A30158:113
I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also,…
I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also, or, A discourse touching prayer, from I Cor. 14.15 wherein is briefly discovered 1. What prayer is, 2. What it is to pray with the spirit, 3. What it is to pray with the spirit and with the understanding also / by John Bunyan.
London : Printed for the author, 1663
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
When the Spirit gets into the heart then there is Prayer indeed, and not till then.
VVhen the Spirit gets into the heart then there is Prayer indeed, and not till then.
Ninthly, The soul that doth rightly pray, it must be in and with the help and strength of the Spirit; because it is impossible that a man should express himself in Prayer without it: when I say it is impossible for a man to express himself in prayer without it, I mean that it is impossible that the heart in a sincere and sensible, affectionate way, should pour out it self before God, with those groans and sighs that come from a truly praying heart, without the assistance of the Spirit. It is not the mouth that is the main thing ⟨p. 53⟩to be looked at in Prayer, but whether the heart be so full of affection and earnestness in Prayer with God, that it is impossible to express their sense and desire. For then a man desires indeed, when his desires are so strong, many and mighty, that all the words, tears and groans that can come from the heart, cannot utter them. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities, and maketh intercession for us with sighs and groans that cannot be uttered.
Ninthly, The soul that doth rightly pray, it must be in and with the help and strength of the Spirit; because it is impossible that a man should express himself in Prayer without it: when I say it is impossible for a man to express himself in prayer without it, I mean that it is impossible that the heart in a sincere and sensible, affectionate way, should pour out it self before God, with those groans and sighs that come from a truly praying heart, without the assistance of the Spirit. It is not the mouth that is the main thing ⟨p. 53⟩to be looked at in Prayer, but whether the heart be so full of affection and earnestness in Prayer with God, that it is impossible to express their sence and desire. For then a man desires indeed, when his desires are so strong, many and mighty, that all the words, tears and groans that can come from the heart, cannot utter them. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities, and maketh intercession for us with sighs and groans that cannot be uttered.