I should understand the "prayer of faith," therefore, to be a prayer
begotten in the heart of the believer by the Holy Ghost, and with the
prayer is communicated also the corresponding faith, and when this is
the case, the answer is sure. Faith, in this use of the word, is a
special gift, and may be given to some and withheld from others, also
given at one time and withheld at another, just as God in His infinite
and unerring wisdom may decide. This kind of faith is one of the
special gifts of which we have an account in the 12th of 1st
Corinthians, and differs, therefore, from the grace of faith or the
power of believing the gospel unto salvation when it is presented,
which is given to all men, and for the exercise of which, by actually
believing, all are held responsible. "He that believeth shall be saved,
and he that believeth not shall be condemned."
And it is Jude, the brother of James, who exhorts his readers to pray
in the Holy Ghost, the very same kind of praying which James calls the
prayer of faith, and about which Paul also declares that "the Spirit
Himself also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought; but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for
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."
A Holy Ghost prayer, therefore, such as Jude alludes to, is a prayer
that is energized by the Holy Ghost. It is not the Holy Ghost who does
the groaning, but He causes the heart of the consecrated believer to
groan, by kindling those intense desires after some specific blessing,
which often are, indeed, too deep for clear expression by utterance,
and with the groanings, also, the faith is given, which takes hold of
God's Almightiness for the answer. Such prayers do, indeed, move the
hand that moves the world, and whether it be for the healing of the
sick, or the conversion of sinners, or the entire sanctification of
believers, or the supply of temporal needs, or anything else which the
Holy Spirit may suggest, the blessing is sure to come.
I am not forgetting that the assistance of the Holy Spirit is needed,
and that it is obtainable in all true prayer, but ordinary prayer must
be founded upon the promises of God and an exercise of will power to
believe those promises, and therefore, it must be accompanied, in order
to be effectual, by ordinary faith, the act of believing. Extraordinary
prayer must be inspired directly by the Holy Spirit, and the gift of
faith must come directly from Him. So that we have ordinary prayer,
ordinary faith and ordinary results in the one case, while in the
other, we have extraordinary prayer, extraordinary faith and
extraordinary results. Praise the Lord.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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