Thoughts for Life: #16 Your Indwelling Prayer Partner

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 gain.

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 may 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, 45-47, italics added for emphasis)

Used by permission

of the Duewel Literature Trust, Inc,

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Let's pray-

"Father, I come before You rejoicing, for this is the day that You have made and I will rejoice and be glad in it. To obey is better than sacrifice, so I am making a decision to submit to Your will today, that my plans and purposes may be conducted in a manner that will bring honor and glory to You. Cause me to be spiritually and mentally alert in this time of meditation and prayer, in the name of Jesus. Amen."

Scripture Reading Psalm 118:24; 1 Samuel 15:22; Colossians 4:2
Germine Copeland

Prayers That Avail Much dailyprayers@prayers.org

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Today's Bible verses-

Isaiah 43:2 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."

Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you."

Psalm 23:1-3 "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."

Today's quote-

~ Robert Henderson- "The purpose of this book, [Unlocking Destinies From the Courts of Heaven], is to teach things legally in place so every curse is dissolved. When this occurs the limitations imposed by the devil legally are removed. The key to undoing curses is to recognize they are a legal issue and not a warfare issue.

In other words, we must go to court and not battle to dissolve curses. The conflict we are in is a real one. It is just in the judicial system of the spirit realm and not first on a battlefield. I cover this extensively in Operating In The Courts Of Haven.

Words of wisdom-

~ The Holy Spirit was given to enable us to live holy lives. He works in us to change our sinful tendencies, and causes our old nature and habits to change over time, to become transformed into Christ's likeness.

Today's popular post-

#118 Prayer Groans and Agony

Dr. Wesley L. Duewel: "Prayer Groaning is Spirit-born. The Holy Spirit in His mighty prevailing for us prays with unutterable groaning. The word for "groan" in Romans 8:26 is stenagmos . . . "

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