Prayer lets the Spirit flow

The Prefects' Fountain in the Harry Potter films,
on display at Warner Brothers Studios, Watford.
Each tap releases a stream of coloured water. 

Not long before you began reading this, you turned on a tap. Water flowed from it. It quenched your thirst or cleansed your hands. Now scale up that image. Think of a dam or a weir. It has a sluice gate, like a tap. Open the sluice, and water flows out to irrigate the land, drive a turbine, or serve our homes. Close the sluice, and the crops wither, the lights fail, and we die of thirst.

Jesus likened the Holy Spirit to flowing water (John 7:38-39). A number of Christian writers picture prayer as a means of opening a channel, tap, sluice, or door, through which God can work in our world. “Prayer lets God loose,” says Philip Yancey¹. Adds Robert Llewelyn, “Prayer may open a channel through which it becomes morally possible for God to work … not changing God’s purpose but releasing it.”²

This is potentially life-changing, even world-changing. Bishop Stephen Cottrell claims that “We are not puppets being controlled or manipulated by God. We can influence events. Intercession is not a technique for changing God’s mind, but it is a releasing of power as we place ourselves in a relationship of co-operation with God. When we pray we are in communion with God, we seek his will and the channels of communication are open.”³

There is a profound reason for this. God has taken voluntary limitation. He did it in Jesus, accepting all the acute limitations of human life and relinquishing, temporarily, the awesome limitless realms of eternity (Philippians 2:6-8), celebrated in the Christmas story of Jesus’ birth. God again limited his influence on earth when he commissioned his followers to be the builders and messengers of his kingdom (eg Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 10:3-11; Acts 1:8). He does not shout at the world through a heavenly megaphone. He does not bombard individuals with spiritual spam messages. He does not wave a Harry-Potter style magic wand to banish the evil and lay out the good. Instead, God waits for his people to speak and act on his behalf; we are his hands, his mouthpiece.

Prayer before action

Above all, God has voluntarily limited himself to working through prayer. Norwegian pastor Ole Hallesby wrote, “God has voluntarily made himself dependent upon our prayer.”⁴ Prayer is the chief means by which God’s presence and power connects with this world. This is, in the 21^st century, totally counter-intuitive. Prayer seems passive, even passing the buck, an excuse not to get stuck in to the messy chaos of human affairs, a way of distancing ourselves from getting too uncomfortably involved. Yet in God’s economy, prayer is the priority.

Pointing our that the monastic movement and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount set themselves against the common attitudes and desires of society, theologian James Houston asserts that “Prayer belongs to this counter-culture and our prayers are frustrated whenever we compromise between our praying and living. Prayer should determine the spirit in which we live our lives. Too often we turn this upside down, turning the agenda of our everyday needs into shopping lists for prayer.”⁵

Anglican minister Magdalen Smith suggests that the common inversion of priorities, putting needs before prayer, is symptomatic of a lack of faith. “In our secular society action can be an easier option than dreaming or praying because we simply do not believe that God is able to act in the world. We cannot cope with the intangibility of either dream or prayer. But action is no substitute, for without the dream and the sustaining power or prayer, our actions quickly feel empty.”⁶

Prayer can change the world

There is a profound mystery and a massive challenge here. Historian Richard Lovelace suggests that if church members “were to intercede daily simply for the most obvious spiritual concerns visible in their homes, their workplaces, their local churches and denominations, their nations, and the world and the total mission of the body of Christ within it, the transformation which would result would be incalculable. Not only would God certainly change those situations in response to prayer – we have Christ’s word that if we ask in his name he will do more than we ask or think – but the church’s comprehension of its task would attain an unprecedented sharpness of focus.”⁷

Hallesby agreed. “The church is always the little flock. But if it would unite on its knees, it would dominate world politics – from the prayer room. And the result would be one of two things, either a world-wide revival or the appearance of the Antichrist.”⁸

So the disciples failed in their mission when they tried to do God’s difficult work without soaking it in prayer (Mark 9:28-29). “Pray continually,” charged Paul, who knew a lot about fruitful mission and faithful discipleship (1 Thessalonians 5:17). “Without me, you can do nothing,” Jesus warned (John 15:5). Prayer keeps us sensitive to God’s subtle nudges, and to his even more subtle responses to our praying, which may be different to our stated concerns.

“Unanswered prayer” is another topic, but Pete Grieg, the accidental founder of the 24/7 Prayer movement, was once staggered by a revelation from God that “‘I never forget a single prayer my children ever utter, even if they do.’ The very idea that the living Lord might diligently have treasured up every little prayer I had ever prayed, even the ones I had forgotten, and that he might still be weaving their fulfilments, was almost too much to take in. It means that there must be answered prayers most days that I never even recognise as such, and casual requests I have uttered that continue to marshal the very hosts of heaven.”⁹

And that, perhaps, is one reason why Jesus told his disciples to be persistent in prayer (Luke 18:1-8). It shows that we really mean what we’re asking, that we’re not being casual about prayer and saying in effect, “it would be nice if you do this Lord, but if not, well, I guess it doesn’t matter.” Persistent prayer refuses to take no for an answer but looks for any sign of God’s activity even if it isn’t presenting us with the exact gift we had on our wish list. And persistence also recognises that God never forces his will on others, and that it takes time for attitudes and circumstances to change or be changed.

So if we want to see change in our world, our churches, in people around us and ourselves, perhaps our prayer now should be for God to pour out a spirit of prayer and supplication into our hearts. Every period of renewal and revival in history has been preceded by people crying to God for him to visit them and their world. “Units of prayer combined, like drops of water, makes an ocean which defies resistance.”¹⁰ Remember that, the next time you turn on a tap.

All heaven waits with bated breath,

For saints on earth to pray;
Majestic angels ready stand
With swords of fiery blade.
Astounding power awaits a word
From God’s resplendent throne;
But God awaits our prayer of faith
That cries, ‘Your will be done’.¹¹

Think and talk

1. Look up the Bible references quoted above. Spend time thinking (and discussing) their meaning and implications for daily life.

2. When you pray about big issues in the world, to what extent do you distance yourself from them (praying for “them”) and to what extent do you identify with the problems and needs (praying for “us”)? See Ezra’s example in Ezra 9:1 – 10:16. What might you learn from this?
3.  What might you be able to do locally to encourage people to pray together for each other and for the church, community and wider world?

References

1.  Philip Yancey, Prayer, Hodder 2008, p.140

2.  Robert Llewelyn, Prayer and contemplation, Oxford: SLG Press, 1985, p.6
3.  Stephen Cottrell, Praying through life, Church House Publishing 2003, p.28
4.  O. Hallesby, Prayer, Inter Varsity Fellowship 1963, p.127
5.  James Houston, The transforming friendship, Lion Publishing 1991, p.64
6.  Magdalen Smith, Fragile mystics, SPCK 2015, p.145
7.  Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of spiritual life, Paternoster Press 1979, p.160
8.  O. Hallesby, op.cit., p.128
9.  Pete Grieg, Red moon rising, David C Cook 2015, p. 151
10. E.M. Bounds, Power through prayer, Moody Press n.d., p.83, quoted by Richard Foster, Celebration of discipline, Hodder & Stoughton 1980, p.39
11. The first verse of the hymn “All heaven waits” by Graham Kendrick and Chris Rolinson, © 1986 Thankyou Music.

© Derek Williams 2018

 

 

The creed in plain words - (5) The powerful companion

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.



Jesus said the Spirit is like living (moving) water,
a constant stream to invigorate and refresh us (John 7:37-39)

Try playing a word association game. Water – refreshment, cleansing. Wind – fresh air, blowing away the cobwebs. Fire – warming, refining, burning waste. Power – light, bringing appliances to life, authority. Advocate – supporter, champion for our cause.

These are all biblical images of the person and work of the Holy Spirit. He is given a whole section of the creed to himself, a sign of how important he is. But the third person of the Trinity has suffered an unfair identity crisis in the eyes of many Christians. That hasn’t been helped by the archaic title given to him of “Holy Ghost”, which in its current usage has no biblical warrant whatever. He isn’t a shadowy thing to fear but a powerful being to welcome.

The Holy Spirit is fully God, just as are Jesus and the Father; he is an equal Person in the Trinity. Therefore he can be worshipped along with them, one God in three Persons. “He proceeds from the Father and the Son” means that they sent him on a mission, to bring the presence and power of God into our human experience. A simple way of thinking of the Spirit is that he is God active in our world and our daily lives.

Jesus described the Spirit as a teacher, who helps us understand God’s truth, which the creed notes as the inspirer of the prophets. That includes the message of Scripture which Paul says was “breathed out” by God (2 Timothy 3:16; see also 2 Peter 1:20f). So when we read Scripture we can, and should, ask for the Spirit to interpret it for us and to aid our understanding of God’s character and purposes revealed in it.

For everyday life, look again at the images of the Spirit. They are among the most helpful aids to “practising the presence of God”. In our busy lives our awareness of God is eclipsed by the pressing and constantly changing demands of the moment. As a result we are less inclined to “pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances” as Paul encouraged (1 Thessalonians 5:17,18). And as a result of that, God can sometimes seem far away instead of pervading every place and circumstance, just when perhaps we need him most.

So here’s a simple exercise. Take the images of the Spirit, and link them to everyday things. When you turn on a tap, draw on the Spirit’s refreshment and cleansing. When the wind howls outside or you feel the breeze on your face, be aware that God is moving all around you. When the heating fires up, or you light a gas stove or barbecue, pause and feel the warmth and perhaps observe the burning or cooking effect, and remember that the Spirit can rekindle our love and purge away all  that is spiritually unhealthy or unhelpful within us.

When you turn on an appliance or light recall the promised unfailing power of the Holy Spirit to equip you for every good work and to illuminate your way through the world. And when you are enjoying the company of others, or when you are alone and wishing, perhaps, that you weren’t, remember that the Spirit is an unseen companion close by you. You could use an empty chair, or a space in a room, as a focal point to imagine the presence of God; he is there, watching, listening, and ready to assist.

Think and talk

1.  Here is where the five images occur in the Bible. Consider what they meant at the time, and commit them to memory:

·         Water: John 7:37-39
·         Wind: John 3:8; Acts 2:2
·         Fire: Luke 3:16; Acts 2:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:19
·         Power: Acts 1:12; Ephesians 3:16
·         Advocate: John 14:16-17,26; 16:7-11

2.  Now here are eight functions of the Holy Spirit; look up the references. If you are in a group discuss the circumstances in which each is especially relevant, and share your experiences. If you are on your own, why not take one a day and use it as focus for that or the following day to help you practise the presence of God.

·         He gives new life to the spiritually dead: Titus 3:5; John 3:5,6
·         He gives confidence to the doubtful: Ephesians 1:13,14; 1 John 4:13
·         He gives knowledge to the confused: John 16:12-15
·         He gives holiness to the sinful: John 16:8-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:7,8; Galatians 5:22-25
·         He gives power to the helpless: Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 10:12,13
·         He gives companionship to the lonely: 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:3-6
·         He helps the dumb to pray: Romans 8:26,27; Ephesians 6:18
·         He gives gifts to the poor: Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

(c) Derek Williams 2015

Material on these posts may be copied and used for private purposes.