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No. V.

THE ACTUAL PRESENCE AND HELP OF THE SPIRIT IN PRAYER.

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WERE We fully aware of the full meaning of our words, when we say that God is the Hearer of prayer, Christ the Intercessor for prayer, and the Holy Spirit the Helper in prayer, we could not pray without deep solemnity and real pleasure. The amazing fact that the sacred Trinity unite in equal attention to prayer, could not fail, if duly weighed and vividly realized, to awe and animate our souls, whenever we knelt at the mercy-seat. alas! though in one sense quite familiar with this sweet and sublime fact, it is not often that we pray under its sweet and solemn influence. Accordingly, it is almost a new fact to us, both when we see it vividly presented by others, and when we ourselves enter

But,

into the spirit of it. Then, like Job, we resolve all our past impressions of God into "the hearing of the ear," and exclaim, "But now-mine eye seeth thee."

It is, indeed, humiliating to acknowledge that our realizing views of Father, Son, and Spirit, being equally interested in prayer, should be so few and far between. It is, however, only too true: and it is necessary to acknowledge it to ourselves fully, that we may set upon ascertaining its causes and cure. Many of its causes are, indeed, easily ascertained. We sometimes hurry into the presence of God, and even hurry over the duty of prayer. Instead of pausing to compose our spirits, or to collect our scattered thoughts by reading a portion of the Scriptures, we often enter at once upon the duty. In like manner, we do not in general expect to enjoy communion with God, nor to find much pleasure in our closets. We are even in danger of taking for granted, that intimate communion with God is not often to be obtained. We have heard it spoken of as a special privilege; and thus we imagine that it must, of

course, be a rare thing. And when these misapprehensions and hurries are combined with any degree of a bad conscience towards God or man, it is no wonder that our realizing views of the Divine presence are both few and feeble. For how could they be otherwise, whilst we expect little, and prepare less? Oh, it was not thus, it could not be thus, that the disciples entered their closets to pray, after the day of Pentecost! When they knew fully that the Spirit would help their infirmities, and that their ascended Lord would intercede for them, and that their heavenly Father would hear and answer prayer, they could not have knelt without awe, nor pleaded without hope. It was impossible, whilst these glorious facts were before them, in all their freshness, that they could be formal or heartless in devotion: for, next to the open vision of the throne of grace in heaven, is the vivid belief of the truth concerning that throne ;-it is, indeed, "the evidence of things not seen, and the substance of things hoped for."

If you have not fully realized this, or if

you find it difficult to do so, there is, perhaps, nothing human could help you so much as a calm consideration of the case of the disciples, when they understood clearly the arrangements of heaven for hearing prayer. The disciples, although gradually introduced to an acquaintance with the nature of prayer, did not, like us, grow up familiar, from their youth, with all the facts of the subject. Some of the chief facts flashed out upon them suddenly and unexpectedly. They never dreamt of such a thing as the intercession of Christ, or the help of the Spirit in prayer, until the facts were revealed to them on the day of Pentecost. All this, as we know it, was entirely new to them. They were not, indeed, utter strangers, before, to the office of the Father, Son, and Spirit, in relation to prayer. They were even well acquainted with the paternal character of God, and had heard much of the efficacy of the "Name" of Christ, in connexion with prayer. In like manner, they were not entirely ignorant of the work of the Holy Spirit: but knew as much of the whole subject as made them very

prayerful. Their knowledge, however, came far short of the amazing and magnificent fact, that the enthroned Saviour ever lived to intercede for them; and the eternal Spirit, to help their infirmities in prayer! This was almost completely new to them, and must have given almost a new aspect to prayer itself. Whatever they expected from the promises that Christ would remember them, and that the Spirit would help them, was far exceeded, and almost eclipsed, by the glory of that remembrance, and the grace of that help. · They felt, if not said, when the promise was fulfilled, "the half was not told us!"

You perceive that this is a fair statement of their case, so far. Imagine, then, with what solemnity and delight the disciples retired, for the first time, to pray, with these facts, in all the freshness of their glory, vividly before them. If their closets had been the gate of heaven before, how much more widely that gate was opened then! Then they could see Jesus before the throne, presenting their prayers, embalmed with the incense of his actual intercession. Then they could calcu

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