In order to learn how to enjoy Christ by praying, we must drop the old way of prayer. Also, we should not pray for business affairs or personal concerns. Instead, pray to praise Him, to adore Him, to thank Him, to behold His beauty, and to inhale Him. Many times we have to pray by groaning, saying, “O Lord, O Lord....” This is the best prayer. The real prayer is not out of us, so that the Lord will do something for us. The real prayer is the Spirit, who is Christ Himself, working and moving within us, that we would open to Him to breathe Him out and breathe Him in (see Hymns, #255). We must offer Him the free way to go out and to come in to express something of Himself.
To pray is not to take care of many things. To pray is to spiritually breathe the spiritual air, which is the Lord Himself. Day by day, even several times throughout each day, we have to learn to breathe the Lord as the spiritual air. Even while we are driving our car or cooking in the kitchen we can breathe by calling from deep within, “O Lord.” This is the best prayer.
Revelation shows us that the saints’ prayers are the bowls or the censer that contain Christ as the incense. In our prayer there must be Christ as the incense. We have to burn the incense daily by offering prayers with Christ ascending to God. Christ is in us and we need to have the prayer as the censer, the bowls, the container, for the indwelling Christ as the incense. If we do not pray, we have Christ within us, but we do not have Him as the incense ascending to God. Proper prayer is not for our practical needs. Proper prayer is for the expression of Christ. We pray to express Christ, that is, to give the indwelling Christ the opportunity to be the incense to ascend to God and be expressed in our prayer.
Matthew 6:31 through 33 says, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? For all these things the Gentiles are anxiously seeking. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” We can even say to the Lord, “Lord, there is no need for me to pray for so many things. Matthew 6:31 through 33 says that You already know what I need.” If we are not at peace concerning our personal needs, we can remind the Lord to feed us and care for us according to His Word. We should just seek the Lord Himself, His kingdom and His righteousness. All that we need, the Lord will not only give to us but also add to us. We should learn to pray and seek the Lord Himself to behold His beauty.
Then we can go on to learn to inquire of the Lord. This means that we must learn to ask the Lord what we have to pray. Do not pray according to what you think you have to pray, but ask the Lord what He wants you to pray in your prayer. Sometimes you may have to ask, “Lord, may I now pray for a certain friend? May I now pray for the preaching of the gospel?”
A good illustration of this is seen in Genesis 18 when the Lord came with two angels to visit Abraham. The Bible tells us that Abraham was the friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; James 2:23). The record in Genesis 18 shows that there was an intimate friendship between Abraham and the Lord. Abraham received the Lord as a friend, a guest, and he served the Lord (vv. 1-8). The Lord and Abraham had a mutual enjoyment. The Lord then asked Abraham, “Where is Sarah your wife?” (v. 9), and He told Abraham that his wife would bear a son (v. 10). Abraham did not ask the Lord for a son in Genesis 18. Instead, he allowed the Lord to say something to him. We should not bring many things into our prayer to intrude into our fellowship with the Lord. We should behold the Lord and let Him enjoy us as we enjoy Him. We should let Him ask us something, as He asked Abraham, “Where is your wife?” Then we should let Him say something to us.
After the Lord’s fellowship with Abraham, the Lord and the two angels started to leave. Verse 16 says, “And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.” Darby’s translation says, “Abraham went with them to conduct them.” This means that Abraham escorted them. This shows how Abraham treated the Lord as an intimate friend. It was as if he said, “Lord, are You leaving? I am sorry You are going, and I am not willing to leave You. Let me escort You for a certain distance.” Through Abraham’s escorting and conducting the Lord, the burden for intercession came out.
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