And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
— Luke 11:1-2
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
— Hebrews 4:15
Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
— Hebrews 5:2
Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
— Romans 8:26
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
— Zechariah 12:10
For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
— Matthew 10:20
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
— Ephesians 6:18
The Use of Prayer and the Holy Spirit’s Work Within It, by John Owen. The following contains Chapter One and an excerpt from Chapter Two of his work, “A Discourse on the Work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer, With a Brief Inquiry into the Nature and Use of Mental Prayer and Forms.”
Chapter 1
The Use of Prayer and the Holy Spirit’s Work Within It
The work of God’s towards believers is either general, and not confined with a respect unto any one duty more than another, or particular, with respect unto some especial duty. Of the first sort are regeneration and sanctification, which, being common unto them all, are the general principles of all actions of grace or particular duties in them.
But there are, moreover, several special works or operations of this Holy Spirit in and towards the disciples of Christ, which, although they may be reduced to the general head of sanctification, yet they fall under a special consideration proper for themselves. Of this sort is the aid or assistance he gives to us in our prayers and supplications. I suppose it will be granted that prayer, in the whole compass and extent of it, as comprising meditation, supplication, praise, and thanksgiving, is one of the most signal duties of religion. The light of nature in its most fruitful ideas, with its practical language in the consciences of mankind, concurs in its agreement with Scripture in this matter; for both of them jointly witness that it is not only an important duty in religion, but also, that, without it, there neither is nor can be the exercise of any religion in the world. Never any people lived in the acknowledgment of a Deity, but, under the conduct of the same apprehension, they thought about the duty of vows, prayers, and praises, incumbent on them as they found occasion; yes, although they found out external, ceremonious, ways of solemnizing their devotions, yet it was this duty of prayer alone which was their natural, necessary, fundamental acknowledgment of that Divine Being they own.
Neither are there any considerable stories extant, recording the monuments of the ancient heathen nations of the world, where (to the shame of degenerate Christianity it may be said) there are not more frequent accounts given of their sacred invocations and supplications to their supposed gods than are to be found in any of the historical monuments and stories concerning the actions of Christian nations in these latter ages. This, therefore, is the most natural and most eminent way and means of our communion with God, without which we have no present advantage above the beasts that perish, but will turn out to our eternal disadvantage in that misery of which they are incapable. This is the way in which we exercise towards him all that grace we receive from him, and render him an acceptable acknowledgment of that homage and revenue of glory which we are never able to exhibit enough in their due kind and measure. Of what use and advantage is a proper performance of this duty to ourselves no one is able fully to express; everyone can add something of his own experience. But we need not insist on the commendation of prayer, for it will be said, “By whom was it ever discommended?”
And I wish I saw reason to agree with that reply; for not only the practice of the most, but the declared opinions of many, do evidence that neither the excellency of this duty nor its necessity doth find such acceptance and esteem in the minds of men as is pretended. But this being not my present design, I shall not further insist upon.
My purpose is not to deal with nature, its necessity, its properties, its uses, effects, and advantages of this gracious duty, as it is the vital breath of our spiritual life before God. Its origin in the law of nature, as the first and principal means of the acknowledgment of a Divine Power, whose neglect is sufficient evidence of practical atheism (for he that prays does says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Ps. 14:1, 53:1) Its direction in Scripture, as to the rule, manner, and proper object of it; the necessity of its constant use and practice, both from special commands and our state in this world; with the whole variety of inward and outward occasions that may befall us, or we may be exercised with; arguments, motives, and encouragements to constancy, fervency, and perseverance, in the performance of its duty, with known examples of its mighty power and marvelous success; the certain advantages which the souls of believers receive by it, in spiritual aids and supplies of strength, with peace and consolation.
With several other of its concerns, although much written about already by many, might yet be further considered and improved. But none of these comes into my present design. The interest of God’s Holy Spirit, by his gracious operations, is alone what I am inquiring into.
And it cannot be denied but that the work and actions of the of grace, in and towards believers, with regard to the duty of prayer, are more frequently and expressly asserted in Scripture than his operations with respect to any other particular grace or duty whatever. If this should be called into question, the following discourse, I hope, will sufficiently vindicate and confirm its truth. But, by this, believers are instructed, as in the importance of the duty itself, so in the use and necessity of the aid and assistance of the of God in and for the right discharge or performance of it; for where frequent plain revelations concur in multiplied commands and directions, with a continual experience, as it is with them in this case, their instruction is firm, and, by the way of being fixed in their minds. As this makes an inquiry into these things both necessary and seasonable, for what can be more so than that in which the spiritual life and comfort of believers are so highly concerned, and which exhibits to us so gracious a condescension of divine love and goodness? So, moreover, the opposition that is made in the world against the work of the of God in prayer, above all other his operations, requires that something should be spoken in vindication of it.
But the enmity here seems to be peculiar to these latter ages; I mean among such as pretend unto any acquaintance with these things from the Scripture. It will be hard to find an instance in former ages of any unto whom the of God, as a of grace and supplication, was a reproach. But as now the contradiction herein is great and fierce, so is there not any difference concerning any practical duty of religion wherein parties at variance are more confident and satisfied in and about their own apprehensions than they are who dissent about the work of the of God in our prayers and supplications; for those who oppose what is ascribed by others unto him herein are not content to deny and reject it, and to refuse a communion in the faith and practice of the work so ascribed unto him, but, moreover, such is the confidence they have in their conceptions, that they revile and speak evil contemptuously and despitefully of whatever they oppose. Hence, the ability to pray, for which I am pleading, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, is so far from being allowed to be a gift, or a grace, or a duty, or in any way useful among men, that it is derided and scorned as an indescribable faculty, fit to be exploded from among Christians; and, at length, it is thought of as an invention and artifice of the Jesuits, to the surprise and offence of many serious people; the inadvisability of which insinuation the following discourse will prove.
Others, again, profess that of all the privileges of which they are made partakers in this world, of all the aids, assistances, or gifts they receive from, or by, the Spirit of God, which he communicates and helps them with in their prayers and supplications, is the most excellent and inestimable; and here they have — whether living and dying, in all troubles, distresses, temptations, and persecutions — such assurance and satisfaction in their minds, that they are not in the least moved by all the scorn and contempt that are heaped upon their profession and practice in the exercise of the gift they have received, but rather judge that they have contracted the guilt of a great sin to themselves by which this work of the Spirit is reproached. Hence, I don’t know any difference about religious matters that is managed with greater animosity in the minds of men, and worse consequence than this, which is about the work of the Spirit of God in prayer; which, indeed, is the hinge on which all other differences about divine worship turns and depends. It may, therefore, be well worth our while, yes, it is our duty, to quietly and diligently inquire into what Scripture teaches us in this matter, in which we must acquiesce, and by which all experiences on one side or the other must be tested and regulated.
Two things, then, I propose in the following discourse, concerning both of which I shall plainly and briefly endeavour to satisfy my calm and unprejudiced readers — and these are: firstly, to prove that there is promised and actually granted a special work of the Spirit of God in the prayers or praises of believers under the New Testament; secondly , to declare the nature of that work , or the manner of the operation of the Holy Spirit in it. And if, in these things, no impression can be made on the minds of men possessed with those mighty prejudices who reject their very proposal and all consideration of them with contempt, yet, it may be of use to them, who, being not biased by the undue love or hatred of parties of men, nor elated with high valuations of their own thoughts above those of others, whom they think they have reason, if not to hate, yet to scorn, desire sincerely to live for God, and prefer the performance of their duty above all other considerations, endeavouring to subdue their inclinations and feelings to this high aim. Nor do I desire more of any reader but that he will grant that he is here conversant with things which will have an influence to his everlasting account.
Chapter 2
Zechariah 12:10 Opened and Vindicated
The special promise of the administering of the Spirit of God for the end under consideration is that which I shall lay as the foundation of the following discourse.
“I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications.” (Zech. 12:10)
The promised here is the spirit of God, “the Holy Spirit”, with regard to the special end for which he was promised. And the manner of his administration in the accomplishment of the promise is expressed by the words “I will pour upon.” The same word is used to the same purpose in Ezek. 39:29; Joel 2:28, as are also other words of the same importance, which we render “pouring out”, as in Prov. 1:23; Is. 32:15, 44:3, 52:15.
1. Two things have been elsewhere declared concerning this expression, applied to the communication of the Holy Spirit —
(1) That a plentiful dispensation of him unto the end for which he is promised, with respect unto a singular and eminent degree in his operations, is intended therein. The apostle expresses this word, or the accomplishment of what is promised in it, by looking at Titus 3:6 — “he hath richly”, or abundantly, “poured out his Spirit.”
Not, then, a mere grant and communication of the Spirit, but a plentiful outpouring of him, is intended, which must lead to some eminent effects as pledges and tokens of it, for it is absurd to speak of a “plentiful, abundant outpouring” to a degree greater than what was before granted; and yet there is no certain ways or means by which it may be proved and demonstrated. The Spirit, therefore, is promised in this place so as to produce some notable and special effects in his communication.
(2) That this promise is special for the days of the gospel. I mean every promise is special when mention is made of the pouring out of the Spirit on men; which may be shown by a consideration of every passage where this expression is used. But in this instance, it is definitely unquestionable, the immediate effect of it being a looking to Christ as he was pierced. And it may be yet further observed that there is a tacit comparison in it with some other time or season, or some other act of God, in which or by which he gave his Spirit before, but not in that way, manner, or measure that he now promises to bestow him.
2. Those to whom he is thus promised are “the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem” — a reference to the whole church, expressed in a distribution into the ruling family, and the body of the people under their rule. And the family of David, which was then in supreme power among the people in the person of Zerubbabel, is expressly mentioned for three reasons —
Because the faithfulness of God in his promises was concerned in the preservation of that family, from which the Messiah was to spring, Christ himself being, in the rule of the church, typed out in a special manner.
Because all the promises in a peculiar manner were first to be fulfilled in the person of Christ, so typed by David and his house. On him the Spirit, under the New Testament, was first to be poured out in all fullness; and from him to be communicated unto others.
It may be to denote the special gifts and graces that would be communicated to them who were to be employed in the rule and conduct of the church under him, as king and head. And “the inhabitants of Jerusalem” is a phrase expressive of the whole church, for that was the seat of all their public ordinances of worship. See Psalm 122. Therefore, the whole spiritual church of God, all believers, are the object of this promise, as presented in the “house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”
3. The special qualifications of the promised Spirit are twofold; for —
(1) He is to be a “spirit of grace”, which the Greek constantly renders charis; and from the Latin gratia, “grace” is derived which means to “have mercy” or “compassion”, to be “gracious”; as all the words by which God’s gracious dealings with sinners are expressed in the Hebrew, including pity, compassion, free goodness, and bounty. And it is variously used in Scripture: sometimes for the grace and favour of God, as it is the fountain of all gracious and merciful effects towards us (Rom. 1:7, 4:16, 5:2,15, 20, 6:1; 1 Cor. 1:3); and in other places innumerable — and sometimes for the main effect of it, the gracious favour of God by which he accepts us in Christ (Eph. 2:5; 2 Thess. 1:12); which is the grace the apostle prays for on behalf of the church. (Rom. 16:20; 1 Cor. 16:23) And sometimes it is applied to the favour of men, and an acceptance of them, called the “finding grace” or “favour” in the sight of anyone (Gen. 39:4, 21; 1 Sam. 2:26; Prov. 3:4; Esth. 2:15,17; Lk. 2:52; Acts 4:33); — and sometimes for the free effective efficacy of grace in those in whom it found (Acts 14:26; 1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 12:9) — and sometimes for our justification and salvation by the free grace or favour of God in Christ (Jn. 1:17; 1 Pet. 1:13) — for the gospel itself, as the instrument of the declaration and communication of the grace of God (2 Cor. 6:1; Eph. 3:2; Col. 1:6; Tit. 2:11) — for the free donation of the grace and gifts of the Spirit. (Jn. 1:16; Eph. 4:7) And it has many other meanings, which do not belong to our discourse.
Three things may be meant in this adjunct of grace.
1 In respect of the sovereign cause of his dispensation, which is no other but the mere grace of God. He may be called a “Spirit of grace” because his donation is an effect of grace, without the least regard to any deserving in those to whom he is given. The reason for the title is declared in Tit. 3:4-7. The sole cause and reason, in opposition to our own works or deserts, of the outpouring of the Spirit upon us, is the love and kindness of God in Jesus Christ; from which he may be justly called a “Spirit of grace”.
2 Because he is the author of all grace in and to them on whom he is poured out; so God is called the “God of all grace” because he is the fountain and spring of it. And that the Holy Spirit is the immediate efficient cause of all grace in us has already been proved elsewhere, both in general, and in the principal instances of regeneration and sanctification; and I shall further confirm this in what is to follow.
3 Commonly used in the New Testament is that grace or favour which one has with another — “Let me find grace in thy sight; as in the examples I quoted earlier.
And so the Spirit also may be called a “spirit of grace”, because those on whom he is poured out have found grace and favour with God; they are gracious with him, as being “accepted in the Beloved.” (Eph. 1:6) Whereas, therefore, all these concur wherever this is communicated, I know no reason why we may not judge them all here included, though that, in the second place, is especially intended. The Spirit is promised to work grace and holiness in all on whom he is bestowed.
(2) He is, thus, poured out a “spirit of supplications”, that is, of prayer for grace and mercy. The word is formed from one that means to be gracious or merciful, and, expressing our act towards God, it is prayer for grace — supplication;’ and it is never used but to express vocal prayer, either in the assemblies of the people of God or by private persons. “Hearken to the voice of my supplications,” is rendered by the apostle Paul HIKETĒRIAS (supplications) in Heb. 5:7; where alone, in Scripture, that word is used. Originally, it signified a bough or olive-branch wrapped about with wool or bays, or something of the same nature, which they carried in their hands and lifted up, who were suppliants to others for the obtaining of peace or the averting of their displeasure. Hence came the phrase “ velamenta proeferre” (to hold out such covered branches). So Livy, in De Bel. Punic., lib. 24 cap. 30 writes — “Ramos oleae, ac velamenta alia supplicantium porrigentes, orare, ut reciperent sese” — “Holding forth olive-branches, and other covered tokens used by suppliants, they prayed that they might be received” into grace and favour. Which custom Virgil describes in his Ænead (8. 127), addressing himself to Evander. And they called them “branches of supplication”, or prayer. And they constantly called those prayers, which they offered solemnly to their gods, supplicia (supplications), Livy, lib. 10 cap. 23.
Some render it by miserationes or lamentationes, and interpret it of men’s bewailing themselves in their prayers for grace and mercy — which, in the issue, does not vary from the sense insisted on; but whereas it is derived from a word which signifies to be merciful or gracious, and expresses an act of ours towards God, it can properly signify nothing but supplications for mercy and grace, nor is it otherwise used in Scripture. See Job 41:3; Prov. 18:23; Dan. 9:3; Jer. 31:9; 2 Chron. 6:21; Jer. 3:21; Ps. 28:2, 6, 31:22, 116:1,130:2, 140:6, 143:1; Dan. 9:18, 23; Ps. 86:6; which are all the passages, besides this one, where the word is used; in all, it denotes deprecation of evil and supplication for grace, constantly in the plural number, to denote the earnestness of men.
Prayers, therefore, are properly supplications for grace and mercy, for freedom and deliverance from evil, put by a synecdoche a figure of speech for all kinds of prayer whatever. We may, therefore, inquire in what sense the Holy Spirit of God is called a “spirit of supplications”, or what is the reason of this attribution to him. And he must be so either formally or efficiently, either because he is so in himself or to us. If in the former way, then he is a Spirit who himself prays, and, according to the meaning of those Hebraisms, abounds in that duty. As a “man of wickedness” (Is. 55:7), or a “man of blood”, is a man wholly given up to wickedness and violence, so, on the other hand, a “spirit of supplications” should be a Spirit abounding in prayer for mercy and the diverting of evil, as the word means. Now, the Holy Spirit cannot be thus a of supplication, neither for himself nor us. No imagination of any such thing can be admitted with regard to himself without the worst blasphemy. Nor can he, in his own Person, make supplications for us; for besides that any such interposition in heaven on our behalf is Scriptural, wholly confined to the priestly office of Christ and his intercession, all prayer, whether oral or interpretative only, is the act of a nature inferior to that which is prayed to. This the Spirit of God does not have; he has no nature inferior to that which is divine. We cannot, therefore, suppose him to be formally a Spirit of supplication, unless we deny his deity. He is so, therefore, efficiently with regard to us, and, as such, he is promised to us.
Our inquiry, therefore, in general, is how, or in what sense, he is so. And there are only two ways conceivable by which this may be affirmed of him —
1 By working gracious inclinations and dispositions in us for this duty.
2 By giving a gracious ability for the discharge of it in the right way.
These, then, must belong to, and comprise, his power as a Spirit of supplication.
Both of them are included in that affirmation of the apostle — “The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us.” (Rom. 8:26) Those who can find any other meaning in this promise may do well to express it. Everyone consistent with the analogy of faith shall be admitted, so that we do not judge the words to be void of sense, and have nothing to do with them. To deny that the Spirit of God is one of supplication in and believers is to reject the testimony of God himself.
By the ways mentioned, we affirm that he is so, nor can any other way be assigned.
1 He is so by working gracious inclinations and dispositions in us for this duty. It is he who prepares, disposes, and inclines the hearts of believers to its exercise with delight and spiritual complacency. And where this is not, no prayer is acceptable to God. He finds no delight in those cries which an unwilling mind is pressed or forced to by earthly desires, distress, or misery. (Jas. 4:3) Of ourselves, naturally, we are averse to any communion with God, as being alienated from living for him by the ignorance and vanity of our minds.
And that secret alienation is still working in us from all duties of immediate communion with him. It is he alone who works us into that frame of mind in which we pray continually, as it is required of us; our hearts are kept ready and prepared for this duty on all occasions and opportunities, being in the meantime acted and steered under the conduct and influence of those graces which must be exercised there. This, some call the “grace of prayer” that is given us by the Holy Spirit, as I suppose improperly, though I will not argue about it; for prayer absolutely and formally is not a particular grace distinct from all other graces that are exercised in it, but it is the way and manner by which we are to exercise all other graces of faith, love, delight, fear, reverence, self-abasement, and the like, for certain special ends. And I know no grace of prayer distinct or different from the exercise of these graces. It is, therefore, a holy commanded way to the exercise of other graces, but not a peculiar grace in itself. Only, where anyone is seriously disposed and devoted to this duty, we may, if we please, though improperly, say that he is eminent in the grace of prayer.
And I do suppose that this part of his work will not be denied by any, no, not that it is intended in the promise. If any are minded to stand at such a distance from other things which are ascribed to him, or have such an abhorrence of allowing him a part or interest in our supplications as that we may, in any sense, be said to pray in the Holy Spirit, that they will not admit of so much as the work of his grace, and that produced in believers by virtue of this promise, they will manage an opposition to his other actions at too dear a rate to be gainers by it.
2 He is so by giving an ability for praying, or communicating a gift to the minds of men, enabling them profitably as to themselves and others to exercise all his graces in that special way of prayer. It will be granted later that there may be a gift of prayer used where there is no grace in its exercise, nor perhaps any to be exercised — that is, as some improperly express it, “the gift of prayer, where the grace of prayer is not”; but in declaring how the Spirit is one of supplication, we must take in the consideration of both. He both disposes us to pray, that is, to the exercise of grace in that special way, and he enables us to pray. And where this ability is wholly and absolutely lacking, or where it is rejected or despised, although he may act and exercise those very graces which should be exercised in prayer, and whose exercise in that way is commonly called the “grace of prayer”, yet this work of his belongs under the general head of sanctification, where he preserves, excites, and acts all our graces, and not just to this special work of prayer, nor is he a Spirit of supplication in this. He is, therefore, only a Spirit of supplication, properly, as he communicates a gift or ability to people to exercise all his graces by the way and duty of prayer. This is what he is here promised for, and promised to be poured out for; that is, to be given in an abundant and plentiful way. Wherever he is bestowed in the accomplishment of this promise, he both disposes the hearts of men to pray, and enables them to do so. This ability, indeed, he communicates in great variety, as to the degrees of it, and as to its usefulness to others in its exercise, but he does it to everyone so far as is it necessary for his own spiritual concerns, or the discharge of his duty towards God, as well as everybody else. But whereas this assertion contains the substance of what we plead for, a further confirmation of it must be the main subject of the following discourse.
That this is the meaning of the passage, and the mind of the Holy Spirit in the words, needs no other demonstration but that it is expressive of their proper significance, neither can any other sense be fixed on it. To deny the Holy Spirit to be denominated a Spirit of supplication because he inclines, disposes, and enables them to pray to whom he is promised, and on whom he is bestowed, is to use a little too much liberty in sacred things.
A learned man of late, out of hatred for the Spirit of prayer, or prayer as his gift, has endeavoured to deprive the church of God of the whole benefit and comfort of this promise (Moïse Amyraud, Praefat. in Psal.); for he contends that it belong not unto the Christian church, but unto the Jews only. Had he said it belonged unto the Jews in the first place who should be converted unto Christ, he had not gone so wide from the truth nor from the sense of other expositors, though he had said more than he could prove. But to suppose that any grace, any mercy, any privilege by Jesus Christ, is promised unto the Jews, wherein Gentile believers shall be no sharers, that they should not partake of the same kind, whoever hath the prerogative as to degrees, is fond and impious; for if they also are children of Abraham, if the blessing of faithful Abraham do come upon them also, if it is through them that he is the heir of the world, his spiritual seed inhabiting it by right in all places, then unto them do all the promises belong that are made unto him and his seed.
And, whereas, most of the “exceeding great and precious promises” (2 Pet, 1:4) of the Old Testament were made to Jacob and Israel, to Jerusalem and Zion, it is but saying that they are all limited to the Jews, and so at once despoil the church of God of all right and title to them; which impious folly and sacrilege has been, by some, attempted. But whereas all the promises belong to the same covenant, with all the grace contained in them and exhibited by them, whoever is interested by faith in that covenant is so in all the promises of God that belong to it, and has an equal right to them with those to whom they were first given. To suppose, now that the Jews are rejected for their unbelief, that the promises of God made to them while they stood by faith have ceased and are of no use, is to overthrow the covenant of Abraham, and, indeed, the whole truth of the New Testament. But the apostle assures us that “all the promises of God in Christ are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Cor. 1:20), that is, in their accomplishment in us and towards us. So, also, he positively affirms that all believers have received those promises which originally were made to Israel (2 Cor. 6:16-18, 7:1) And not only so, but he declares also that the promises which were made of old to particular people on special occasions, as to the grace, power, and love contained in them and intended by them, they yet belong to all individual believers, and are applicable by them to all their special occasions. (Hebrews 13:5-6) And their right to, or interest in, all the promises of God is that which those who are concerned in the obedience of faith would not forego for all the world. This, therefore, is only a particular example of the work and effect of the Spirit, as he is, in general, promised in the covenant.
And, as I have declared, the promises of him as a Spirit of grace and holiness in the covenant belong to the believers among the Gentiles also. If they do not, they have neither share nor interest in Christ; which is a better plea for the Jew than this peculiar instance will afford. But this promise is only a special declaration of what, in one case, this would do, who is promised as a Spirit of grace and holiness in the covenant.
And, therefore, the author of the criticism, suspecting that the fraud and sacrilege of it would be detected, took himself to other subterfuges, which we shall afterward meet with in this discourse.
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