Dr. Wesley L. Duewel- The Holy Spirit is not only enthroned in heaven; He has been sent by Jesus (John 16:7) and the Father (John 14:26) to indwell the believer (John 14:17). Thus your inner nature as a believer becomes a temple of God through the indwelling Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16-17).
What does the Holy Spirit do for you as He indwells you? He sanctifies (2 Thess. 2:13), empowers (Acts 1:8), guides (John 16:13), witnesses through you (1 John 5:8); Acts 1:8), and helps you pray (Rom. 8:26). (Google image, Are you praying for someone?)
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of prayer. He prays directly, speaking with the Father and the Son. He also prays indirectly, praying through you, the believer. It is the nature of the Son and the Holy Spirit to pray. They ever live to pray.
Just as God has ordained that you join Christ in intercession for His will to be done on earth, so He has ordained that the Holy Spirit should enable, guide, and empower your intercession.
To say it in another startling way: The Son is your enthroned Prayer Partner and the Holy Spirit is your indwelling Prayer Partner. Just as God the Father remains invisible to your human eyes, so the Holy Spirit remains invisible.
But just as surely as you can know the Fatherhood of God and the Saviorhood of Christ, even so you know when the Holy Spirit is working within you. To be filled with the Spirit is to be filled with the Spirit of intercession.
When the Holy Spirit fills, prayer becomes your very spiritual breath. The Holy Spirit loves to do within you that for which He indwells you — to accomplish God's will on earth. God has ordained that the prayer of the believer is one of the major ways He accomplishes His will, so the Holy Spirit desires to make intercession a major expression of your spiritual life.
The Holy Spirit Enables and Transforms Your Prayer
The Holy Spirit increases your desire to pray. Just as it is natural for a child to talk to its father, so it is natural for the believer to pray to the heavenly father. Though a child must learn to talk, a new believer can pray as soon as he is born of the Spirit, born again.
The Holy Spirit is present from the moment of spiritual birth to encourage and increase the desire to pray. It is a sign of spiritual ill health for any Christian to lack this desire.
A carnal believer finds many excuses to neglect prayer, for Satan is always ready to try to rob us of communion with God, the source of power. But a believer who is Spirit-filled can expect the Holy Spirit, the indwelling Prayer Enable, to draw him to prayer.
The Holy Spirit brings Scripture to your memory as you pray.
One of the ministries of the Spirit, as your Prayer Partner, is to
bring to mind things of spiritual importance. He delights to remind
you of verses of Scripture, for Scripture is the sword which enables you to stand against the evil powers of this world (Eph. 6:17).
He reminds you of Scripture verses filled with praise, so you can quote them in your prayers. He reminds you of Scripture promises to strengthen your faith.
Memorizing Scripture — Hiding it in your heart — will enable you to incorporate God's Word into your spiritual Life (Ps. 119:11). Memorize some of the praise psalms, the doxologies of the New Testament, and some of the verses of prayer and promise.
These can be used repeatedly, for you will find they express the deep desires and the deep joys of your heart. Oh, what a blessing to use God's own words as your prayer!
The Holy Spirit brings spiritual goals to your attention.
The Spirit loves to place before you the image of Jesus and to deepen your desire to be more like Him as you read about Him in the Word, realizing that you fall far short of His Christlikeness.
The Holy Spirit also delights to hold before you Bible characters, outstanding godly people in the history of the church, or people whom you have met or know. Using their examples, the Spirit helps you set goals for spiritual growth.
There are many passages of the Bible which the Spirit can use in this aspect of His ministry. Therefore, it is very important to spend adequate time reading God's Word systematically day by day. The Spirit will also bring goals to your attention as you pray for your church, your missionary organization, your nation, and indeed your world.
The Holy Spirit brings needs to your attention.
The Holy Spirit can give you eyes to see what others may fail to see. He can help you discern when people are discouraged, sad, or defeated. He can point out to you spiritual neglect, the need for revival, for new vision and greater obedience. He can inspire you to pray for the growth of the church, for the youth about you, for specially used servants of God.
His bringing of needs to your attention is His call to you to pray. Satan does not object to your recognizing the needs, but he wants you to criticize and ridicule. The Holy Spirit, as your indwelling Prayer Partner, wants to make you prayerful, not critical. Satan wants you to talk about people and their needs; the Holy Spirit wants you to intercede in prayer for them.
At times, you should share these concerns with others in order to join in prayer about them — widespread concerns of your community, your nation, and your world. The tremendous need for the advance and spread of the gospel calls you to unite in prayer for maximum prayer power. The Holy Spirit is always ready to assist you at such times, and Christ promises that He will be present with you (John 14:16).
(Chapter 6, pp. 45-47, italics added for emphasis)
~ What God says, He does! He brings answers to prayers in His time and in the way best for those who ask for His help. We need to keep the right perspective that He is our Faithful God, and that He is worthy of praise and adoration! He will keep His Word to us, when we claim the promises from His Word.
Upcoming posts:
Samuel Chadwick: "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Faith is necessary to prayer.
Without some such faith it is difficult to imagine how any man could pray. Man could not pray without faith. Therefore the faith which God demands is the first requirement in the man who prays. Atheists do not pray."
Jean's blog (Click to see snippets of the 7 recent posts)
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Love the Holy Spirit. Good article
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