The crucial role of the Holy Spirit in prayer, highlighting that believers do not always know how to pray as they ought, but the Spirit intercedes for them with groanings that cannot be uttered. True prayer is dependent on the Spirit's guidance, ensuring petitions align with God's will and are offered confidently and humbly. The message illustrates the importance of specific and persistent prayer using the parable of the friend at midnight, urging believers to ask, seek, and knock with faith, expecting God's response. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a submissive and reverent approach to prayer, recognizing God's sovereignty and timing, even amidst life's storms, and cooperating with His will.
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what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself or himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searches the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of God. I think in our last few Messages on the subject of prayer, we spoke upon the dependency in our prayer life, the absolute dependency upon the Holy Spirit. As we have in this verse, we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit makeeth intercession for us, the donings which cannot be uttered.
And so we must depend upon the Holy Spirit for utterance if we expect our prayer to to reach the throne of God, and if we're led by the Spirit, the Spirit of God, will never lead us to say something that is contrary to the will of God. He'll never lead us to ask for something that is outside the range of divine scripture. And so if we were to be praying in the Spirit, we'd be in that channel of God's will, knowing that what we were praying for would receive His attention. So we notice the need for dependency upon the Holy Spirit, and then everything is to be in accordance with the will of God.
And as we notice also in that verse, the Spirit makes an intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Now I think our third point was we are to pray confidently. We were speaking on those two points, especially we know not what to pray for in verse twenty six, that is the material or the matter that we're using in our prayer, and then the manner as we ought. When we were referring to the disciples' prayer, he says, when ye pray, say, and there you have the matter, and then in the other time where it's mentioned, in Luke, he says, after this manner, pray ye.
And we try to emphasize those two points, that the most important of the two is the manner in which we pray. And so the manner, first of all, is dependency upon the Spirit, according to God's will, confidently, and humbly. And you have many cases in the Scripture showing up how essential it is to be humble in our prayers. And also our prayers should be simply, and also persistently, are continual coming. Don't be afraid to keep bringing a thing to God time and time and time again. And then again, expectantly we should pray, in the manner of expectancy, believing God.
He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is, a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Now as to the time of the answer, and the manner or amount of the answer we must leave that with the Lord. And so we pray expecting for some kind of answer. Maybe yes, it may be no, it may be wait. Then again we were pointing out, believingly, we should pray believingly. And then I think last week we concluded with the fact that we should pray submissively as the Lord Jesus Christ did in the garden, not my will but thine be done, and how he delighted in the Father's will.
I've met quite a few Christians in my life, and now and again you meet a rare one who uses language like this. Well, whatever the Lord sends is all right with me. Whatever answer I get is all right with me. I want the will of God. And they not only want the will of God, but they actually rejoice in the answer that God says. Now to me that is spiritual maturity. When a person arrives at that point where they can delight, like the Lord Jesus Christ said, I delight the two thy will, oh my God.
And many a time I know I've done the will of God, but I cannot say I have been too happy in the doing of it. I'd rather have done something else. But you have to, as a Christian, take the bitter with the sweet, and the tough with the tender at times because these points that are disappointing or these experiences that are not to our liking are oftentimes in God's plan for us. I am sure the disciples did not appreciate that storm that came down upon the lake when the Lord Jesus told them to get into the ship and go to the other side.
Now they were in the will of the Lord all the way across. They did what he told them to do. They got into the ship, and they proceeded, and as in those days, they rose, and they started going to the other side. They were definitely in the will of God. And yet there arose a great storm upon the lake, and they were almost down. Now they could have reasoned among themselves. Well, why did the Lord permit this? He told us to get into the boat and go to the other side, and we're doing it, and why this storm? Why this obstacle?
Why this experience? They couldn't understand it. But the Lord certainly showed what that experience was worth. It was worth a manifestation of his presence because in the midst of the storm, just when they thought they were going to be swallowed up by the waves, they saw Jesus walking on the water. And at first they were so startled they thought it was a spirit, but it was he. showing, and the Lord was teaching them a lesson, now you're going to have storms in life. But remember, I'm watching over you, for when they got into that boat to go to the other side, Jesus was in the mountaintop praying for it.
And he knew they were there, he knew where they were on the lake, exactly the location, and a storm came, he knew it was going to come. It doesn't say he said it, he permitted it, and in the midst of that storm, when it was at its peak, its height, he appeared unto them to try and show them, now life's going to have its storms. But remember this, I'm with you in those storms. I'm watching over you. The waves can come only so far. Thus far shall thou come, and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed. The Bible says, Say, Daniel, there he is in the den of lions.
Now, I'm sure he wasn't very happy. If I knew I was going to be put into the den of lions, I think I'd make out my will and get everything in order. I don't know whether Daniel did or not, but I know one thing. When he got into the den of our lions, the Lord shot the lion's mouth, and they didn't touch it. the same with the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace. There appeared a fork, like the son of man, wished them in the fiery furnace, and there wasn't so much as even the smell of fire upon them. In all these cases they might have wondered, why did the Lord permit this?
But he did, and he has said, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." We would like to be able to reach out and touch him, wouldn't we, and know that he's there, tangibly, but we can't do it. In my faith we believe the Lord is with me. The Lord is with me. And so things are not always going to go smooth, even though we're in the will of God. Christ was in the will of God then. He was tempted by the devil. He was persecuted. by his enemies. And being in the will of God doesn't mean you're going to be free from temptation and trial and trouble.
It's not going to be smooth sailing to be in the will of God. There are elements that are going to attack you when you're in the will of God. Satan hates to see a child of God in the will of God. And he can't get it at Christ now because Christ is in heaven, but he does attack Christ. through the members of his body. And we are to fill up the sufferings of Christ, says the Apostle. Why, when they were persecuting the Christians, the Lord Jesus Christ, could say, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Well, was Paul certain at that time Saul, was he persecuting Christ?
He certainly was when he was persecuting some of God's people. When he was persecuting some of the members of Christ's body, he was persecuting Christ. And just like you stick a pin in that finger, you feel it all your body feels. And the same is true when any member of the body of Christ suffers. Jesus Christ suffers. He feels it. He's perfectly aware of every trial and every temptation that comes into the light of the Christian. And so we were speaking on that last week's submissiveness to the will of God. And that's where we concluded.
Now today we, or tonight, we want to speak on the manner of specifics. Be specific, especially at certain times. Be specific in your prayer. And here's a passage for you. You may turn to it if you wish. It's in Luke chapter eleven and verse five. And here you have a lesson in specifics. Luke eleven and verse five. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loathes.
For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not, the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needed. He asked for three loaves. He was very specific. And I say unto you, ask and it shall be given you, seek and he shall knock, he shall find, and knock and it shall be opened unto you.
For every one that asketh, receiveeth, and he that seeketh, findeth unto him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask dread of any of you that is of father, Will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he asks an egg, shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If he, then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Now here you have a prayer of specifics, praying for something different, something different.
It seems strange that he should urge the disciples to pray for the Holy Spirit when we are born again by the Spirit. Every Christian has the Spirit of God. He comes in when we are saved, when we accept Christ, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God until the day of redemption. Then is it right to pray for the Holy Spirit? Yes, it's right to pray for the power of the Holy Spirit, more of the Holy Spirit. Not that I might have more of Him in that sense, but that He might have more of me. And that I want the Spirit's help. I want the Spirit's guidance.
I want the Spirit's power if I'm going to serve Him. And here is something that is specific. When I'm facing a meeting of any kind, there's one thing that's paramount, uppermost in my mind. Lord, I've got to have the help of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, the meeting's in vain. And what I say will fall on death's ears. And the only way I can expect my message to be effective and fruitful is to utter it. or preached and presented in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And so this is, I believe, in connection with service too. We can apply this asking God specifically for help the Holy Spirit's assistance when we pray. Now getting back to this passage, this is the story of a needy friend. We have three friends here. The story of a needy friend, and I believe you can say it's a sinner, who appeals to a praying friend, likely a Christian, to a great friend, a mighty friend who is God. Now do you see the three? There's the story of a needy friend, he needs three loaves, and he comes to this other friend appealing.
And this friend he's come to undoubtedly can be likened unto the Christian. And so the Christian he turns around, and he goes to a mighty friend of his, one who is able to give him the free loaves for the friend who in his journey has stopped by at midnight. You know, a father is superior to the child, and the child is subject to the father. But friends are more on a level. with each other. For instance, it's quite possible that a child can be disobedient to the father, and all the time the child is disobedient to the father, the child isn't happy, and the father isn't happy, and the father's not likely to do much for the child, all the time the child is disobedient.
But when you come to the subject of friendship, it suggests the highest term of spiritual intimacy and fellowship. The Bible says a friend loveth at all times. A friend loveth at all times. Do you know the definition of a true friend? A true friend is someone who knows all about me and loves me just to see. Some people will love you until they find out something about you and then they'll drop you. Not so, the Lord Jesus. The Bible says he's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
And as we used to sing as children, as a friend for little children above the bright blue sky, a friend who never pales, whose love can never die. Unlike our friends by nature who change with changing years, this friend is always faithful, the precious name he bears. And he uses this language, and friendship does depend upon behavior and action. He says, ye are my friends, and he puts the word, ye do whatsoever I say. Three times over in the Bible, Abraham is called friend of God. God's friend.
Why was that a wonderful thing? What friendship between God and Abraham? Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you. And so here is a midnight scene, and I'll tell you that if anyone came knocking at your door at mine at midnight and you were fast asleep, would you appreciate it? Well, they could have chosen another time, I'm sure. But at midnight there's an ease. And so here is someone, and he comes as dark, and the man's in bed with his family. and someone knocks at the door, and it's a man who's out of the way.
Maybe he's lost his way, as you'll notice. For a friend of mine in his journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him. And so you find an midnight scene. A friend in his journey. Someone's out of the way. He's come to me. You might say he's just like sinners coming to a Christian. The sinner is in need. He realizes he doesn't have something, something that he really needs, and he sees and he believes this Christian has what he wants. I was talking to a gentleman only about a week ago who told me he was a mystic. Well, I said, you know, that's the same.
It comes from fact of the same word as mysterious. And anybody who's a mystic is a mystery to me. And he was referring to one or two Christians here at the chapel. And he says, I'll tell you one thing, they've got something he says I don't have. That was an honest statement. Yet he claimed to be a mystic. He had been a member of different churches. I think he said he started out as a Baptist, and then he joined the Methodist, and then he joined the Church of Christ, and then he joined the Catholic Church, and he fell out with the priest. And so he ended up being a mystic. We tried to show them that the only way to heaven was through the Lord Jesus Christ.
A friend of mine is coming his journey. And in this case, this man could see. Here is someone, and he referred to several here at the chapel. He said, they do have something. He said, I can see their lives. I detected in their conversation. They have something that I don't have, and I'd like to have it. Now I'm sure if that friend of that man went to some of the folks here that he knows, he would call them friends. Well, what would those Christians do in a case like that? I know what I would do. Especially when it's dealing with a mystic, I'd want to go to a friend that I know.
You get a little bit of knowledge and understanding how to deal with this stuff. Because you're going to need wisdom to know how to deal with a mystic. His mind is so twisted and turned. And so here is a friend of mine, and he's come to me. Let me ask this, Christian, do sinners come to you? Do unsaved people approach you and say, I'd like to know what the secret is? You seem happy, and you have something. I can see it in your life, and I can detect it in your conversation. Just what is the secret? of your peace and your joy.
Well, the secret is prayer or salvation, knowing Christ. That's the secret. Knowing Christ, being saved, this is the secret. Well, what do we do in a case like that? How sad we should read these words. A friend of mine has come, and I have nothing but said before. Does an unsaved person or has an unsaved person approach you as a Christian and you haven't anything to say? Nothing to set before them? No way to help them? We have the bread which came down from heaven. He said, I've got to have three loaves. And the three is figurative of the Trinity.
Christ is the bread which came down from heaven. Could it be that unsaved people could come to us and we're unable to help them, I've nothing just set before them. I don't know my Bible well enough. I just don't know how, don't have sufficient knowledge to explain to that person the way of salvation. But I tell you one thing, I've got a friend. And if there's anything that should drive a Christian to prayer, it's this very thing, that you're unable to cope with the situations that arise in your life, people who need help, spiritual help, and you don't have the wherewithal to meet their needs.
I mentioned, I think, one time previously in connection with these hippies. If I knew a hippie were going to come to my apartment wanting to be saved, or someone on dope, I certainly would want a little time waiting upon the Lord. I'd like to go to my great friend, who knows all about this individual, and who knows what should be said. Personally, I wouldn't know hardly how to begin to talk to some of these folks who are addicted to dope, if he were. sober, I'd know just about what to say. At least I think I know what I would say. Or if he were even an alcoholic, I believe, I could handle him.
But when a person's mind is warped and twisted by joke, I just hardly know what my approach would be. I'd like to have time to pray over. A friend of mine, he's out of the way, he's come to me, he's in me. Lord, I haven't got anything to set before them. I just don't know how I'm going to handle them. Well, here is something that you can pray specifically for. Lord, give me wisdom, give me light, and give me understanding that I may be able to help this person who has crossed my path with a spiritual problem, and I'd just like to be able to help.
But I'm going to have to have help from you. Here is a specific need. I have got up, come over here, and repeatedly ask, in other words, the man is saying to his great friend, Lord, I've come to you. It was a little inconvenient. I got up at midnight because someone came to me wanting three loaves, and I didn't have three loaves. But I knew that you had three loaves. I knew you had what he wanted, and he wanted from me, and I've got to get it from you, Lord. And you have it. You can give me the wisdom, the tact that I need.
And I've got up, and I've come to you at this inconvenient time, and Lord, I want you to give me what I need. And don't stop until you get it. That's exactly the story in verse eight. I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his impurity he will rise and give him as many as he needs. This constant coming, this constant bombardment of God's presence and God's throne for a specific need, I think that This is what God wants of us.
We give up too quick. We pray for a thing a few times and it goes out of our mind and it goes out of our prayers. Instead of keeping it up, keeping it up, keeping it up. Praying for specifics. Praying for a particular need at that time. Now I trust that we know something of praying specifically. I may have told this incident about a Christian was dying and that he had a nurse and the nurse sent for another Christian to come and pray with his brother because he was so ill.
And the nurse sat on one side of the bed and this Christian brother came and he sat on the other side and he started to pray. And the nurse had informed him how serious This brother was in his condition. Now the other night, just for an example, when I was in the hospital up to ten to one with Jim Adams who passed on, and when the nurse told me it was only a matter of two, three minutes before the end, now I went in and had prayer with the family. I told them, now I said, you need to be fortified for what's going to happen. It's going to happen. There's no warding it off.
Nature's taking its course. you need to be fortified. Take the shot. And I said, we'll pray that God will give you the strength, the stamina to take it. That was what was on my mind. But this brother, he started to pray, and he started to pray about the powers that be, that we might live a quiet and peace of a life with all godliness and honesty. And he started praying about other matters irrelevant. and he started to pray about missionaries, and he prayed for the missionaries in the South, and he prayed for missionaries in the North, and he visited different countries in his prayer, mentioning the names of certain missionaries, and he got to Africa, and he started praying for certain missionaries in Africa, and he was praying all over the world for everything.
When he got through praying, the nurse said, And finally, of course, before he concluded, he prayed for our beloved brother that he might get well. And when he got through, the nurse said, well, he's at home with the Lord. When did he die? She says, when you were in Africa. He wasn't praying specifically. He was wandering all over the place. Here's a present need. Here is something that we should pray specifically for. And that's the lesson here at three loops.
Now God says and tells you right here in this verse, if you ask, a son shall ask, in verse eleven, if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a fish, give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? In other words, be specific. Tell the Lord what you want. Tell him what the situation is. Put your finger up and be specific and be persistent. Be persistent. I believe this is one of the secrets of real prayer.
Now we pass on to the next thing, the fourteen point... in the manner in which we pray, that is exemplary. In other words, if a man preaches the need of prayer, he should practice it and seek to live it. I've heard some brethren talk about prayer, but I see very little evidence of it. Very little evidence. We put the price tag on prayer by the amount of time that we give to it. Now that A man values prayer by the amount of time that he spends before the Lord in them.
If I get up and emphasize how important prayer is and what prayer can accomplish, and it's up to me to set the example and spend time praying, spend time proving my point, exemplary prayer. And then again, patiently, we're going to have to hurry up. We should pray in a manner of patience, being patient. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up upon rings of eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not fail. If there's anything we need in our prayer life, it's patience.
The Bible, especially in Ecclesiastes, tells us there's a time for everything. There are certain times in the life of a child when certain gifts would be out of place. You wouldn't think of giving a child seven or eight years old an automobile. It'd be out of place. Later on, be all right and be safe. But not now at this age. And God, in dealing with his children, he has a time when he feels it would be all right for him to give that child what he wants. And so it is in prayer. We've got to be patient until God selects the time.
When we have God's time, then we don't have any need to worry. I can think of many instances in my life that I wanted something. I knew that the burden was on my heart, that it was the Lord's will. But I wanted it now. But it didn't take place. The answer didn't come for two or three years later. As I reflect upon it now, I think, how wise God was. How wise God was. He selected the time. It was just right, just right. And so let us be safe. Let us be safe. I forget who it was.
It might have been Billy Gray, but it just came into my mind at the moment. I hadn't thought about it in any years. About this Christian brother, he went to a sale in England, and there was a big grandfather's clock, and he wanted it. And he wanted it so bad, and he prayed about it. The Lord would give him or let him buy that clock. He wanted that clock, and he seemed to have peace in his mind that he was going to get it, and he began to bid on it. He was outbid. He didn't have the money. The other fella had more money than he had, and of course the price went up beyond what he had in his pocket, and he had the stuff.
But the man bought the cloth. But this fellow was so sure he had the Lord's will. He said, I'm going to follow that fellow. And he did. And he followed him. This fellow was going home with this big cloth. And when he got home, He couldn't get it in the door. He had such a difficulty. He couldn't get it in the door. And he became so frustrated all the time this Christian was standing looking at him. And he turned around and he said, You want to buy this thing? Yeah, he said, I want to buy it. Well, what do you want it for? So he got it cheaper than he would have gotten it at the safe.
In other words, there's a case of a man who was persistent. He felt he had the will of the Lord, and eventually he got what he wanted, and he got it cheaper. Now, sometimes the Lord makes us wait. He teaches us lessons. And if we await God's time, we'll get what we want, and we'll get it a lot cheaper. More to our likeness. And so they need for patience in prayer. God has his time. Daniel was held up three weeks. The answer was that Daniel's prayer was held up three weeks because of satanic intervention. Sin cooperation. We should pray cooperatively. In other words, if a man asks for a job, he should go out and look for the job.
No, not ask God and then sit at home when his arms folded, expecting someone going to come to his door and say, do you want a job? No, he prays about a job and he goes looking for one. That's cooperation. The same in the business. A man, he asks God to bless his business. Well, the thing for him to do is to get out and drum up some business. To what he can do what he can in the way of advertising and so on. God expects us to cooperate with him and do what he can in answering or having our own prayers answered. As I've mentioned in this platform two or three times before, when a young man... gets in his head he wants to be married.
Now he doesn't sit at his home and prays and expect some young lady to come knocking at his door. He gets in his car. He goes looking. And so does a young girl when she asks the Lord to give her a young man, she goes looking. In other words, there's this sense of cooperation. Keep knocking at the doors until the right door opens. Cooperation. And then again, reverently. Listen to this text. a good manner in which to pray, a reverent manner. Be not rash with thine mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God. For God is in heaven, and thou upon the earth.
Therefore let thy words be viewed. How reverent we should be in our prayer life. I have heard some prayers, and I didn't think they were very reverent. In fact, they were, as far as I was concerned, almost sacrilegious, talking about God, the man upstairs, the boy up yonder, Jesus, my brother, familiarity in that sense breeds contempt. God is to be reverence by all them that call upon him, and we need to pray reverence.
And don't forget that text again. Be not rash with thine mouth, and let not thine heart be haste to utter anything before God. For God is in heaven, thou upon earth. Therefore let thy words be due. Remember Jacob at Bethel. When Jacob was at Bethel, he says, Surely God is in this place, and Jacob feared and shook. Surely God is in this place. And then in the case of Moses, when God said unto Moses, as he approached the burning bush, Moses removed thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standeth is holy ground.
A need for reverence when we come into God's presence, into God's presence. Oh, how reverence we should be. walking into the presence of Almighty God, when you think in the Old Testament how careful those priests had to be that they had offered the right sacrifice upon the altar, and did at the right time, and every detail was done, they had on the right robes, because they had several uniforms, but they had on the right robes, everything was in order. And the man not only had to stop at the altar, he had to stop at the labor, and then he proceeded on through.
Everything had to be done in detail because this man is going to step into the presence of God, and God says, Here will I meet with thee, and here will I commune with thee. And the thing that he put his main confidence in was the blood of the sacrifice in that basin. God would have us to search our hearts before we come before us. You can't run into God's presence out of breath. You can't sail into God's presence with your sails wide open or into God's presence in high speed. When you stop to think about who you're going to talk to, it requires putting on the brakes and slowing down and examining your heart.
Here I am a poor sinner saved by God's grace and I'm going into the presence of the God of the universe. the great God of eternity. There should be that I don't know anything more sobering than to know that I am coming into the presence of God. The Almighty God, the Old Testament, there were those who went into God's presence, two of Aaron's sons, Nadav, and Abide, when God struck them dead, because they offered strange fire before him. They didn't get their fire from off the blaze of an altar. They got it from some other source, and God struck them dead.
In other words, I'm coming into the presence of a God who knows all my thoughts. He knows everything about me. He knows what I've done during the day. He knows the thoughts I've had, the words I've spoken, the deeds I've done. He knows everything. And if I regard iniquity within my heart, the Lord will not hear me. What an ease then that is, coming into the presence of an omnipotent God, omnipresent God, and a God that knows all. This demands reverence. Holy is his name.
We are told to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. And we should behold him, or only found acceptable in Jesus Christ. He's the one who gives us acceptance. Same time there needs to be practical exercise before the Lord about my life. And to think of kneeling down before the Lord, and there are things in your heart and life that he knows all about, and no one else knows but you and him. God says, I want this thing set right. There's no use you wasting time in my presence on your knees till that thing is simple.
God wants reverence. He wants reverence. And so let us pray in the manner of reverence. Now there are some other things I'm not going into them because our times are, Lord willing, we may continue this next week because there's a whole lot in this subject of prayer that is very important and I'd like to hasten through it. and the time's up, so we shall go. Our Father, which art in heaven, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we come into thy presence. We ask thee to teach us how to