Form without power
Formalistic prayers, even when based on the divinely inspired words of God, minister nothing but death. Words alone are not enough, they must be baptised with the fire of God’s Spirit.
Lynne Hammond says in ‘The Master is Calling’:
“Please understand, I am a Word person. I love the Word of God. But if you try to apply that Word without fellowshipping with the Person and Spirit of God Himself, your life and your prayers will be dry and powerless. That’s because it is the Holy Spirit who quickens the Word to you. It’s God Himself – the Person and power behind the Word – Who makes it come alive in your life.”
She continues later in the same book:
“We’ve had enough superficial performances of prayer. We’ve had enough spiritless, weak praying. Now we need prayers that avail with God so powerfully they can change the course of nature; prayer that changes people and nations; prayer that projects God in full force to the world.”
James 5:16 says:
“… The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].” (James 5:16 AMP)
When the Spirit of Prayer is mixed with God’s Word and Promise the impossible becomes possible and dynamic miracle power is released:
“For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]….” (Hebrews 4:12 AMP)
“He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power…
(Hebrews 1:3 AMP)
Our prayers are energised by God’s Word living and abiding in a heart filled and moved by the Holy Ghost. They are propelled full force by the fire of His Word residing in the believer’s spirit. Paul Himself prayed for the church that they would realise this mighty power, and recognise the mightiness of the One dwelling and moving within them (Ephesians 1:17-20; 3:16-21).
b. What is important is that our prayers are not mere spiritual sounding monologues or choruses; they must be imbued with holy fervency arising from communion with the Holy Ghost.
Lynne Hammond rightly says:
“As soon as you make something a form, you rob it of its effectiveness…our prayers to Him are a matter of relationship and not ritual, you can easily see why He doesn’t respond to forms. Real prayer is genuine communication. Religious form, however, is a type of manipulation!”
This does not negate the application of principle in prayer. Mere hot air and emotion do not constitute effective prayer, and without skill in the art of prayer we can expend much energy to no avail, but all forms of prayer must be subject to the leading and dynamic of the Spirit of prayer Himself.
Charles Finney, the renowned revivalist, states these facts even stronger in his book about the principles of revival:
“I have dwelt the more on this subject, because I want to have it made so plain that you will be careful not to grieve the Spirit. I want you to have high ideas of the Holy Ghost, and to feel that nothing good will be done without His influences. No praying or preaching will be of any avail without Him. If Jesus Christ were to come down here and preach to sinners, not one would be converted without the Spirit. Be careful, then, not to grieve Him away, by slighting or neglecting His heavenly influences when He invites you to pray.
We see from this subject the absurdity of using set forms of prayer, or prayer books. The very idea of using a form rejects, of course, the leadings of the Spirit. Nothing is more calculated to destroy the spirit of prayer, and entirely to darken and confuse the mind, as to what constitutes prayer, than to use forms. Forms of prayer are not only absurd in themselves, but they are the very device of the devil to destroy the spirit and break the power of prayer. It is of no use to say the form is a good one. Prayer does not consist in words. And it matters not what the words are if the heart is not led by the Spirit of God. If the desire is not enkindled, the thoughts directed, and the whole current of feeling produced and led by the Spirit of God, it is not prayer. And set forms are, of all things, best calculated to keep an individual from praying, as he ought.”
