The Natural Man Receiveth Not the Things of the Spirit (continued)
And Each Man Did What Was Right In His Own Eyes (continued)
Dear ones, the prayers of Hannah, the prayers of this lowly handmaiden of the Lord, had in them the ministry of the Psalmist, the Prophet, the Priest, and the King. We do not have to be a Samuel, or a David, or an apostle like John, in order to serve the Lord in these ministries. No, we only have to be like Hannah. We have to be those who will not expend our prayers upon our own natural desires, but who will intercede "in the Spirit" until the Lord is satisfied.
Hannah's prayers were prayers "in the Spirit:; for Hannah, like the Apostle John in Revelation 1:9-10, was "in the Spirit" in the Lord's Day. Hannah was "in the Spirit" and it was the Sovereign Imperial Day of the Lord, for God was working all things after the counsel of His Own Will. And we need to realize that Hannah's praying "in the Spirit" did as much to defeat Goliath as David did. For when David ran to meet Goliath, he cried through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: "The battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hands" (1 Samuel 17:47).Notice, he said "into our hands!" Yes, David was moving in the good of Hannah's prayers, for Hannah's prayers were breaking down, and making a way through, the unseen forces of evil long before David met Goliath, the uncircumcised Philistine.
Beloved, we need the uncompromising Samuels and the courageous Davids today, but in order to have them, we must first of all have the Hannahs. We must have men and women who will not expend their prayers on their own natural desires, but who will pray, travail, intercede, and persevere "in the Spirit" on all occasions, in all seasons, until God has His End through His Way.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 62 - "The Victory of the Cross of Christ")
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