Praying Without Pretense, Praying Long

'The REPEATED intercessions of Abraham for the salvation of Sodom and Gomorrah present an early example of the necessity for, and benefit deriving from importunate praying. Jacob, wrestling ALL NIGHT with the angel, gives significant emphasis to the power of a dogged perseverance in praying, and shows how, in things spiritual, importunity succeeds, just as effectively as it does in matters relating to time and sense.

As we have noted, elsewhere, Moses prayed FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS, seeking to stay the wrath of God against Israel, and his example and success are a stimulus to present day faith in its darkest hour. Eljah repeated and urged his prayer SEVEN TIMES ere the raincloud appeared above the horizon, heralding the success of his prayer and the victory of his faith. On one occasion Daniel though faint and weak, pressed his case THREE WEEKS, ere the answer and the blessing came.

Many nights during His earthly life did the blessed Saviour spend in prayer. In Gethsemane He presented the same petition, THREE TIMES, with unabated, urgent, yet submissive importunity, which involved every element of His soul, and issued in tears and bloody sweat. His life crises were distinctly marked, his life victories all won, in hours of importunate prayer. And the servant is not greater than his Lord.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 28)

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Praying- all night, praying for 40 days and 40 nights, praying 7 times, praying for 3 weeks, praying 3 times.

These examples are for our LEARNING.  So why do we imagine we can say a single simple prayer and that is that? Why do we lament our God doesn't hear us, doesn't answer our prayers when we scarcely pray one importune prayer? What makes us believe that those closest to God the Father should have to spend agonizing long moments, some times days, some times weeks, some times months in fervent prayer and we should not have to do the same? Why do we spend so LITTLE time in prayer? Why to even imagine a full day of praying is something beyond our comprehension? Maybe we can commit to an hour, but truly more than that we falter, don't we? DON'T WE?! Perhaps a prayer prayed in less than a full minute is all we can muster, is this what we call fervent effectual praying? If your life were on the line and you had to beg for it, how long would you beg? Seriously? If another that you loved had their life on the line would you beg for it long, or only for a moment? I'm not saying our lives are dependent upon the length of our prayers because we can recall Jesus saying the following--

'Mar 12:38  And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
Mar 12:39  And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
Mar 12:40  Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. '

'For a PRETENSE make long prayers'   No, praying long is NO good if done for pretense.

Remember this--

'Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.'

The man praying simply 'God be merciful to me a sinner' was justified, not the Pharisee praying long and with a false heart.

We know that the men of God who prayed long- for hours, days, weeks, and months prayed with sincerity and without any pretense, these men had NO GUILE in them!

Rev 14:3 ...the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Rev 14:4  These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Rev 14:5  And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Those who are God's will have NO GUILE in them, there will be no pretense in their prayers and they will pray as they must pray- truthfully, fervently, effectually, all through the Holy Spirit.

Please, LORD, we would be YOURS in our praying, teach us to truly pray as we ought to pray. We would be YOURS!

By YOUR LOVE, YOUR GRACE, YOUR MERCY, YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!

The Soul's Paternity- Sonship with God!

'Nothing distinguishes the children of God so clearly and strongly as prayer. It is the one infallible mark and test of being a Christian. Christian people are prayerful, the worldly minded, prayerless. Christians call on God; worldlings ignore God, and call not on His Name. But even the Christian had need to cultivate continual prayer. Prayer must be habitual, but much more than a habit. It is duty, yet one which rises far above, and goes beyond the ordinary implications of the term. It is the EXPRESSION OF A RELATION TO GOD, A YEARNING FOR DIVINE COMMUNION. It is the outward and upward flow of the inward life toward its original fountain. It is an assertion of the soul's paternity, a claiming of the sonship, which links man to the Eternal. Prayer has everything to do with moulding the soul into the image of God, and has everything to do with enhancing and enlarging the measure of Divine grace. It has everything to do with bringing the soul into complete communion with God. It has everything to do with enriching, broadening and maturing the soul's experience of God. That man cannot possibly be called a Christian, who does not pray. By no possible pretext can he claim any right to the term, nor its implied significance. If he does not pray, he is a sinner, pure and simple, for prayer is the only way in which the soul of man can enter into fellowship and communion with the Source of all Christlike spirit and energy. Hence, if he pray not, he is not of the household of faith. '

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 27)

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Is this truth, what E.M. Bounds writes? Is it?  Can we be Christ's without communication with Him?

 I can believe people exist without ever communicating with them. I may communicate once a year with someone and that's it, I know they exist and are available for communication if I choose to initiate it, or they choose to do so. However, are they truly an ACTIVE part of my life if I'm not communicating with them? Yes, we may always be related to some of those people we only talk to once every five years and nothing dissolves that blood relation, nothing dissolves the idea of the friendship that was maybe more profound at another juncture in our lives, but lack of communication hinders a GROWING closer, a deepening of the relationship. In fact isn't it true some friendships are mere ghosts of the past? While you have the past to bring back to life through the memories you can stop knowing someone really knowing them as the years pass and you no longer communicate with them. People change, they are no longer the same drinking buddy, or giggly goof-ball, the teasing playful childish behavior may have altered into a mature amusement, but our memories retain what someone once was. We can laugh about someone being the same as ever, and truthfully this is possible, some people never mature but retain a lot of the visages of their childhood, their teenage years, refusing to give them up for a more serious maturity, enjoying their own immaturity and labeling it 'just who they are'.  Still, time that passes when you are not communicating with someone from the past causes a lot of empty slots where life events occur they know nothing about and therefore no longer truly KNOW you. They know the past you, not the present you.  And if we want a living, breathing relationship with Christ as our active, daily Savior, we MUST remain in communication with Him, constant communication.  To think we don't need daily forgiveness, is to believe falsely! The sins remain upon us if we are not in daily communication with God!

What did E.M. Bounds write-- ' It is the EXPRESSION OF A RELATION TO GOD, A YEARNING FOR DIVINE COMMUNION'

A yearning for DIVINE communion!  The expression of a RELATION to GOD!  If God is our everything can we truly believe we have no need of constant prayer with Him, no need of constant communication?  

'It is an assertion of the soul's paternity, a claiming of the sonship, which links man to the Eternal'

The soul's PATERNITY!  He is OUR HEAVENLY FATHER!  And this is something we need to acknowledge daily! He isn't our physical father who in a lot of cases and for many reasons can not be a part of our lives, but He is our HEAVENLY FATHER who is available to us all, and always through every step of our lives! Through the good and the bad, through all the ups and all the downs, our HEAVENLY FATHER is there for us to communicate with!   We are the SONS and DAUGHTERS of GOD! We are truly LINKED to the ETERNAL! If we believe this then we live this! We live our lives knowing our Heavenly Father is our ALL in ALL!

To choose to pray only once a week, or once a year, or once in a lifetime is to choose to fail to recognize God as truly Your Heavenly Father who you need daily, hourly, minutely, always and forever! To choose and fail to recognize your need is to rely upon self. Is it any wonder we are to pray always? This is the recognition of God in all, and ourselves submitted to Him.

PLEASE LORD, help us to pray always, knowing YOU are ALL things and we are but Your creations, Your sons, Your daughters in need of YOU always, constantly. Help us to pray always in YOU!

By YOUR love, grace, mercy!

Truly to be a Christian we must pray always!  If we aren't praying always we are not Christ's, how can we be?

Little lower than the angels-- for a little while

Heb 2:6  But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Heb 2:7  Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands

(ERV)  For a short time you made him lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor.

(ESV)  You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor

(GNB)  You made them for a little while lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor

'The judgment must begin where and over what sin began. Sin began at the Throne of God and over the creation of man.

The creation plan intended man to be only "a little while inferior to the angels." (Heb. 2:7 margin) But in sin man fell even LOWER than the "inferior" position.

Now can God bring an end to sin, and carry out His original plan and none of the angelic host become jealous as did Lucifer?

The judgment is set in the presence of that assembled host. (Dan. 7:10) Jesus coming with His sacrifice asks not only pardon full and complete for His covenant people, but a seat upon His throne. Was His sacrifice sufficient to grant this request?'

Wwn 1989 Special 3

'The redemption that is in Christ Jesus reveals further the objective of God for man. Jesus, too, was "made a little while lower than the angels for the suffering of death" (Heb. 2:9). In His victory, He was "crowned with glory and honor," and "highly exalted" being given "a name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:9). That which God did "when He raised Him from the dead" (Eph. 1:20) not only reveals God's INTENT for man in creation, but also His objective in redemption (Eph. 2:6-7)

Let us, first, observe what the Bible states in regard to God's original placement of man whom He created in His own "likeness." David sang:     What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou hast visited him? For thou madest him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. (Ps. 8:4-6)

The "sanctuary" book of the New Testament, in its preface to the consideration of Jesus Christ as High Priest of our profession, gives a unique interpretation to these verses from Psalms 8. It reads - "Thou madest him a little while inferior to the angels" (Heb. 2:7 margin). The Greek bracu ti - when used of time signifies, "A SHORT TIME, OR FOR A LITTLE WHILE" (Thayer; see also, Arndt & Gingrich.) Then, in comment on "dominion," Paul wrote - "For that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see NOT yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus who was made a little while inferior ( bracu ti ) to the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour (vs. 8-9; emphasis supplied).

As Jesus was for ONLY A LITTLE WHILE inferior to angels, so likewise "the many sons" whom He, the captain of their salvation, will bring to glory shall be for only a little while lower than the angels. IN CHRIST, THE "DIVINE LIKENESS" WAS ONCE MORE REVEALED IN HUMANITY, and through Him as High Priest, the "divine likeness" is to be RESTORED TO MAN. The "first dominion," lost by the first Adam, is regained by the second Adam as He stands at the head of the human race. (Micah 4:8).'

2003 Jul XXXVI 7(03)

When we talk of being made 'new' in Christ, we have to realize that this newness extends far beyond the here and now. Right now we must stay in this world and follow the example of Christ, live in the sinfilled existence totally reliant upon our Father God for all things. Yes, now we suffer, now we must endure, now we live in darkness striving to see through to the light clearly, now we WALK by FAITH. We become NEW creatures in Christ and our expectations of our future life WITH HIM is our hope, this is the goal we strive for in life right now! If we are striving for riches now, we strive in vain. If we are striving for some semblance of peace in our lives now, we strive in vain! If strive for an existence free from pain, from tiredness, from aging, from fear, from all manner of evil- we strive in vain! We are NOT to be taken OUT of this world and this world is controlled by the Prince of darkness, Satan himself! And if we aren't to be taken out of this world, then why do we imagine we can live in this world as if in a bubble that magically shields us from all things evil? Those evil things will remain until the end, we are to be KEPT from evil, not the evil kept from us. There is no barrier erected that eliminates evil surrounding us, at best we are given ARMOR, we are given a SWORD, we are given a SHIELD and this protective gear is worn in the midst of the battle. No one who isn't in battle would choose to be in full dress armor, bearing sword and shield, living that way in their idyllic world without evil. We are outfitted in armor and given weapons BECAUSE we are in BATTLE, a constant BATTLE as long as we are in this world!

For a little while we will remain lower, very inferior to our intended purpose, our intended creation. Just a little while in the realm of ETERNITY where we are made into the beings we were intended to be. Where now we are sinners, then we are sinners made NEW in CHRIST JESUS.

By the GRACE of our LORD SAVIOR we will wear the armor offered, we will seek to fall under the grace of our LORD and the prayer He prayed for us to be kept from evil, not taken out of the evil ruled world, but kept from the evil that rules it while living in the world.

All through our SAVIOR'S RIGHTEOUSNESS!  HIS GRACE and MERCY! HIS LOVE!

Sheer Necessity

'OUR Lord Jesus declared that "men ought always to pray and not to faint," and the parable in which His words occur, was taught with the intention of saving men from faint-heartedness and weakness in prayer. Our Lord was seeking to teach that laxity must be guarded against, and persistence fostered and encouraged. There can be no two opinions regarding the importance of the exercise of this indispensable quality in our praying.

Importunate prayer is a mighty movement of the soul toward God. It is a stirring of the deepest forces of the soul, toward the throne of heavenly grace. It is the ability to hold on, press on, and wait. Restless desire, restful patience, and strength of grasp are all embraced in it. It is not an incident, or a performance, but a passion of soul. It is not a want, half-needed, but a sheer necessity.

The wrestling quality in importunate prayers does not spring from physical vehemence or fleshly energy. It is not an impulse of energy, not a mere earnestness of soul; it is an inwrought force, a faculty implanted and aroused by the Holy Spirit. Virtually, it is the intercession of the Spirit of God, in us; it is, moreover, "the effectual, fervent prayer, which availeth much." The Divine Spirit informing every element within us, with the energy of His own striving, is the essence of the importunity which urges our praying at the mercy-seat, to continue until the fire falls and the blessing descends. This wrestling in prayer may not be boisterous nor vehement, but quiet, tenacious and urgent. Silent, it may be, when there are no visible outlets for its mighty forces.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 26)

******* By the grace of God- more tomorrow!

Believing... ye shall receive

'These recorded instances of the exercise and reward of faith, give us easily to see that, in almost every instance, faith was blended with trust until it is not too much to say that the former was swallowed up in the latter. It is hard to properly distinguish the specific activities of these two qualities, faith and trust. But there is a point, beyond all peradventure, at which faith is relieved of its burden, so to speak; where trust comes

along and says: "You have done your part, the rest is mine!"

In the incident of the barren fig tree, our Lord transfers the marvelous power of faith to His disciples. To their exclamation, "How soon is the fig tree withered alway!" He said:

"If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."

When a Christian believer attains to faith of such magnificent proportions as these, he steps into the realm of implicit trust. He stands without a tremor on the apex of his spiritual outreaching. He has attained faith's veritable top stone which is unswerving, unalterable, unalienable trust in the power of the living God.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 25)

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If we have faith… in prayer.

Faith in our GOD to do ALL that must be done so HIS will can be done in our lives!

This--

'But there is a point, beyond all peradventure, at which faith is relieved of its burden, so to speak; where trust comes along and says: "You have done your part, the rest is mine!'

This is truth! 

Faith-trust.

Belief.

Knowing.

Realizing.

Unquestioning God's will.  Asking for intercession believing that HE will hear and all that follows is a result of His hearing and answering according to HIS will- not ours!

If we ask and the result is NOT immediate  even if it's needed immediately, the answer is GOD'S and we MUST believe  NO matter how AWFUL our situation, that somehow it is for the good, somehow BEYOND our comprehension but NOT beyond our God's comprehension!

We have to BELIEVE- we do NOT have to comprehend all the things of God.

Deu_29:29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

God doesn't have to give us explanations! When we demand explanations from each other, we want people to explain their reasonings to us, we want to UNDERSTAND, we don't want to be left in the dark. So we want God to explain as well. We want to UNDERSTAND and when something defies our comprehension we do not like it at all. 

Faith.

We pray and believe.

We must believe .

Please, Lord, help our UNBELIEF! Rid us of our unbelief!

Help us as we pray, without You our prayers are empty, meaningless.

By YOUR GRACE!

Laboring Fervently in Prayer

'In Romans 15:30, we have the word, "strive," occurring, in the request which Paul made
for prayerful cooperation.

Rom 15:30  Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me

In Colossians 4:12, we have the same word, but translated differently: "Epaphras always
labouring fervently for you in prayer."

 Paul charged the Romans to "strive together with him in prayer," that is, to help him in his struggle of prayer. The word means to enter into a contest, to fight against adversaries. It means, moreover, to engage with fervent zeal to endeavour to obtain.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 26)

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Do we realize that prayer is not easy?  Contrary to all that we want to believe, if prayer has the Holy Spirit interceding for us with GROANINGS which can't even be heard, how can we believe prayer is simple and easy?  

Rom_8:26  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.

We are told how to pray by our Savior, when the apostles asked Him He told them …

Luk 11:1  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.
Luk 11:2  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.
Luk 11:3  Give us day by day our daily bread.
Luk 11:4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.
Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

And even after TEACHING the disciples to pray we read that 'we know NOT what we SHOULD pray for as we ought' .  We are told what to pray but still we don't pray as we should because our prayers are corrupted by our flesh, by our sinfulness, our selfishness.  We are instructed and we may follow the instructions but truthfully we  ask so much more in prayer- we tend to ask for our own desires, our own wills to be done, we get in the way of our own true needs but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR.

The fervency needed in prayer is also given to us by the Holy Spirit, because we cannot manufacture it on our own.

Laboring fervently, striving in prayer- prayer is NOT something meaningless, but something so overwhelmingly filled with meaning that we can't comprehend the full truth of it, we can only PRAISE and THANK our God for allowing us to Pray to HIM.

All through HIS GRACE!

How Do We Pray? Holy Spirit Make Intercession For Us!

'Many of the great Bible characters were notable examples of fervency of spirit when
seeking God.

The Psalmist declares with great earnestness:

"My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto Thy judgments at all times."

What strong desires of heart are here! What earnest soul longings for the Word of the
living God!

An even greater fervency is expressed by him in another place:

"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before
God?"

That is the word of a man who lived in a state of grace, which had been deeply and
supernaturally wrought in his soul.

Fervency before God counts in the hour of prayer, and finds a speedy and rich reward
at His hands. The Psalmist gives us this statement of what God had done for the king, as
his heart turned toward his Lord:

"Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of
his lips."

At another time, he thus expresses himself directly to God in preferring his request:

"Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee."

What a cheering thought! Our inward groanings, our secret desires, our heart-longings,
are not hidden from the eyes of Him with whom we have to deal in prayer.

The incentive to fervency of spirit before God, is precisely the same as it is for continued
and earnest prayer. While fervency is not prayer, yet it derives from an earnest soul,
and is precious in the sight of God. Fervency in prayer is the precursor of what God will
do by way of answer. God stands pledged to give us the desire of our hearts in
proportion to the fervency of spirit we exhibit, when seeking His face in prayer.

Fervency has its seat in the heart, not in the brain, nor in the intellectual faculties of the
mind. Fervency therefore, is not an expression of the intellect. Fervency of spirit is
something far transcending poetical fancy or sentimental imagery. It is something else
besides mere preference, the contrasting of like with dislike. Fervency is the throb and
gesture of the emotional nature.'

Quoted from- 'THE NECESSITY OF PRAYER  By E.M. BOUNDS' (Excerpt 25)


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Fervency in prayer-

Mat_27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Crying out in a loud voice- FERVENCY.

Rom 7:24  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Rom 7:25  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

FERVENCY.

Joh 17:1  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
Joh 17:2  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Joh 17:4  I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Joh 17:5  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Joh 17:6  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
Joh 17:7  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Joh 17:9  I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
Joh 17:10  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
Joh 17:11  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
Joh 17:12  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Joh 17:13  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Joh 17:16  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Joh 17:17  Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Joh 17:18  As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Joh 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Joh 17:20  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Joh 17:21  That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
Joh 17:24  Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Joh 17:25  O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:26  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

FERVENCY.

How do we pray?

Father! Father!

Rom_8:26  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.

By YOUR GRACE!