Friday

Related Verses
Rom. 8:26-27
26 Moreover, in like manner the Spirit also joins in to help us in our weakness, for we do not know for what we should pray as is fitting, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 But He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to God.

Matt. 6:6
6 But you, when you pray, enter into your private room, and shut your door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

Psa. 27:4, 7-8
4 One thing I have asked from Jehovah; That do I seek: To dwell in the house of Jehovah All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of Jehovah, And to inquire in His temple.
7 Hear, O Jehovah, when I call with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me.
8 When You say, Seek My face, To You my heart says, Your face, O Jehovah, will I seek.

Heb. 4:16
16 Let us therefore come forward with boldness to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace for timely help.

Eph. 6:18
18 By means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints,

Related Reading
Prayer is not just man contacting God but also God contacting man…Every prayer that is up to the standard is one which is a mutual flow and contact between God and man. God and man are just like electric currents flowing into one another. It is hard to say that prayer is solely God in man or solely man in God. According to the fact and experience, prayer is the flowing between God and man. Every prayer that is truly up to the standard surely will have a condition of mutual flowing between God and man so that man may actually touch God and God may actually touch man; thus, man is united with God, and God with man. Therefore, the highest and most accurate meaning of prayer is that it is the mutual contact between God and man. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 19-20)

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If a brother or sister has really learned the secret of prayer,…spontaneously there will be the following result: such a praying one will certainly cooperate with God, work together with God, and allow God to express Himself and His desire from within him and through him, ultimately accomplishing God’s purpose. This is according to Romans 8:26 and 27, which tell us that we do not know for what we should pray as is fitting, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us according to God’s purpose. Actually, we do not know how to pray. We know what people ordinarily call supplication, but we know little about the prayer that is spoken of in the Scriptures. The first time I read these two verses in Romans 8, I questioned their meaning. When I was sick, I thought, did I not pray to God asking Him to heal me? When I was in want, did I not pray to God asking Him to send me provision? How could the Scriptures say that we do not know for what we should pray as is fitting? Gradually, the Lord showed me that we really do not know anything about the kind of prayer that God desires…We do not know those prayers that touch God’s desire and are up to the standard. This is our weakness. Thank God, in this matter of our weakness, the Spirit Himself joins in to help us and intercede for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Real prayers are the Holy Spirit within man expressing God’s desire through man. In other words, real prayers are prayers involving two parties. They are not simply man alone praying to God, but they are the Spirit mingling with man, putting on man, and joining with man in prayer. Outwardly it is man praying, but inwardly it is the Spirit praying. This means that two parties express the same prayer at the same time.

We often speak of Elijah’s prayer. James 5:17 says, “Elijah was a man of like feeling with us, and he earnestly prayed that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.” Earnestly prayed in Greek means “prayed with prayer,” or “prayed in prayer.” This is a very peculiar expression in the Bible. Please remember, this is what we mean by prayer of two parties. When Elijah was praying, he was praying with, or in, a prayer. In other words, he prayed with the prayer of the Spirit within him. Thus, we can say that Elijah’s prayer was God praying to Himself in Elijah. Andrew Murray once said that a real prayer is the Christ who indwells us praying to the Christ who is sitting on the throne. That Christ would be praying to Christ Himself sounds strange, but in our experience this is really the case.

Romans 8:27 [says], “The Spirit…intercedes…according to God.” This means that the Holy Spirit prays in us according to God; that is, God prays in us through His Spirit. Thus, such a prayer certainly expresses God’s intention as well as God Himself. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 4, “Lessons on Prayer,” pp. 22-23)

Further Reading: CWWL, 1982, vol. 1, pp. 353-357