The Prayer Life [Annotated, Updated]: Persevering in Prayer

by Andrew Murray

When a Christian does not yield entirely to the leading of the Spirit – and this is certainly the will of God and the work of His grace – he lives, without knowing it, under the power of the flesh. This life of the flesh manifests itself in many different ways. It appears in the impatience of your spirit; in the anger that so unexpectedly arises in you; in the lack of love for which you have so often blamed yourself; in the pleasure found in eating and drinking, about which at times your conscience has scolded you; in seeking for your own will and honor; in your confidence in your own wisdom and power; and in your love of the pleasure in the world, of which you are sometimes ashamed before God. All this is life according to the flesh. Ye are yet carnal (1 Corinthians 3:3). That text, perhaps, disturbs you at times, for you do not have full peace and joy in God.