God tells us to Pray in the Spirit (06)
God also tells us to ask for forgiveness of our sins
Picture credit: https://prayer-coach.com/how-to-pray-in-the-spirit/
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
Eph 6:18
Perhaps it is our experience that God seems very far away when we pray. Our prayers are like speaking into the air or talking down a dead telephone line. In that case, our weakness focuses on this problem of “getting through to God,” or, to use the biblical word, the problem of “access.” The Bible has much to say about this, for the truths about access to God and fellowship with God lie at the heart of our salvation. There are two aspects to this matter that we must consider. The first is generally known and understood by believers, but it needs to be restated as it provides the basis of the second aspect which is often completely overlooked. Let us call the first aspect—
The Right of Access
God made man for His pleasure so that He might enjoy fellowship with His creatures. But sin came, and with it separation from God. An iron curtain, more terrible than that which separated East from West, fell between the holy God and His sinning creatures. (And of course, Adam and Eve, were physically thrown out of the Garden, thrown out of God’s presence). The message of the Bible reveals how God dealt with that dreadful curtain through Jesus Christ to bring man back to His original purpose. “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5).
What hope could there be of man ever approaching the throne of God’s holiness without the presence and work of the mediator Christ Jesus? He said, “No one comes to the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). What does this mean? Simply this, Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension tore down the curtain and opened a way for man to enter God's presence.
Peter the apostle puts it this way: “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God.” (1 Pet. 3:18) This picture of a curtain of separation is, in fact, the very one that the Bible uses. In Old Testament times there was a curtain (or veil) that separated the Holy Place where the priests ministered from the inner sanctuary or Holy of Holies where God was present in both the tabernacle and the temple. This was to show that the way was not yet open for man to have direct personal access to God (Heb. 9:8). No man could pass beyond that curtain on pain of death, the only exception being the High Priest; he was permitted to do so once a year, but not without the blood of sacrifice.
The Gospels tell us that when Jesus died the curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn in two, and the record is careful to add, “from top to bottom,” to emphasise that it was no act of man that performed this, but an act of God (Matt. 27:51). The way into the presence of God had been opened at last. How beautifully this is expressed in the epistle to the Hebrews (10:19–22): “Therefore, brethren, since we have the confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way which He opened for us through the curtain, that is, through His flesh . . . let us draw near. . .. “
The curtain (or veil) represented the invisible barrier separating God and man on account of sin. When Jesus died on the cross, He took that sin barrier on Himself, bearing our sins in His own body (1 Pet. 2:24), and so fully was He identified with our sin that God was said to have “made Him to be sin who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). Thus, the crucifying of that sinless body was looked upon as a tearing of the curtain of separation, and the opening of a way into the presence of God for us.
This work of Christ as mediator is a truth that became obscured in the medieval era of the church, but was brought fully into the light by the Reformation, and is dear to the heart of all true believers. We need no human priest or intermediary, for we have one great High Priest in the presence of God for us, and that is Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Through Him, every believer has the right of direct access to God.
It is good to be reminded that we can never approach God, whether in prayer or praise, supplication or intercession, except through Christ. If then we have this right of access as believers, how can there be any problem in getting through to God in prayer? Why is it that we find those who, knowing and believing that they have this right to enter into God’s presence through Christ, yet find themselves faced with a practical problem in the outworking of it? The right to draw near with boldness does not seem to ensure a living audience with the King. Despite all that people say, despite all that they believe, their prayer life remains dull and lifeless, and the God whom they address is a God far away.
Of course, the simple explanation may be a matter that we have touched on already. Even though we have the right of access we are still required to come with clean hands and a pure heart into God’s presence. Only by the confession of known sin and the thorough renunciation of it does the death of Christ and the power of His blood become available to us as we draw near to God. Otherwise, by countenancing sin in our hearts, we stop God’s ears (Isa. 59:2; Ps. 66:18). Any form of disobedience may easily produce an impenetrable barrier to our prayers and keep us out of touch with God. Where we are conscious of “something between” but do not know what it is, the Holy Spirit is ready and waiting to reveal it, if we will only seek the Lord. Where we do know, the remedy is simple; we must tread the humbling pathway of confession, renunciation, and maybe restitution, and so be restored to God’s fellowship.
But what of those who have genuinely examined themselves before God without being convicted of any specific sin that could account for their inability to get through to God? The solution is found, I believe, in the second aspect of this truth. This we will call:
The Power of Access
We may say that the right of access is the result of the work of Christ, but the power of access is the result of the work of the Holy Spirit. Both are included by Paul when he says, “For through Him [Christ] we both [Jew and Gentile] have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (Eph. 2:18)
This phrase, “access in one Spirit,” teaches us that the Holy Spirit has a vital part to play in getting through to God. What Christ has accomplished for us by providing us with the right of access, the Spirit must now work in us by providing us with the power of access. Paul is teaching us here that our access to God through Christ is in the power of, or through the working of, one Spirit, the Spirit of God. In other words, the same Spirit that proceeds from God is available to conduct us to God. In fact, all our fellowship with God is dependent upon the gracious activity of this one Spirit. We should be reminded of this every time we hear the benediction pronounced, concluding with the words, “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” (2 Cor. 13:14). It is a fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ effected and maintained by the Holy Spirit.
If a man is summoned to the king’s palace to receive some decoration, the royal summons is his right to enter the king’s presence. It takes him past the sentries and officers of the guard who would otherwise bar him from the palace. But having gained entry he would be at a loss to find his way into the sovereign’s presence if left to himself in that labyrinth of corridors. He needs a palace attendant to conduct him personally to the audience chamber. The work of Christ provides us with the royal summons and constitutes our right of entry, but the indwelling Spirit is also needed to conduct us into God’s presence. It is His work to make access to God a reality; to bring to us the deep conviction that we are not talking into the air when we pray, but communing face to face with a loving heavenly Father.
The Holy Spirit thus provides the answer to our weakness in this matter of getting through to God, for He makes our praying a conscious experience of fellowship with God. What a wonderful thing is “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” Let us draw near to God and pray with the full assurance of faith that the Holy Spirit will indeed help us in our weakness. “The Lord God is a sun” (Ps. 84:11), and when we commune with Him in the Spirit, we shall be conscious of a spiritual warmth pervading our beings, and when we go our way, like Moses descending the mount, we shall be unconsciously reflecting something of God’s glory.
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Thank you and God bless you today
Robert
Some good insights here. I appreciate the analogy of the distinctions. We need help praying and in our weakness, thankfully, the Spirit does so.