One who prays not only needs to have a proper spirit, but the various parts of his soul also need to be normal. If we wish to learn to pray properly, we need to adjust our entire being. We should realize that we are fallen human beings, and that not one part of our being is altogether sound. Never think that all the problems of our being have been resolved by regeneration. It is not that simple. Although regeneration has made our spirit alive, the various other parts of our being are still not exactly right, or proper. Therefore, they need to be readjusted. It is because our mind is still not proper that the Scriptures tell us a saved person still needs to be renewed in his mind. This renewing includes almost all matters related to the adjustment of the mind. However, the Bible also tells us to, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). This is a matter concerning the adjustment of the emotion. Some do not have a proper emotion. They do not rejoice when they should be rejoicing, nor weep when they should be weeping. Such emotion is unsuitable if one is to be a normal Christian. If it is necessary to have an adjusted emotion for our human walk, then how much more needful it is to have an adjusted emotion for prayer.
Prayer is man coming with his whole being before God to engage in a serious matter. If there is any part in you that is improper, then you cannot be a normal, proper, and correct praying one. For example, suppose your emotion is shown to be improper because you only like exciting and noisy prayer. All the examples of prayer in the Bible show us that every man of prayer had an upright spirit, sober mind, and proper emotions. Their emotions, undoubtedly, had been trained and adjusted.
Generally speaking, modern educators pay most of their attention to educating the human mind. They seldom give heed to cultivating the human emotions. Even if they do cultivate the emotions, it is often by means of varieties of perverted and rough music. Under such influence the human emotions become even more improper. Therefore, we can say that human education with all its methods has not paid attention to the matter of properly adjusting the emotion. Human emotion is also a part within man that is very much fallen and has been very much damaged. We have to admit that many mistakes, sins, and corruptions are not necessarily works of the human mind. Instead, they are produced by the emotion, which tricks us into doing many improper things. Therefore, if we wish to be a proper Christian, as well as a man of prayer before God, not only do we need to heed the matter of the mind as mentioned in the previous chapter, but we also need to consider this matter of a correct emotion.
The emotion is a part of the soul and ranks below the mind and the will. In other words, the emotion should be under the control of the will and the mind. We often say that we should not do things according to our emotions. This means we should not yield to our emotion, but that the emotion should submit itself to the ruling of the sober mind and the proper will. If the emotion were to occupy the chief position and rule over everything, it is difficult to know how far we would be led astray. When we are happy, we can soar to the third heavens. When we are miserable, we do not even want to live any longer. But with a normal human, though he is rich in emotions, they are very much controlled by his mind. Both in the Bible and in daily life we can see that a proper human being is one whose emotion is definitely under the control of the will and the mind; and the more it is under the control of these faculties, the more such a person is normal and proper. If one’s emotion is not under the rule of the mind and the will, it is just like a car that has no brakes. As soon as it is driven, it gets into an accident. Furthermore, since it is under no regulation, it is difficult to tell how disastrously far it may go. This is a very dangerous matter. Hence, the position of the emotion is to be under the control of the mind and the will.
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