We concluded our series on Foundations of Grace, and in particular our consideration of Isaiah 62:6,7. It is my desire for GPC to be praying church. Here are the last five points:

1. We must expect and believe that God wants us to pray and will answer our prayers. God has made sweet promises regarding prayer. Thomas Boston has said, “He will be very gracious unto thee, at the voice of thy cry…Then shall ye go and pray unto me and I will hearken unto you…Before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” These promises keep the head of prayer above water; God is bound with his own promises.” As we pray, our prayers pray the promises as we lay hold of them in our coming to pray.
2. We must ask our Father for an authenticating and authoritative outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is Acts chapter 2. The church of Christ needs power to boldly love and make the gospel known. The world is watching and Christ has said that the world will know we are his disciples by the way in which we love one another. We need the seal of authenticity as well as the authoritative conviction to make salvation known.
3. We must not be afraid of emotion. Presbyterians have never been accused of being too emotional. Emotionalism as an extreme is just that, an extreme. Are we endanger of too much joy in worship? too much lament for sin and brokenness? Andrew Murray was confused by the revival he witnessed in South Africa, and because of that confusion was ready to try and stifle revival. We must not be afraid of the power of conviction and the joy of salvation. You can read about Andrew Murray’s experience here.
4. We must surrender to the will of Christ as revealed in the Great Commission, and be willing to take risks in obeying that will. Evan Roberts prior to the Welsh Revival of 1904 prayed, “Lord, bend me.” In that prayer, Roberts was offering himself to God. We too, need to faith to trust him and power to obey his will. You can read about the Welsh Revival and others here.
5. Lastly, we must learn how to pray. Prayer is battlefield of the Christian. It is here that resistance is softened and strongholds are cast down. When we fail to recognize what prayer is and that we must learn to pray–and learn to do it better, we will make prayer into a prattling of wish-lists rather than an entering into the presence of God to worship him and intercede for others.

John Piper in his book, Let the Nations Be Glad, gets it right when he writes

Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against ht powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den. God has given us prayer as a wartime walkie-talkie so that we can call headquarters for everything we need as a the kingdom of Christ advances in the world. Prayer gives us the significance of frontline forces and gives God the glory of limitless Provider. The one who gives the power gets the glory. Thus prayer safeguards the supremacy of God in missions while linking us with endless grace for every need.

As you pray this week, keep these in mind for us as a church that we might be his people, here, faithfully praying, believing, and obeying.