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Reading: 1Th.5:18-19
18 In
everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit.
Fellowship with
the Lord does not permit any barrier between you and the Lord.
If within you there is a little thought of unwillingness to
forgive others, this unwillingness to forgive would become a
barrier between you and the Lord. Sometimes the barrier exists
because within us there is a little pride, boasting, or showing
off. These are some factors, or rather, you can call them poisons,
which slay the spirit of prayer within us.
It is a marvelous thing that the life within us is a life of
prayer. If you were to ask me, "What is the primary function
of the Holy Spirit within us?" I would say that it is to lead
us into prayer. Whenever you yield some room to the Holy Spirit
and obey Him a little, the inevitable result is that He leads you
to pray.
On the other hand, whenever you disobey or quench the Spirit a
little, the prayer within you will immediately cease and the
spirit of prayer will also disappear.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, if you want to be a man of
prayer, you must be one who abides in God and one in whom the
Spirit of God has room. You must be in the Spirit of God and have
continual fellowship with Him, i.e., the two spirits are flowing
through one another. The greater the flow, the more prayer you
have. You may flow to such an extent that not only can you pray in
your room, but the spirit in you can also pray while you are in
the car, on the street, or talking with people.
The spirit of prayer is a law of prayer, just like the digestion
which takes place in the stomach is a law. While I am speaking my
stomach is digesting; while I am sleeping it is also digesting;
while I am walking it is still digesting. In the same principle,
in our spirit there is also the law of prayer. Whenever we live in
the spirit, allowing the Spirit to have place in us, we will
continue in prayer according to the law of prayer in our spirit.
At this moment our prayer will be very spontaneous.
Never think that only when one shuts the door and devotes himself
to prayer can it be counted as prayer. I admit that this is
necessary, but with regard to a man of prayer, the emphasis is not
that he should devote himself wholly to prayer; rather, he should
allow the spirit of prayer to have room in him. Once the spirit of
prayer has place, there is the law of prayer in the spirit causing
him to pray at any time; even while he is not outwardly praying,
he is still praying.
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