We should not trust in ourselves, but in God…who delivered us…and…will yet deliver us.
—2 Corinthians 1:9-10
[Some] preach Christ of contention…supposing to add affliction to my bonds…For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
—Philippians 1:16, 19
Scriptures like these prove that there were still Christians in the churches under the full power of the Holy Spirit, on whom Paul could depend for “effectual fervent prayer” (James 5:16). When we plead with Christians to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), there are many who quietly decide that such a life is not possible for them. They do not have any special gift for prayer; they do not have that intense desire for glorifying Christ in the salvation of souls; they have not yet learned what it is, under the power of the love of Christ, to live not for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. (See 2 Corinthians 5:15.)
And yet we bring to them the call to offer themselves in wholehearted surrender to live entirely for Christ. We ask them whether they are not ashamed of the selfish life that simply uses Christ as a convenience to escape from hell and to secure a place in heaven. We come to them with the assurance that God can change their lives and fill their hearts with Christ and His Holy Spirit. We plead with them to believe that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). He is able and willing; He is anxious to restore them to the Father’s house, to the joy of His presence and service.
In order to attain this, they must listen to the call for men and women who will daily and continually, in the power of Christ’s abiding presence, live in the spirit of unceasing intercession for all believers. They must receive the power of the Holy Spirit and acknowledge that this is nothing less than a duty, a sacrifice that Christ’s love has a right to claim, and that He by His Spirit will indeed work in them. The person who accepts the call as coming from Christ and draws near to God in humble prayer for the needed grace, however far he may have come short, will have taken the first step on the path that leads to fellowship with God, to a new faith and life in Christ Jesus, and to the surrender of his whole being to the intercession of the Spirit that will help to bring Pentecost again into the hearts of God’s people.