General Conference Bulletin, vol. 6

Bible Study. PRAYING FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT

E. W. FARNSWORTH

May 14, 9:15 A. M.

I most earnestly desire that you all pray that God will bless his Word this morning, and that we may be able to draw from that Word the power which God himself has put into it. Turn to Luke 18:1. For what purpose did the Lord give this parable? Some one read it, please. GCB May 16, 1909, page 15.27

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” GCB May 16, 1909, page 15.28

So this was the point that he had in giving the parable,—always to pray and not to faint. What does faint mean?—To become discouraged. Men ought always to pray, and never to get discouraged. That is the point. God does not want his people to become discouraged. One charge that he brought against the ten spies when they came back from searching out the land was that through their report they discouraged the people. As a result, thousands of the Israelites died in the wilderness. It is a great crime for men to discourage one another, because a discouraged man is a defeated man already. GCB May 16, 1909, page 15.29

There is such a thing, brethren, as sinking away into discouragement when one meets difficulties in the conflict; but God has never called his servants to defeat. God calls men to victory, and the Saviour gave this parable to encourage us. GCB May 16, 1909, page 15.30

Then comes the illustration, which is very impressive. “There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man.” He was indeed a hard case. And who was it that came to see this judge?—“And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.” A poor, helpless widow, with no money to bribe the judge, no friends to influence him. But she was persistent; she came not once nor twice, but she came and stayed and continued to beseech him to avenge her of her adversary, until finally he said within himself, “Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her test by her continual coming she weary me.” She would not take no for an answer, so he finally granted her request. GCB May 16, 1909, page 15.31

The lesson in this for us is persistency in prayer. God is not only willing but anxious to avenge his own elect if they cry unto him day and night, and make known their needs. God not only hears prayer, but bless his name, he answers prayer. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.1

The mighty men in God’s work, brethren, in all the ages of the past, have been mighty men in prayer. I want you to notice that God answers all who pray to him night and day. Of course the Saviour does not mean by this that we should pray all the time. We know that when God has work to do, prayer will not take the place of it. One time when Joshua was on his face praying, the Lord told him to get up, for there was something to do. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.2

But we know, brethren, that when a man has stormed the citadel of heaven for help when he is in difficulty, some way, he knows not how, God opens the gates, and there is a great current of influence and power that comes into his soul, and suddenly he is out of the difficulty without knowing just how it happened. Most of you have experienced this thing at some time in your lives. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.3

Before I leave this text, there is another expression that I would like to call your attention to. It is in the eighth verse: “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Another translation reads thus: “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find this kind of faith on the earth?” This kind of faith; that is the idea, the kind of faith which the widow manifested, the kind of faith which will not take no for an answer. When Christ comes, will he find that kind of faith on this earth? GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.4

Brethren, we are living in a strenuous time, a time when almost everything about us conspires to deprive us of the privilege of prayer and the study of God’s Word. I do not know how it is with you, but if there is anything in all my Christian experience that I regret more from day to day than anything else, it is my inability to keep up a constant and continual study of the Word, together with prayer. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.5

I vow to myself almost every day, “Now I will do better to-morrow.” I recognize that I am losing ground by my taking so little time for Bible study and for secret prayer. Many of you have a similar experience. You say to yourselves that you will not be robbed of these privileges. But sometimes it seems as if we hardly have time for family worship. We know it is all wrong. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.6

A man does not lose anything by taking time to pray. Yet our lives are so strenuous, there is such an intense pressure in these days of electricity and steam, that somehow we seem to be driven on from day to day and week to week, until it seems that we are robbed of all opportunities for blessed communion with God. Is this your experience? [Voices, Yes.] GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.7

Before God, I am determined that it shall be different. What do you say? [Voices, Amen.] I know that the success of my life, my success as a minister of the gospel, will depend upon my communion with God, and upon the measure of power I draw from him. A man without God’s blessing may make a showing, he may be able to attract the attention of men, but the crucible of time will sweep away the results of his labor, and it will not be long till there is not left of it a scratch in the sand. The work that stands, the work upon which a man can build permanently, is that which is wrought through the power of God. Nothing can stand except that which is born of prayer and the travail of a man’s soul before God. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.8

Let us turn to the third of Luke. There are three of four expressions in this chapter that we will put together. Verse 21: “Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened.” GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.9

Then when he was baptized, what did he do?—He prayed. And when he prayed, what occurred?—The heavens were opened. That is just what has occurred with you many times, is it not? It is when we pray that the heaven is opened. This experience was not for Christ alone, it is for others as well. Now let us read the next verse: “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.” GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.10

Such a commendation is worth everything. But when was it that the Holy Ghost descended upon him? and when were these words spoken by the Father?—It was when he prayed. May we not receive this assurance just as definitely as Jesus did? A man armed with that assurance when he goes out to fight the battles against the world, the flesh, and the devil, is armed with a power that will bring him certain victory. Let a company of workers go out into the world with that assurance, and there will certainly be seen fruit as a result of their labors. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.11

When the devil came with his temptations to Christ after this experience, he first tried to discredit this assurance. He said to him, “If thou be the Son of God.” GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.12

Now let us notice two expressions in the fourth chapter. The first verse says: “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.” At his baptism the Holy Ghost descended upon him as he was praying, and now we read that he was full of the Holy Ghost. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.13

Now let us read the twenty-second verse of this same chapter: “And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.” Then when he was full of the Holy Ghost, what kind of words did he speak?—Gracious words. And how did the people feel about it?—They wondered at it. In the thirty-sixth verse of this fourth chapter, we are told that “they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this!” GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.14

Let us take these scriptures together. First he was baptized with the Holy Spirit; then we are told that he was “full of the Holy Ghost.” As a result of this experience, the words which he spoke were so gracious that the people all noticed it. They were amazed. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.15

Somehow, brethren, we stop short of the fulness of this experience. When we have gone a certain distance, we become timid. We hesitate; we are not quite sure how far we should go. We have no hesitancy in getting down by the side of a poor sinner, and asking God to forgive his sins. If he is a drunkard or a tobacco-user, we would not hesitate to ask God to free him from these evil habits. We have seen God do this many times. Brethren, when we have gone nine tenths of the distance, let us not stop short of the whole. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.16

I would like to read a paragraph from the “Desire of Ages,” regarding the meaning of this experience through which Christ passed: “The word that was spoken to Jesus at the Jordan, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,’ embraces humanity. God spoke to Jesus as our representative. With all our sins and weaknesses, we are not cast aside as worthless. ‘He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.’ The glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us. It tells us of the power of prayer,—how the human voice may reach the ear of God, and our petitions find acceptance in the courts of heaven. By sin, earth was shut off from heaven, and alienated from its communion; but Jesus has connected it again with the sphere of glory. His love has encircled man, and reached the highest heaven. The light which fell from the open portals upon the head of our Saviour, will fall upon us as we pray for help to resist temptation. The voice which spoke to Jesus says to every living soul, ‘This is my beloved child, in whom I am well please.’” GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.17

I fully believe, brethren, that a repetition of that soul hunger, of that hungering and thirsting after God, and that prayer of faith, will bring about experiences akin to that which was seen in Jesus. It was not an experience for him alone, but it was also for all of his followers. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.18

We shall get along with our routine work much more expeditiously if we spend hours every day in prayer to God. May God help us to do this, for Jesus’ sake. GCB May 16, 1909, page 16.19