prayer a compilation of andrew murray and timothy keller - session 13

Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer1

Lessons 25-31 (End)John R. Wible, Editor

Lesson 25 The Holy Spirit and Prayer

Summary:

Believers grow in stages physically: infancy, questioning adolescence and maturity' Likewise spiritually but not automatically.

Jesus takes his disciples through three stages of understanding of prayer.

Sermon on the Mount is about trusting the Father for everything.

Middle stage, the casting out of demons, adds earnestness and persistence.

High Priestly prayer puts it all together, reveals all and tells how it will be.

The "new" thing is the Church and the indwelling of Christ'sHoly Spirit in it.

There is a new spiritual order where Christ works through believers.

Prayer is the connecting factor. Christ has the continuing occupation to pray for us. It

occupies all His time. This causes us to gratefully accept the new responsibility

to do the same.

1 This is a summary of Murray’s work. No claim is made by the Editor to original work.

1 | © J o h n R . W i b l e , 2 0 1 5 . H o w e v e r , n o c l a i m i s m a d e t o o r i g i n a l i t y o f c o n t e n t e x c e p t w h e r e n o t e d [ b r a c k e t s ] o r o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h ec o n t e x t .

Scripture:

In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. John 16:23-27.

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith,praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God,waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. Jude 20 and 21.

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have beenforgiven you for His name’s sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers,because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 1 John 2:12-14.

To look at the Apostle John's order of command in 1 John, supra, is to see a progression common to life: infancy, adolescence-middle age, and then maturity. The same holds true in the spiritual life as well, though, unlike physical life, the stages


do not come by act of nature but by deliberate growth. Jesus addresses his followers in each of these three stages.

As we have seen, in the Sermon of the Mount, Christ speaks to baby followers. Likewise, his teaching on prayer is limited as would our conversation be with babies. The teaching on prayer canbe summed up on the one word, "Father." They must first learn child-like trust.

In the middle stage, we see Jesus saying of the demons, "This kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting." Mark 9:29. Likewise, "Now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?" Luke 18:7.

Finally, in the High Priestly Prayer, comprising all of John 17, Jesus approaches his disciples as friends. He tells them everything, hides nothing and tells them how the new order will be.

The contrast between stage 1 and state 3 is notable. He says a confusing statement in John 16:23, He says, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." What Hesays here is that up until "that day," they asked Jesus directly.However, He is ascending to Heaven and in so doing, He is sendingthe Holy Spirit who will now take on a new role, that of being the mechanism by which the Risen Lord abides with each believer and each believer with Him.

As the Holy Spirit will take on a new role, "on that day," - the Day of Pentecost, the coming of the Church age, Jesus takes on a new role. He was (and remains) Savior, but now, in addition, He is the advocate and mediator for His Church with His father. He constantly prays to the Father on their behalf. As the Holy Spirit lives in the believer, the prayers of the believer ascend


to the Father through the Holy Spirit, through Jesus and to the Father. As we have learned, as they abide in Christ, the prayers will be answered.

We cannot overstress the changes that have taken place in the cosmic order. Heretofore, the Spirit came only as directed by theFather "on assignment, but now, He abides 24/7 with the believer.In the old economy, prayers went through the priest and were answered through the prophets. In Jesus' passion, He becomes not only Savior, but also prophet and priest.

[It can be said that He is also King, but I was qualify this in the new economy, the "inaugurated eschatology" [See note.] - The now and the time "not yet," referring to the end times, the time of completion of human history.

Christ now maintains the "continuing occupation" of prayer to theFather for the Church. We can and must avail ourselves of this office through our likewise life of prayer "In Jesus' Name." Thislast statement draws up back to the command and privilege of living a life of prayer through the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. And again Murray reminds us when we have done this, God will answer our prayer.

Murray gives us a postscript. He reminds us that the concepts of "breath" and of God as a triune Being are intertwined. God the Father "breathed" creation into creation.

[Especially, He breathed the breath of life into Adam, Ecclesiastes 3:21 pointing out that at death this "breath" ascends back to God. Psalm 33:6 says, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host." In referring to this "breath," Chris Eaton penned the song, "Breath of Heaven," performed by Amy Grant and renamed, "Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song.") It is a prayer uttered by Mary,the Mother of Jesus as she waits for His coming. In a way, the


song refers to the entirety of the Trinity. It is addressed to the Father, but it refers to the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, she is carrying the Son, by whom the Apostle John in Chapter 1 points out that the Jesus, the Son, was the actor in creation.]

Murray points out further on, that John likewise, in 20:22, of Jesus says that after His resurrection, He "breathed" on the disciples telling them to "receive the Holy Spirit. Because, according to God's plan and purpose, this Holy Spirit came to dwell in believers. Since He dwells in us, when we pray, we "breathe" the prayer toward Heaven. It is carried by the Holy Spirit to Jesus who prays it anew in our stead to the Father.

The response, "yes," is breathed back to us from the Father's lips through the Holy Spirit to us.

[Upon reflection, the concept that Jesus, God the Son, loves His Church so much that His "current occupation" with the Father is the pray for His Church, is a sobering one. It should give us pause. Do we love Him that much; do we love His Church that much; or do we love ourselves that much? May God guide our prayers aright?]

*Note: "The Now and the Not Yet," have been extensively written on by many current evangelical authors including John Piper, Is the Kingdom Present or Future?; George Eldon Ladd, The Presence of the Future; Anthony Hoekema, The Bible and the Future; and N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.


Lesson 26 Christ the Intercessor

Summary:

All growth in the spiritual life is connected with clearer insight into what Jesus is to us.

Learning this, living the Christian life ceases to be a struggle of trying to "do right" and becomes the process of resting in Jesus and claiming the victory we have in Him.

The real goal of the process is that our relationship with Christ grows as our prayers and God's answers to them bring glory to God.

Christ's intercessory role began on Maundy Thursday as He first reveals all to the disciples in John 16 and then praysthe High Priestly Prayer of John 17.

We believers likewise, begin a new role of sharing in Christ's divine intercession.

This is a role of joy in working together with Christ. The role of intercessory priest was foreshadowed in

Melchizedek and Aaron. Every sin forgiven and victory over Satan is because of

Christ's "continued" intercession. Perhaps this is thought of as true, yet infinitely in a

"spiritually metaphorical" sense. Prayer takes place in the "timelessness" of the spiritual

realm; there is a "continually contemporaneous" nature to Christ's role as He and we pray in ever enlarging circles.

Praying chiefly for ourselves, we keep God's promises bound for us and others.

Scripture:


But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you,when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers. Luke 22:32.

In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you thatI will request of the Father on your behalf. John 16:26.

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25.

Murray's opening statement is profoundly affecting, "All growth in the spiritual life is connected with clearer insight into whatJesus is to us." [The more I realize what Jesus did for me,] "Themore I realize that Christ must be everything to me, that everything is Christ is indeed for me, the more I learn to live the real life of faith." When we learn this, trying to live the Christian life ceases to be a struggle of trying to "do right" and becomes, [more and more] resting in Jesus and claiming the victory we have in Him. [I add “more and more" because it is by very definition, "sanctification" that God must work in us as a process.]

Nowhere is this spiritual fact seen more clearly than in prayer. [The key, of course, is "abiding in Christ."] If we are so abiding, prayer ceases to be a struggle of "strain and anxious care" and becomes an experience in what Christ can and is going todo for us.

[It becomes an excited anticipation" of the time when we get to see what Christ is doing about the matter. Rather than a wondering if He will answer, in faith it is a foregone conclusion.In what I have termed (for want of a better word) "spiritually metaphorical," we have only to expectantly watch how it will unfold, if indeed it does so unfold in our lifetime. As we know,


time is irrelevant to God and thus it is that the timing of God'sanswer to prayer has nothing to do with chronology and everythingto do with "the fullness of [spiritual} time. See Galatians 4:4. This last statement will become of more use below.]

We can have full faith and assurance that Christ remakes our Spirit-borne but sometimes unworthy, prayers and breathes them tothe Father. As we have learned, we can likewise be assured, that those prayers so breathed will be answered. And all the while, ourrelationship with Christ grows as our prayers and God's answers to them bring glory to God.

We see the beginnings of Christ's intercessory role on His last night, [Maundy Thursday,] as He first reveals all to the disciples in John 16 and then prays the High Priestly Prayer of John 17. In this Prayer, Murray tells us that Jesus shows us howand what He has to pray to the Father now in this economy and what He will pray in His new role as the "Ascended Intercessor."

However, this spiritual truth is not only about Christ. Just as Jesus assumes a new role as Intercessor, so we believers are called to begin a new role in intercession. Thus, we share with Him in divine intercession.

[As we begin to understand this joint-intercessor relationship, we begin to see more clearly how true is Murray's statement abovethat prayer ceases to be a duty and becomes both a joy.]

Murray points us the foreshadowing priests, Aaron and Melchizedek. As was Aaron's role as priest, Jesus' earthly prayers are just the beginning. Since Jesus shed the last blood, the sacrificial system was completed. Likewise, by that act Jesusearned the right to become the "Eternal Aaron", ever standing in the sanctum sanctorum, the Holy of Holies to make intercession. Paul says in Romans 8:34, "Who is the one who condemns [Satan]?


[However,] Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us."

[In Genesis 14, Melchizedek is introduced as the king of Salem, and priest of El Elyon, the "Most High God." In Psalm 110, a Chapterquoted by Jesus, Melchizedek is again mentioned.]

The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest foreveraccording to the order of Melchizedek.” Psalm 110:4.

The writer of Hebrews makes the final mention of Melchizedek, quoting that Psalm.

5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him,

“YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU”;

6 just as He says also in another passage,

“YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVERACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.”

[While the Aaronic priestly line had a beginning and an end, representing the temporal and temporary nature of the priest-sacrifice system, it only pictures the priesthood of the HeavenlyMelchizedek who had no recorded beginning nor ending. (Hebrews 7:3.) Further, the priesthood of Melchizedek pre-dates that of Aaron. Hebrews 7:1-2.]


Murray remarks that the intercession is intense and wholly necessary otherwise "the continued application of redemption could not take place." He states that every sin that is forgiven and every victory over Satan and the world that is won is so done because of Christ's continued intercession. He bases these statements on Hebrews 7:25, "Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

[The preceding paragraph is a bit difficult to understand. What does he mean when he discusses the "continued application of redemption?" Perhaps, it is easier to understand if it is thoughtof as totally true, yet infinitely more so in a "spiritually metaphorical" sense. Stedman in his Sermon on Hebrews Seven, gives some help. Stedman says that the cross of Christ is an event thatin a spiritual sense is "timeless." Though it physically and quite literally, occurred on a particular Friday, the day we celebrate as "Good Friday," in a spiritual sense, it is an ongoing event. The plan for this event to unfold just as it did always was. Peter tells us that Christ was slain "before the foundation of the world." 1 Peter 1:19-21. That does not mean past tense, it means continuity. In that sense, then Jesus makes "continued application of redemption." I am reminded of the lyrics of "Behold the Lamb" by David Phelps as such the group "Mercy Me."]

Behold the Lamb, Behold the Lamb, Slain from the foundation of the world.

For sinners crucified, oh holy sacrifice, Behold the Lamb of God, Behold the lamb.

[I would admit, however that there is what I would term a "continually contemporaneous" nature to Christ's role as priest. While it is true that God spoke in the Old Testament to His people through the prophets, He also spoke through the priests.


The priest was the mediator. One who mediates carries on conversation with more than one of the parties. That is what Christ, through His Holy Spirit does for us.] [Just as He carries our righteous prayers to the Father, He communicates the paternal "AMEN" back to us through the Spirit. That is timeless in the spirit, but it is contemporaneous in the now of this age in which we live.]

Murray now goes further, Just as Christ is called to a new mission in Heaven of intercession, we, likewise are called to that same mission on Earth. Likewise, just as Jesus has his special circle of friends for whom He makes intercession, we, toohave a circle for whom we are responsible to pray. It starts withour family then radiates outwards to those for whom we have responsibility. Ultimately, it is all-encompassing.

As long as we pray chiefly for ourselves, we keep all the promises locked up that God has to answer for us on behalf of ourprayer circle. We deny Him the glory of granting them and we denyourselves the blessing of working in fellowship and love with Him.

Lesson 27 Christ the High Priest

Summary:

In John 16, Christ gives only to the disciples understandingof what the new life will be.

They are now to go into the field as martyrs and "joint intercessors" with Christ.

In the Prayer, He teaches them how to intercede and asks that they have joy in it.

The role, "joint intercessor" is humbling, exciting, exhausting, & intimidating on our own.


Christ teaches how we can pray in His Name entering into spiritual union with Him.

Jesus prays in the enlarging circle for himself, his disciples and then the world, a model.

Like any "good" thing, we can only enter into "joint intercessorship" as He empowers us.

The first step is learning the relationship among us, Christ, and the Father; this teaches the primary goal of prayer being to glorify God. There are secondary benefits tous.

Christ's two prayers for us: that the Father keep set us apart and keep us from "the evil."

The Holy Spirit supplies our inabilities in the prayer we earnestly pray.

Intercessorship is in both words (prayer) and action (encouraging & aiding the object.)

If we fail in either task, we neither show Christ's love noror willingness to follow His example. Thus, we betray our own selfishness.

Christ's prayer for the Church is for unity in all things. The enemy of love is separation.

The greatest thing is love.

Scripture:

Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have givenMe, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. John 17:24.As Murray points out earlier, in John 16, Christ gives to the disciples the full understanding of what the new life will be since the Kingdom of God has indeed come. [See John 4:23. This isso because Jesus has said in Matthew 13:11, ". . . “To you {the disciples,} it has been granted to know the mysteries of the


kingdom of heaven, but to them {the rest of the world,} it has not been granted.] Disciples are now to leave their role as "trainees" and find their life's "calling and their blessedness in the Holy Spirit, in union with Christ . . . and in their witnessing and suffering for Him."

In His High Priestly prayer, He prays, inter alia, that they will have the joy of knowing about His intercession for them and of His carrying their prayers to the Father. He also alludes to theirnew roles as "joint-intercessors" with Him. A secondary reason Jesus prays this prayer within their hearing is to inform them what the role will be and to model the role as intercessor. In this final teaching, we finally understand that the promises about the guarantee of prayer are, after all, not for the disciples or for us but actually for the glory of God.

[I must confess that while I knew we were supposed to pray for people, this concept of our being "joint-intercessors with Christ" is one I had never even suspected as such. The thought ofit is both humbling and exciting.]

Only from Christ can we learn how to truly pray "in His Name" andto enter into [spiritual] union with Him. This He teaches in the Prayer. It is normally divided into three sections: for Himself (vv. 1-5,) for His disciples (vv. 6-19,) and for "all believing people of all ages (vv. 21-26.)

For Himself, He prays that the Father would glorify Him as He hasglorified the Father. He says this to seal the covenant He and the Father made in eternity past that what was done would be done. Christ is, in fact glorified, yet the greater glory is to the Father. In this, we, too see how we can reflect glory on the Father.


[Like so many other parts of this meta-narrative, this is true inits own sense, but it is also a picture, a model, of something else. That "something else" is the covenant He makes with His believers. Since He has bought us, we are His. Since we are His, we do what He says. He desires to fulfill His promise to the Father through us. Since we cannot do anything good on our own, we must do it through Him. We do the good thing through Him when we enter into the office of "joint-intercessor" with Him. In thatentering, the object of our prayer is blessed and we are blessed,but of supremely more importance, God the Father is glorified.]

In the Model, Jesus first establishes the relationship with the Father. We too, should do the same. We should first plead that what we say and do only brings glory to Christ and to the Father.We should then recognize our union with Christ, [what I have termed the role of "joint-confessor."] Murray tells us that our understanding of this relationship is critical to our being able to glorify God because clarity will cause us to understand why wepray. We pray not to obtain for ourselves, not even to obtain forothers, but to bring glory to God. [True, the two former things occur but they are secondary to the main purpose of glorifying God.] Only when we understand this principle will our prayers have power, but when we do understand and act out of our understanding, miracles will take place.

After establishing the clarification of the relationships, Christmoves to the second circle, that of His immediate disciples. To their great credit, they heard Christ's word and they understood it. Further, they did it. Christ, knowing this, prays two things for them: that the Father would keep them from the Evil One and sanctify them [set them apart] through His Word.

Our prayers of intercession should, like Christ's be personal forour inner circle. To the extent we know what to pray, we do so. To the extent we don’t know, the Holy Spirit "fills in the


blanks." Romans 8:26 says, "In the same way the Spirit also helpsour weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. . ."

But there is a second duty. Following the example, we not only must pray for them, we must speak to them. Murray says that for our prayer to be effective, we must be able to report back to the Father that we have given them His Word. Imagine if we told a person for whom we prayed,” I am praying for you, Brother." What a wonderful word of encouragement this would be.

[Could it even be that our word of encouragement to that person is God's Word that will bring about the object of the prayer? Could it be that in so giving them God's Word, we would overcome our fears and ultimately, overcome ourselves? I leave to you, Reader, the answer. But for me, it seems obvious!]

[Perhaps if we are afraid or too busy to speak to the one prayed for, we don't truly love them. If we don't truly love them, we pray amiss. This new role of "joint-intercessor" is at first verydifficult. Like most things, we actually cannot even do it, but through Christ we can. "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13. Since, through Christ we can, we must. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." John 14:15.]

Next in following our "Blessed Exemplar," we expand to the third and infinitely larger circle. When Jesus prayed for His disciples, He knew them intimately and had the closest of There is a relationships with them. Not so, though with those believerswho were to come. There is a quality of sameness in Christ's relationship with this circle, yet though it is alike in kind, itis different in number. The Earthly Jesus did not know personallyknow who these as of yet un-conceived believers were, yet He


prayed for them with the same love and fervor. Most especially, He prays for their unity. He prays that they would be unified in their love for one another and their love for Christ. In so doing, they will fulfill the ultimate goal of all prayer, the glorifying of God.

Murray points out that the great enemy of love is separation. Should the Holy Spirit replace the spirit of separation with a spirit of unity, love must follow. Likewise, a spirit of unity overcomes a spirit of selfishness. Why is this so? It is so because Jesus came - and went - yet remains. Murray reminds us why all of this is so. It is about two things, abiding and giving. Because the Father and the Son [and the Spirit] are one, they abide in each other. The Father has promised to the Son and thence to us that He would do all things we ask, if we so abide. What a blessing it is to enter into the HolyUnion that has always existed between the Godhead! Can there be agreater thing in the world? All of these things are summed up in the word, "Love."

I'm just a singer of simple songs, I'm not a real political man.I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could tell you the difference in

Iraq and Iran.But I know Jesus and I talk to God. And I remember this from when

I was young.Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us.

And the greatest is love. And the greatest is love.

"Where were you when the World Stopped Turning?" Alan Jackson.2001.


Lesson 28 Christ The Sacrifice [The Most Important Moment in History]

Summary:

Whereas in the High Priestly prayer, Jesus was in the Holy of Holies presiding over the altar; In Gethsemane, Christ becomes the sacrifice upon the Altar and [He didn't like it.]

Death on the Cross and all His Passion was a follow-up to this moment in Gethsemane.

Here, pro primum, the Man, Jesus spiritually understood what was going to happen; It is through this experience that the writer of Hebrews can say that He was tempted "like in all things as we.”

Likewise, pro primum, he questioned whether this was really the Father's will.

To wonder and question is no sin; rather it glorifies God depending on the response.

Jesus' "Thy will" pays for & secures His right to pray the High Priestly (and all) prayers.

To enter into true prayer (not pseudo-prayer) is to enter intotimeless eternal union.

Your editor has likened the Gethsemane scenario to a contract negotiation.

While it is true that if we abide in Christ, our prayers areanswered, the Holy Spirit carries the "true" prayer to the Father who grants it in "the fullness of time," God answers in His time and in His way for His glory.

The Father's silence to the "if" gives the Son the time to reformulate the proper prayer; in the timelessness of eternal prayer, the Father does His work through the Holy Spirit.

Scripture:


And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for you; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:36.

What a difference a few hours makes. Shortly before, Christ has intoned the beautiful High Priestly Prayer of John 17, the great,"I will . . ." But not deeply into the heart of Gethsemane, His prayer is, ". . . never the less, not as I will but as thou wilt." In the first instance, we see the High Priest in the sanctum sanctorum making the sacrifice. In the latter, we see Him as The Sacrifice lifted high upon the altar. [There is an eternalpause between "remove this cup. . . ." and "nevertheless not my will but thine be done."

Even though Christ is the Eternal Sacrifice, He is still the HighPriest. It is the prerogative of the High Priest to ask and have it given to Him. On Good Friday, Jesus made Himself the sacrifice, but on Maundy Thursday, he likewise made Himself the sacrifice. On Friday He gave up His body and ultimately His Spirit. On Thursday, He gave up His will.

Murray says that to everyone who wants to study in the School of Prayer with Christ, is given to learn the lesson of Gethsemane. He calls this lesson one of the "most sacred and the most precious." It is in this hour, not so much the three hours on thecross that Jesus won the victory. Why do we say that? Because it is here that Jesus, the man, struggles with the greatest cosmic clash possible, a battle of wills of the Man, Jesus and God's Son, Jesus. Ultimately, in that clash, the Man yields. Though theHigh Priestly prayer of earlier in the book precedes this Gethsemane prayer temporally, it is in this prayer, that Jesus buys the right to utter that prayer and by extension, the right for those of us who pray in His Name to make our petition.


[As the reader will remember, we have said that when we enter into true prayer, as opposed to pricatium pseudo (play-like prayer,)we enter into union with God, a union that is not of this world but is of the spiritual world. We have also said that the conceptof time is created solely for this world. It is irrelevant to theSpiritual world. Thus, every prayer ever uttered is, in one sense, uttered at the same time. God the Father by His sovereignty, chooses the order in which to address them. It is inthat sense that Murray can make the statement above.]

[This scenario seems to raise an issue of the truth of what Murray has said all along, that all prayer in Jesus' Name will beanswered, because here we have the very Jesus, Himself praying and being told that His prayer is not the will of the Father. Murray answers this deeply theological issue by stating that the answer lies in the sacrifice that Jesus makes at this point - thepoint where He says, "Not my will, but Thine be done." To furtherexplain, we note what Murray calls the "infinite difference" between the High Priestly Prayer and the Prayer of Gethsemane. Note carefully Murray's choice of the word "infinite." That is a deliberate, reasoned and very literal usage.]

Murray says that In the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prays, "I will . . ." in His position as Royal High Priest, [the Regnius Pontifix Magnus]. In Gethsemane, He prays as the Lamb upon the very altar presided over by the Pontifix Magnus. There, He prayed to glorify the Father and to glorify Himself, matters clearly withinthe will of the Father. Here, though He prays upon a matter of which, in His mind for the first time since eternity past, He is not sure is within the Father's will. Up until this point, He hasbeen very clear in thought that His suffering and death would be in the Father's will and He makes this abundantly clear to the disciples. Now, however, for the very first time, the realization


of what that would mean begins to dawn on Him and Jesus, the Man becomes unsure.

[Murray characterizes the scene a little differently, but I wouldliken it to a contract negotiation. The Father puts forth an offer - the cross. Note that I call it an "offer" because Jesus, being in the nature of "very God" is perfectly and completely free to reject the offer. Had He done that, He would have sinned and as we might say, "all bets would be off." In that case, it would not be Him but us who would be undone and hopeless. Thisis, then the pivotal moment in eternal history - past, present, future, or any other way to slice it. But - here is the "biggest "but" ever, He does not reject the offer, He makes a counter-offer. Is this sin?]

No, it is not. In fact, it is exactly what the Father desires andwhat brings Him glory - His pouring our fear, doubt, mistrust, and contrary wishes to the Father. Such is not sin. How many Bible heroes have doubted and struggled with God? Abraham, Jacob, the patriarchs, David, the prophets, John the Baptizer, Peter, Thomas and the rest of the apostles, even the venerable Saint Paul. But - and here is that word again - but, in the end they yielded. So did the Man Jesus. Here Jesus begins to taste not the agony, suffering, or even the dying, but the separation from the Father.

[If it is so as we said above that true prayers are borne by God's Holy Spirit to leave this realm of flesh and blood and enter into the realm of the Heavenly, being in nature timeless, may I submit that Christ anticipates His prayer of Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34, echoing Psalm 22:1,“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" He has never in is eternal per-existence contemplated not being God. That is enough to give anyone pause. In the meantime, the Father tacitly rejectsthe counter-offer and renews the principal - the cross.]


[That - that - oh that is what causes the Man Jesus to have a second thought. And yet, in that thought, for that second, for that maxime nunc cruciatur, that supremely excruciating moment, He turns His will back to that of the Father as He accepts the Father's offer and utters in inexpressible agony, "Παρ 'όλα αυτά,δεν πρέπει να γίνει το δικό μου θέλημα αλλά το δικό σου", "Nevertheless, not my will but Thy will be done." Mark 14:36b. Note here that your editor has supplied original Aramaic, Latin and Greek in an effort to highlight the drama of this instant in time. Its importance to us cannot be overstated in any language whether that of men or of angels. 1 Corinthians 13:1.]

Murray notes that Jesus repeats this phrase three times. [In Hebrew numerology, three is the number for God, referring to the three persons of the Trinity.] In so doing, He realizes that the prayer for mercy for Himself could not be granted because the Father not only had a different answer, but had a better idea.

[Could it be that the Father's silence to the merciful prayer wasindeed a granting of mercy - but not for Jesus - for us instead? Does this say to us that in those times when we are abiding in Christ and utter a plea for mercy, and we receive what appears tobe either no answer or a negative one, that the Holy Spirit in those Pauline groans that cannot be uttered takes the proper prayer to the Father who always hears and answers?]

Murray takes us back to his original statement. This moment [thatI have termed the maxime nunc cruciatur,] was necessary for Christ to be our true Savior and advocate. It is in this moment that it comes to literal truth what the writer of Hebrews tells us in 4:15, "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." (Emphasis added.)


Now, Christ can truly and joyfully offer us unlimited answered prayer because He knows it not only as part of the Godhead but byexperience. Murray points out how much all the irony that Heaven can muster is brought to bear in Christ.

His prayer went unanswered that our prayers would always be answered. He said, "Not as I will" that we might abide in that will. He was cursed that we might be blessed. He was made captivethat we might be made free. He suffered that we could be relieved. He bore our stripes that we might be healed. His body was mangled that ours might be made perfect. He was declared guilty that we could be declared free. He became ultimate sin so that we could have sin forgiven. He died that we might live. Hisrose to life again on the old Earth that we might rise to live onthe New Earth. Finally, He lives with the Father that we might live with Him.

There is a great lesson that Christ teaches us in Gethsemane; it is the restatement of the spiritual fact that in God's economy, everything appears reversed to us because we do not see through His eyes. In truth, it is we who see reversed, not Him. In this iteration of the great principle, we must learn that we receive our true will by relinquishing our will to the Father. We receiveeternal life by laying down daily our Earthly life. We are ultimately blessed by our blessing others. By giving glory to Godonly, He reflects it upon us.

Finally, because at Gethsemane, Christ's prayer was answered in an unexpected way, He obtained the potestas defacto et de jure, the power by right and by personal overcoming, to say to us with unquestioned assurance that if you abide in Me, ask what you willand it will be given. The abiding in Him is the secret to answered prayer.


[I am reminded of the beautiful song, "Eternal Life" by Olive Dungan (1904-1997.) It is a musical setting of the famous words of the poem known as the "Prayer of St. Francis (of Assisi,)" the13th Century Italian saint and founder of the Franciscan order.]

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;Where there is doubt, faith;Where there is despair, hope;Where there is darkness, light;Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understandTo be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive;It is in pard’ning that we are pardoned;

There is in dying, we walk in light in eternal life.

Lesson 29 Our Boldness in Prayer

Summary:

Hindrances to prayer: Our doubt that we can know God's will;or, we are too lazy to wait for revelation.

The remedy is to persevere in prayer. He will reveal His will.

We will persevere only if we believe we will have an answer. The answer, though may take time.


God's will is patent, revealed in the Bible and latent, revealed by the Spirit.

First step: Apply the Word, its general principles. We cannot abide in Christ if we do not abide in His Word.

Importantly, we must follow up every prayer by our actions. Deeds follow words.

Where the Word is silent, we have the duty to pray for the Spirit's revelation; Spiritual wisdom is in balance.

We err in blaming God for not answering when we have not followed protocol.

Working in the process is the prime blessing, not the objectsought, though that is a secondary blessing.

Learning to discern the Spirit is a daily task. We "play like we practice:" If we don't practice in the Spirit daily,we will not be able to "make the play" when the game of needcomes.

Scripture:

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if weask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if weknow that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him. John 5:14-15.

This continues and explains more fully Lesson 28. In that Lesson,we observed Jesus' momentary doubt that He knew the will of the Father. In the same way, one of our greatest hindrances to prayeris our lack of confidence that know the will of the Father so that we can pray in it. As long as we doubt that we know the Father's will, we cannot pray in the confidence that He has promised us an answer. This is precisely the opposite of what thewriter John intended. See v. 14 in which John opens the thought with the statement, "This is the confidence which we have . . ." (Emphasis added.)


Let's examine this doubt and see if there is a remedy. We are operating under the erroneous assumption that God has two wills. One will is clearly expressed in His word, both logos and rhema. John has a presupposition here that before we pray, we knows God's will. While that may have been John's situation, unfortunately it is too often not ours. To compound our misery, even if our pray is within God's will, though He answer, the answer is frequently not instantly delivered. At the outset, we can say that the delayed answer may be for the purpose of teaching us the beauty of persevering in prayer. We can so persevere because we have the confidence of an answer.

Nevertheless, in our post-modern society where we have come to expect everything to be instantaneous. We reason that we do not or cannot know God's will on the subject, we lose this intention,and we give up. The great mistake here is two-fold. Either we areunder the assumption that we cannot know God's will. Or we may in our heart of hearts believe that it is possible to know God's will but we are too spiritually lazy to take the time to find it out.

What we must first understand is that prayer is a multifaceted process with wide-ranging results affecting many people in addition to ourselves. If we back up and realized that God's Wordliving in our lives and we abide in His desires to teach us His will, but more so, it desires to take us through the process.

Let's consider His Word. Murray admits that there is an unrevealed, latent (Murray says, "Secret,"} will that God has concerning the subject, but we don't need to worry about the "secret" will. Rather, we need to focus our attention on the latent will but on the patent will, that which is clearly revealed [as Henry Blackaby says, "by the Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstance and the Church. As we know, misdirected aiming always leads to missing the true target and here, the true target is this patent will.]25 | © J o h n R . W i b l e , 2 0 1 5 . H o w e v e r , n o c l a i m i s m a d e t o o r i g i n a l i t y o f c o n t e n t e x c e p t w h e r e n o t e d [ b r a c k e t s ] o r o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h ec o n t e x t .

The first step in seeking God's will is always to apply His logos (written) Word. What does the scripture say? The less we are practiced in reading or recalling the scripture, the more difficult will be this first step; but the converse is equally true. In God's written Word, He has revealed every general principle, and every plan for us and for the world needed in any age. We must find it, read it or remember it and believe it in child-like trust. In many cases, the mere application of the logos to our hearts will be our answer. [It was written before thefoundation of the world.]

John gives us an example of this in the very next verse. "If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sinnot leading to death." 1 John 5:16a.

[Thus we can say, first you've got to know and be able to remember and apply what God has said in His Word. We cannot "abide in Christ" if we don't know where Christ is; But in the Word, He has told us, "Where I am there you may be also. John 14:3. As we know, if we are not abiding in Him, we are not promised an answer.]

[In the example of 1 John 5:16a, Murray does not tell us how God will give the offender life based on our prayer. May I submit thatif we do as we have been previously bidden by Murray to followup on our prayers, IE, telling the offender that we have seen his sin and are not condemning him but are praying for him, our followup may well be the completion to our prayer for his life ashe, recognizing his sin, repents and himself asks for forgiveness.]

Probably, the application of the logos to the situation answers many more prayers than we might imagine, but there are those


cases where it does not. Murray says that in such a situation, God's rhema is required and will be freely and lovingly given. Generally speaking, the logos resides in the realm of the soul - the mind and the reason. The rhema, on the other hand, resides within the realm of the spirit. Not everyone is given the same gifts in discerning the spirit. [1 John 4:1.] But everyone is given the same duty to seek it.

Murray tells us that the "wisdom of the saints" lies in "knowing the specific will of God according to the measure of grace given us" and to ask what God has prepared as a suitable answer. The personal application of the general logos in only done by the Spirit. When this action takes place, we come into spiritual union with Christ through the teaching of His Word. We saints mayerr in two opposite directions. Some seek the leading of the Spirit in an inner "feeling" or "impression;" others seek it in the strict application of the logos. As with most things in the Christian, the truth lies in the balance of the two poles. Only in the Word and in the Spirit can we truly know the will of God and pray according to it.

Murray tells us that to those who are abiding in Christ, in such cases, there is a "quickening" of our spirit; but it is only to those who so abide and who are willing to yield our dead spirit to the quickening Holy Spirit as Christ did in Gethsemane. When we have done both, God will show us how to pray in His will and in so doing have confidence that He will hear.

Murray goes on to chide us [rightfully so] for failing to pray because we don't know how God would have us pray. This is tantamount to blaming God for our failure. God desperately wants us to know His will so we can pray within it and have our answer;but more so, He wants us to engage Him in the process of learningthat will.27 | © J o h n R . W i b l e , 2 0 1 5 . H o w e v e r , n o c l a i m i s m a d e t o o r i g i n a l i t y o f c o n t e n t e x c e p t w h e r e n o t e d [ b r a c k e t s ] o r o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h ec o n t e x t .

[Once more, we see that the process, not the object sought, is the blessing because when we engage God's Word, will and ways, weengage Him. If I may once more be permitted a sports analogy previously stated to the effect that "we play like we practice." If we consider the time of the need of the Spirit's special guidance in a matter of prayer as the "game," we must view our daily life as the time of practice. Just as a team practices poorly, it will play poorly, when we do not abide in Christ and in His Spirit on a daily basis, we cannot expect His special filling in the hour of need.]

Murray adds a note to the lesson in which he states as follows.

There is often confusion as to the will of God. People think thatwhatever God wills must inevitably take place. This is by no means the case. God wills a great deal of blessing to his people that never comes to them. He wills it most earnestly but they do not will it. Hence, it cannot come to them. This is the great mystery of man's free will and the renewal of his will in redemption. God has made the execution of His will dependent on the will of man. God's will in His promises will be fulfilled as much as or faith allow. Prayer is the power by which something comes to pass which otherwise would not have taken place. And faith the power which determines how much of God's will is done in us. (Emphasis added.)

[I must confess that I thought I understood this, but now, not somuch. We wrote upon this extensively in an addendum to Lesson 11,q.v. In that comment, we said about all that needs to be said about it. May I suggest that at this point in our study, we not "get wrapped around (the theological) axle" with it, accept it for what it is, and move on to our final conclusion that, I submit will be much more practically important than arguing theological niceties.]


Lesson 30 The Ministry of IntercessionSummary:

We, like Christ, all called to be intercessory priests; we are privileged to be "joint Intercessors" with Him.

Priesthood ha three components: Work, Walk, and Way. Work: The Priest mediates between man and God. We are tasked

to do this with Christ. It's not optional. Murray: This is a full-time job and requires our full time

devoted the God and to His people. However, even the Temple priests were part-timers. Can we

be? Walk: The priest is called to be set apart and not do or

touch the unclean. So should we be. The mark of a true priest is one who lives only for God and

his fellow man. Way: Priests were born into the office by water and blood,

but were consecrated for it with blood. Likewise, we are born of water (baptism) and of blood

(Christ's) but we must set ourselves aside for it. The extent to which we do this determines our fitness for

the priesthood.

Scripture:You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritualsacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5.

But you will be called the priests of the LORD; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God.You will eat the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Isaiah 61:6.


Christ is the anointed High Priest. Since we are called to abide in Him, we likewise are called to share in his life and vocation to which He is called. This makes us, as we pointed out in a previous lesson, "Joint Intercessors." Like it or not, we believers are all, in effect called to be priests under Christ, our High Priest. It is our great honor and privilege, but it is aduty of which we too often neglect, to our shame and sorrow. As such, we will consider three aspects of this vocation: the work of the priest, the walk of the priest, and the way of the priest.

As to work, the priest has work upward and downward. The Aaronic priest made intercession to God for the sin and blessing of the people. Likewise, he had the distinct privilege of coming out of the holy temple of the spirit life and announce the restoration of these to the people. In Deuteronomy, Moses reported the Word of the Lord to Israel that they were to set aside the Tribe of Levi as priests. Thus, Murray says, the priest did not live unto himself, but lived only to serve God and to serve for God. It is the call of every believers to likewise serve as a priest ministering to God for man and for God to man.[I must point out here that the priests that ministered in the temple were not full time. During the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and until the Temple was built in Jerusalem, the priests performed their priestly service in the Tabernacle. See Numbers 1:47–54, Numbers 3:5–13, Numbers 3:44–51, and Numbers 8:5–26. Their duties involved offering the daily and holiday sacrifices, and blessing the people in a Priestly Blessing. Interestingly, we see this blessing also dispensed by priests of Roman and Orthodox Catholic faiths.]

[When the First and Second Temples were built, the priests assumed these same roles. They were divided into 24 groups, each group consisting of six priestly families. Each of the 24 served for one complete week, with each of the six serving one day per week, on the Sabbath all six worked in together. According to


later rabbinical interpretation, these 24 groups changed every Sabbath. On the biblical festivals, all 24 were present in the Temple for duty. Thus, the individual priest's assignment was temporary. The rest of their time, they went back to their familyto make a living.]

Murray continues. As there was the work of the priest, there was the walk, the lifestyle. He gives us examples of the degrees to which God set forth rules for the priest to be ceremonially cleanin his ministry. Were he to become unclean, he could not serve until the uncleanness was purged. Murray tells us that we, likewise are to "forsake everything and, like Christ, have only need for God. . . This marks the true priest, the man who lives only for God and for his fellow-man."

Lastly, there is the way of the priest. The priests were priests by birth as sons of Aaron. [Levites, likewise were sons of Aaron's father, Levi, as was Moses, but not descendants directly of Aaron. Hence, Levites and not priests.] They could not, however assume their priesthood until they were consecrated firstby being ceremonially washed in water and then by the sprinkling and touching with the blood of the sacrifice made for them. Likewise, believers are washed in water at baptism, the symbol that we are a new person in Christ; and we are sprinkled with theBlood of the Lamb that was slain just for us. The more a believeris given over to the Holy Spirit, the more will be his fitness and ability to carry out the new duties of a priest in the "now."

Lesson 31 The Life of Prayer

Summary:


While the parable of the persistent widow teaches persistence in a single thing, the Epistles teach persistence in prayer as a lifestyle.

If we seek to do this on our own, we will fail. For prayer to be effective, we must be persistent in both

aspects; we must believe in the promise. Murray says: Sacrifice your life to God's Kingdom and glory;

Start to believe that our prayer is effective; Pray a lot and then work a little; and Pray without ceasing.

Forget selfish pride and just say, "Lord, teach me to pray." Then be quiet.

Scripture:

Rejoice always; Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

Murray tells us that the parable of the persistent widow and the unrighteous judge seem to teach us that value of her persistence to receive a particular. However, [or better, "In addition,"] theEpistles extend this persistence to a life of continual prayer. This, of course begs the question, so, how does one do this?"

Murray states that undoubtedly the first thing is "an entire sacrifice of one's life to God's Kingdom and His glory." He points out that if you try to pray without ceasing because you merely wants to be "pious and good," you will not succeed.

We must believe that our prayers will be effective and we must bepersistent in prayer. Most importantly, realize that Jesus taughtto pray. There is a tendency to pray a little and then proceed with the work. This is backwards. Pray a lot and then work a little. The little we do will be infinitely more effective. Pray without ceasing.


[Frankly, I was hoping for a "So here is what you do" from Murray. We don't get one - or do we? In this summation lesson though, perhaps there is guidance.] Murray tells us the following:

Sacrifice your life to God's Kingdom and glory. Start to believe that our prayer is effective. Pray a lot and then work a little. Pray without ceasing.

[At this point, I was going to launch into what X, Y, and Z had to say on the subject, all the while hoping to find the deeply guarded secret. Perhaps that puts me in the position of the rich young ruler (though I am none of these) who came to Jesus and asked rather confidently, "Good Master, what must I do to be saved?" Let's set out the whole colloquy and see what the "Good Master" teaches the brash young man.]

As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things frommy youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess andgive to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come,follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.23 And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “How hard itwill be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye 34 | © J o h n R . W i b l e , 2 0 1 5 . H o w e v e r , n o c l a i m i s m a d e t o o r i g i n a l i t y o f c o n t e n t e x c e p t w h e r e n o t e d [ b r a c k e t s ] o r o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h ec o n t e x t .

of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:17-27.[Let's nail ourselves to the crux of the matter - pride. The youngman thought he could do some noble deed to merit Heaven. His first thought was about himself. It was also his last thought. In this, we see the very epitome of pride. Because of that, he "went away sorrowing." Jesus reinforces the thought in His answer to the questions raised by the disciples. "With man it impossible, but with God, all things are possible.]

[May I submit that my question of Murray was basically the same the young man asked, "What must I do to . . ." WRONG QUESTION. Infact, the situation does not even call for a question, it calls for a discharge of pride with the primacy of the "Lord."]

[Lastly, perhaps Murray gives us the answer the unasked question in the phrase he intones at the conclusion of every lesson, "Lord, teach me to pray." That's it. Start there. Get alone and still, bow your head, close your eyes, say, "Lord teach me to pray . . . and then be quiet and listen.]

[We've had 31 deeply theological lessons, some of which we barelycan read let alone understand. The Lord will apply them to our hearts as He sees fit, if He sees fit, when He sees fit.]

"Be still and know that I AM God." Psalm 46:10.

"But seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousnessand all these other things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33.

AMEN.


prayer a compilation of andrew murray and timothy keller - session 13

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