(Prayer as Revelation and the Mercy That Restores the Fainting Spirit)

August 1st reminds the believer that prayer is not primarily a means of persuading God to alter our circumstances. It is a place of communion in which the Father increasingly reveals the character and life of his Son. Even when our own spiritual strength seems little more than smoking flax, the Father does not abandon his work. Through mercy he renews the responsive spirit, sustaining the life he has begun until the character of Jesus again burns brightly through the spirit of sonship.

Prayer Becomes a Place Where We Learn the Son

Chambers writes:

“God wants to instruct us regarding His Son, and He wants to turn our time of prayer into mounts of transfiguration.” (My Utmost for His Highest)

Chambers directs our attention toward one of the Father’s great purposes in prayer.

He wants us to know his Son.

Prayer therefore reaches beyond asking for answers.

It becomes communion in which our understanding of Jesus is enlarged.

The disciples’ experience on the mount of transfiguration provides a fitting picture.

Their attention was directed toward the Son.

They were permitted to see something of his glory that ordinary circumstances had concealed.

Prayer can function in the believer’s life in a similar way.

Circumstances may remain unchanged.

Questions may remain unanswered.

Difficulties may still be present.

Yet in communion the Father redirects our attention toward Christ.

The Son becomes clearer.

His obedience becomes our pattern.

His relationship with the Father becomes the pattern of our own sonship.

His life becomes the life we desire to manifest.

The purpose of prayer is therefore not merely that circumstances should change around us.

It is that the life of the Son should become increasingly evident through us.

The Father Does Not Quench the Smoking Flax

Spurgeon writes:

“Thou art like the smoking flax: no light, no warmth, can come from thee; but he will not quench thee; He will blow with his sweet breath of mercy till he fans thee to a flame.”
(Morning and Evening)

Spurgeon speaks tenderly to the believer who feels spiritually weak.

There are seasons when the flame seems almost extinguished.

Prayer feels difficult.

Faith seems weak.

Love feels cold.

Obedience becomes laborious.

The believer may look inward and wonder whether anything remains but smoke.

Yet the Father does not despise weakness.

He does not extinguish the struggling flame.

He restores it.

The answer is not greater confidence in ourselves.

The answer is renewed dependence upon divine mercy.

Through the operation of the Holy Spirit upon the human spirit, the Father strengthens what has become faint and restores responsiveness to the spirit of sonship.

The flame does not revive because the believer discovers hidden strength within himself.

It revives because the Father faithfully sustains the life he has brought forth.

Where the Two Meet: Prayer Turns Weakness Toward the Son

These truths belong together beautifully.

Chambers shows us prayer as the place where the Father teaches us concerning his Son.

Spurgeon shows us what happens when we enter that communion in weakness.

The Father restores the flame.

One truth directs our attention toward Christ.

The other prevents us from despairing when our own spiritual condition seems weak.

Together they reveal that prayer is not a performance of spiritual strength.

It is the communion of dependence.

We come because we need the Father.

We look toward the Son.

The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit.

And what has grown faint is renewed as the spirit of sonship again responds to the Father’s gracious operation.

The mount of transfiguration and the smoking flax therefore meet in the same place:

Our attention is turned away from ourselves and toward the Son.

Pastoral Orientation

August 1st calls for Christ-centered prayer and confident dependence upon the Father’s mercy.

Do not measure prayer merely by the answers you receive.

Allow the Father to use communion to deepen your understanding of his Son and conform your responses to the pattern of Jesus.

Do not despair when the flame seems weak.

The Father does not despise the smoking flax. Trust his mercy to strengthen what has become faint and restore your responsiveness to his will.

As you continue walking “after the spirit,” you will find that prayer increasingly becomes a place where the Son is revealed, while the Father’s gracious operation continually renews the spirit of sonship so that the life of Jesus may again shine through you.

Look toward the Son.

Trust the Father’s sustaining mercy.

And you will discover a life that enters prayer not merely seeking answers, but seeking deeper communion, where the Father reveals the Son, the Holy Spirit strengthens the human spirit, and the fainting flame is renewed until the life of Jesus burns increasingly bright through the spirit of sonship, to the glory of the Father.