1 JOHN 5:1-13

We need the Holy Spirit to help us pray. Our own prayers tend to be selfish. It is natural for us to concentrate our prayers only on our own desires and needs. A large part of our praying is concerned with our families or our own personal needs.

On the other hand, the Holy Spirit teaches us to pray for God’s work and for others. The so-called Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 instructs us how to pray beyond our own desires. It begins, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (vv. 9-10). The first three requests of this prayer center around God Himself. What motivates our usual praying? Do we seek the glory of God only? This is where the Spirit of God must help us.

We find also that our prayers often lack insight. We just do not know how to pray in the will of God. John told us in his first letter: “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us” (5:14). We need to learn what God’s will is.

But sometimes we do not know what we should pray for. And if we know what we should pray for, we do not always know how we should pray for it. This is why we need the help of the Spirit. Our infirmities would make true prayer impossible were it not for the Spirit’s enabling.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).

Theodore Epp
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