, one needs to look at the heart and see if it is full of love and earnestness in prayer to God. There are times when the desires of a man's heart are so great that all the words, tears, and groans that come from the heart cannot be uttered by his mouth. It is then that the Spirit helps us in our weakness and intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. We must pray with the spirit or else our prayers will fail. Prayer is a mandate from God that must continue with the soul so long as it is on this side of glory. But as I said before, it is not possible for a man to turn his heart to God in prayer. Likewise, it is just as difficult to keep it there without the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, for a man to continually to be in prayer with God it must of necessity be with the Holy Spirit.

Our third major point, what it is to pray with my spirit and with my mind. What it is to pray with my spirit and with my mind. The Apostle makes a clear distinction between praying with our spirit and praying with our minds. Therefore, when he said, I will pray with my spirit, he also adds, but I will also pray with my mind." This distinction was made because the Corinthians did not realize that it was their duty when they spoke in tongues to edify others and not simply to edify themselves. It appears that many of them had extraordinary gifts, one being the ability to speak in different known languages. But they focused on these mighty gifts, edifying themselves rather than edifying the church, which calls Paul to write to them, to make them understand that though extraordinary gifts were excellent, yet it was more important to edify the church. For the apostle said, if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind and the minds of those listening is unfruitful. Read the scope of the whole chapter in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Therefore Paul says, What shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind.

It is necessary, then, that the mind should be involved in prayer, as well as the heart and mouth. That which is done with the mind is done more effectually, sensibly, and heartily than that which is done without it. which made the Apostle pray for the Colossians, that God would fill them with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And for the Ephesians, that God would give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they may know him better. And also for the Philippians, that God would make their love abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. A suitable understanding is good in everything a man undertakes, either secular or spiritual, and therefore it must be desired by all Christians that they would be a praying people.

I will now show you what it is to pray with your mind. First, to pray with our minds is to be guided by the Holy Spirit to pray with an understanding of the need of those things which the soul is to pray for. Though a man is desperately in need for forgiveness of sin and deliverance from the wrath to come, yet if he does not understand this, he will either not pray these things at all or else be so cold and lukewarm when he asks for forgiveness and deliverance that God will detest the attitude of his heart when he asks for them. Thus it was with the Church of the Laodiceans. They wanted knowledge or spiritual understanding, yet they did not know that they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Because of their condition and all of their empty prayers, they were detestable to Christ, so much so that he threatened to spit them out of his mouth. Men who pray without their minds engaged may say the same words in prayer as others do, but there is a great difference in the effectiveness of their prayers. The one speaking with his mind engaged brings understanding to his words, but the other person who prays without an understanding of what he is saying is only babbling words. Number two, to pray with our minds will cause the heart of God to be ready and willing to give those things to the soul that it needs. David prayed with his mind and therefore could surmise the very thoughts of God towards him. And so it was with the Canaanite woman. By her faith and the understanding in her mind, she was able to discern that although Christ was refusing her initial request to help her demon-possessed daughter, still there was a tenderness and willingness in his heart to save, which caused her to be vehement and earnest, yes, restless, until she could receive the mercy she needed for her daughter. A proper understanding in our minds of the willingness of the heart of God to save sinners will be the primary motive for the soul to seek after God and to cry out for forgiveness. If a man should see a pearl worth thousands of dollars lying in a ditch and yet did not understand the value of it, he would most likely pass it by. But if he knew in his mind its true value, then he would climb down into the filth of the ditch to acquire it. So it is with souls concerning the things of God. Once a man understands their value, then his heart and the very strength of his soul will run after them, and he will never stop praying for them until he has them. The two blind men in the gospel clearly knew that Jesus, who was going by them, was both willing and able to heal their blindness. Therefore they cried out, and the more they were rebuked, the more they cried out. Thirdly, to pray with our minds allows us to clearly see God's promises, which is a great encouragement to pray. The enlightened understanding sees the magnitude of God's promises and is therefore encouraged to pray. It is like men who make great promises to do such and such to all who will come and ask for them. It is a great encouragement to those that know what promises are made to come and ask for them.

Fourthly, to pray with our minds enables us to present to God suitable arguments to justify our request. Once our minds are enlightened by the Spirit, then a way is made for the soul to come to God with suitable arguments. Sometimes in a way of reasoning with God, as Jacob did in the 32nd chapter of Genesis. Sometimes in the way we verbally petition God, yet not always in a verbal way only. But even from the heart, there is forced by the Spirit, through the mind, effective arguments that move the heart of God.

Our example is Ephraim, who gets a clear understanding of his own sin towards the Lord. Then he begins to express sorrow for his sins. And in his expression of sorrow, he used various arguments with the Lord that affected his heart, draws out forgiveness, and makes Ephraim pleasant in his eyes through Jesus Christ our Lord.

God said, I have surely heard Ephraim's moaning to me saying, you discipline me like an unruly calf and I have been disciplined. Restore me and I will return because you are the Lord my God. After I strayed, I repented. After I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.

These are Ephraim's complaints and expressions of sorrow, at which the Lord breaks forth into these heart-melting expressions, saying this, "'Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him. I have great compassion for him,' declares the Lord."

Fifthly, to pray with our minds, enables us to see our needs and therefore what type of prayer we should pray. Praying with our mind enables us to be aware of the feelings and pressures that lie heavily on our spirit, provoking us to groan out our request to the Lord.

When David felt the cords of death entangle him and the anguish of the grave coming upon him, he did not need a bishop dressed in a fancy robe to teach him to say, O Lord, save me. nor did he need to look in a book to teach him a form of prayer to pour out before God. It is the nature of the heart of sick men, in their pain and sickness, to express itself for comfort by sorrowful groans and moanings to those who are near them. Thus it was with David in Psalm 38, and thus, blessed be the Lord, it is with them that are endowed with the grace of God.

In the sixth place, to pray with our minds will keep us praying continually. It is necessary that there be an enlightened understanding in our minds for us to see the need to continue in prayer. The people of God are not ignorant of the many schemes, tricks, and temptations the devil has to tempt a Christian who is truly willing to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, to tempt that very sincere soul to become weary of seeking the face of God, and to think that God is not willing to have mercy on such a person as he.

Yes, says Satan, you may truly pray, but you will not prevail. You see, your heart is hard, cold, dull, and fearful. You do not pray with the Spirit. You are not sincere in your prayers. Your thoughts are running after other things when you pretend to pray to God. Away with you, you hypocrite. Go no further. It is vain to strive any longer. Oh, my friends, if the soul was not praying with its mind, then it will soon cry out, the Lord has forsaken me. The Lord has forgotten me. Whereas the soul that is praying with his mind and enlightened by the spirit will say, I will seek the Lord and wait. I will not stop, though the Lord remains silent and does not speak one word of comfort.

The Lord loved Jacob dearly, and yet He made him wrestle before He gave him the blessing. Apparent delays in our prayers being answered by God are not signs of His displeasure. He may hide His face from His dearest saints. He loves to keep His people praying and to find them ever knocking at the gate of heaven. It may be, says the soul, that the Lord is testing me, or that He loves to hear me groan out my condition before Him.

Oh, how many souls are there in the world that truly fear the Lord, who, because they are not well informed in their minds, are often ready to give up hope at almost every trick and temptation of Satan. The Lord pity them and help them to pray with their spirit and also with their minds.

In my own life, when I have been in the agony of spirit, I have been strongly persuaded to stop praying and to seek the Lord no longer. but being made to understand in my mind what great sinners the Lord has had mercy on in the past, and how great are His promises to sinners, and that it was not the well person, but the sick, not the righteous, but the sinner, not the fool, but the empty that He extended His grace and mercy to, this made me, through the assistance of His Holy Spirit, to cleave to Him, to hang on to Him, and still to cry out, though for the present He did not answer me,

Thus, my friends, I have briefly shown you, first, what prayer is, secondly, what it is to pray with the spirit, and thirdly, what it is to pray with my spirit and also with my mind. Now, as we close, I would like to give you some application for what we have learned.

I will now speak a word or two of application, and so conclude with, first, a word of wisdom, Second, a word of encouragement. And thirdly, a word of rebuke.

Application number one, a word of wisdom. First, be wise and know that prayer is the duty of every one of the children of God and carried on by the spirit of Christ in the soul. So everyone that prays to the Lord needs to be very careful and be sure to pray in his heart with the fear of God as well as with hopes of the mercy of God through Jesus Christ.

Prayer is a command of God in which a man draws very near to God, and therefore it especially calls for the assistance of the grace of God to help the soul to pray as is fitting for one that is in the very presence of the Almighty God. It is shameful for a man to behave irreverently before a king, but it is a sin to do so before God. And just as an earthly king is not pleased with a speech made up with inappropriate words and gestures, so God takes no pleasure in the sacrifice of fools.

It is not long discourses nor eloquent tongues that are the things which are pleasing to the ears of the Lord. Rather, it is a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart that is pleasing to the heavenly majesty. Therefore, be wise and know that there are four things that are obstructions to prayer and even make void the request of the creature. The first obstruction to prayer, when we cherish sin in our hearts. When we cherish sin in our hearts. When men cherish sin in their hearts at the time of their prayers before God, then the Lord will not listen to their prayer. The Lord will not listen to the prayer when there is a secret love for that very thing which you, with your deceitful lips, ask for strength against. For this is the wickedness of man's heart, that it will even love and hold tightly to that which the mouth is praying against. And when we do this, then we become the same as those who honor God with their mouths, but whose hearts are far from him.

The second obstruction to prayer when we pray only to be heard by others, when we pray only to be heard by others. When men pray with the sole purpose to be heard by others, so as to be considered someone very religious, then these prayers will fall far short of God's approval and will never be answered. There are two sorts of men who pray this way. First, private chaplains that thrust themselves into great men's families Pretending the worship of God, when in truth, their motive is their own stomachs, and are clearly pictured by Ahab's prophets and also Nebuchadnezzar's wise men, who, though they pretended great devotion, yet their lust and their stomachs were the great things aimed at by them in all their devotions. Secondly, it is those that seek honor and applause for their eloquent terms, and seek more to tickle the ears and heads of their hearers than anything else. These are they that pray to be heard of men and have received all the reward already. These persons are easily discovered because one, they focus on the eloquence of their expressions. They look for commendation when they are done. Their hearts either rise or fall according to the praise received. And the length of their prayer pleases them. And to make it long, they will vainly repeat things over and over.

The third obstruction of prayer is when we pray for the wrong things, when we pray for the wrong things. A prayer that will not be accepted by God is when men either pray for wrong things or if for the right things, yet that the thing prayed for might be spent on their lust. When you ask, you did not receive, because you asked with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. When we pray for something contrary to God's will, then God will frustrate the petition presented before Him. Therefore, many pray for this and that, and yet do not receive it. God answers them only with silence. They have their words for their labor, and that is all. But some may raise an objection, saying, but God hears some persons, though their hearts are not right with him, as he did Israel in giving quails, though they spent them on their lust. Answer, if he does, it is in judgment, not mercy. Indeed, he gave them what they asked for, but they would have been better off without it. For he also, the Bible says, sent a wasting disease upon them. Woe be to that man that God answers in this manner.

The fourth obstruction to prayer, not asking in the name of Christ, not asking in the name of Christ. Another type of prayers that are not answered are those that are made by men and presented to God in their own persons without asking in the name of Christ. It is true that God has ordained prayer and promised to hear the prayers of men and women yet not the prayer that fails to come through Christ. Jesus said, I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. The Apostle Paul said, whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Even though you may be devout, zealous, earnest, and constant in prayer, yet it is only in Christ that you will be heard and accepted. But I am sorry to say that most men do not know what it means to come to God in the name of the Lord Jesus, which is because they live wicked, they pray wicked, and they also die wicked.

Application number two of our message, a word of encouragement. A word of encouragement. I want to encourage the poor, tempted, and discouraged soul. Pray to God through Christ. Though all prayer that is acceptable to God must be in the Spirit, for only the Spirit makes intercession for us according to the will of God. Yet because many souls may have the Holy Spirit working on them and stirring them to cry out to the Lord for mercy, Though through unbelief they do not, nor for the present cannot, believe that they are people of God, yet I encourage them to pray.

" Note carefully the following three encouragements to pray.

Encouragement number one, God answers persistent prayers. God answers persistent prayers. That scripture in Luke 11.8 is very encouraging to any poor soul that hungers after Christ Jesus. In verses 5-7, he speaks a parable of a man that went to his friend to borrow three loaves of bread. But because his friend was in bed, he denied his request. Yet the man who needed the bread kept knocking, and finally his friend did arise and give him what he wanted. clearly signifying that though poor souls, through the weakness of their faith, cannot see that they are friends of God, yet they should never stop asking, seeking, and knocking at God's door for mercy. Note what Christ said, I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is a friend, yet because of a man's boldness or persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he wants. Poor heart, you feel that God will not pay attention to you. You are not his friend, but rather his enemy in your heart because of your wicked deeds. And you claim that you can hear the Lord saying to you, don't bother me, I can't give you anything. Yet I say to you, continue knocking, continue crying and moaning. I tell you, though he will not get up and give you what you want because you are his friend, Yet because of your boldness and your persistence, He will get up and give you as much as you need. And truly, my own experience tells me there is nothing that prevails more with God than persistence.

Encouragement number two, that God is sitting on a throne of grace, that God is sitting on a throne of grace. Another encouragement for a poor, trembling soul is to consider the place throne or seat on which the great God has placed himself to hear the petitions and prayers of poor creatures, and that is a throne of grace. In these days of gospel grace, God has taken up his seat, his abiding place, in mercy and forgiveness And from there he listens to the sinner and communes with him. As he said in Exodus, speaking before his place of mercy, he said, I will meet with you. Often poor troubled souls are very apt to entertain strange thoughts of God and his attitude towards them. And suddenly they conclude that God will not care for them when in fact he is sitting on the throne of mercy and has taken that place on purpose so that he may hear and answer the prayers of poor creatures. If he had said, I will commune with you from my throne of judgment, then indeed you might have trembled and fled from the face of the great and glorious majesty. But when he said he will hear and commune with souls from the throne of grace, this should encourage you and cause you to hope, yes, to approach the throne of grace with confidence so that you may receive mercy and find grace to help you in your time of need.

Encouragement number three, God's throne of grace is sprinkled with the blood of Christ. God's throne of grace is sprinkled with the blood of Christ. Just as there is a throne of grace from where God is willing to commune with poor sinners. So there is also next to his throne, Jesus Christ, who continually sprinkles it with blood. Therefore, it is called the sprinkled blood in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 24.

When the high priest under the law was to go into the most holy place, where the seat of God's mercy was, he could not go in without blood. Why? Because though God was sitting on a seat of mercy, yet he was perfectly just as well as merciful. Now the blood was to stop justice from being poured out on the persons needing the intercession of the high priest, to signify that all you unworthiness that you fear should not hinder you from coming to God in Christ for mercy.

You cry out that you are wicked and therefore God will not listen to your prayers. It is true if you delight in your wickedness and come to God out of a mere pretense. But if from a sense of your wickedness you pour out your heart to God, desiring to be saved from the guilt and cleansed from the filth with all your heart, then do not fear. Your wickedness will not cause God to stop listening to you. The value of the blood of Christ, which is sprinkled on the place of God's mercy, stops the course of justice and opens up a floodgate for the mercy of the Lord to be extended to you.

You therefore have the confidence to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way open to you. Besides, Jesus is there. not only to sprinkle the place of mercy with his blood, but he speaks and his blood speaks. And God has said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you. Be earnest and humble. Go to the father in the name of the son and tell him your case with the assistance of the Holy spirit. And you will then feel the benefit of praying with your spirit and also with your mind.

Application number three, a word of reproof, a word of reproof. I sadly speak to you who never pray at all. You are not a Christian if you're not a praying person. The promise is that everyone that is godly will pray. You then are a wicked, miserable creature that does not pray. People that forget prayer, that do not call on the name of the Lord, they have a prayer prayed against them. Jeremiah prayed, pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the people that do not call on your name.

Oh, you that refuse to pour out your heart and soul to God. You that go to bed like a dog and rise like a hog and forget to call upon God. What will you do when you will be damned into hell? Because you could not find it in your heart to ask God for heaven. Who will grieve for your sorrow, since you did not think mercy was worth asking for? I tell you, the ravens, the dogs, and other animals will rise up in judgment against you, for they, according to their kind, make signs and a noise for something to refresh them when they need it. But you have not found it in your heart to ask for heaven, and now you must perish eternally in hell, because you would not pray. Must the holy, harmless, and undefiled Spirit of grace, the very nature of God, the promise of Christ, the counselor of His children, that without which no man can do any service acceptable to the Father, must this Holy Spirit be taunted and mocked by you?

If God sent Korah and his entire family headlong into hell for speaking against Moses and Aaron, Do you think that you can mock the Spirit of Christ and escape punishment? Did you never read what God did to Ananias and Sapphira for telling just one lie against the Holy Spirit? Also, are you aware of what happened to Simon Magus for undervaluing the Holy Spirit?

Oh, my friends, it is a fearful thing to defy the Spirit of Grace. I will conclude this message with some words of advice to all of God's people. Believe that if you seek to walk in a way pleasing to God, then you will meet with many temptations from the evil one. The first day that you enter into Christ's congregation, watch out for the temptations. When the temptations come, beg God to carry you through them. Be suspicious of your own heart. that it does not deceive you into thinking that you are more holy than you are. Beware of the flatteries of false brethren. Walk continually in the word, the life and the power of truth. Fix your eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Watch out for the little sins. Keep the promise of eternal life warm in your heart. Renew your faith in the blood of Christ. Honor those who are doing the blessed work of God in your generation. Follow after and emulate the godly Christians of your generation.

Grace be with you. Amen.