The Holy Spirit Part 4 of 8 Kathryn Kuhlman What to do When You Don't Know How To Pray

We've been having some wonderful heart -to -heart talks regarding the Holy Spirit. And I still contend that it stands to reason that if we would pursue the same course of speaking and writing about the Holy Spirit as we do about the person and the work of Jesus Christ, much of the mystery, much of the misunderstanding as to his person and his work would disappear. So little is being taught. So little has been taught regarding the Holy Spirit that we more or less have accepted him as a mystery. And now suddenly, when we see the manifestation of his person, when we see this great moving of the... Holy Spirit. Thousands feel as though he is a new personality who has just come on the scene. And yet, in our heart -to -heart talks, we see that he has always existed. He has existed with God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. All right. Now we go a little deeper into the study of this person. And remember, he is a person. Always. Whenever Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit, he always used the personal pronoun. Always. He, the Holy Spirit, he will guide you into all truth. The use of the personal pronoun is always used. in the Word of God, whenever it is referring to the Holy Spirit. Exactly where I left off in our last heart -to -heart talk. Remember, the Holy Spirit's teachings and His communications are not His own. But that of the Lord Jesus Christ. I quote from this Bible. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. Jesus continues, He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. Now, the office work of the Holy Spirit is twofold. First of all, he will glorify Jesus always. Without exception, the Holy Spirit magnifies Jesus. He always glorifies Jesus. Second, The office work of the Holy Spirit is to equip the believer with power for service. You know, to this end, the preacher and the teacher of the word should be a Holy Ghost filled person. I still contend that. The Bible teaches it. The one who stands behind the pulpit. The one that is used as the vessel. The one who has been called out to preach the word should be a spirit -filled person. There's scripture. And it stands to reason. Peter said, you know, we have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. remember what paul said oh that glorious spiritual giant the one to whom god entrusted such wonderful knowledge i do not believe that the heavenly father entrusted to any one individual greater knowledge greater spiritual knowledge than he entrusted to paul and yet paul said and my speech And my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Now see something. The instrument that the Holy Spirit uses to convict and convert men is the Word of God. That's why I say to you over and over again, you and I have got to get back. to the bible there is no substitute for the bible i don't care how wonderful those religious books may be i don't care who the authors are there is no substitute for the word of god the bible and the instrument that the holy spirit uses to convict men and women, is the Word of God. And the seed is the Word of God. That's clearly stated in the 8th chapter of Luke, the 11th verse. But as in the natural world, the seed must be alive to generate, and there can be no life without pre -existing life. For if there is no such thing as spontaneous generation of life, so it is true also in the spiritual world. The seed, the Word of God, must be vitalized by the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, it's barren. This explains why skeptics and scientists and philosophers and others may know the Scripture, mentally they know it, Look at Dr. Jarman for over 50 years. He knew the scriptures so well, he had memorized literally chapters and could stand behind his pulpit, never reading from the Bible, but quoting from memory, chapter after chapter. And he was proud of the fact. And members of the congregation... were proud to be able to say, we attend Dr. Jarman's church. The man of great intellect. The man who never has to read the scripture from the Bible. He stands and quotes it perfectly. What was it? He had a mental conception of the word of God. He had memorized it beautifully. But there was not the life in the word that the Holy Spirit must give before it can convict of sin and of the judgment to come. The letter killeth, but the Spirit maketh alive. The Spirit gives it life. I want to repeat it again. The seed is the Word of God. But exactly as in the natural world, the seed must be alive to germinate. It has to be. And so in the spiritual world, the seed, the Word of God, must be vitalized by the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, just the Word itself. is barren and there's no life there and that's just exactly why there are thousands who stand in their purpose today they can quote the scripture glibly and yet nothing happens the natural man receiveth not in other words the natural man cannot understand the things of the spirit of god for their foolishness unto him, neither can he know them. Why? Because they are only spiritually discerned. I can back every word that I've just now told you. This is all recorded in 1 Corinthians, the second chapter, the 14th verse. Mm -hmm. You may wonder why you can't understand the Bible. You've never been born again. You sit there and read it. It's weak to you. Why? Because you've never been born of the Spirit. There's no life in the seed. The seed is barren. But oh, when you've been born again and there's life in the seed, something happens. The word of God is no longer Greek to you. You read it and the Holy Spirit gives you the understanding of the word. I know what I'm talking about. I know what I'm talking about because... I have had no training whatsoever. I've never gone to seminary in my life. Everything that I've gotten, I have had to depend on the Holy Spirit to give it to me. Every bit of revelation, every bit of spiritual understanding, I have never gotten it secondhand. I've gotten it... Straight from the Holy Spirit. He has been my teacher. And you can get it the same way. But if you're going to lean to your own understanding, the word will just become dead. If you're going to lean on your education, the seed is barren. Only the Holy Spirit can give life to that seed. The letter killeth, but the Spirit maketh alive. All right, let's go a little deeper. When we come now to the person of the Holy Spirit, there's something that has meant an awful lot to me, and I pray that in the next several minutes, It will be one of the most helpful things that I have ever given you. It's Romans, the eighth chapter. I'm going to read just two verses, the 26th, the 27th verses. You know, I think one of the hardest things in the whole world is to know the will of God. You can come to me and you can say, Miss Kuhlman, this is my problem. To you it is. Now, what shall I do about this thing? I cannot tell you God's will for you. The one thing that I can be dead sure of, and that is the fact that if you're not sure of God's perfect will regarding a certain thing, His will will never be contrary to his word. That's one thing you can be sure of. If there's something right now that you're debating about and you're seeking the will of God, the first question I would ask you, if in making one decision or the other, in making that decision, it would be contrary to the teaching of the word, then you know that one decision would be wrong. His will under any and all circumstances will never be contrary to his word. And you and I will never be an exception. We like to kind of kid ourselves, you know, once in a while. We want something so much. Oh, we want it so much. And we just started. Tease the Lord and say, won't you just this once close your eyes to it and don't look. Because I want it so badly that make me an exception, you know. Sometimes we all become little children. But the thing is, you never argue God out of his word. You never change his mind when it comes to his word. It holds true to each individual. No matter how much he loves us, many a parent, being teased by a youngster, will give in to the youngster, even though they know it will be detrimental to them, but they, well, they do it for two reasons. They keep the youngster quiet. You know, oh, just stop teasing me. Please, anything for peace. Yes, eat all the candy that you want to. But just be quiet. And then there may be a parent who will say, Oh, I can't say no to my child. I love him so much. That's natural love. But the Heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love. And his love, because it is a perfect love, will never give us something that would be detrimental to us. And you can tease forever and ever. He'll never give it to you. He'll never break his word just to keep you from constantly teasing and begging him. So in seeking for his perfect will, always remember it may not be as great a problem as you think it is. It may be answered even now when you realize that his will will never in any given matter be contrary to his word. Never. But let's say that You're honest. Oh, I've gone through this. Dear God, how often I've gone through it. You see, I have some tremendous decisions to make. I've got to live what I preach. I wouldn't dare backslide for a day. Do you realize if I would backslide for one hour, I'd be sunk. I'd get myself in such a jam and so much trouble. I've got to keep in contact with him. That line from here to there has got to be kept open. And power has got to keep flowing. My responsibilities and to whom else can I go? I don't have anyone else to whom I can depend or to whom I can go. And it's a constant thing. Nobody but the Lord himself knows the decisions that I have to make. There's a ministry at stake. There are thousands and thousands of lives who are dependent upon this ministry. The responsibility sometimes is overwhelming. And there have been times when I've almost wished If he had called someone else, it would have been so much easier. To have married one of those Missouri farmers. It would have been so peaceful out there with the chickens and the cows on a Missouri farm. The responsibility sometimes is overwhelming. And many a time, I've come face to face with something not know what decision to make. One was right, one was wrong. My will was surrendered to His will. I was perfectly willing to do either thing, and yet I didn't know what decision to make. Here is when the Holy Spirit is so important, and I read from the Word of God, Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. It means our defects, our personal failing. 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 answered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is in the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Over and over again there had been those who have said, Shall we pray? Oh, this loved one of mine is in such great suffering. My precious little godly pet. The suffering is so tense, Miss Cooman. Should I pray that God will take him, or shall I pray that God will heal him? Let's get right down to where folks live. This is practical. You've stood by the bedside of your loved one, and you did not know how to pray. should I pray that this one shall be healed or should I pray that God will take him? And when you can stand there with the will completely surrendered to the will of the Father, having no will of your own, and you just look up with an honest heart and say, please, I pray that in this moment, the Holy Spirit, who searcheth and knoweth my heart. And he knows what is the mind of God. Please, intercede for me before the Father's throne and do the perfect will of God. I've given you something. that I feel is one of the greatest secrets that I could give you when it comes to your prayer life. When you do not know how to pray, turn it over to the Holy Spirit. He knows the perfect will of God in the matter. And you cannot, you will not miss. God bless you.