For
through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
—Ephesians 2:18
In our communion with God in the inner
chamber, we must guard against the danger of seeking to know God and Christ in
the power of the intellect or the emotions. The Holy Spirit has been given for
the sole purpose that, “through Him we…have access by one Spirit unto
the Father.” Let us beware, lest all our labor be in vain because we do
not wait for the teaching of the Spirit.
Christ taught His disciples this truth on His
last night. Speaking of the coming of the Comforter, He said, “In that day
ye shall ask…the Father in My name…Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may
be full” (John 16:23–24). Take hold of the truth that the Holy Spirit was
given with the one great purpose of teaching us to pray. He makes fellowship
with the Father and the Son a blessed reality. Be strong in the faith that He
is working secretly in you. As you enter the inner chamber, give yourself
wholly to His guidance as your Teacher in all your intercession and adoration.
When Christ said to the disciples on the
evening of the Resurrection, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (John
20:22), it was, for one thing, to strengthen and equip them for the ten days of
prayer and for their receiving the fullness of the Spirit. This suggests to us
three things we ought to remember when we draw near to God in prayer:
1.
We
must pray in the confidence that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. And we must
yield ourselves definitely, in stillness of soul, to His leading. Take time for
this.
2.
We
must believe that the “greater works” (John 5:20) of the Spirit will
be given in answer to prayer. Such “works” bring us toward the
enlightening and strengthening of the spiritual life, toward the fullness of
the Spirit.
3.
We
must believe that through the Spirit, in unity with all God’s children, we may
ask and expect the mighty workings of that Spirit on His church and people.
“He that believeth on Me, as the scripture
hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John
7:38).
“Believest thou this?” (John 11:26).
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