Streams in the Desert: Morning and Evening
By L.B. Cowman, Compiler
“The Spirit Himself intercedes for us.”
Romans 8:26
The highest ideal of prayer is to have the Holy Spirit pray through us. He is in us to inspire our desires and longings, to quicken our minds and hearts, and giving us prayers, to pray them through us. A great deal has been said about “praying through,” and when it means to pray until we believe God, it is a most helpful and scriptural suggestion.
However, if we approach this subject of prayer from the Divine standpoint, it may be truly said that all effectual prayer is only that which the Holy Spirit prays through us.
In His praying through us He quickens and uses our individual powers of will, intellect, and affection. His action is just as natural as if it had all originated with and was carried on by ourselves, but He is the pray-er for we have yielded ourselves to Him by an act of the will in definite faith for His working.
Although His praying is as natural as our own would be, yet when He is the prayer, there is often the consciousness of a depth and power unutterable. These are God’s infinitely loving desires striving to find expression through finite and human channels. Beside, there will be the leading out in prayer for objects and persons that otherwise would have been neglected, and such spirit of prayer will come upon us just as there is need, and may sometimes even seem to be at the most unlikely time and place.
How limitless are the possibilities of prayer when we have such a mighty, loving Helper! How certain we may be of the answer when He breathes the prayer through us! What wonderful fellowship this kind of prayer gives! We can only realize His ideal for our prayer-life by abiding in Him and trusting Him moment by moment to pray through us with His own mighty intercessions. ~C. H .P.
Can it be that some souls are still in sins “retained” because you and I have shrunk from the travail of intercession?
PRAYER
Holy Father, attend to each us in the area of our sanctification without delay. We desperately admit to our need of being sanctified by your power and strength. We are weak, and we need you to strengthen us in our fight against the evil, even the evil within our own hearts. Our spirit cries out to you to make us holy as You are Holy. Our soul stands in need of Your power to control our thoughts and emotions so that they do not cause us harm. And our bodies look only to You for the courage to be broken, and denied it’s fleshly desires, so that our life may be cause to bring Your heart joy. In Your Gracious Name I pray, Amen.
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE
Identify one area of your life that is not sanctified before God and write it on sheet of paper. It may be a quick temper, or a relationship, or an unresolved conflict, or a marital concern, or some other area. Then determine one action you will do every day to correct and change that area of your life, and make every effort to do it. Finally, look at the sheet every morning and pray for God’s help in changing that one area of your life until it no longer exist, and then move on to the next area.
L.B. COWMAN. Streams in the Desert: Morning and Evening Devotions (p. 230-231). Zondervan.
Published on Jan 10 @ 12:44 AM EDT
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