The Church at Prayer

I.  Prayer and Sovereignty         v. 28

A.  Prayer and Conformity      (With Reference to Purpose)

B.  Prayer and Instrumentality (With Reference to Process)

II.  Prayer and Iniquity                 v. 29

A.  God’s Surprising Desire

B.  The Double-Edged Petition

C.  The Pre-Condition for Boldness

III.  Prayer and Specificity           v. 30

IV.  The Answer from Heaven   v. 31

A.  The Necessity of Unity

B.  The Necessity of the Holy Spirit

C.  The Necessity of Confirmation

D.  The Necessity of Desire

“If God feeds the ravens His mercy will supply the spiritual wants of His sinful creatures. It is an actual fact that God takes greater pleasure in filling the hungry soul than the hungry mouth. He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him than an earthly parent is to give bread to his children. If there were only a demand upon the part of man for the heavenly food, as urgent as there is for the earthly food the supply would be immediate and in abundance. If a man craved grace as much as he craves wealth, the heavens would drop down and dissolve in a rain of righteousness. If the human soul panted for God as it does for pleasure and fame, the consequences would astonish men and angels.”                                                                                        

W. G. T. Shedd (1820-1894)

Sermons to the Spiritual Man