CHAPTER 4
PERFECT PRAYERS
Spiritual weakness and insecurity often plague those who
stand before the throne of God alone. Human frailty becomes
distinctly apparent in the light of His eternal presence and
power. Words seem superfluous, thoughts meaningless, and even
the sound of one's own voice is but a whisper compared to the One
who spoke the universe into existence. We often experience
petitionary insignificance, spiritual unworthiness, and perfidy
when we consider ourself before the Almighty. For one who prays
in the Spirit, however, no such spiritual inadequacies exist.
The prayers of the Holy Spirit are perspicuous utterances of
perfection; such is His nature and character as the Holy Spirit
of God.
AUTHORIZED
The Holy Spirit joins with us as we pray to authorize our
petitions. The dictionary defines "authorized" as: "to approve
by official confirmation." Romans 8:26-27 identifies the
Holy Spirit as the One who "makes intercession." It is He who
stands in the official capacity as God the Holy Spirit to
parallel our prayers with His perfect nature.
Occasionally when attempting to secure a substantial loan,
or large purchase, a co-signer is required. Such is the
functionary nature of the Holy Spirit when we petition our
Heavenly Father. He is the "Paraklete," the (One called along
side), who parallels our prayers to secure an answer of our
Heavenly Father. Such authorization is represented in perfection
and holiness as He authorizes our petitions before the Lord.
AGREEMENT
From our text, we discover two references to "maketh
intercession." The first, in verse (26,) refers to the making,
or creating, of intercessory prayers in our behalf. The Greek
term rendered "maketh intercession" in verse (26) is only used
this one time in the New Testament.
The other usage of "maketh intercession" is in verse (27) of
our text. "And God that searches the heart, knows what is the
mind of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit maketh
intercession for the saints according to the will of God." The
Greek term in this case is found five times throughout the
New Testament and is [can be] translated as (to confer). Thus we
discover the Holy Spirit "confers" with God according to His,
God's, will. This can only be considered an act of perfect
agreement. Humanly speaking, it is impossible to be totally
familiar with every aspect of God's perfect will for our lives.
The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is perpetually sentient of
God's perfect will for our lives, thus He prays in agreement with
the Father. We need only therefore be confident as we pray; we
have the knowledge that the Holy Spirit agrees with the Heavenly
Father in perfection as He "makes intercession for the saints
according to the will of God."
ILLUSTRATION
A child has been diagnosed to have leukemia. Family and
friends join together in prayer to petition God for a miracle.
What if, in fact, the child does not have leukemia but rather
some rare blood disease yet undiscovered by medical science?
Could God answer the request of those in prayer who were asking
that the child be delivered [healed] of leukemia when, in fact,
that was not the case? The question is not: "Could God?" As
God, He knows no limitation. The question rather should be:
"Would He?" As God, he is not obligated to hear or answer any
prayer offered outside of His will: "And this is the confidence
that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His
will, He hears us."1 He is, on the other hand, more than
willing to give us the petitions that we desire of Him.2 How
should we pray, therefore, if we are simply unsure of what, or
how, we should pray? The only option would be to pray in the
Spirit. When we rely upon the partnership of the Holy Spirit in
prayer, He will offer perfect prayers of agreement according to
the will of God. The perfect nature and prayers of the
Holy Spirit harmonize with the perfect will of God and thus a
perfect spiritual union can always be maintained while praying in
the Spirit. If we are willing to exercise our faith by praying
in the Spirit, He will "make intercession" - confer - with God;
and accomplish God's perfect will in our behalf each and every
time we make petition of Him.
The question is often raised, "Can't God figure it out on
His own?" As sovereign Lord, and omniscient God, He knows all
things and God has sent the Holy Spirit to be our Intercessor;
the Paraklete...called along side, to make intercession for the
saints according to the will of God. God's will is for us to
agree with the Holy Spirit in prayer for God's will to be
accomplished.
Some confess, "But I mean well!" Again, God is not
obligated to answer prayers based on how well meaning we may be
when we pray. He answers prayer, however, based upon His perfect
will. If we are unwilling to allow the Holy Spirit to parallel
our prayers, as one who confers with God in our behalf, we should
not be surprised when answers are not forth coming. We need,
therefore, to learn to pray in the Spirit. Such prayer is
harmony with God's will. As He, the Spirit of God, intercedes in
the spiritual realm, we pray in the natural realm. We are aware
of such intercessory activities when we pray in tongues - divided
languages.
ACCURACY
____________________
Many of our prayers, perhaps most, are never answered
because we have prayed in error. Somehow we loose sight of our
Heavenly Father's holiness and simply have concluded that He will
overlook anything done unawares. We know, for example, that one
cannot be born again by works, church membership, water baptism,
or by simply claiming to be a Christian. One is only born again
by confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. We willingly
admit no variance in such doctrine but radically change our views
when it comes to our own personal relationship with God through
prayer. We suddenly claim no personal responsibility in our
actions or attitude based upon ignorance when we pray. "Well,
God knows what I mean," becomes a common escape when we are
simply not willing to abide by His Word.
We are required by Scripture to be just as accurate when we
petition God as we were when we received [confessed] Him as Lord.
Everyone faces inadequacy in prayer: "for we know not what we
should pray for as we ought." If spiritual accuracy is required
by God when we pray, we have no choice but to depend on the
ministry of the Holy Spirit when we pray.
ACCURACY DEFINED
The dictionary defines "accuracy" as: "to conform exactly to
truth or a standard. as Believers, the standard is the will of
God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to "make intercession"
and to do so (according to the will [standard] of God).
We often experience frustration when we pray because the
answer has not conformed to our desire. Yet we have the promise:
"and we know that we have the petitions that we desired of
Him."3 The conflict lies with our will verses God's. God may
indeed withhold an answer if it does not conform to His perfect
will. Faith, therefore, becomes the variable. Are we willing to
trust God? If so, then we must learn to wait on God for the
fullness of His perfect will. Praying with supernatural accuracy
is only possible through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He has
promised to Do so "according to the will of God" and in perfect
agreement with God's perfect design for the lives of His people.
Praying in the Holy Spirit is the only Scriptural way of assuring
we are praying "will of God" prayers. Learning to trust God for
His perfect will thus becomes the topic of our next chapter.
BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT
As a Baptist, I disagreed strongly with those that used the
phrase "baptism of the Spirit" to refer to the Spirit filled
life. I often preached firmly against such doctrine as I
ministered in various Baptist churches. It was only after being
filled with the Spirit in early August 1982 that I began to
realize my teaching was unscriptural.
The Apostle Peter returned to Jerusalem in Acts 11 and was
approached by the Jerusalem leadership as to why he had
ministered to Gentiles. Peter explained the vision he had been
given by God and the leading of the Holy Spirit to go and
minister the Word to a gentile household. Cornelius and his
entire household had been led to Christ through the preaching of
Peter. According to Peter's own testimony, they likewise
received the "baptism of the Holy Spirit."4 Our Lord also
instructed His disciples to remain in Jerusalem after His
ascension until they received the "baptism of the Holy Spirit."5
Thus the term "baptism of the Spirit" or, "baptism of the
Holy Ghost" is Scriptural in reference to the filling of the
Spirit.
From our Biblical examination of tongues in Chapter 3 of
this book, it should be clear that the baptism of the Spirit, or
the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit with evidence
of tongues, is for today's Church. As we have seen, one receives
the Holy Spirit at the moment of regeneration,6 but being
"sealed" with the Holy Spirit is different than being "filled
with the Holy Spirit. How do we know there is a difference?
"You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you."7
Even as a Baptist preacher, there came a time in my life
that I realized I was powerless. I began to pray and claim Acts
1:8; asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of the verse to
my heart. I knew the evidence of such a Spirit filled life would
be power. Of course, as a Baptist, I did not believe in speaking
in tongues. I was convinced that the sign of tongues had passed
from off the earth with the death of the last Apostle. After
spending over two months praying daily on my knees and examining
Scripture as I did so, I was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Unusual as it may seem, however, I did not begin to pray in the
Spirit - speak with tongues - until three years later. The
reason? I simply did not believe. God will never give you any
thing unless you first believe.
A year after being filled with the Spirit, I began to again
search the Scriptures concerning answered prayer. I knew I was
filled with the Spirit, and I knew the power of God was now
present in my life; but something was missing. I was not
receiving answers to my prayers consistently.
Returning to my knees, I began to once again examine
Scripture concerning my need to receive answers to my prayers.
More than a year past, until I finally began to consider the true
meaning of "speaking in tongues." As I examined and reexamined
Scripture on this doctrine, I began to realize there were simply
too many unanswered questions.
In early May of 1985, I began to submit myself to the
leading of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. I simply
confessed to the Lord I did not understand all on the subject of
tongues but was unable to dismiss Paul's statement in I
Corinthians 14, "forbid not to speak with tongues," and that when
one did speak with tongues, he was speaking "mysteries to God."8
I asked God to give me this gift of tongues and He did so. For
complete details on just how this occurred in my life, refer to
my booklet entitled: "When Baptist's Speak In Tongues" The test,
or evidence, of the Spirit filled life is, of course, power.9
The sign is tongues.10 Paul confessed that not all spoke with
tongues but he desired that all Christians would do so.11 I
found it theologically impossible and Scripturally improper to
simply dismiss such Biblical teaching. With a great deal of
uncertainty, and a small amount of faith, I submitted myself to
the Holy Spirit and asked God to fully fill me with His Spirit
and to give me the evidence of such power with the sign of
tongues.
As I already mentioned, the evidence of the Spirit filled
life is power. If the sign of tongues is a viable sign for
today's Church, and if I began to speak in tongues and to worship
God in the Spirit accordingly; I expected my prayers to be
answered consistently thereafter. In the first six months after
receiving the gift of tongues, I experienced more answers to
prayer than I had in all the years since I had been born again.
This evidence of Holy Spirit power has continued and I have
learned that God hears and answers prayer. All was made possible
through the baptism of the Spirit which is available to every
Christian who lives "in the last days,"12 and have called upon
the name of the Lord to be saved.13
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT
The way one is filled with the Spirit, or receives the
baptism of the Spirit, with the evidence of speaking in tongues;
is the same way one is born again. Being filled with the Spirit
is not adding to one's redemption, only affording one power from
God to do His will and works. If you already have the power of
God in your life, - do you get your prayers answered - I would
assume you are Spirit filled. If such is not the case, you can
easily be filled by simply making request of God. In some cases,
the laying on of hands was used when receiving the baptism of the
Spirit. In other cases - Peter's experience with the household
of Cornelius - no hands were laid upon them. If you will stop at
this very moment, and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit with
the evidence of the gift of tongues, you will be filled. Because
of unbelief, however, many of us do not speak in tongues at the
moment we are filled with the Spirit. Again, God will never give
us any thing unless we first believe. If you are still in doubt,
read again Chapter 3 of this book and ask the Holy Spirit to
reveal God's truth to you on this doctrine. At the very moment
you ask God to fill you, however, you will be filled. Expect to
speak with tongues [divided languages]; you will either
immediately, or soon thereafter, do so. Expect the power of God
to rest upon you because you have asked to be filled with God's
Holy Spirit. As you make your request, remember that the
Holy Spirit is agreeing with your request and making intercession
for you according to the will of God. God's will is for His
people to be filled with His Holy Spirit. Remember that the
Holy Spirit gives the utterance.14 As He does so, you will be
"praying in the Spirit" and magnifying God.15
Footnotes For Chapter 4
1 I John 5:14
2 I John 5:15
3 I John 5:15
4 Acts 11:16
5 Acts 1:5
6 Eph. 1:13
7 Acts 1:8
8 I Cor. 14:2
9 Acts 1:8
10 Acts 2:4
11 I Cor. 14:5
12 Acts 2:17
13 Acts 2:21
14 Acts 2:4
15 Acts 10:44-46
End Of Chapter 4
PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT
BY
PHIL SCOVELL
Copyright 1989/2004
By Phil Scovell
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