Prayer and the New Covenant

The Bible is full of answered prayer from Genesis through the New Testament. We are encouraged to always pray and not faint. If we ask we shall be given. Whatever you ask in Jesus' name will be given. According to scripture, one of the most certain functions to be rewarded by God is prayer. When Jesus spoke of prayer, He never gave the slightest hint that prayer might not be answered. The Bible is 100% positive about prayer.

Then what is the problem with the constant exercise of this great privilege that God has extended toward us? If God is sovereign, why do we even need to pray? This kind of question only arises from Man. God has always been very positive and absolute about prayer. The deficiency, doubt and negligence is always on man's part.

From time to time we have all felt that we didn't know how to pray as we ought. That is not surprising because the scriptures tell us we don't know how to pray as we ought. However, the Holy Spirit has been sent to teach us and to help us to pray, as we ought.

Most all the defects and deficiencies that are found in the church are the result of the lack of prayer or the ignorance of prayer. The greatest thing we can do for those who are suffering is to pray. This flood of words that are necessary for counseling have no power or benefit to deliver the sufferer. If someone is lonely or starved for conversation, counseling will fill that void but the radical change that is needed can only come from God. Informational type ministry is helpful for those who are ignorant or uninformed but information in itself cannot change anyone.

The life of God in us is nourished and strengthened by spiritual exercise and the primary spiritual exercise is prayer. That means real prayer. Not the religious and pious prayers that are so popular. The " I thank God I am not like other men" kind of prayer is just words that fall to the ground. The prayers that tell God everything to do and how and when to do it and then why He needs to do it are presumptuous, pompous and religious but are not in the realm of real prayer.

Prayer is not the result of intellectual stimulation or even information but is the result of persistent prayer. In this way God, the Holy Spirit, will teach us. No one can teach you to swim until you get in the water. Information and the principles of swimming are of great help but each one must do their own swimming. We would instantly know how foolish it would be to call someone and say " Sister, I really need exercise today. I wonder if you would go out and swim for me. We could agree that by your swimming I will get exercise".

An intricate part of the disciplined Christian life is prayer. All the other Christian disciplines are dependent on prayer. For example Bible study is only intellectual unless it is accompanied by prayer. Fellowship turns into offence when there is a lack of prayer.

Spiritual prayer is not self created by man but emerges out of the life of God in us. Now this is the paradox: Prayer strengthens and sustains the life of God in us and the life of God in us is the source of prayer. Prayer builds but is not the source. For example, prayer is the vehicle that produces praise and worship but praise and worship are sustainers of prayer. The reason is because prayer, praise and worship are the ways we come to know God and it is by knowing God that we excel at prayer, praise and worship.

Prayer is the foundation of praise and worship but is not the same thing. The self conscious cannot praise or worship God. However the selfish and self conscious can "pray". It is in prayer that selfishness and self centeredness must be laid aside to become God conscious. It is only after we become God conscious that we can praise and worship God. For that reason, prayer is the starting point for praise and worship.

The soulish approach to prayer focuses upon man's need and what will please man. It will likely try to inform God and impress Him with many words and explanations. Entering into your closet to pray has a greater significance than closing a physical door behind you. Jesus said God already knows what you have need of before you ask and many words are not necessary for that level of prayer. However, it may take some time to learn what God has need of. We don't begin there in our prayer but hopefully we can end our prayer time at that level of prayer.

Since God already knows what we need before we pray, many take that to mean that we should pray very short prayers. The difficulty is that we pray before we get on praying ground. We may have to pray for some time before we come to the place we can pray short prayers. Short prayers are the end of much preparation. Of course there are no laws of prayer, only principles of prayer.

The question then may arise about praying in the Spirit or with the Holy Spirit or praying in tongues. If we pray in tongues for one hour, it may be that we are just approaching the place we can be inspired by the Holy Spirit to pray spiritual prayers. Most all of us can identify with the frustration of praying soulish prayers and feeling as though we hadn't yet prayed.

ROM 8:26 And in the same way the Spirit also helps our 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; ROM 8:27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to {the will of} God.

I'm not sure I know all that this says but in my spirit I know this is not automatic or that it does not happen without effort. All who pray will agree that prayer is a difficult task. The most difficult is just getting to the place of prayer and beginning to pray. The next difficulty is staying in prayer long enough to gain the assurance that the Holy Spirit has gained the ascendancy to intercede through us. This doesn't happen just because we pray in tongues for a few minutes. One common interpretation of these scriptures is that as soon as we begin to pray in tongues, the Holy Spirit begins to intercede through us. After we have finally experienced the Holy Spirit's intercession, we know that is not reality.

After we enter the realm of the Holy Spirit's intercession we know for sure that He helps our infirmity and weakness. I have experienced that a few times in over 33 years. We can only fantasize over this scripture until it becomes our real experience and then we can't repeat the experience when we want. We can pray in tongues whenever we want but we can't pray according to Rom. 8:26 any time we want.

"The groanings too deep for words" is exactly accurate and describes the experience precisely. The next part is searching the heart to know what the mind of the Spirit was communicating to God. This doesn't change the effectiveness of the Holy Spirit's intercession but it does give us an insight of what took place and will give us wisdom so we can continue to pray. In this case the intellect and the spirit are functioning together in spiritual knowledge.

There is a realm of divine certainty where our faith is attached to the reality of God and we know the prayer is complete. Many mistake this for the certainty that our desire will be fulfilled. "The certainty" is that God has heard and will respond in the very best way. This is how many mistakenly announce that healing has taken place or that the crisis has passed. Later they find the answer was not what they expected.

One of the most widespread mistakes in prayer is using "prayer" to give little sermons and inform someone of all the details and difficulties of another's situation. In these little sermonettes we say ridiculous things and ask silly things. If the Bible says certain abominations will produce certain results, there is no use praying that they won't. If we are lazy and disobedient there is no use praying that God will make us zealous and obedient. That is our part and not God's part. It is silly to ask God to not leave us or forsake us because He already has said He won't. We may leave God and forsake Him but He won't forsake us. If we leave God, we can't rectify that by praying that God not leave us. God is not going to leave His position to come and take up our position. It is our responsibility to leave our position and take up God's position. One of the really great revelations of what prayer "is not", comes when we carefully listen to ourselves pray.

The primary and genuine reason we pray is to come into intimacy with God and fellowship with Him. When this is primary, the little sermonettes will cease. In fellowship, when we spend time in His presence, we quickly learn that God does not see things from earth viewpoint. He is evaluating all things from an eternal viewpoint. As earthlings, all that is very confusing. We see the urgency of time and give God deadlines to answer. Praying from earth is the reason we preach at God and give Him so much unnecessary information. Praying from His presence is real "closet prayer" or "Most Holy Place Prayer". In that realm very few words are necessary. The reason is because communication is on a different basis. It is in the realm of knowing rather than in the realm of asking or talking. We still ask but it is not just verbal. Words fail to communicate because we touch the Father's heart. Then it is not just what we want but what is eternally best.

It is in this closet relationship that we are supernaturally changed from what we are to what we ought to be. As we behold Him we are changed into the same likeness. No preaching or earthly fellowship can possibly perfect the same change that is ours in God's presence. God's manifest presence is the most precious message of our Sunday assembly and communicates more than words. It is here that the real work is done subjectively in us. The message is secondary to God's manifested presence and many times is not necessary. When the sermon is a substitute for God's manifested presence, it is already obsolete and of little benefit. Sermonizing outside the presence of God is an exercise in futility. This is how the church gets into religion.

It is in this oneness with God in fellowship and unity that we can distinguish what true prayer means. Not only do we fellowship His Person, we also fellowship His purpose and His desire. Our viewpoint changes from earth and time to heaven and eternity. God's desire is communicated by Spirit and not by words. This is the basis of true worship. The fact is that when we experience His presence, our words are deadened within us. Silence seems to be all that is acceptable.

There is no end to the asking for this and that or pleading with God to deliver us from some defect. We will always need to " keep seeking, "keep asking", and keep knocking" because of our infirmities and problems and not because of God's reluctance. Those who deal with the soul will try to convince you everything is acceptable because of Calvary. It is someone else's fault anyway. Still nothing satisfies the desire for change and holiness. If we fall short of God's manifested presence, our prayer will raise no higher than asking. It is in His presence that we find fullness of joy. Outside His presence, we can ask for fullness of joy but it is not the same.

Paul was a very good Jew but a few moments in God's presence set his whole life on a new course. He was changed with an eternal change. A good sermon will not accomplish the same result. As with most areas of Christian life, our concepts change as we grow in the grace of God. Prayer is like that. When we begin, we have a fixed idea about prayer. We just ask anything in the name of Jesus and we have a confidence that is all there is to it. Because we have read the verse, we think God has to do anything we say, especially if we can find someone to agree with us. If God doesn't respond according to our words, we soon get disillusioned and many grow hard toward God and stop praying. We get the attitude that I told God to do this and that and He didn't do it so what is the point of prayer. Multitudes have fallen into that trap.

After we grow a little we find that prayer is not telling God what to do but is man cooperating with God to get His purpose fulfilled upon the earth. That is an eternal viewpoint and sounds confusing from the earth viewpoint. The confusion enlarges when more and more teach about prayer from the earth viewpoint and how you can get more and more from God. The error is assuming that God has designed prayer so that man can fill his pockets. The teaching is that God is such a good and generous God that He delights to give us anything that we have the faith to pray for. The cliche is : When you pray, be bold, think big and ask for great things. In earth bound prayer, man is the recipient and object of answered prayer. The prayer is answered when man is blessed. If we don't receive the thing we asked for, we must keep on knocking, seeking and asking and give God no rest until we receive it.

In spiritual prayer, God and His purpose are the beneficiaries and the goal is to cooperate with God in prayer until His desire is satisfied. When answered prayer brings joy to God's heart, our prayer is answered. This makes no sense to the person who views God as heaven's Santa Claus. It is only from the eternal viewpoint that we see God's purpose for man is to cooperate with God in ruling over the earth. This is the basis of man participating in the Kingdom of God now, in this age. In the beginning man was given dominion upon the earth to rule over it for God and God hasn't changed His mind. This is confirmed in Psalms 8 and in Hebrews 2:6-8 and shows God's desire for us today. How is man going to fulfil that scripture and rule today, except through prayer. Many will say that is only for the millennium. Where and how is man being trained for the millennium? Right now and by prayer. It is in prayer that God brings man into the circle of His sovereignty and permits man to help make decisions for the earth. In other words, to exercise dominion upon the earth. Man must do it through prayer in cooperation with God or man would destroy the earth and himself in the process.

If a free world person could rule out of his own desire, Russia would have disappeared from the face of the earth long ago. There could be no revival in Russia today and many souls would have been lost. In spiritual prayer, the Holy Spirit inspires and directs the prayer to coincide and harmonize with God's program for the moment. In this way man rules according to the will of God and God protects those He has predestined for salvation.

If we are committed to praying according to the revealed will of God, what is the purpose of praying in tongues? JUD 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith; praying in the Holy Spirit; Praying in the Spirit or praying in tongues is the spiritual way to strengthen and increase our faith. All prayer must be offered in faith. If the Holy Spirit directs us to pray for a specific thing, we may not have sufficient faith to complete a valid prayer. This is another time we need to pray in tongues until we build ourselves up in our most holy faith. This is far from the spiritual hysterics that is accepted as prayer. There is no real crisis except the crises of not standing in real faith in God and His plan. The crisis disappears when our faith is built up by praying in the Holy Spirit.

The persistent intruder into our prayer time is the rising up of our emotions and flashing and fleeting, wandering thoughts. This comes up out of the realm of soul. Very often our prayer time ends before we get out of the realm of soul. God's design to raise us up out of the soul is to pray by the Holy Spirit in tongues. That means, our spirit, by the Holy Spirit, prays. Paul says that when we pray in tongues we are speaking mysteries to God and no man understands us. Obviously, God understands us because the Holy Spirit has given us the language. However, we don't know what we have prayed because it is an unknown tongue or language. Romans 8 indicates that if we then search our heart, we will know what the mind of the Spirit has spoken through us.

Since the Holy Spirit has been given in the Pentecostal experience, tongues has been a very important aspect of prayer. It is no wonder that the Devil has cast dispersions upon the practice so that multitudes of Christians have rejected this mighty gift.

Some articles and books on prayer present prayer as the common sense approach to our daily needs. This is simply the natural man deciding what he wants and asking God for it. Of course, many times God responds but is really primary prayer. Maybe not wrong but still not our goal. Advanced prayer is coming into communion with God and discovering what is on His heart and learning to discern what pleases Him. Since this is not easy, few ever experience this intimacy of prayer. Paul's goal was "to know God". How will this happen? Not by preaching and teaching and fellowship within the church, but by communion with Him. Preaching, teaching and fellowship are second hand methods and become a substitute for personal communion.

Preaching, teaching and encouragement that we get in fellowship are second hand methods of inspiring praise and worship. It is not possible to pump up true praise and worship by exhortation. That may inspire the soul but true worship is in the spirit and comes by knowing who we worship by revelation and by knowing Him.

JOH 4:21 Jesus *said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father. JOH 4:22 "You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Most all of us know the frustration of trying to keep our minds focused upon God in prayer or in meditation and silent communion. The wandering person syndrome is well known by those who pray. We all have heard shallow sermons on Hebrews 10:19. The preacher speaks of how simple it is to come into the very presence of God through the blood of Jesus. This is really simplistic because it doesn't take into account the frailty of man and his battle with earthly things. It is true that on God's part there is an open heaven, but on man's side there are many battles.

Our access to God by the blood of Jesus is the scepter of the Kingdom when we experience it. It is not really ours when we learn the doctrine of it. The doctrine informs us of the possibility but in the experience, God extends the scepter of the Kingdom.

The word translated confidence here and boldness in the K.J. is the Greek word PARRHESIA. It means "freedom of speech". In other scriptures it is translated as "to speak plainly". Our access to the Father by the blood of Jesus is THE ACCESS IN PRAYER. We have the freedom to speak directly with God.

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

Since the Father lives in eternity, our prayer must enter into another realm, outside of time. In that realm there is no crisis, no emergencies and no strange predicaments and no lack of solutions. It is in that realm of eternity that we begin to get in touch with reality. In that realm, God doesn't have to give a thing called peace, because we are in the realm of peace and turmoil has no access. This is in a realm beyond preaching and teaching and counseling and church fellowship. In this realm, God can supply all your needs according to "His riches in glory", in Christ Jesus. Once we experience that realm of God's presence, we will not be satisfied with "practical means of help" that the church offers. We are not criticizing that help. We are just pointing to a higher realm of help.

For years the church has majored on the minors and stopped short of entering into the realms of God's sovereignty and man's dominion under God's sovereignty. They have stopped short of "Kingdom prayer". That doesn't mean the church hasn't prayed but there is a domain which I am calling "KINGDOM PRAYER". Kingdom prayer simply means praying in harmony with God and His eternal government. That is praying beyond man's needs and into God's purpose. If we master the access into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, what we will find is the Kingdom of God's eternal government and the throne of God. We enter into the place where the decisions for all of God's creation are made. In this place we will have the freedom to speak about what the earth needs to fulfill and complete God's eternal purpose.

The problem is that we don't begin in that higher realm of prayer. We begin in the lowest level of faith and prayer. If we could visualize the Tabernacle of Moses we would see there are three distinct areas, (1) the outer court (2) the Holy Place (3) the Most Holy Place. These represent three realms of God's presence. We begin in our approach unto God in the Outer Court. Only the consecrated and anointed priests had access to the Holy Place and only the high priest had access to the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement. These three separate places may also relate to our person as the temple of God. The Outer Court relates to our body, the Holy Place relates to our soul and the Most Holy Place relates to our spirit where God dwells. Our body, in general terms, is also the temple of the Holy Spirit but more precisely the Holy Spirit inhabits our spirit.

The Tabernacle of Moses can also be a picture of different levels or realms of faith and also different realms of prayer. The Outer Court represents our beginning faith and because of beginning faith we experience beginning prayer. It revolves around the altar, the laver, the anointing (the baptism of the Holy Spirit) or the consecration. There is also a revelation of personal holiness and the laying aside of our former manner of life.

The outer court type of faith and prayer revolves around my blessing and what God can do for me. It focuses upon more natural problems and physical needs. There is certainly not anything wrong with this level of prayer or this level of faith. Everybody must begin someplace and this is the beginning place.

However, there is a realm above this realm of faith and prayer. This realm develops through a better knowledge of God and His desire to work in us to change us from independence to inter-dependence. From being an individual to being a member in the body of Christ. From me centered to us centered. While this realm of prayer is higher it is certainly not the highest. The Most Holy kind of prayer revolves around God and His desires and focuses upon what brings joy to God's heart. It is not me centered or us centered but God centered. It is in this level of faith and prayer that we begin to work with God to get His eternal purpose carried out upon the earth. This is the realm where we co-operate with God, under His sovereignty, and we rule with Christ in prayer.

In other studies we have emphasized the "anything" kind of prayer. JOH 14:13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. JOH 14:14 "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do {it. } JOH 16:23 "And in that day you will ask Me no question. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father for anything, He will give it to you in My name.

Jesus puts no limitations or qualifications upon this kind of prayer. We put all kinds of limitations and buts and ifs and if it be Thy will etc. but on God's part He puts no limitations upon the prayer offered in faith. All prayer offered with doubting or unbelief is a waste of time. As we examine more scriptures we see there are some requirements to the "anything" kind of prayer. JOH 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. Ask whatever you wish is an open door and presents no limitations or other qualifications than to abide in Him and His word abide in us. Still this is a higher kind of faith and prayer that flows out of the abiding life.

EPH 1:15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which {exists} among you, and your love for all the saints, EPH 1:16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention {of you} in my prayers; EPH 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. EPH 1:18 {I pray that} the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, EPH 1:19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. {These are} in accordance with the working of the strength of His might EPH 1:20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly {places}, EPH 1:21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.

This kind of faith and prayer would relate to the Most Holy Place realm. This is praying what is on God's heart and what relates to God's eternal purpose. This is not a give me or give us kind of prayer. This is not a bless me or bless us kind of prayer. This prayer is centered on God and His wishes. This prayer focuses upon blessing God.

If the three levels or realms of faith and prayer can be seen, we should also see there are three realms of "anything" kind of prayer. It is possible and quite common for us to pray in the lowest level of prayer but let our imagination fly to ask for something way beyond what we have the faith for. It may be that in our ignorance or zeal, even though we may not be doubting, we just don't have that level of faith. If this is accurate, we could understand that a certain level of faith should produce a comparable level of prayer that rises to that same level of "anything" kind of prayer. The limitation is never on God's part. We can always ask for "anything", not doubting in our heart, and it will be done for us. The limitation is always on man's part. God can and will do "anything" we can believe for. However, it is quite common for people to pray in their imagination and wild dreams but beyond their realm of faith. They stand in one realm and pray for the "anything" that is in a higher realm.

We may see it clearer if we put this in the context of 1JO 2:12. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. 1JO 2:13 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. 1JO 2:14 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. The three realms of growth and knowledge are (1) children (2) young men (3) fathers.

These would also represent three levels of faith, prayer, praise and worship. The children have their sins forgiven, the young men are strong and they are living in the abiding life and have overcome the evil one, the fathers have come to the place of knowing Him and His eternal purpose from the very beginning.

When we come into the Wednesday night prayer meeting we are in the flesh and unable to pray except in the lowest level. We pray by rote. We take prayer requests and pray on an earthly level. The way we break out of that realm is by praise and, if possible, by worship. Not even a high level of praise and worship but in the Outer Court realm of praise and worship. In praise we declare who Jesus is and what He has done for us. We vocally confirm what the word of God says about Him. He is the creator of all things and all power and authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him.

This lifts us out of a self-centered focus upon "my problems" into a realm of revelation of Christ and who He is. Before long we lift our eyes to see Him and worship at this level begins. Through even this low level of worship and praise, a purer faith and a higher realm of faith and prayer begins. This should lead us to a higher level of worship and praise which will open up a higher realm of prayer etc. When the whole emphasis is vertical and upon Christ and the Father, we can slip into another whole realm of faith and prayer where the process begins over again at that level. Hopefully, after an hour or so we should be to a realm where very few words are necessary and communion and communication and knowledge are in the realm of Spirit to spirit.

Those who have been around for a while will recognize that the gifts of the Spirit also work at different levels. When we try to prophesy while the meeting is at a very low level, we know the gift works at a very low level. When the meeting has ascended to a higher level the gift takes on a greater power and impact upon the meeting. Not because the minister was in the flesh and now he is in the Spirit but that the meeting is now able to receive the gift.

When the prayer meeting is still at a low level, we observe that many words are spoken and at a greater volume of sound. However, as the meeting rises less words are spoken and the volume decreases. I am not saying that is right or wrong but that is just an observation. When the manifested presence of God comes, very few words are necessary and the meeting gets very quiet. Now we know we are approaching the Most Holy Place realm of faith, prayer, praise and worship. This is what we all long for and get discouraged when it doesn't ascend to that realm.

We have a tendency to assign more power to a low level of prayer than is actually manifested. The higher level of prayer, the greater the power of God released because the greater level of faith is available to release the power. All prayer is not equal!

We soon discover that prayer is not just a matter of intellect or cleverness in asking for great things but is a matter of "LIFE". It is possible to pray out of a natural life and desire and it is possible to pray out of God's own "LIFE" and His desire in us. The higher prayer releases the higher life and the higher life releases higher prayer until we are praying God's heart.

The same thing is true of faith. Faith is not just a matter of bootstrap believing where by persistence we generate faith. Faith is the product of the "LIFE" in us. Faith is inherent in His "LIFE". Each of us has been given a measure of His kind of faith. Faith releases His "LIFE" which releases a higher and purer faith which releases more of His "LIFE". GAL 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the {life} which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, ( lit. By the faith of the Son of God, Vincent.) who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me. ( I not only live by His "LIFE" but also by His Faith) If this is accurate, there is no limitations upon His "LIFE" and no limitations upon His faith. The sole limitation is upon our releasing His "LIFE" and His faith. This obviously is of a greater dimension and of a higher realm than our own struggle to believe and not doubt in our hearts.

MAR 11:22 And Jesus *answered saying to them, "Have faith in God. (lit. Have the faith of God) [ or God's kind of faith ] For man to have "to generate" mountain moving faith is frustrating. However, if we could release God's own faith there would be no struggle and the mountain would be moved. Bootstrap faith is disappointing. If there is this higher level ( The God Level) of faith and prayer, it will explain several scriptures that appear impossible. My thesis is this; God's own "LIFE" contains God's own faith as well as His other attributes.

It appears that these attributes are inherent within the Holy Spirit but, hopefully, are released by us. The opposite attributes are inherent within the flesh. Bootstrap efforts to produce the fruit of the Spirit in the flesh are disappointing. If we can surrender to the ascendancy of the Spirit He will manifest Himself.

One of the gifts of the Spirit is faith. This is His kind of faith and not just He anointing our miserable level of faith. When the "gift of faith" is present we don't have to struggle to believe and not doubt because we are standing on His level of faith. We could say we function with His kind of faith.

If what we are sharing is accurate, it should be obvious that there are several levels of prayer, faith, praise, worship and the manifestation of His Life. It should also be obvious that most of us are functioning far below our potential. While it may be profitable to discern at what level we are praying, it can also be devastating and humiliating. In reality, most of us know we are not praying at a very advanced level.