"No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" John 6:44

"Prayer is the drawing and pressing of the impressed image toward its Original, which is the Triune God." - Abraham Kuyper

It is all important that it be understood that the act of prayer originates from the Spirit of the Father drawing to seek Him in prayer and not our own will and endeavoring. There is nothing in mortal man that prays. He has no prayer in himself. Man ought to pray but the truth is he cannot, nor does he wish to or see the value of prayer; for he does not even know what prayer is. Man is only aware of the world he lives in and what he wants for himself, by himself because his spirit is un-regenrate, dead. Man is bound to himself and finite in his understanding not seeing The Eternal. The carnal man, whether believing or not, lives only in the sphere of his own pain, joy, sin and success. He cannot by himself know any thing outside of his limited sphere of senses - yet he is very aware of the cosmic loneliness within not even knowing how to enquire for remedy.

The Bible begins within the opening chapters God with seeking and calling lost man, "Adam, where are you?", Gen 3:9. It is in this moment that God's compassion is stirred for man's blind plight trapped in fear and He begins to draw him with bands of love, Hosea 11:4. This drawing is mystical and cannot be described by words, but it is beautiful and attracting. It was the attractiveness of Jesus when He prayed in Luke 11:1 that drew his disciples to ask - "teach us to pray".

It is that sweet Word from the Father Himself that speaks directly to the innermost tabernacle of a man saying, "seek My Face". When our heart responds "Thy Face will I seek" as David said in Psalm 27.8, we are drawn to Himself in mutual desire for communion.

It is to become our discipline to hear His whisper "seek My Face" as we would tune our ears to hear the cooing of the morning dove on a branch outside our window. When there is no desire or urge to pray, do not try to will it but do as the Shulamite as she mused on her lover and their previous engagement. She called for her beloved, "Draw me, we will run after thee", Song of Sol 1.4. She waited in her chambers in stillness waiting for her beloved's voice to call her out.

Prayer that is willed is not prayer but can easily become spiritless recitings of heartless words. Prayer is to be the breathing out of the breath of love towards He who draws us with bands of love. This kind of prayer is as easy as breathing because it's a prayer of the heart - the heart that God has given us to know Him, Jer 24.7.

"Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts" Ps 42.7

"When we sing, 'Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,' we are not thinking of the nearness of place, but of the nearness of relationship. It is for increasing degrees of awareness that we pray, for a more perfect consciousness of the divine Presence. We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts." --A.W. Tozer

We live in a fast paced world ever accelerating in information and social media relationships, yet people's need for intimacy is accentuated by the lack of real relationship leaving many, many in a growing sense of loneliness, disconnected from their circles of meaningful relationships. People have become more increasingly as isolated islands in the vast sea of humanity - talking and texting; speaking to others but not being heard, hearing and not really understanding.

Society has become comfortably accustomed to meet at an arid and shallow plain and exchange something physical or even soulish while the unseen heart cries out of it's depth for the intimate and meaningful.

Intimacy that we are craving for cannot be met at the physical plane only nor at soulish level (of the mind, emotions, the will the conscience or identity of the soul). Our physical body is aware only of people and the world we live in and it's media, mentality, fashion, food, entertainment, news, career, etc. Our Soul is only self conscious of it's inner psychic noise of fear, shame, guilt and what it wants, knows, feels or determines.

The intimacy we were made for can only take place at the spiritual level. Where the depths of the Spirit of God calls out to the depths of the spirit of a person.

This is what Job was pleading for when he said "Even today is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning. Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me. There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered forever" Job 23:2-7. Job wanted to be deeply known, deeply heard, deeply understood.

David yearned for this intimacy also in Psalm 42.7 when he said "deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts." The Hebrew word used here for "waterspouts" is "sinnor" which refers to a water shaft hollowed out of stone, a water tunnel. It describes water that flows through the water tunnel suddenly and quickly, creating a rushing sound of turbulent water.

For there to be that intimacy that we so deeply desire there must be first the drilling down through the stone of the physical world-consciousness, deeper still through the soulish self-conscious, until there is the breaking through to that spirit inside of us. Then and only then can the refreshing waters from the depths of God 's Person fill our thirsty soul, Psalm 42.1-2. This is that moment when His Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we belong, that we are not lost orphans but sons. This relationship and nearness that we experience in prayer is a nearness that is closer to us than our very soul, our very memory, and our very breath. We can hear His whispers, He has no need to shout for He is closer to us than we are to ourselves. This is true intimacy. This is the sum of all that we need.

For the next 30 days I will be posting daily entries on prayer. These entries will be a little guide for those who desire to refresh and re-kindle their prayer-life. My prayer is that the Spirit of Intercession & Pleading would breathe on this & draw you into His Presence to enjoy Deep Communion with God and Clarity of Direction in your Prayer Life.


Outline:
Week 1 - Preparation: The Deep Calling to the Deep
Week 2 - Entering into the Temple
Week 3 - Fellowship & Intercession at the Mercy Seat
Week 4 - Waging Warfare in Prayer


Please check back here often as the updates will come.
In His Pleading,
Christian

"Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend! "

Pilgrim William Brewster holds a Bible as the Pilgrims pray for a safe journey as they leave for America from Delft Haven, Holland, on July 22, 1620.

After a prayer service, the Pilgrims began building hasty shelters. However, unprepared for the starvation and sickness of a harsh New England winter, nearly half died before spring. Yet, persevering in prayer, and assisted by helpful Indians, they reaped a bountiful harvest the following summer.

Pilgrim Edward Winslow described the Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving in these words:

“Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling [birdhunting] so that we might, after a special manner, rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as… served the company almost a week… Many of the Indians [came] amongst us and… their greatest King, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted; and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought… And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet BY THE GOODNESS OF GOD WE ARE… FAR FROM WANT.”

Lincoln’s original 1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation came—spiritually speaking—at a pivotal point in his life. During the first week of July of that year, the Battle of Gettysburg occurred, resulting in the loss of some 60,000 American lives. Four months later in November, Lincoln delivered his famous “Gettsysburg Address.” It was while Lincoln was walking among the thousands of graves there at Gettysburg that he committed his life to Christ. As he explained to a friend:

When I left Springfield [to assume the Presidency], I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When Iburied my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not aChristian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw thegraves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and thereconsecrated myself to Christ.