The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 663

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XL. Prayer and the Consciousness. " Call upon I

Me

day of trouble; and thou shalt Psalm 1. 15.

in the

will deliver thee,

glorify Me."

The form of prayer does not affect its character. It may be a mere groaning in thought, or a sigh in which the oppressed soul finds relief;

it

may

consist of a single cry, a flow of words, or an

elaborate invocation of the Eternal.

ing or singing.

God it

lives

But so long as the

and hears

its

It

may even

turn into speak-

soul, in the consciousness that

cry, addresses itself directly to

Him

as tho

stood in His immediate presence, the character of prayer remains

intact.

prayer

However, discrimination between these various forms is

necessary in order to discover, in the root of prayer

of

itself,

the work of the Holy Spirit.

The

suppliant

is

soul, \i^xtyo^xx person.

you; your ego; neither your body nor your It is true,

in prayer, but yet in such a self,

way

both body and soul are engaged that your person, your ego, your

pours out the soul; in the soul becomes conscious of your

prayer, and through the body gives

it

utterance.

This will become clear when we consider the part which the body takes in prayer; for no one will deny that the body has something to do with prayer. Mutual prayer is simply impossible without the aid of the body, for that requires a voice to utter prayer in one, and hearing ears in the others. Moreover, prayer without

words rarely

Mere mental prayer

satisfies the soul.

is

necessarily

imperfect; earnest, fervent prayer constrains us to express

it

in

There may be a depth of prayer that can not be expressed, but then we are conscious of the lack and the fact that the Holy words.

;

Spirit prays for us with groans that can not be uttered is to us

source of very great comfort.

When the soul is perfectly composed, mere mental meditation may be very sweet and blessed but no sooner do the waters of the ;

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