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Those who insist that the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit operating
apart from the Word of God are essential to God's hearing and answering prayers, have a problem
that they have not considered. Those who take this position say that the Holy Spirit sustains a
relationship to the Christian that He did not have prior to the Christian age. Their position
is that the Christian age and the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit go together.
If the personal indwelling and the operation of the Spirit apart from the Word are necessary for God to answer prayers, then the following difficulty needs to be explained. Did God hear and answer prayer before the Christian age? If yes, then the personal indwelling and operation of the Spirit apart from the Word are not essential to God's hearing and answering prayers. In Genesis 18, Abraham prayed and God heard his prayer. God was willing to answer his prayer as long as the conditions could be met. Did Abraham have the personal indwelling as brethren claim that Christians have today? If God could hear the prayer of Abraham without the Spirit operating apart from the word, or his having the personal indwelling, why can God not do the same today? The personal indwelling of the Spirit is not essential to God's hearing and answering prayer. |