Prayer: One Key to Holy Spirit Filling
Prayer. Could prayer be the most misunderstood and most unavailed aspect of our Christian walk? Could anything else displace this from being our most unused asset? I doubt it.
J. Sidlow Baxter, a consumate pastor, theologian, writer and preacher said this, “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” If this is true, and I believe it is, why do we invest more time on all of these to the neglect of prayer?
How many of us desire to be led by and controlled by the Lord? I would imagine everyone who has claimed Christ as their Saviour would agree that they want this for their lives. We hear about “being filled with the Spirit,” but seem to go though life without a semblance of understanding what it is. We would attest that without it our spiritual lives will be defeated and empty. Yet, we shy away from it because we either don’t know or are unwilling to do what is necessary to be filled with the Spirit.
The Apostle Paul contrasts being filled with wine and being filled with the Spirit. The basic idea behind these two conditions is control. The one using alcohol is controlled by the alcohol. The more alcohol consumed, the more control it brings. So, also, with the Holy Spirit. The more we submit to His control the more He will control us. And, how do we find this control? It is found partly by developing a deep and lasting prayer life.
Prayer should have three focuses. One focus is to look to the Lord. Seeing Him will keep our perspective correct as to our worship. A second focus is to focus upon the needs of others. Seeing and praying for others will keep us from becoming to self-focused. And, lastly, we should focus upon our needs and seeing that we submit to God’s will in all things.
Are you praying? If not, begin today!
Tags: Apostle, filling, Holy Spirit, Paul, prayer
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