We'll turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. I'll read a passage there in that chapter, 1 Corinthians and the chapter 2. And we'll read together from verse 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and the verse number 6. Let's hear God's Word. Now, be it we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, I have not seen, nor heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him. Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. For we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually deserved. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no manner. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ, and God will bless the reading of His truth to each one of us. Let's open God's Word of Romans, chapter 8, please. The Book of Romans and the 8th chapter. We are returning to the verses that we were considering a few weeks ago, verses 26 and 27. We'll go together for prayer just for a moment, and then we will come to these verses. Let's all unite our hearts in prayer. Our Father and our God, we thank Thee for Thy presence, and we rejoice that as we have sung this hymn we have been reminded of that great promise that where two or three are gathered together in Christ's name, He will be there in their midst. Lord, we plead that and we believe and expect that it will be fulfilled. And already, Lord, we have known Thy presence. May the sense of it deepen as Thou dost come among us in an even greater way. Lord, stir up our hearts and breathe on us now from heaven itself and take the Word and write it indelibly in our souls. We pray in Jesus' name and for His glory. Amen. Romans 8 and verse 26, Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for 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. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. In our last message it was noted that these verses present to us the great consolation that even when the believer is in the midst of the most trying circumstances, For him he does not know that for which he should pray, yet his communion with God need not be broken. Rather, communion with God may continue because of the intervention of the Holy Spirit, whose powerful ministry in the believer during that time of suffering or trial or difficulty leads to victory and leads to even more intimate communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, indeed with the Father himself. We notice that the intervention of the Spirit, therefore, results in assistance in prayer It results in what we called advocacy in prayer, because he's spoken of here as an advocate, one who is our comforter in that sense of coming along to help us. And there's also, we noticed, agony in prayer. He makes, or he produces intercession in the hearts of God's people with groanings which cannot be uttered. But there's another aspect of the Spirit's intervention, and we find it here in verse 27, which we may entitle agreement in prayer. Look at that verse and notice what it says. He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh, remember that means he produces, intercession for the saints, in the hearts of the saints, according to the will of God. When the Holy Spirit comes to the Christian who is struggling with this infirmity of not knowing For what he should pray in the midst of his trials, the Spirit promotes and he exercises in the believer's heart prayer that is according to God. That's how the words can literally be read, for you will notice that the words, the will of, are not in the original language. They're in italics here. So it actually reads this way, according to God. And therefore, we find that by the Spirit's intervention, prayer is born in the believer's soul that is in agreement with the will of God, that's according to God. And therefore, the believer is able to pray in the most trying, most difficult situation as a result of the intervention of the Holy Spirit. Pray in a manner, in that trial, in that difficulty, that is indeed according to the mind and the will of God. Now, it makes perfectly good sense that when the Holy Spirit does come upon the Christian in his trials and helps him to pray, that the prayer will be according to God, because the Holy Spirit is God. He knows the divine mind. He has infallible knowledge of the will of the Godhead, and he's never going to lead the Christian to pray in any other way. but that which is according to God or according to the will of God. What an encouragement that is! We have the Holy Ghost and if we depend on Him as we pray in the most trying set of circumstances, He will lead us according to God and we will pray, therefore, in agreement with the will of God. Let me show you that this praying that results from the intervention of the Spirit, that is, an agreement with the will of God, extends beyond that, that is, praying according to God's will. Because this agreement that is in view in these words is an agreement that actually indicates, as we think about it carefully, that when the believer does pray according to God or the will of God, he's praying along the same lines as the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. Now that may seem to be a startling thing to say, but if you think about it carefully, then you will understand what I have just said. The Holy Spirit comes upon the child of God. The Holy Spirit is God. He leads the believer. He produces prayer. Remember what it says. He produces prayer in that Christian's heart that is according to God. And therefore, as that Christian is led and directed by the Spirit according to God and according to his will and raised in that manner, he is actually praying in agreement with Christ. Now remember that in our last message we noticed that both the Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ make intercession for the sins. Let me just refresh your mind on that. Verse 26 and 27 tell us about the Holy Spirit. producing prayer for the saints. It is according to the will of God. So it says here, the Spirit make of intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And then if you go down to verse 34, in this same chapter, it says in that verse, verse 34, that Christ is at the right hand of God who also make of intercession for us. Now, I'm sure you've often wondered, why is the word also in verse 34? Does it mean that He does this also as well as dying for us, rising and ascending? That is true. He has done all those other things and now He prays for us. But that is not the full import of the word also in verse 34. Who also make an intercession for us? You see, someone else. has just been said to make intercession for us. The Holy Ghost, back in verse 26 and verse 27, and now we come to verse 34, and we discover that Christ also, as well as the Holy Ghost, makes intercession for the saints of God. But there's a difference, you see, between the intercession that the Spirit makes and the intercession that Christ makes. You see, the intercession that the Lord Jesus Christ makes is made as our mediator, and it's made on our behalf. He's the one who's doing the praying, if you can put it as simply as that, as you read verse 34. This is Christ praying, and He alone. He's the mediator. He's the high priest. He's at the throne. He's intervening there. He's praying for us, and therefore the prayer is all His in verse 34. And it's only Christ who prays for the saints in that sense. Only the Lord Jesus. No one else. I'm not talking now about men. I'm talking now about the three persons in the Godhead. Because only Christ is High Priest. Therefore, only Christ prays in the sense of verse 34. And that also means that the Holy Spirit does not make intercession in the same sense as Christ, as I've just said. As I put it out last time, when it says in verse 26 or 27 that the Spirit make an intercession for us, it simply means that He produces in the hearts of the saints when they are in their difficulties and trials, and this is especially the context here, He produces prayer in their hearts that is according to God, according to the will of God. But remember, that since Christ and the Spirit are divine persons and therefore are in agreement always, that means that the prayers that the Holy Ghost produces in our hearts must be in agreement with the praying of the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. Now, I'm not saying that the Christian will always pray that way, because there are times when we pray amiss. James tells us that. There are times when we pray out of the will of God. And there are times when we pray even according to the flesh. And it's all vain, because we're imperfect and we're yet sinful. But, brethren and sisters, I want you to see this, because this chapter, this passage is talking about your communion with God when you're in the midst of trials. And then it seems that you can't pray. Or you don't know, as it puts it here in verse 26, you don't know what you should actually pray, as you ought. And in that situation, you not only can continue praying and seeking God, but more than that, you can continue to pray or you can go on to pray in that situation in agreement with the mind and will of God, but also in agreement with Christ who is praying for you at the throne. And I tell you, that is the most thrilling thing for a Christian to dwell on as he thinks about praying in the midst of adversity, that even then his communion not only will not cease, and not only will he be given help to pray, but he can actually pray in agreement with the divine will and an agreement with Christ at the throne of grace. Now, that being so, that means we have got to be, first of all, entirely dependent upon the Spirit when we pray. Doesn't that make sense? Since the Holy Spirit produces prayer in the saints, as according to God's will and as even in agreement with Christ. And I'm going to show you more of that as we go through this message. Then we always must be dependent on the help and the leading and the direction of the Holy Spirit when we come to pray. Now, the Christian should be dependent on the Spirit in every aspect of Christian life. And certainly that is true in the place of prayer. May I remind you that the Holy Ghost is the author of prayer. He's the one who, to begin with, brings into our hearts the very desire to pray. We have looked at that already in these studies. Galatians 4, 6, God has sent forth into your hearts the Spirit crying, Abba, Father. You find the same thing in Romans 8 here, verse 15. The Spirit coming into our hearts, crying out of father. And as we saw in those verses, the sense is that he's the one who is the begetter of prayer. There will never be prayer in a man's heart until he is infilled or indwelt, I should say, by the Spirit of God, until the new birth has taken place. and the Holy Ghost dwells in him, he never will pray because it is the Spirit who begets the very desire, the very interest, the very spirit of prayer in his soul. But then, going on from there, the Holy Ghost is the one who quickens the believer in all true prayer. Now, the Holy Spirit, and dear believers, bear with me here because we need to understand these terms. which are biblical. The Holy Spirit is called the Quickener. John 6, 63. It is the Spirit that quickeneth. And the word quickeneth simply means to make alive or to give life. And the Holy Ghost is said to be the quickener in various roles or areas of the Christian life. Now, remember that the Holy Spirit is sent forth into our hearts by Christ. That is why Christ has called, in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 45, a quickening spirit. It says the last Adam is made a quickening spirit. That simply means that Christ, as He blesses us, as He operates in our lives, and remember, He's in heaven, we're on earth, but He's dealing with us. He's moving in our lives, He saves us, He leads us on, He teaches us. How does He do it all? He does it by sending the Spirit into our hearts. And in that sense, Christ is the quickening Spirit. It simply means that by the agency of the Holy Ghost, He does quicken us, He does revive us. He does give us life. He leads us on from strength to strength. It is the Spirit that quickeneth. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 6 says the same thing. The Spirit quickeneth. The Spirit giveth life, it says there, or quickeneth. Now He does that, of course, as we have noted in the New Birth. You hath He quickened. We were dead. Trespasses, ends and sins. But God who is rich in mercy, Paul goes on to say in early Ephesians 2, for his great love of us, he loved us, even when we were dead in our sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. And how did he quicken us? By the Spirit. In the new birth, he quickens us. But you see, as I said, that quickening ministry of the Holy Ghost is not confined to the new birth, to the beginning of our Christian life. It continues on. And you'll find the psalmist praying. If you'll turn with me to just a couple of the psalms here. Psalm 71 especially is a tremendous illustration of this. Psalm 71 and verse 20 where the psalmist says this, Thou which has shewed me, and listen to it very carefully, Thou which has shewed me great and sore troubles. Now where's the psalmist? He's in the midst of sore troubles. Look at it, Psalm 71, 20. Thou which has shewed me great and sore troubles shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. He wasn't in the depths of the earth physically speaking, but metaphorically speaking. He's in the valley. He's down low. And he puts it this way, I'm in the depths of the earth, Lord, but His Confidence is that the Lord would quicken him. And in quickening him, he would bring him up from the depths of the earth. He would bring him up out of his despair, his depression, his despondency. his discouragement. He would lift him up out of that. That was his hope. That was his confidence. He says in Psalm 80, verse 18, Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. So if I had time, we could go through so many verses, but these are enough to show us that there is a quickening of the saints. In prayer, when we're discouraged, when we're cast down, the Spirit quickens the child of God. And remember the maxim here. This quickening is the work of the Holy Ghost. It is the Spirit that quickens and the Spirit of God alone. Look at Ephesians 2 just a moment at verse 18. And notice how the Holy Spirit is mentioned here with regard to the ministry of prayer. Ephesians 2 and verse 18. It says, For through him that is through Christ. Now there's the mediator. Notice this tremendous statement and teaching on the subject of prayer. Ephesians 2.18. Through Him, through Christ, we both, as Jew and Gentile, have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now, that's a tremendous statement concerning prayer. You have Christ there. Through Him. There's the mediator. As involved in that, you have His merits, His blood, His righteousness. Through the blood we enter in. Through the blood we draw nigh. That's there. And it says, by one Spirit. Does this mean that the Holy Spirit is also a mediator? No, that's not right, because we've already noted that there's one mediator between God and man. So what does it mean by one Spirit? It's bringing home to our hearts that the Spirit is our help in prayer. He's our quickener. And we cannot pray truly and genuinely without the power, the energy, the quickening of the Holy Ghost. And then it says, unto the Father. There's the glorious Trinity in that verse. Through Christ the Mediator, by the help and the power and the quickening of the Spirit, we draw near to the Father and we commune with the Father. So it is true, men and women, that there is this great role that the Spirit plays in prayer. He does quicken the saints. And this is teaching us, you see, how much we need to be dependent on the Holy Ghost when we come to pray. Now, the Spirit is the guide. as well as the quickener of the believer in prayer. He's the author of prayer. He's the quickener. He stirs up our hearts to pray. But then he's also the guide. So go back to Romans 8 and notice how the Holy Spirit is shown to be one who leads the Christian. Romans 8, verse 14. It says, As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. That's a very searching verse. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Let me tell you something, you're not one of the sons of God unless you're led by the Spirit of God. And if you are led by the world, if you're led by the flesh, if you're under the control of the corrupt system around you, you're not one of the sons of God. Let's get that absolutely clear. You're one of the sons of Satan. Because those who are the sons of God are led by the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost does not lead any Christian except upon the lines of obedience to God's Word and God's will. You let that sink in. You have not the Spirit of God within you if you're not being led according to God. And if you're being led and governed and controlled in your life by the flesh, by the world around you, by its spirit, its dictates, its fashions, its lusts, you had better stop and search your life. Because this verse is telling you at least you may not be one of the sons of God. Which means you're of your father the devil. Which means you'll die in your sins. Which means you'll go to hell. That's how serious this is. Because the Holy Ghost leads God's people. And he does lead them in the area of prayer. as well as in every other area. He leads the saints in prayer. John 14.26 tells us that the Holy Spirit does teach the people of God. That verse says, let me read it to you, John 14.26, the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. Now that can include prayer. Listen to it. The Holy Ghost teaches you He brings to your mind. He brings to your remembrance what I've taught you. What's that? The Word of God. And we'll see more of that in a moment or two. I'm simply showing you the Holy Ghost teaches the Christian. The Holy Ghost leads the believer by teaching him. Teaching those things that pertain to the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 2, where we read this morning a vital chapter and a passage that Every Christian should really spend a lot of time in 1 Corinthians 2. And these verses that I will just show you quickly here stress that the Spirit is our guide and our teacher. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 10. But God hath revealed them unto us. And he's talking here about the things concerning the gospel. The things that the natural man doesn't understand. That's what verse 9 is saying. I have not seen, ne'er have not heard, ne'er have I entered into the heart of man." That is the natural unsaved man. The things that God has prepared for those who love Him, His people. The unsaved man does not understand the gospel. He cannot discern it at all. But how will any man understand the gospel? Only by the leading and the instruction of the Holy Ghost. So verse 10 says, God hath revealed the man to us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things that a man seeeth, the Spirit of man which is in him, even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God." What's Paul's point? No man can ever understand anything spiritual, that is, and it is according to God unless the Spirit teaches him and reveals those things to his heart and brings it home to his soul. Now, I'm not going to spend any more time there right now, but doesn't all this tell you and me how dependent we need to be on the Holy Ghost? He's the author of prayer. He's the one who quickens prayer. He's the one who guides us and teaches us with regard to our life of prayer. And therefore, our dependence on Him must be 100%. When you go to pray at home, you would do well, before you say a word to the Lord about any petition or any need, You would do well to say, Lord, lead me by the Spirit as I pray. And, dear Christian, you would do well to pray that also when you come to the public prayer meeting. Lord, don't let me pray tonight except in the Spirit. Paul says to the Ephesian church, praying in the Spirit. Jude says to the church, praying in the Holy Ghost. We would do well to say, Lord, teach me to pray. May thy Spirit not only quicken me, but may he give me the right words, the right thoughts, I mean, things to pray about. We would do well to pray that way. And we're therefore totally dependent on the Holy Ghost. And that means, brethren and sisters, we must not grieve the Spirit. You grieve the Holy Ghost and your prayer life will diminish very rapidly. If you grieve the Holy Ghost over this past week, I can guarantee you right now there is no spirit of prayer in your heart. Now, you may say words and you may go through the motion, but you are not praying because the Spirit is the Spirit of prayer. And if we grieve the Holy Ghost through carelessness, through sin, through worldliness, we have immediately jeopardized his assistance in prayer, we have placed ourselves in a situation where though we may be going through the form of prayer, that's all that it is. It's nothing more than that. We must not brave the Holy Ghost. Ephesians 4.30. And I'm going to go to that chapter now, but sometime you go to it and you read carefully the context. For Paul, specifies to the efficient Christians certain things they should not be doing. For example, lie not one to another, or don't be angry one with another, or let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. He talks about bitterness and clamor and wrath and malice. Now, men and women, why would Paul write all that and then suddenly say in the middle of it all, and grieve not the Holy Ghost, if he were not teaching that these are the very things that grieve us for. You know what is amazing at times as to what people will come up with that grieve the Holy Ghost. And they may be true, the things they mention, but they bypass so much that is patently obvious. In other words, people will bring up some obscure thing and say, well, this will grieve the Holy Ghost. And I say it may. And what about the plain old sins, if we can call them that, that Paul enunciates down that chapter? What about them? What about the gossip, the lying, the talk that is not convenient for a Christian, the spirit of malice and anger and bitterness, all the obvious things? You see, when people start to drag up something that is obscure, so to speak, what they are really doing is covering up the obvious and not wanting to face that. because they knew fine well in their heart of hearts, this is grieving to the Holy Ghost. So they bring up something, as I say, obscure just to evade the searchlight. And they continue to grieve the Holy Ghost all the while they're protesting, but they want to try to be right or be very spiritual. And then the Lord says, quench not, the Spirit of God. There's a difference between grieving the Spirit and quenching the Spirit. And I say these things to show you how dependent you are on the Spirit in prayer as well as every other area of Christian life, and why therefore you must take every step possible not to grieve Him, not to quench Him. But there's a difference between grieving the Spirit and quenching the Holy Ghost. It's explained in the next words there. And when I say, quench not the Holy Spirit of God, I quote from 1 Thessalonians 5.19. And then verse 20 goes on to say this, despise not prophesying. You see, the statement, the command rather, quench not the Holy Ghost, is written to a church but in the context of prophesying. And what does that mean? Preaching. I want you to get this. You can sit in that pew, wherever you are right now, or at any other time, and the Word of God comes out from the pulpit. I'm saying the Word of God, because not the Word of John Greer or the Free Presbyterian Church. I know there's no such thing as a perfect sermon. because it comes from the lips of an imperfect man. But the truth is what I'm talking about. You hear the truth and it begins to jab your conscience. What's happening? The Holy Ghost is working. I'm talking to Christians here. It starts to prick your conscience. You get uncomfortable. You get uneasy. And do you realise the Holy Ghost is bringing the searchlight on something in your life that needs to be corrected? Something needs to be phased. And what do you do? You leave the building or you leave the service and you don't obey. What have you just done? You have quenched the Holy Ghost. Because the command, quench not the Spirit, is accompanied immediately by those words, despise not prophesying, preaching. And therefore, when we don't obey the Word of God as it comes to our hearts in the public orders of preaching, we quench the Spirit of God at once. And that's why You will never, never, as long as you're in that condition, that is why you will never, ever get down before the Lord to pray truly. Because you've just quenched the Spirit. And the Spirit is the author of prayer. He's the quickener of prayer. He's the one who teaches us and leads us in prayer. But if we've just grieved Him or quenched Him, we are not going to pray. Now do you see why every Christian here today in this congregation needs to take careful, and I include me here, we need to take careful stock of our lives, of our behavior, of our conduct, because we are totally dependent on the Spirit of God. But if we grieve Him or we quench Him, we cannot have the blessing of God. So we're dependent on the Holy Ghost. Now bear with me just a few more minutes. We must be directed by the Holy Spirit when we do pray. So we come to pray and we're dependent and we're saying, Lord, I need the help of the Spirit. And we're promised that help. And we're going to be careful not to grieve Him or quench Him. But there's more, you see. How do I know that it is the Spirit who's now helping me? How do I know that what I'm now praying is according to God? Well, the answer is very simple. It will be, if it's of the Spirit, if it's ignited and carried on by the Spirit, it will be according to truth, according to the Word of God. Back there in 1 Corinthians 2, look at it quickly, verse 13, where Paul brings this out. He's talking about, really, his dependence on the Spirit, or the dependence of God's people on the Holy Spirit, how the Spirit shows us, verse 10, reveals these things to us, and so on. Then verse 13, which things also we speak, not in the words, look at the term, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches. but which the Holy Ghost teaches." Now Paul is talking about words that are given by the Spirit of God. Words which the Holy Ghost teaches. Where are they? Are they in your head? Are they in the heart of some man who thinks he knows what God's truth is? No, my friend. Well, they're not in our hearts in a sense. They're right here. Here are the words which the Holy Ghost They're in the book of God. And as we take the book of God and fill our hearts with the Word of God, then we are going to be guided when we come to pray. Let me show you an example of this. In Romans 8 and verse 15, you read of the Holy Spirit being a witness with our spirit. Go back to Romans 8 and look at it please. Verse 16. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. Now, here we are taught something. The Holy Ghost does witness with our spirit. The Holy Spirit witnesses with the spirit of the Christian that He actually is a Christian. That must be carefully understood. How does the Spirit witness with our spirit that we are the children of God? Turn to Hebrews 10, and you have the answer. Hebrews 10, and look with me at verse 15. The word warath tells you that Paul here, in this verse, Hebrews 10, verse 15, is talking about something that's already been discussed. And that, of course, is the work of Christ in the previous verses. The one sacrifice for sins forever. He's just talking about that. So, it's in verse 15. For of the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. Now listen to this. The Holy Ghost is a witness to us about the work of Christ. He's a witness to us about its sufficiency, about the fact that it saves us, about the fact that the work of Christ satisfies God. That's what's meant by that term or that expression. The Holy Ghost is a witness to us about Christ's work, its sufficiency, and so on. The question is, where is that witness found? Look at it. He says in verse 15, the Holy Ghost is a witness to us. For, after, and the word after means according to. For according to that He had said before. And what happens now? Paul quotes from Jeremiah 31. This is the covenant, and on he goes. Now what do you find here? How is the Holy Ghost a witness to the child of God? It's always by the Word. Here we have it spelled out in Scripture. Romans 8, 16. The Spirit witnesses with our spirit. And I want to stress very, very strongly, because this is a day when this kind of thing is going on, this does not mean that the Holy Ghost talks audibly to people. Let me stress that. That's charismatism, and that is dangerous. Stained is because they will say, the Spirit told me to say this or to do the other thing, and when you hear what they say and watch what they do, it's contrary to this book. And you know right away the Spirit told them nothing of the sort, because the Holy Ghost is always a witness according to truth. He uses the Word. So when you go down to pray, dear brother or sister, and you find a verse rising up in your soul or a truth from the Word gripping your heart, there's the thing the Spirit wants you to pray about. That Word, that verse, that thought, take it and pour it out to the Lord. That's what David did when he prayed in 2 Samuel 7. The Lord just told him, David, I'm going to build you a house. Your family will be on the throne of Judah right on forever. And that, of course, was a promise of Christ's ultimate life. And David says, he went into the house of God. He sat down. He started to pray. He said, Thou hast spoken to thy servant. Therefore have I found in my heart to pray this prayer. the Word of God brought by the Spirit of God to the soul, and then the believer guided in prayer. Directed what to pray. And that means, of course, that we must always be reading this book, filling our minds with Scripture, pouring over the Word of God. And I'm simply showing you the principles here. We're dependent on the Spirit. We must be directed by the Spirit. And He directs us by and through the Scriptures of truth. Let me take you quickly to an example of a man who was guided by the Word of God and immediately began to pray. It's well known, it's Daniel 9, and look at verse 1. In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was mid-king over the realm of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by books the number of the years. whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Here's Daniel, an old man, probably ninety years old, but he's reading his Bible. Let me just put it that way. He's reading the book of Jeremiah, actually. And he discovers as he reads, God's great promise As we would say in Jeremiah 29, after 70 years, Israel will return from their captivity. And when Daniel saw that, he realized the time is here. And he began to pray. Verse 3, And I set my face unto the Lord God to seek thy prayer and supplications and sermons. And you can read down that chapter, Daniel 9, and you will notice how powerfully this man prayed, how urgently he prayed, how he pled with God. Let me show you from that that the promises of God did not make Daniel lazy. He did not say, as a fatalist, God has said he will do this so I can sit back and put my feet up in the armchair. No. Daniel set his face to pray. An old man, ninety years old, laying hold on God. Why? Because he got a word when he prayed over it. Let me tell you, dear believer, when God gives you a word and writes it on your heart, don't let it go. You take it and you pray on that basis. Daniel did that, and you must sometime read Daniel 9 along with Ezra 1, Ezra chapter 1. And you'll find in Ezra 1 that God stirred Cyrus. God stirred the remnant in Babylon. They rose up. They left. They returned to Jerusalem. How did that all happen? Because there was a man of God who got the Word of God and had the Spirit of God and he prayed. And God answered his prayers. God stirred a heathen king. And God stirred up a people who were at ease in Zion. And God brought them to see, we have a work to do in Jerusalem. Let's get there. All in answer to one man's prayers, because that man was guided by the Word of God. So, what an illustration this is of the saints praying according to the mind of God. But please bear with me as I close today. I could go to many other verses, but I want you to go to Zechariah chapter 1 as we close. But I said at the outset today that by the leading of the Spirit, As He produces prayer in our hearts, He will always produce it or produce that which is according to the will of God. And as I said earlier, it will be prayer, now listen, dear believer, that is in keeping with the praying of Christ. Let me show you that in Zechariah chapter 1. Zechariah 1 verse 12, Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?" Here's the angel of the Lord praying about the very same time period, these seventy years. And he's saying, Lord, how long? Lord, in other words, is it not time to fulfil your promise? So it's the same Time frame is the same event in mind. It is God's promise to bring His people back from Babylon. And it says it's the angel of the Lord. Now, who's the angel of the Lord? It's Christ. Because the word angel means messenger. This is the messenger of Jehovah. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. Because Christ often is revealed in the Old Testament as the angel of the Lord. In fact, the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament is always Christ. I haven't time to show you that. Please take it to be right. This is Christ. What's Christ doing? Christ is praying. Lord, how long? The 70 years are up. He's pleading with the Father to intervene and bring back His people from Babylon. But the wonderful thing is, Daniel is doing the very same thing over there in Babylon. Daniel is praying along the same lines at the same time as Jesus Christ is praying. And here we have this wonderful picture of the Child of God communing with God in prayer the Holy Spirit stirring up his soul, the Holy Spirit leading him by the Word, and that believer entering right into the prayer ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and actually praying on the same terms and along the same lines as the Lord Jesus Christ. Here you have it in Daniel. It is not a figment of my imagination. It is revealed in the book Now may I say, as I close today, the Lord Jesus Christ right now is praying in heaven. He ever knows to make intercession for us. And you may ask the question, well, how do I know what Christ is praying right now in heaven? Well, let me tell you one thing He's praying in heaven, and there are many, of course. Remember the night before the Lord died? He went into the garden. And he prayed his great high priestly prayer. It's a prototype of his intercession now at the right hand of the father. It's the praying of the high priest. It's for the church. It gives us a little insight into who or what the Lord is praying in glory right now and what does Christ pray there in the garden. One thing is this, sanctify them through thy truth. He prayed for the sanctification of his people. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 3, this is the will of God, even your sanctification. Now, Christian, it does not take a rocket scientist to bring that all together. It is the will of God that you and I be sanctified, which means that we be purged. more and more from our sins, that we be a holy people. A people who are like the Lord, essentially. That will be true of us more and more and more. That's the will of God. But here we find that Christ is praying for that in heaven. Father, sanctify them. I know He's praying that because John 17 gives me a preview. And He's praying, Lord, sanctify these whom You gave Me. But it is the will of God that you and I pray the same thing, that we pray that the Lord will sanctify us. Now, here is the Christian entering into communion with God, led by the Spirit, stirred up by the Spirit, directed by the Spirit, guided by the Spirit in the Word of God, seeking according to the will of God and along with Christ for deeper more rich, more full, holiness of life. And let me tell you, man or woman, child of God, you need not go much farther than that, because that covers everything in our Christian life. Sanctification. And if you want to be a holier man, I thank God you have that desire, because that's the will of God for you. But let me tell you, go and pray about it. Go and plead with God. Lord, Deliver me more and more from my sins and my corruption and my worldliness and my wickedness. Say, Lord, I know it is not Your will for me to be living the way I am presently living as a professing Christian. Lord, I know I should not be going to those places where I have gone before. I know, Lord, I should not be rigging that trash I have been rigging. I know, Lord, I should not be listening to that vile music that debases the soul and pollutes the mind. Lord, deliver me from it. Let me tell you, Christian, if you're involved in any of those areas, you're out of the will of God. The music of the world, the trash of the world, whatever it is, it's not the will of God for you. And if you're going to be in the will of God, you need to go home today and take the hammer and smash it all and burn it. It's not the will of God for a Christian to pollute his mind with that which is vile and sensual and devilish. I can understand how any Christian would want to listen to that. It's not the will of God. Here you are saying, I'm a child of God. What you're saying is, Christ is praying for me in heaven. Father, sanctify that person. But I'm not going to pray that. I don't want that. I want my own way. I want what I've just mentioned. I want to have that. My dear friend, you're in dangerous ground. Because you're out of the will of God. And you most certainly are not in communion with God. And if you will do the will of God, you'll get before God today and you will repent in brokenness. And you'll cry, Lord, restore. Recover me. Deliver me. that I might be in unison with Christ. May God write His Word on our hearts for His namesake.