“Develop our Devotion to the Lord.”

TRANSCRIPT

Date: March 26, 2025 Author: Wayne J. Edwards

Tonight, at 6:00 PM, we will begin a new series of sermons on “True Praying in the Holy Spirit,” based on the book by the same name, written by G.H. MacGregor, the sixth child and fourth son of the Reverend Malcolm MacGregor. While he was only 35 years of age when he passed away due to meningitis, and his public ministry was less than 12 years, G.H. MacGregor is remembered by many of the great teachers in England for his sermons on prayer. MacGregor wrote: “Prayer is an extensive term. It includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, petition, and total self-surrender. These are all essential to rich, full, deep prayer. In connection with them, all the help of the Holy Spirit is indispensable. This is the central, most characteristic feature of prayer. Prayer is more than a petition, but without a petition, there is no real prayer. Prayer is the making of our requests known unto God. But for this work, we are insufficient. The Apostle Paul expressly declares, “We know not what to pray for as we ought” (Rom. 8:26). Our ignorance of the right matter of prayer puts an arrest on the work of praying. If our prayers are to prevail before God, they must conform to three conditions. They must be for what we need, for what God has promised, and for what will be to the glory of God that He should grant. Praying in the Spirit means praying with the mind and the will of the Spirit, aligning our prayers with God’s will and seeking His guidance.” In this introductory sermon, we will learn how to “Develop our Devotion to the Lord.” Thanks for spreading the gospel by sharing these sermon study guides with your family and friends.

Tonight, at 6:00 PM, we will begin a new series of sermons on “True Praying in the Holy Spirit,” based on the book by the same name, written by G.H. MacGregor, the sixth child and fourth son of the Reverend Malcolm MacGregor. While he was only 35 years of age when he passed away due to meningitis, and his public ministry was less than 12 years, G.H. MacGregor is remembered by many of the great teachers in England for his sermons on prayer. MacGregor wrote:

“Prayer is an extensive term. It includes adoration, confession, thanksgiving, petition, and total self-surrender. These are all essential to rich, full, deep prayer. In connection with them, all the help of the Holy Spirit is indispensable. This is the central, most characteristic feature of prayer. Prayer is more than a petition, but without a petition, there is no real prayer. Prayer is the making of our requests known unto God. But for this work, we are insufficient. The Apostle Paul expressly declares, “We know not what to pray for as we ought” (Rom. 8:26). Our ignorance of the right matter of prayer puts an arrest on the work of praying. If our prayers are to prevail before God, they must conform to three conditions. They must be for what we need, for what God has promised, and for what will be to the glory of God that He should grant. Praying in the Spirit means praying with the mind and the will of the Spirit, aligning our prayers with God’s will and seeking His guidance.”

In this introductory sermon, we will learn how to “Develop our Devotion to the Lord.”

Thanks for spreading the gospel by sharing these sermon study guides with your family and friends.

Download the following translated Sermon guides:

The disciples saw the results of Jesus’ intimate fellowship with God the Father, and they cried out: “Lord, teach us to pray!”

Prayer must be our top priority today:

Beginning the Day with Prayer —Robert Murray M’Cheyne (1813 – 1843) Robert Murry M’Cheyne was a nineteenth-century Church of Scotland minister revered for the depth of his piety. Upon hearing him preach, a listener once wrote, “I saw in you a beauty in holiness that I never saw before.” He served two churches, including St. Peter’s Church in Dundee, before dying at age 29.

“I ought to pray before seeing any one. Often when I sleep long, or meet with others early, and then have family prayer, and breakfast, and forenoon callers, often it is eleven or twelve o’clock before I begin secret prayer. This is a wretched system. It is unscriptural. Christ rose before day, and went into a solitary place. David says, ‘Early will I seek Thee; Thou shalt early hear my voice.’ Mary Magdalene came to the sepulchre while it was yet dark. Family prayer loses much of its power and sweetness; and I can do no good to those who come to seek from me. The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not trimmed. Then, when secret prayer comes, the soul is often out of tune. I feel it is far better to begin with God—to see his face first—to get my soul near him before it is near another. ‘When I awake, I am still with Thee.’ If I have slept too long, or am going [on] an early journey, or my time is any way shortened, it is best to dress hurriedly, and have a few minutes alone with God, then to give it up for lost. But, in general, it is best to have at least one hour alone with God, before engaging in anything else.”

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