Lesson 5 Keller on Prayer

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Lesson 5. The Holy Spirit in Prayer and
The Chief End of Prayer, (Murray Lessons 20 and 25)
February 8, 2015, John R. Wible, Editor
From With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray1
Prologue by the Editor. Here is something difficult for me to grasp. God wants us to pray to Him
and for His filling of the Holy Spirit and for our needs. We are not “bothering” Him when we do
this, we are blessing Him.
Why do you think this is? Is it low self-esteemby which we have believed the lie of Satan that
we are not deserving of an audience with the Father, let alone the privilege of asking for His
favor? Is it the reverse of this – pride, the equally false idea that we can handle our own life and
we don’t really need Him?2
The 23rd Psalm.
“The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures . . . “
Psalm23:1.
Last Wednesday, Pastor CJ Falcione taught about the 23rd Psalm. In his teaching, I realized
something I had never realized before. We are valued, dependent sheep, bought with His
blood. Now, one thing that sheep must be free from to be able to “lie down in green pastures”
is fear. This depends on the Shepherd being able to provide their freedom and to inspire in the
sheep the belief that He is providing this freedom.
Genesis 3: 8 is the record of the first time man knew fear. This fear followed a great sin. Isaiah
41, John 14:27, and Romans 14:23 point out that fear is in direct contravention of the command
of God; thus, fear is sin. The root of fear is the sin of unbelief. Faith combats fear. Romans 10:17
says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. How do we “hear the
word of Christ?” My often quoted Henry Blackaby states in Experiencing God that “God speaks
to us by the Spirt though the Bible, prayer, circumstance, and the Church to reveal Himself and
His ways.” We’ve got to listen for Him to speak. Listening is an active verb, it requires a
conscious effort on our part to her. One can, then begin to trust in the Lord by meditating on
Him and His Word.
One of our chief fears is the fear of failure and rejection. This is the sin of trusting in man. If we
are properly related to Christ, what people think about us is either in the first instance,
irrelevant or in the last will follow after proper relationship to God.
1 This is a summary of Murray’s work. No claimis madeby the Editor to original work.
2 Editor’s Note.

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o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h e c o n t e x t .
See Ephesians 1, where we learn who we are in Christ. The list is long and exhaustive. What we
have to do is to spend time with him. There is nothing else that will make these happen. As the
Irish might say, Sinn Fein,3 “we ourselves.” He, Himself alone makes it happen. All we have to
do is to place our focus on Him rather than on ourselves and to remind ourselves of who we
really are in him. Then, our actions will come from our being and we will lessen our fears.
Question: Sounds simple, but how do we actually do this?
Answer: They only way is in prayer. Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us two things. First, we are
surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on. Second, we are told that rather than
fixating on our fear, we must put our attention on Christ. Only He reveals Himself. This
revelation comes from no other source. The way, then to do this is to spend time alone with
him. If we do not spend time with Christ alone, fixing our attention on him rather than on
ourselves, we will have a non-existent or at least an ineffective prayer-life.
Joshua 3 and 4 recount the experience of the Israelites crossing the Jordan for the first time.
God tells them as they cross, to take 12 stones from the dry river-bed with them. When they
encamp, they are to build a memorial to remember the event. They are to rehearse this story
over and over with their children and children’s children. From this, we learn the value of
looking back at the spiritual markers in our past memorial steps.
To combat the sin of fear then, there appears to be a process in our prayer. Later on, Murray
will give us his formula.
1. We concentrate first on Christ himself.
2. Next, we dwell on who we are in Christ.
3. Then, we look back on the spiritual markers. See 2 Timothy 1:7.
4. Lastly, we discover that it also helps to come along side others and teach them these
things. As we teach it, we are reminded of the truth of it for ourselves and it becomes
our truth.
Now, here’s what was given to me. It never occurred to me that fear is a sin. It is the sin of
unbelief that, when stripped down to its core, is the very first sin of pride. Throughout the
Bible, pride and arrogance are listed equally with sins such as murder and other sins we would
all agree are “heinous.” Are pride and arrogance, especially spiritual arrogance then not
“heinous?” As we stated, supra, at its core, fear is basically the sin of pride.4
3 An Irish Gaelicslogan of the Irish Republican Army.
4 That in and of itself is a “fearful”thought, point out the need for deliverance.

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o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h e c o n t e x t .
A caveat was offered to the statements on fear stating that one can have a fear and it not
necessarily be sin. Jesus was fearful in the garden before his crucifixion, however, He was
sinless. He feared being separated from God; but, this fear didn’t keep him from doing God’s
will. (Heb. 2 & 4.) He was fully human and fully divine.
Prof. Denny Burk5 states of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane that though He suffered
immeasurable anguish at what was about to take place, He neither doubted nor feared.
Jesus knew how awful the crucifixion would be before it happened (Matt. 16:21).
There’s a reason that He prayed, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matt.
26:39). The anguish of the cross was real, and He knew it. Nevertheless, the Bible
teaches that Jesus’ vision never stalled-out on death. Jesus saw right through the cross
to the resurrection on the other side. You and I may fear death, but Jesus never did. You
and I may doubt God’s purposes in suffering, but Jesus never did. Ever! What was
definitive for Jesus was the joy set before Him, not death.
In this Gethsemane event, Barclay6 states that we see four things: Jesus’ Agony, Loneliness,
Trust, and Courage. Barclay states:
He was now quite sure that death lay ahead. Its very breath was on him. No one wants
to die at thirty-three; and least of all does any man want to die in the agony of a cross.
Here Jesus had his supreme struggle to submit his will to the will of God. No one can
read this story without seeing the intense reality of that struggle. This was no play-
acting; it was a struggle in which the outcome swayed in the balance. The salvation of
the world was at risk in the Garden of Gethsemane, for even then Jesus might have
turned back, and God's purpose would have been frustrated.
At this moment all that Jesus knew was that he must go on, and ahead there lay a cross.
In all reverence we may say that here we see Jesus learning the lesson that everyone
must someday learn--how to accept what he could not understand. All he knew was
that the will of God imperiously summoned him on.
Barclay, quoting Tertullian,7 tells us of a saying of Jesus, which is not in any of the gospels...
No one who has not been tempted can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. That is, every man
has his private Gethsemane, and every man has to learn to say, "Thy will be done."
5 Denny Burk is a Professor of Biblical Studies atBoyce College, the undergraduate arm of the Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary in Louisville,Kentucky. He also serves as an AssociatePastor atKenwood BaptistChurch,
Louisville,KY.
6 Barclay,William.Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, The Daily Bible Study Series.
7 Tertullian (circa. 160 – 230 AD) De Baptismo. at page 20.

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o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h e c o n t e x t .
[I submit that what Tertullian through Barclay is telling us is that Jesus was tempted to sin in
Gethsemane, and tempted sorely. Yet, He did not yield to the temptation. To be in fear is to
give over control of emotions to the thing that frightens us. Jesus never yielded control except
to the Father, and that He always did. I can base this on Jesus’ continuous use of the Aramaic
word, Abba, Father, the use of which expresses complete trust even in the face of all known or
assumed facts.]8
Barclay, again states:
Joachim Jeremias, in his book The Parables of Jesus, writes thus: "Jesus' use of the word
Abba in addressing God is unparalleled in the whole of Jewish literature. The
explanation of this fact is to be found in the statement of the fathers [John]
Chrysostom,9 Theodore,10 and Theodoret 11 that Abba . . . was the word used by a young
child to its father; it was an everyday family word, which no one had ventured to use in
addressing God. Jesus did. He spoke to his heavenly Father in as childlike, trustful, and
intimate a way as a little child to its father."
We know how our children speak to us and what they call us who are fathers. That is the
way in which Jesus spoke to God. Even when he did not fully understand, even when his
one conviction was that God was urging him to a cross, he called Abba, as might a little
child. Here indeed is trust, a trust which we must also have in that God whom Jesus
taught us to know as Father.
Prof. Burk12 says of fear according to the Bible:
In the Bible, doubt and fear are sins . . . In very explicit terms, Jesus himself commands
his disciples not to “fear” those who persecute them (Matt. 10:26, 28, 31). No less than
seven times, Jesus himself commands his disciples not to be “anxious” about their lives
(Matt. 6:25, 31, 34; Mark 10:19; 13:11; Luke 12:11, 22).13
So, what do you do when you are fearful? Assuming, arguendo that it is a sin, it’s not a “sin unto
death.” The Apostle John in 1 John tells us:
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8, 9. * * *
8 Editor’s comment.
9 Archbishop of Constantinople, circa. 349 – 407.
10 Theodore of Antioch, 392 to 428 AD.
11 Theodoret of Cyrus, circa. 393 – 458/466 AD.
12 Burk, Prof. Denny, A Commentary on Theology, Politics and Culture. http://www.dennyburk.com/about/ .
Accessed 02/18/2015.
13 Id.

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13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that
you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence which we have before
Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He
hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked
from Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God
will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading
to death; I do not say that he should make request for this. 17 All unrighteousness is sin,
and there is a sin not leading to death. I John 5: 13-17.
Further, the Apostle Paul tells us Philippians 4:
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit be known to
all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace
of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus.
If in fact, fear is a sin, treat it as you would any other sin with the 5 R’s: Recognize it as a sin,
Repent of the sin, Request God’s forgiveness, Receive His forgiveness, and Run on until the
next time you do it. The next time you are fearful, try another R – Repeat. The issue with fear
should not be a club to beat us up, rather it is an opportunity for God to bless us by forgiving us.
Murray, Lesson 20. “That the Father May Be Glorified” or “The Chief End of Prayer,” page 78.
I go to the Father and whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father
may be glorified in the Son. John 14:13.
“It is to this end, that Jesus on His throne in Glory will do everything we ask.” Prayers are
answered when the chief aim is to glorify God. When He does not answer prayer it is because
God’s glory is not the chief aimof the prayer. Everything Jesus did on Earth was for this
purpose. “What we ask is only to enable Him to glorify the Father more.”
If the glory of God be our goal, and our prayer is sure to prevail. The converse is also true. “For
the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword.” Hebrews. 4:12.
Jesus being the living embodiment of the Word of God as well as our Intercessor, can discern
the difference in our prayer. Whether the aim of our prayer is to seek to glorify God is the test
of a faithful or a “selfish” prayer. Selfish prayers will not be answered.
Q: [As is true with most things, the more we exercise prayer, the more we will be able to
tell the difference for ourselves.

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Here’s a sobering thought, if we have to ask the questions above, we betray ourselves and
demonstrate that we have not prayed very much don’t we?]14
Murray tells us that if we “do not mourn” the fact that we do not more often seek only the
glory of God, then the separation between the spirit of our daily life and that of our prayer time
is too great. As we pray for the glory of God, we begin to do that which brings down the glory of
God in our daily life. That is the connection to which Murray refers, supra. “A life to the glory of
God is the condition of prayers that Jesus can answer. “ Everything that is not done for the glory
of God is sin. [This is one area in we can readily see that we cannot live without sinning.]
When we live to the glory of God and pray to the glory of God, then Jesus can answer our
prayers. This is all about who rules our heart. Is it desire for the glory of God or selfishness?
Murray asks what power can move us off dead-center and in this direction. His answer is that it
is a glimpse of the glory of God. When we see mighty things God does, and recognize the thing
for what it is, we will more and more desire His glory.
This is why there are so many unanswered prayers – their aim was not to glorify God.
Q: So, how do you tell if you are seeking only to glorify God or satisfy some desire you
have? Start by confessing. Then look to Jesus and contemplate all He has done for us and at
what price.
Comments by Marilyn Chappelle on Lesson 20.
1 John2:15 states,“Do not love the worldnorthe thingsin the world.If anyone lovesthe world,the
love of the Fatheris notin him.”It’snot wrongto ask butwe needto examine ourmotive inasking.
James4:3 tellsus,“Youask and do notreceive,because youaskwithwrongmotives,sothatyou may
spendit on yourpleasures.”
If it’sabout whatwe can get,thenour motivesare wrong. Delightyourself inthe Word.My greatest
desire shouldbe Hisdesire.It’sokaytoaskfor thingsbutdefertoHis will.The more we learnof Him,
the more we knowHiswill.
In Exodus33, Moses toldthe Lord, “… if Your presence doesn’tgo,we don’tgo.”Thenhe askedthe Lord
to showhimthe glory.
In John5: 19-20, JesusstatesthateverythingHe didwastobring gloryto God andwe needtoask if
whatwe are doingor proposingtodo doesthe same thing.
19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son
can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever
the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves
14 Editor’s Comment.

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the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him
greater works than these, so that you will marvel.
We can glorifyGodina lotof ways.Aswe continue togrow inChrist,we learnto glorifyHiminall
things.We defertoHis will.We surrenderourwill toHis.
Whenwe ask, take itthrough the gloryfilter.
Lesson 25. “At That Day “or “The Holy Spirit in Prayer,” Page 100.
23 In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you
ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24 Until now you have
asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made
full.
25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; an hour is coming when I
will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.
26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the
Father on your behalf; . . .20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy
faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. John 16:23-26.
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy
Spirit 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ to eternal life. Jude 20, 21.
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His
name’s sake. 13 I amwriting to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from
the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil
one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. 14 I have written to
you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to
you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you
have overcome the evil one. 1 John 2:12-14.
Murray observes that the 1 John passage suggests that as with physical life, there are three
stages to or spiritual life: infancy, adolescence, and maturity. So it is with prayer. Jesus in the
Sermon on the Mount, could be summarized in one word, says Murray, “Father.” This suggests
a child-like trust.
Then comes the state of transition, of questioning and wondering and of failing. As when Jesus
points out in Matthew 17:21 that the disciples could not cast out the demon because that kind
only comes out with “prayer and fasting.”

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o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h e c o n t e x t .
Lastly, in Jesus’ parting words to them, he hands over the keys to the Kingdom because they
have become mature.
The difference is that when Jesus was with them, He prayed with them and for them. [Their
prayers still were basically Old Testament prayers to God as they always had prayed.]15 Now,
however, when Jesus goes to the Father, He gives them a new way to pray – “in His Name.”
That is the mature prayer, not merely by invoking the words of His Name but by actually
praying “in His Name.” As we have seen, Jesus did nothing except that which brought glory to
the Father. Likewise, the prayer “in His Name” is one that brings glory to the Father. [I submit
that it also means that the answer is also in the Father’s manner and time.]16
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost changed the Spiritual world. It activated the keys to
the Kingdom that Jesus had given, and the universal key is that the prayer is “in His name.” This
is a realization of the complete knowledge of the Trinity. God the Father grants the prayer
which is uttered in the Name of the Son through the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we pray truly in Jesus’ Name, the Spirit is praying alongside of us with those groans and
utterances that we cannot make.
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as
we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 17
It is the continued “efficacy and application” of Jesus’ atonement and intercession that makes
our prayers heard and acted upon.
Question: What does this look like and how does it work?
Question: If it is true, and it is, that the key is the “asking in Jesus’ name,” what does that look
like and how does it work?
Dana Hartsfield comments on Lesson 25.
There are three stagesof prayer:
1. Faithand trust,
2. Strugglingandtryingto grow
3. Becominga friendof Jesus
We mustrememberwhoJesusisandwhothe HolySpiritis.Throughthe Spirit,Jesusgave usthe keysto
the kingdom.TomaintainourrelationshipwithHim, we have tocontinuallypray.The HolySpirit
couldn’tcome anddwell inusuntil Christwasglorified.
15 Editor’s Comment.
16 Id.
17 Romans 8:26.

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o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h e c o n t e x t .
The Holy Spiritpraysforus. Romans8:26. Prayer is throughJesuswhoisat the righthandof the Father.
The extentof the abidingisthe exactmeasure of the powerof prayer.
IV. Prayer Time – see prayer list.
VI. Next Week’s Assignment:
Read Murray Chapters 3, 17 and 18 (pages 16, 67, and 72.)
Postscript
After posting the above revised edition of Lesson 5, and after feeling rather proud of my work on
it, I received an email from someone who said that they had read the revised edition and agreed
with me on the “fear debate.”
My immediate reaction was, “Oh no, this has become a debate and I did not intend for anything
to become a debate. I responded to her in that manner and with those words.
As I write this post script, I am waiting at home for some men to come pick up a piece of
equipment. For that reason, I was not able to go to the men's prayer at the house of prayer this
morning. While preparing for my quiet time, the time was “interrupted” by a text from one of the
men with whom I pray on Saturday AM asking if there was anything that I needed for them to
pray about. I replied to him about the fear debate.
He reminded me of Ephesians 6:18 concerning fear. I read that Scripture and noted that verses
19 and 20 also addressed the subject. I texted him back thanking him for sending me the
scripture and saying that it was right on point.
Ephesians 6:18-19 says:
18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on
the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that
utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness
the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming
it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
He texted me back and asked what was the point of “debate?” I decided to call him and I explain
what the situation was. I asked for prayer that I would not be guided by my own fear of being ill
thought of by class members. He also said to read 2 Timothy 2:7 that says, "7 For God has not
given us a spirit of timidity [fear], but of power and love and discipline."
So, I have been in prayer about this “debate.” Perhaps God was giving me a real life lesson in
the power of prayer and in the confronting of my own fears. Was I more interested in telling the
truth as God has revealed in His Word, or at least my interpretation of it or was I interested in, no
fearful of, not being well thought of by a friend?

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o t h e r w i s e o b v i o u s f r o m t h e c o n t e x t .
Thus, God brought me to what Henry Blackaby calls a “crisis of belief that requires faith and
action.” Would I act out of my fear or would I act out of love and truth? Without a doubt, the
first action should and always will be to pray – to pray using words; to express what is going on
and to ask for God’s clear guidance. He has answered. In this, God has given me a new
understanding not only of prayer but of fear as well.
As to fear, may I suggest that the bottom line is this? We all are beset my fears. Each of us fears
a multiplicity of things. Perhaps if we were to express these fears to others. They might think
them petty and trivial – maybe not so much.
To be attacked by fear and doubt is a natural emotion. Jesus was certainly attacked by the spirit
of fear and doubt in the Garden of Gethsemane. The question is how did He and how do we
react? Should we react out of fear and doubt, we give the control to the fear. If we pray and ask
God for the courage to act out of the courage that God gives us, then we are given the victory
over fear.
So, is feeling fear and doubt a sin? No. We feel what we feel. Is reacting out of fear and doubt
without asking God for the courage to deal with it a sin? Yes, it is. But here's the thing. If we but
ask God, He will answer. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
In this exercise, God not only taught me a lesson about fear, but also about prayer. That lesson
will carry over into next week’s study.
Editor.