Prepared Through Prayer

So we find that it was while Christ was praying, at his baptism that the Holy Ghost came upon him, “in a bodily shape like a dove,” to qualify him for his public service; and it is through prayer that we also receive that spiritual enrichment that equips us as co-workers together with God.

Without prayer, you will remain in a region that is desolate as a desert; but bend your knees in supplication to the Most High, and you have reached the land of promise, the country of benediction. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you,” not merely as to his gracious presence, but as to the powerful and efficacious working of the Holy Spirit. More prayer, more power; the more pleading with God that there is, the more power will there be in pleading with men, for the Holy Ghost will come upon us while we are pleading, and so we shall be fitted and qualified to do the work to which we are called of God.

Let us learn, then, from this first instance of our Saviour’s preparatory prayer, at his baptism, the necessity of special supplication on our part in similar circumstances. If we are making our first public profession of faith in him, or if we are renewing that profession, If we are removing to another sphere of service, if we are taking office in the church as deacons or elders, if we are commencing the work of the pastorate, if we are in any way coming out more distinctly before the world as the servants of Christ, let us set apart special seasons for prayer, and so seek a double portion of the Holy Spirit’s blessing to rest upon us.

From a sermon entitled "The Preparatory Prayers of Christ," delivered August 7, 1873.

Photo by Glenn Scofield Williams. Some rights reserved.