What a sweet savor rises from this petition, a burnt offering of thanksgiving and supplication. It is meet and right that the saints should ever give thanks for one another, for truly it is the Spirit who knits our hearts together in love, a love which is the first and fairest fruit of His indwelling. To remember each other night and day is no small token of that charity which is the bond of perfectness. Yet, let us be careful that our prayers go beyond the surface; it is one thing to utter grateful words, and quite another to have the love of God so shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost that our very meditations and the words of our mouth become an endless hymn of praise.
You do well to plead for the salvation of those who know Him not, and for the growth of those newly born into the kingdom. This is the very marrow of intercession. But remember, it is not the finery of a florist’s art, but the living, organic fruit born of the Spirit that we must seek. Joy is not a luxury, it is a command and a fruit. Despondency may often be the child of indigestion or unbelief; but the Spirit’s fruit is joy, a deep, unshakable delight in God. Beware then of the counterfeit of earthly mirth, and seek that holy, sacred, delicious joy which comes from looking wholly to Christ, and not by constantly looking within your own self in a way that breeds misery.
As you ask for the fruit of the Spirit to abound, see to it that love is chief, for love is the most fit vestment, and the crown and glory of the tree. Love is not mere sentiment; it is the very witness of the Spirit that we have been passed from death unto life. Where the Spirit seals, He gives a new heart, and writes the Gospel on its fleshy tablets. Let your words, therefore, be not only loving, but saturated with the Word of God, which is the Spirit’s own sword, sharp, quick, and powerful. The Spirit never uses a weapon of human workmanship; He wields the Scriptures which He Himself inspired. So, take up this sword in your daily walk and in your prayers, and you shall see the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life lie slain at His feet.
Pray also for an increase of order and organization in your life. The Proverbs are sanctified common sense, and the child of God is to be distinguished by honesty, integrity, and a disciplined character. Yet even here, let your confidence rest not upon the seal of the Spirit as though it were separate from the blood of the Son. The Spirit never takes the place of the Redeemer, but takes of the things of Christ and shows them to us. Therefore, ground your hope wholly on Him who is the faithful and true Witness. To be a child of God is greater than to be an angel; and if the Spirit of adoption be in you, you have a young heaven within your soul, which no sudden blast of trouble can wholly wither.
Go then, with this fragrance about you, the love of God poured out like a rain of perfume over your heart. Let your daily work be a singing of hymns, not with the lips only, but by the tenor of an honest, faithful character. And as you journey, rejoice that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, and that He who raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies. Live in that blessed hope, and the fruit of the Spirit will ripen in due season, to the praise of His glory.