We're going to open our Bibles at the book of Jude, the last book but one in the New Testament, the little epistle of Jude. So please open your Bibles there. We'll bow for a word of prayer before we read some verses and come to the Lord's message. Let's all pray. Our Heavenly Father, we continue on in Thy presence. We rejoice that it is our privilege to have the Word and be able now to turn to it, to read it together and meditate thereon. Lord, we pray that in all of our activities that revolve now around the Scriptures, Thou wilt be glorified. We pray that in the preaching and in the hearing of the Word, there will be an exalting of thy dear and blessed Son. Here, as we pray, may the Holy Spirit come upon us and may there be a work done for eternity. For this we ask for Christ's sake and in His name. Amen. Jude, and we commence our reading at verse 17. Verse 17 of the Epistle of Jude. But, beloved, Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves, in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And as some have compassion, making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen and amen. And we know that the Lord will Bless the reading of His own infallible truth, His own precious Word. And I want to focus your attention today on some words that are found in the twentieth verse of this little epistle of Jude, those words, praying in the Holy Ghost. Casting your minds back over the past few weeks, you will remember that we have been considering, in relation to our overall study on the headship of Christ and the body of Christ, the matter of the edifying of the Church or the body of the Lord Jesus. And I pointed out to you that Christ has appointed certain means by which His people are edified, by which the body of Christ is built up. They are known as the means of grace. The most important, the chief of them, is the Word of God. It is the chief means of grace for the simple reason that the other means of grace are derived from the Word. They owe their existence to the Word of God. It is only on the basis of the authority and the light of Scripture that prayer and the sacrament, or whatever else you would care to mention as a way of building up God's people, even the fellowship of the saints, can become a means of grace to the souls of the Lord's people. Now last week we focused on the Word or the Scripture as a means of grace. Today I want to come and consider prayer as another means by which the church of Jesus Christ receives grace, and indeed more grace, from her living head. It is interesting that the reference to prayer right here in verse 20 of Jude is set within the framework of edification by the Word. Notice how this verse begins, But ye, beloved, building up yourselves, Building up yourselves, and the words there, building up, are a translation of that same word that means to edify, or even as a noun, edification. Here's the very same term used here, ye beloved, building up yourselves, edifying yourselves. Then it goes on to say, on your most holy faith. Here we are reading, therefore, the clear thought that the Word of God is the foundation and the basis for all edification, building up yourselves on your most holy faith. You see, the question then is, what is that most holy faith that's in view in this verse? And the answer is given back in verse 3, I would say, I would suggest to you, because in verse 3 it says, earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saint. The faith in verse 3 is a reference to the whole revelation of God, the Word of God, the inspired scriptures of truth. There is subjective faith that we have in our hearts, by which we believe, but the faith in verse 3 is God's word essentially, the revelation of God. And here in verse 20, it's very obvious that there's a connection between verse 3 and verse 20. Here in verse 20, Jude says to these people, these same believers, ye beloved, building up yourselves on. And there's the idea there of a foundation. And the foundation is the faith that has been delivered to the saints. And on that foundation, we are to be edified. We are to be built up. There is a strengthening of our souls. And therefore, this reference in verse 20 to edification is firmly entrenched within the context of God's Word, God's divine revelation that He has given to His people. It is the chief of all. It is the main means of grace, this holy faith. And on that basis alone, the church is edified. and is built up. Therefore, within the context of being edified on the basis of the faith or the word, Jude goes on to say, praying in the Holy Ghost. So here's prayer mentioned in the context of edification. Underlining that prayer is therefore represented in Scripture as a means of grace, as a means of edification. Right here, it's set alongside the Word, essentially. Building up yourselves on your most holy faith or on the Word, the revelation of God, praying then in the Holy Ghost. The point is very clear. Praying that edifies is prayer. that is born out of a knowledge and an understanding of our most holy faith. In other words, out of a knowledge of the Scriptures. The two are inseparable. That's why I take the order that I am taking. I've dealt with the Word as a means of grace. I now deal with prayer as a means of grace. Because here you find the two of them brought together inseparably in this particular connection, this particular context here. You see, any understanding of Scripture will lead to prayer. And from another perspective, the understanding of Scripture is actually revealed as we pray over the Word, as we inquire and as we search into the Scriptures in the place of prayer, praying over the Word, then we will be edified. The two always go together. I remind you of what is said about the apostles in 1 Peter 1, verse 10, where it says, "...of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently." The Old Testament prophets. It says, "...concerning salvation," concerning God's revelation to His people. In Old Testament times, even through the prophets, they inquired, which means they prayed. And they also search diligently, prayer and the Word brought together, praying over the Word, praying as a result of the Word coming to your soul. And the result always is that we will be edified, we will be built up in our souls and in our hearts and in our spiritual experience. So prayer is one of the chief means also one of the main means of grace for the church as a whole and for the believer as an individual. It must be clearly understood, therefore, that today we are dealing with prayer in relation to it being a means of grace or a means of edification. Prayer, of course, like as I said last week concerning the Word, prayer is a vast subject. It entails many details, many lines of thought, in many ways in which it needs to be considered. But what I'm doing today is looking at this theme, this line of thought, that prayer is a means of grace. Now, our text provides us with the precise framework within which we may deal with this issue of prayer as a means of grace. Notice the words, praying in the Holy Ghost. Now, I put it to you very strongly. Now those words provide us with the secret, with the framework, call it what you will, as to how prayer is a means of grace to the church. Praying in the Holy Ghost. The soul is going to be edified, is going to be strengthened when there's prayer in the Spirit, as it puts it here. It's important to notice the exact sense of these words. Praying in the Holy Ghost. That little word, in, as a particular word, without getting technical here in the original language, and it simply indicates the idea of an instrument. And therefore we read it this way, praying by the Holy Ghost. That's really the sense of these words, praying by the Holy Ghost. The point is that as the Spirit of God gives us help and gives us enablement, and we pray by means of His assistance and His help, then prayer becomes a means of grace. to the church as a whole and to the believer as an individual. So that is the setting of these words. Praying in the Holy Ghost, praying by the Holy Ghost, here is prayer brought before us as a means of grace. What I want to do today is simply note with you some ways in which the Holy Spirit helps us to pray. so that we will be edified, we will be built up, we will know the grace of God in a greater degree. I think we have to start with this thought, that is, the Holy Spirit and the existence of prayer. It says here, praying by the Holy Ghost. It is teaching that it is only by the Holy Ghost, only by His power, His work, that prayer will ever exist. in a human heart. Praying by the Holy Ghost, men and women, that is always true. That is ever true. There is no real prayer in existence unless and except through the ministry and the work of the Spirit of the living God. There is no genuine praying without the Spirit, in other words. the Holy Spirit and the existence of prayer. He it is who produces prayer in the hearts and the souls of God's people. But notice that verse 20, where our text lies, is acting in the form of a contrast with the preceding verses. Look with me at verse 20 and notice how it begins. It says here, but, and every time you see that little conjunction, but, You will notice that the writer is about to tell you something different, or tell you something by way of contrast from what he has just been saying, and that's exactly what you will find here. Ye Beloved." And then he goes on to talk about praying by or in the Holy Ghost. So there's a contrast been drawn here. And what that contrast is, is spelled out in verses 18 and 19. Look with me at those two verses. Because they speak of ungodly men pursuing their wickedness, living lives separate from God, Indulging their sensuality. And above all, these awful words are written over them, having not the Spirit. Look at those two verses. They told you there should be mockers in the last time, verse 18, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves. Sensual. Having not the Spirit. Now there's a connection. Having not the Spirit, but ye beloved. See the contrast. See what Judah's doing here. Here is the world of the ungodly, and they don't have the Holy Spirit, but you, beloved, have the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost is in your hearts to bring about the very existence of prayer, because you pray by the Holy Ghost. In verse 18, notice, there's a reference there, to those who do not have the Spirit with regard to how they think and how they actually speak. Notice how they are described in verse 18. They told you that as the apostles other than Jud told you that there should be nothing. in the last time. Now, when you read there of their being mockers, you're reading of their attitude, you're reading of their words, you're reading of what they say, how they actually will look upon the things of God. They are mockers. And my friend, mockery of the things of God, whether verbally or by attitude, is always the evidence of the absence of the Spirit. And let that sink in. If a man is a mocker of Christ, if a man is a mocker of the gospel, if a man is a mocker of God's people, then he has not the Spirit. It's very solemn, serious. Picture this painted in verse 18. Here is the word of the ungodly, and especially those in the religious realm of the world. That's who in particular are in view here. Judah is not talking here about mockers in general. The mockers out there who you meet every day, who maybe ridicule your name or testimony or whatever, talk about your Lord lightly. He's not talking about them. He's talking about those in the spiritual realm who profess to be religious leaders, who creep into the church, we're told back earlier on in verse 4, who come in unawares. And here's how they're described. They're there to mock the things of God, to solemn in a serious situation described there. And it is the evidence that such men do not have the Holy Spirit. There's a vivid contrast, therefore, presented here between those who have the Spirit and those who don't have the Spirit. Mockery of the things of God is the evidence of the absence of the Holy Ghost, but prayer is the evidence of the presence of the Holy Ghost. And therefore, it is by the Holy Spirit that prayer exists in a man's heart. Oh, my friend, the first grip, mock God. The second grip, seek God. They pray. They lay hold upon the Lord. They pour out their hearts. They pray by the Holy Ghost. And the only reason why prayer exists in their souls, and they themselves are not mockers also, is because the Spirit of God is in them. Turn with me to Acts chapter 9 for a moment. Let's look there at a tremendous example, a very well-known example, of the Holy Spirit and the existence of prayer. I turn you here to this man, Saul of Tarsus, as he was at that time. And it says in verse 11, in the last words, the closing words of that verse, "'For behold, he prayeth.'" Now, brothers and sisters, notice that that is a divine observation. These are Christ's words concerning Saul of Tarsus. And the Lord Jesus makes this observation unto Ananias. Behold he that is Saul prays. And the words denote something most striking. Saul the Pharisee was truly, genuinely praying for the very first time in his life. This is being said. Behold he prayeth. Heaven is in the ease, as it were. You think about it that way. Because the word, behold, draws attention and underlines this is something wonderful. He's praying. Now, Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee. of the Pharisees, you could say. He called himself a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and he called himself the son of a Pharisee, as you will find when he gives his own pedigree, even the very passage we read today there in Philippians chapter 3. And the Pharisees were notorious for their form of prayer and their show of prayer. The Lord tells that in Matthew 6 where He refers to those who stand at the street corners and who want to be seen of men. And He mentions specifically the manner in which they pray and how they pray. And therefore the Pharisees were notorious for this. Always praying it seemed. Publicly praying. But my friend, here's the point. Never in his life had Saul of Tarsus truly prayed, genuinely prayed, until the day he met Christ on the Damascus road. And the Lord singled it out. Look at him. He is praying. He is praying because prayer has come into his soul. How did it come to be there? Well, go back to verse 5. And here, you'll actually read again of Saul praying. As soon as he hit the dust, you might say, he began to pray. God took a dealing with him on the Damascus road, this proud Pharisee on his way to slaughter the saints and do all he could to hinder the work of God. And the Lord smote him onto the ground and into the dust. In verse 5, and he said, Who art thy Lord? Do you see that? Men and women, that's prayer. Who art thou, Lord?" What he really means is, Lord, show me more of Yourself. Because already he knows who the Lord is. He just wants to learn more. He knows he is face to face with the Lord of glory. And he is brought into the dust and he begins to pray and he begins to inquire even more. And the same in verse 6. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, What wilt thou have me to do? Do you notice in both verses how he addresses Jesus of Nazareth? Just to make the distinction here, using that name, that title, that this is a legitimate one, Jesus of Nazareth, taking Him in the days of His humiliation, Jesus of Nazareth. But notice how Saul addresses Him, Lord, Lord. And that name, Lord, is the counterpart of the Old Testament Jehovah, that marvelous, that profound name for Almighty God, Jehovah. He calls Him Jehovah in essence. He calls Him Lord. I think we could learn from that if I had time just to sidetrack. And I must say this, I find it very distasteful When people come to pray, and I'm not saying it happens in our church, but I've heard it many a time, and they address the Lord always as Jesus. Dear Jesus. Dear Jesus. My friend, He's the Lord of glory. Let us address Him properly. You'll find that a very common feature of charismatic circles. For our Lord is not understood, and I don't doubt the sincerity of people, but because of ignorance and lack of knowledge concerning the person and the glory and the work of our Lord, oh, how He is demeaned in how people address Him. And the same is true with regard to God the Father. I've not even repeated what is going on in certain circles today with regard to using names concerning our Heavenly Father. It is blasphemy. Let us be very careful how we address our Lord in the place of prayer. But here's the point. How was it? that the apostle Paul was able to call him Lord. How did he know? Well, for this reason, because notice this, first words of prayer, Who art thy Lord? Show me more of thyself, Jehovah. Jehovah! What wilt thou have me to do? How did Paul or Saul know this? He tells us in his own teaching in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 3, No man calleth Jesus Lord but by the Holy Ghost. And he's not talking there about merely using a name. What he's talking about is recognition, knowledge, understanding of the person of our Lord. recognizing who He actually is, and casting ourselves down before Him. But then here's the point. There was prayer in Saul's soul. Behold, he prayeth because the Holy Ghost had entered his heart. He has received the Spirit. He's now praying in the Holy Ghost. And we know that because no man recognizes, knows, understands Jesus as Lord. To use his own words, as I say, except by the Holy Ghost. It's the evidence that the Spirit of God has come upon this man. The existence of prayer, therefore, is due to the production of it in the heart by the Holy Spirit. I was reading this week, when I was preparing this message, the great commentary of the Reverend William Jenkin on the book of Jude, a Puritan preacher. And he said this, he said, wherever the Spirit is, there will be praying in the Spirit. If the Spirit live in us, He will breathe in us." And then he said this, and it's one of those quint things, you could call it, that you find in the Puritan writings, and he said this, God never yet had nor ever will have a dumb child. God never yet had and never will have a dumb child. He says, wherever the Spirit is, there is prayer. Wherever the Holy Spirit lives, He breathes in us. There is therefore the existence of prayer. Those who are the Lord's, name the Lord. Think of 2 Timothy 2 and verse 19, that everyone that nameth the Lord. Do you know what that means? Someone who knows Him and someone who names Him in the sense of going to Him and talking to Him. Not merely saying, I am the Lord's, but actually naming Him. My Lord, my Saviour. Naming Him in the sense of prayer. Or you could think as well of 1 Corinthians 1 verse 2 where it says that the saints are those who call. upon the name of Jesus Christ. You see, this is the spirit of sonship that we're thinking about here. Calling on the Lord, seeking the face of God, the existence of prayer is by the Holy Spirit. He's the Spirit of grace and supplication. Zechariah 12, verse 10. The two are brought together. Grace, supplication. I ask you today, my friend, and I ask you it very, very clearly. Is there prayer in your soul? Is there the existence of prayer? Do you know the name of the Lord? Do you call upon the Lord? Do you seek Him? Do you desire Him? Do you have a heart for Him? Do you go out after Him? Are you found in the secret place? Because I'll tell you something, that is the real acid test of the existence of prayer. Is it something that's in your life in the secret place, shut away from others and alone? And there you get down and you begin to pray and you continue praying day after day. And as the time goes by, oh, I know we all have lapses. But when, as true believers, we lapse in the place of prayer, it will not be long until the Spirit draws us back and we're rebuked and we find that we can't do without it. We've got to get back to the secret place. Is it true of you? Does prayer exist in your soul? Because, my friend, if it doesn't at all, absolutely, you have not the Spirit of God. That is a most solemn matter. And I do not say that lightly. I say it in the light of what we are seeing here today, the Holy Spirit and the existence of prayer. praying by the Holy Ghost. Is there prayer in your soul? I'm not asking you, do you say your prayers? I'm not asking you, do you repeat prayers? I'm asking you, do you have the longing, the yearning, the desire for God down in the depths of your being? And you find there's a friendship there with God, there's a relationship there, and you cannot go through a day, but you must talk to the Lord, you must pour out your heart, you must tell Him your needs, you must commune with Him, because there's prayer existing in your soul by the Holy Ghost. And I say to you today, if you find not the existence of prayer, Then, my friends, stop and take stock of where you are and what you are as a creature, a human being before God. The Holy Ghost then and the expression of prayer. Praying by the Holy Ghost, we've looked at the existence of prayer, but what about the expression of prayer? Because when Jude refers here to praying by the Holy Ghost, he is therefore not only talking about prayer existing within our hearts, But he's also talking about it being expressed from our hearts and, of course, through our lips. And again, it's by the enablement of the Spirit of God, by the help of the Holy Ghost. And there are various features, as we think about this, various features concerning the expression of prayer that are there, that are real when we pray in the Holy Ghost. There will be faith in the expression of prayer. You see, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of faith. He has given that title, and I'll turn to the verse now, we don't have to, but it's found in 2 Corinthians 4.13, the Spirit of Faith. But think about that title a moment or two. What does it signify? It signifies that He, as the Spirit of Faith, is sent into our hearts from Jesus Christ And when He comes into our hearts, then, my friend, as the Spirit of faith, He enables us to go back to Jesus Christ. That's why He's called the Spirit of faith. He enables us to believe and to expect the Lord to hear us and to answer us. Do you see what I am saying? The Holy Spirit and the expression of prayer, and it is marked by faith, because where there is a real and a true faith in our souls, we are unable to pray. And for this reason, this is important, we are praying to the invisible Christ. Let that sink in. You prayed before you came out this morning, I trust. What did you do? You got down before the Lord, whatever plaster you took, and you started to talk to someone whom you didn't see. What were you doing? You were exercising faith. Why were you able to do it? Because the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of faith. And when we pray by the Holy Ghost, and we express ourselves in prayer, and pray right out of our hearts, and goes back to the Lord, as I put it, the Lord Jesus who sent the Spirit of faith into our souls. Then by that Spirit we go back to Him. How did you pray? Why were you able to pray? To the invisible God, to the unseen Christ. It is because you have the Spirit of faith. You see, the heathen, the ungodly, do not have the Holy Spirit, and that is the reason why Idolatry exists. Do you ever think about that? You know, people are so foolish today, I mean in the sense of the lack of understanding. And Protestantism, in general, is because it's so far gone from the Word, so far removed from our foundations and our understanding of things. And you hear these foolish Protestants saying, Isn't it wonderful? These Roman Catholics, they're so sincere, you know. Or the heathen or whoever. And we shouldn't really try to witness to them or disturb them. You know they believe and they're very earnest. And there they are down before their idols and their images. And they take their little idol. And I'm not being funny here. I am being serious. They take their little idol out of the alcove in their room, or wherever they have it, and they bring it into another spot. They take their God and they carry it about and they set it down. And then they get down on their knees and they pray to that image. And they tell that image all their troubles and all their woes. Poor, lost, benighted souls. And why are they praying in that fashion? Because they have not faith. That's the reason. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians, all men have not faith. And there's a demonstration of it. Faith, my friend, is the gift of God. Faith enables you to talk with your God. Commune with your God. Paul says in Hebrews 11.1, faith is the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for. What he means is, faith gives reality to the God of glory in the sense that you read about Him in the book, you read about Christ, and then the Spirit does a work in your heart, and you're brought to faith, and you're brought to know the Lord. And the Lord then becomes real in your life because of saving faith. a real person, and you talk to him just as much, just as real as when you talk to a fellow human being. Although it's a far different level, remember, I'm setting the reality of it. He's there, he's listening, and you're talking to Him, and you're pouring out your heart, and you're expressing yourself. What is this? This is faith. Think, O, of those great words of the Apostle Peter to his readers in 1 Peter 1, verse 8. Listen to them. Whom having not seen ye love in Him, though now ye see Him not, Yet, believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory? How can any man do that? See, the world can't understand true Christianity. Because the world of religion needs to see what it worships. That's why idolatry is so attractive. That's why it appeals to the flesh. It pleases the flesh. It gives people a good feeling. They go through a ritual. They go up and down. They genuflect. They do all their contortions in their worship. And they go through it all. And they feel so good, so comforted because we have done it all again. My friend, they have never been heard because there is no faith. They don't have the spirit of faith. And may I say this, the Holy Spirit especially regarding the expressing of prayer in the realm of faith, the Holy Spirit especially assures the believer of acceptance of himself and his praying. I want you to go to Ephesians 2 here and verse 18. Here is the matter. That's most important. And I think this is a question that's often in believers' minds. Am I really heard? Does the Lord listen to me? Ephesians 2, verse 18. And here we find a marvelous statement that I want you to look at. In fact, in this statement you'll notice the Divine Trinity. Ephesians 2, verse 18. Through Him, just single out the persons here, through Him, that's Christ. We both, and that was a reference to June Gentile, Anyhow, access by one Spirit unto the Father. There's the Trinity. But it's in relation to access to God through Christ, the Mediator in our words. We have access to the Father. And what that means is, by the merits of the Lord's atoning sacrifice, we have access to God, having therefore, brethren, boldness, confidence, freedom, to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus through Him, through the atoning merits of His death, through the sacrifice of the cross. It's all here. It's right in a nutshell, through Him. But then it says this, it is by one Spirit. And what it is saying is, the Spirit of faith, because He is that, enables us to believe that the merits of Christ's death prevail for our access to God the Father. And he enables us then to believe that God will hear us. This is what he is saying. This is what Paul is teaching here. It is through the mediation of Christ that we approach, but it is by the Spirit. And the Holy Spirit therefore gives the child of God this belief, this confidence. I not only am able to come to my heavenly Father, and be accepted by Him, but He will hear my prayers. He will hear my desires. He will listen to my longings. O men and women, grasp these truths and therefore enjoy prayer as a means of grace to your soul. Enjoy the fact that there is prayer in your heart to begin with. Enjoy that. Rejoice in that. Enjoy the fact that you can express yourself to God because you have the Holy Ghost as a spirit of faith enabling you to pray. But then you see there will be fervency in the expression of prayer. The Bible makes it clear that prayer that is begotten by the Holy Ghost, praying by the Holy Ghost is fervent. And I use the word fervent in its natural sense, its precise meaning. Let me say this to you, where there's real prayer, it may be very quiet, it may be at a higher tone as regards the actual articulation of it by words, but as it's uttered, the soul is caught up with it, the soul of that individual whether praying quietly or a little louder or whatever, maybe very demonstratively, whatever the manner you might say may be, where there is real prayer, where there is the expression of prayer by the Holy Ghost, there will be this fervency. And the reason is this, the Holy Ghost is fervent. Is He not symbolized? in ways in Scripture that bring that out. He is symbolized by fire. He is symbolized by wind. Acts 2, the Holy Ghost came down on the apostles and, my friends, He did not come as some kind of a limpid, insipid character. He came down in mighty power. And there was the fire and there was the wind accompanying His descent. And those features tell us that the Holy Ghost, you can say, is fervent. Fervency is marked by that kind of activity and phenomenon even. And then you'll find that His intercession that He produces in the hearts of God's people in Romans 8.26 is described as groanings. The groanings of the Spirit of God. Think as well to whom the Holy Spirit is marked by fervency. Think of this, my dear friend, that holy men of God, with regard to writing the Bible, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And surely, when men of God were moved as God spoke to them, So, my friend, believers will be moved when they speak back to God. They will be moved. Their hearts will be stirred. It cannot be otherwise. I'm not talking, of course, about losing control and all the nonsense that goes on in so many circles. But I take you to the Bible where you are going to find term after term that indicates that this matter of praying by the Holy Ghost is no empty vein in separate little mumbling. Does the Bible not tell us, along with asking, In Matthew 7, along with asking, the Lord says, seek and knock. And Paul says to the Roman church in Romans 15, striving together with me in prayers for me. And my friend, the word striving there means wrestling. The intensity of it, the earnestness of it, the fervency of it. Didn't God strengthen Jacob to pray in that fashion? He did indeed. And Jacob wrestled with God all night long. All of these terms make it absolutely clear. that the Holy Ghost Himself is marked by fervency. And ever, my friend, when the Holy Spirit comes upon the people of God in a prayer meeting or in a private place, then there will be this expression of prayer that is marked by likeness to the Spirit of God. Fervency. James 5, 16 surely is a classic verse. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The word effectual, or the word, as they say, effectual prayer, in the original language read this way, operative. The operative prayer of a righteous man. You know what it's actually saying? The idea is of prayer that's operating within your soul. Running you by the Holy Spirit. and blazing upwards to God. That's why I always endeavor to encourage people, especially young people, to get into the prayer meetings of the Church of Jesus Christ. Young people, listen to men of God praying. Men who have been praying for years. Men who can touch the throne, as we put it. Men who pray with power, with fervency. Listen to them. And listen to what's going on. It's the Holy Ghost and the expression of prayer. The faithful fervent pouring out of the soul unto God. And I tell you today, I tell you, my friend, once more, that's the kind of praying that will bring blessing down from heaven to your soul. You are to pray in faith. You are to pray with all earnestness and fervency. And the Spirit of God, being the Spirit of faith, will enable you to pray in those ways. And then in closing, there is the Holy Spirit and the essence of prayer. Taking these words again, praying by the Holy Ghost. That means that the Holy Ghost is going to bring about prayer, create prayer of the right essence. The right nature. And what is that? Praying according to the will of God. If you and I are praying by the Holy Ghost, we will be praying according to God's will. Romans 8. I want you to go there now. And verses 26 and 27. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. We know not what we should pray for as we ought, But the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Notice that reference, that terminology there to praying according by the power of the Spirit. Then verse 27, And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh. And the word there indicates that the Holy Ghost produces intercession. in the hearts of the saints, according to God, it actually says, according to the will of God. My friend, the Spirit of God will never stir us up to desire what His Word forbids us to desire. As somebody once said, when the Holy Ghost is upon us, We will pray according to the will of God, the Holy Ghost and the essence of prayer. Praying by the Spirit, by His enablement, and we will pray according to the will of God. Now how does this work out? Turn to 2 Samuel in closing today. Let's look there at an illustration of a man who undoubtedly was praying in the Spirit or by the Spirit, And you will find that he was praying according to the Word. This is the point. The will of God is found in the Word of God. And that is what we find here in 2 Samuel 7. A marvelous passage. Verses 18-29. You can read them sometime. All those verses, read them for yourselves. It is one of the most marvelous prayers ever uttered by a man of God. This man, King David, he went to pray when Nathan came to him and he said, listen, David, you're not going to be the man who built the temple, but nonetheless, God's going to bless you, Michael, and your son will build the temple. So on and so forth. That's the background here, 2 Samuel 7. And when David heard this, he went to pray. He heard the word He had the will of God made known to him, and then he went to pray. Now look at it with me. 2 Samuel 7. And throughout this prayer there is reference after reference to what the Lord had actually said to David. Look at verse 19. And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God, but thou hast spoken with thy servant's house. Then verse 21, For thy words' sake. Then verse 25, Now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant. Verse 27, He says, Thou, O Lord of hosts, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house. Verse 28, Now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words be true. And thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant. And verse 29, Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it. Do you see what David's doing? My friend, David didn't sit down and invent something. He didn't sit down and imagine in his own mind what I should pray about, so to speak. No. He had heard the Word and he took the Word and he brought it back to the Lord. And to thee the key expression is in verse 27, part B. Therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee. Why was it in his heart? Why did he know the will of God? How was he so sure? How could he pray in such a marvelous manner? thanking God for what he was going to do. Do you understand, may I say this as an aside, that when you study this prayer carefully, you will discover that David had caught the reality of what God had told him, that it was going to extend right to Jesus Christ. He is praying with generations in mind, right down to the days of his seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's got a clear grasp of the will of God, and he prays according to the will of God, because he saw all in the Word of God. Now, my friend, the principle is clear. You might say, well, preacher, that's okay. It's okay for David. But the Lord's not going to send a prophet to tell me what I'm to know. No, he isn't. That is, he's not going to arrive on your doorstep and say, I have a word from the Lord for you. There are a lot of boys around today who would try to do that. And the best thing you can do is immediately chase them from your door. But anyhow, the Lord doesn't work that way. My friend, here it is. Do you want to know God's will? It's right in here. Do you want to know how to pray according to the will of God? Therefore, do you want to know when the Holy Spirit is guiding you? When you can be sure it's not your own spirit? It's when you have read and studied and memorized, or at least taken the principles, the truths of the Scriptures, And they're in your soul. And when you get down to pray, you know exactly what you're after because you know it's the will of God. Let me tell you something. There's so much revealed to us in Scripture by way of God's will. that the Holy Spirit will take and assimilate into our souls, and He, the Spirit of faith and fervency, used to stir up our souls, that we will have no shortage of material when we get to pray. The old devil doesn't want us to do that, of course. That's why when God's people get to prayer very often, a prayer meeting, they find this horrible absence of thoughts and things to pray. And you know what's going on? The old devil there and then is resisting you. And it's there and then, of course, we need the Spirit to come in and fill our minds with the Word and help us. If you ever find that, my friend, either at home or in the public prayer meeting, and you can't seem to get the things to pray, ask the Lord to bring the Word to your mind. Make that your first prayer. O Lord, help me to remember Thy Word. And then begin to pray over it. Something that's relevant to your life, to your experience, to your situation. And you can take it to the Lord. You can pour out your heart. But what is going on? Prayer is a means of grace to you. Because you're praying by the Spirit. The existence of prayer is there, the expression of it, and in the very essence of it, according to the will of God. It's not difficult, you know. If the Lord's people would stop prying into things that they're not supposed to know, and learn those things that God has revealed to us and our children. As I say, we would have no shortage of material either in private or public prayer. Take the book. It's a means of grace. Get to prayer. It's a means of grace. And you will be edified. Let's bow together. As we come to the close of our gathering here today, let us all, just these closing moments, think about what we have considered and may the Lord use what we have seen today to teach us more and more of what it is to have the spirit of prayer. O God, our Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit himself will teach our hearts We want, O God, a spiritual experience of the things of God, not something as mechanical or humanly manufactured. We want the Spirit upon us. And, Lord, we pray that Thou wilt come and that we will know what it is more and more to pray by the Spirit and be edified thereby. Bless Thy truth, too, Speak to those in this gathering who do not have prayer in their hearts. Remind them, Lord, of the emptiness of their souls. Remind them that they're lost. Remind them of those solemn words, If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Stir up the hearts of your children and make us more and more a praying people. And I'm in the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God and the fellowship of the Spirit be with every child of God both today and forever. Amen.