Lynne Hammond talks about pulling out the prayers God has put inside her.
Hammond, author of The Master is Calling, uses this striking idea to describe how she prays in faith, led by the Holy Spirit.
She notes that the Holy Spirit lives within every believer and "his very nature is to pray". The apostle Paul says in Romans 8:26 that the "Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed".
This picture of the Spirit continually praying within us and for us is a real delight for me. Obviously, the Spirit is praying God's will for he is God.
In her book, Hammond outlines her early attempts at prayer after becoming a believer. Gradually, as she meditated on God's word, she grew more in tune with the Spirit.
She says that "as I continued to meditate on the promises of God and increase in my faith to be led by the Spirit, my ability to pray increased".
"God wants the church to bring forth great things in prayer, and it requires faith for us to do this," she writes. "You see in prayer we always travel by faith. . . . And the size of our faith determines whether we travel by Concorde or by pony express."
She builds her faith by constantly returning to chapters 14-16 in the gospel of John - chapters that describe the work of the Holy Spirit. She soaks herself in Jesus' promises about the Spirit.
In John 14:17, Jesus tells his disciples that he is leaving with them the Holy Spirit and they will know him and recognize him because he lives within them.
"Of course, getting to know the Holy Spirit is just like getting to know anyone else - it takes time. But the moment you release your faith and believe you have the capacity to know him, the process will begin."
Hammond goes on to say: "If by faith you expect the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to you and make him clear to you, then he'll be able to do that. If you sit around in unbelief and say, 'I can't hear God's voice like other people do,' you'll cut short the Holy Spirit's work within you."
The Bible indicates that the Spirit declares, teaches, reveals and transmits things to us - sometimes dramatically but more often quietly and gently through thoughts and impressions.
To tap into the Spirit, we must be in constant communion with him through prayer.
Hammond says that when believers are in close communion with the Spirit, "he begins to put God's desires in their hearts so that, when they pray, they're not making silly, superficial requests based on their own selfish whims, but they're lifting up God's own desires".
That's how to pull God's prayers from our hearts.
That kind of praying can't fail.
Hammond, author of The Master is Calling, uses this striking idea to describe how she prays in faith, led by the Holy Spirit.
She notes that the Holy Spirit lives within every believer and "his very nature is to pray". The apostle Paul says in Romans 8:26 that the "Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed".
This picture of the Spirit continually praying within us and for us is a real delight for me. Obviously, the Spirit is praying God's will for he is God.
In her book, Hammond outlines her early attempts at prayer after becoming a believer. Gradually, as she meditated on God's word, she grew more in tune with the Spirit.
She says that "as I continued to meditate on the promises of God and increase in my faith to be led by the Spirit, my ability to pray increased".
"God wants the church to bring forth great things in prayer, and it requires faith for us to do this," she writes. "You see in prayer we always travel by faith. . . . And the size of our faith determines whether we travel by Concorde or by pony express."
She builds her faith by constantly returning to chapters 14-16 in the gospel of John - chapters that describe the work of the Holy Spirit. She soaks herself in Jesus' promises about the Spirit.
In John 14:17, Jesus tells his disciples that he is leaving with them the Holy Spirit and they will know him and recognize him because he lives within them.
"Of course, getting to know the Holy Spirit is just like getting to know anyone else - it takes time. But the moment you release your faith and believe you have the capacity to know him, the process will begin."
Hammond goes on to say: "If by faith you expect the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to you and make him clear to you, then he'll be able to do that. If you sit around in unbelief and say, 'I can't hear God's voice like other people do,' you'll cut short the Holy Spirit's work within you."
The Bible indicates that the Spirit declares, teaches, reveals and transmits things to us - sometimes dramatically but more often quietly and gently through thoughts and impressions.
To tap into the Spirit, we must be in constant communion with him through prayer.
Hammond says that when believers are in close communion with the Spirit, "he begins to put God's desires in their hearts so that, when they pray, they're not making silly, superficial requests based on their own selfish whims, but they're lifting up God's own desires".
That's how to pull God's prayers from our hearts.
That kind of praying can't fail.
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