Worship Wednesdays: How to Pray, Week 7

How to Pray, by R.A. Torrey

Chapter 6:  Always Praying and Not Fainting

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus emphasizes the lesson that men ought tot pray and not faint.  The first parable is found in Luke 11:5-8 and the other in Luke 18:1-8.

“And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and say unto him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he from within shall answer and say, ‘Trouble me not:  the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.’ I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.” (Like 11:5-8)

“And He spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint; saying “There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded men: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him saying, ‘Avenge me of mine adversary.  And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I fear not God, nor regard men, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ and the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge saith.  And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily!  Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:1-8)

In the former of these two parables, Jesus sets forth the necessity of importunity in prayer in a startling way.  The word rendered importunity literally means shamelessness.  Jesus wants us to understand that God desires us to draw nigh to Him with a determination to obtain the things we seek that will not be put to shame by any seeming refusal or delay on God’s part.  God delights in the holy boldness that will not take no for an answer.  It is an expression of great faith and nothing pleases God more than faith.  

Jesus seemed to deal with the Syro-Phoenician woman almost with rudeness.  But she would not give up that easily, and Jesus looked upon her shameless persistence with pleasure.  He said, “o that thou wilt” (Matthew 15:28).  God does not always give us things at our first effort.  He wants to train us and make us strong by compelling us to work hard for the best things.  Likewise, He does not always give us what we ask in answer to the first prayer.  He wants to train us and make us strong people of prayer by compelling us to pray hard for the best things.  He makes us to pray through.

I am glad that this is so.  There is no more blessed training in prayer that that which comes through being compelled to ask again and again, over long periods of time, before obtaining what we seek from God.  Many people call it submission to the will of God when God does not grant them their request at the first or second asking.  They say, “Well, perhaps it is not God’s will.”  

As a rule, this is not submission but spiritual laziness.  We do not call it submission to the will of God when we give up after one or two efforts to obtain things by action.  WE call it lack of strength of character.  When the strong man or woman of action starts out to accomplish a thing and does not accomplish it the first or second or one-hundredth time, he or she keeps hammering away until it is accomplished.  The strong man of prayer keeps on praying until he prays it through and obtains what he seeks.  We should be careful about what we ask from God.  But, when we do begin to pray for a thing, we should never give up praying for it until we receive it or until God makes it very clear and very definite that it is not His will to give it.  

Some people like us to believe that it shows unbelief tho pray twice for the same thing.  They think we ought to “take it” the first time we ask.  Doubtless there are times when we are able, through faith in the Word or the leading of the Holy Spirit, to claim the first time that which we have asked of God.  But, beyond question, there are other times when we must pray again and again for the same thing before we receive our answer.  Those who are beyond praying twice for the same thing are beyond their Master. (Matthew 26:44)  George Mueller prayed for two men daily for more than sixty years.  One of these men converted shortly before his death, I think at the last service George Mueller held.  The other was converted within a year after his death.  One of the great needs of the present day is men and women who will not only start out to pray but will pray for things on and on until they obtain what it is they seek from the Lord.

Worship Wednesdays: How to Pray, Week 4

How to Pray, by R.A. Torrey

Chapter 3: Obeying and Praying

One of the most significant verses in the Bible on prayer is 1 John 3;22.  John says, “And whatsoever we ask, we shall receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”

What an astounding statement!  John says, in so many words, that he received everything he asked for.  How many of us can say this:  “Whatsoever I ask I receive?”  But John explains why this is so, “Because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.”  In other words, the one who expects God to do as he asks Him must do whatever God bids him.  If we give a listening ear to all God’s commands to us, He will give a listening ear to all our petitions of him.  If, on the other hand, we turn a deaf ear to His precepts, He will likely turn a deaf ear to our prayers.  Herein we find the secret of much unanswered prayer.  We are not listening to God’s Word, and therefore, He is not listening to our petitions.

I was once speaking to a woman who had been a professed Christian but had given it all up.  I asked her why she was not a Christian any longer.  She replied, because she did not believe the bible.  I asked her why she did not believe the Bible.

“Because I have tried its promises and found them untrue.”

“Which promises?” I asked

“The promises about prayer.”

“Which promises about prayer?”

“Does it not say in the Bible, ‘Whatsoever ye ask believing ye shall receive?’”

“It says something nearly like that.”

“Well, I asked fully expecting to get and did not receive, so the promise failed.”

“Was the promise made to you?”

“Why, certainly, it is made to all Christians is it not?”

“No, God carefully defines who the ye’s are whose believing prayers he agrees to answer.”

I then turned her to 1 John 3:22, and read the description of those whose prayers had power with God.

“Now,” I said, “were you keeping His commandments and doing those things which are right and pleasing in His sight?”

She frankly confessed that she was not, and she soon came to see that the real difficulty was not with God’s promises but with herself.  That is the reason for many unanswered prayers today:  the one who offers them is not obedient.

Knowing and Doing God’s Will

If we want power in prayer, we must be earnest students of His Word to find out what His will regarding us is.  Then, having found it we must do it.  One unconfessed act of disobedience on our part will shut the ear of God against many petitions.

But this verse goes beyond the mere keeping of God’s commandments.  John tells us that we must do those things that are pleasing in His sight.  

There are many things which would please God, but which He has not specifically commanded.  A true child is not content with merely doing those things which his father specifically commands him to do.  He tries to know his father’s will, and if he thinks that there is anything he can do that would please his father, he does it gladly.  He does so even if his father has never given him any specific order to do it.  So it is with the true child of God.  He does not merely ask whether certain things are commanded or certain things are forbidden.  He tries to know his Father’s will in all things.

There are many Christians today who are doing things that are not pleasing to God.  There are also many who neglect to do things that would be pleasing to God.  When you speak to them about these things, they will confront you at once with this question, “Is there any command in the Bible not to do this thing?”  If you cannot show them the verse in which their action is plainly forbidden, they think they are under no obligation whatever to give it up.  But, a true child of God does not demand specific command.  If we make it our desire to find out and do the things which are pleasing to God, He will make it His desire to do the things which are pleasing to us.  Here again, we find the explanation of much unanswered prayer.  We are not making it our desire to know what pleases our Father.  Thus, our prayers remain unanswered.

Praying In Truth

Psalm 145:18 throws a great deal of light on the question of how to pray:  “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.”

That little expression in truth is worthy of further study.  If you take your concordance and go through the Bible, you will find that this expression means, “In reality,” or “in sincerity.”  The prayer that God answers is the prayer that is real, the prayer that asks for something that is sincerely desired.

Much of our prayer is insincere.  People ask for things which they do not wish.  Many women pray for the conversion of their husbands, but do not really wish their husband to be converted.  They think they do, but if they knew what would be involved in the conversion of their husband, they would think again.  It would necessitate an entire revolution in his manner of doing business and may consequently reduce their income, making it necessary to change their entire way of living.  If they were sincere with God, the real prayer of their heart would be:  “Oh God, do not convert my husband.”  Women do not wish their husbands conversion at so great a cost.

May churches are praying for a revival but not really desire a revival.  They think they do, for in their minds a revival means an increase of membership, o income, and of reputation among the churches.  But, if they knew what a real revival meant, they would be not so eager.   Revival brings the searching of hearts on the part of professed Christians, a radical transformation of individual, domestic, and social life, when the Spirit of God is poured out in reality and power.  If all this were known, the real cry of the church would be:  “Oh God, keep us from having a revival.”

Many a minister is praying for the filling with the Holy Spirit, yet he does not really desire it.  He thinks he does, for the filling with the Spirit means new joy and power in preaching the word, a wider reputation among men, and a larger prominence in the Church of Christ.  But, if he understood what a filling with the HOly Spirit really involved, he would think about its rewards.  He would think more of how it would necessarily bring him into antagonism with the world, with unspiritual Christians, how it cause his name to be “cast out as evil,” and how it might necessitate his leaving a good comfortable living and going down to work in the slums, or even in some foreign land.  If he understood all this, his prayer most likely would be - if he were to express the real wish of his heart - “Oh God, save me from being filled with the Holy Spirit.”

When we do come to the place where we really desire the conversion of friends at any cost, really desire the outpouring of the Holy Spirit whatever it may involve, really desire anything “in truth”, and then call upon God for it “in truth,” God is going to hear.

Worship Wednesdays: How to Pray, Week 3

How to Pray, by R.A. Torrey

Chapter 2:  Praying to God

After having seen some of the tremendous importance and resistless power of prayer, we now come directly to the lesson - how to pray with power.

In the twelfth chapter of Acts, we have the record of a prayer that prevailed with God and also brought about great results.  In the fifth verse of this chapter, the manner and method of this prayer is described in a few words:  “Prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him” (Acts 12:5).

The first thing to notice in this verse is the brief expression “unto God.”  The prayer that has power is the prayer that is offered unto God.

But some will say, “Is not all prayer offered unto God?”

No.  Very much of so-called prayer, both public and private, is not unto God.  In order for a prayer to really be unto God, there must be a definite and conscious approach to God when we pray.  We must have a definite and vivid realization that God is bending over us and listening as we pray.  In very much of our prayer, there is really only little thought of God.  Our mind is taken up with the thought of what we need and is not occupied with the need nor with the One to whom we are praying.  Instead, our mind is wandering here and there and throughout the world.  There is no power in that sort of prayer.  But, when we really come into God’s presence, really meet Him face to face in the place of prayer, really seek the things that we desire from Him, then there is power.

Coming into God’s Presence

If we want to pray correctly, the first thing we should do is make sure that we really seek an audience with God - that we really get into His very presence.  Before a word of petition is offered, we should have the definite and vivid consciousness that we are talking to God.  Also, we should believe that He is listening to our petition and is going to grant the thing that we ask of Him.  This is only possible by the Holy Spirit’s power, so we should look to the Holy Spirit to really lead us into the presence of God.  And, we should not be hasty in words until He has actually brought us there.

One night, a very active Christian man dropped into a little prayer meeting that I was leading.  Before we knelt to pray, I said something like the above, telling all the friends to be sure, before they prayed, that they were really in God’s presence.  I also explained that while they were praying especially, they must have the thought of Him definitely in mind and be more taken up with Him than with their petition.  A few days after I met this same gentleman, he said that this simple thought was entirely new to him.  It had made prayer an entirely new experience to him.

If we want to pray correctly, these two little words must sink deep into our heart:  unto God.

Pray without Ceasing

The second secret of effective prayer is found in the same verse, in the words, without ceasing.  

In the Revised Standard Version, “without ceasing” is rendered "earnest.”  Neither rendering gives the full force of the original Greek.  The word literally means “stretched-out-ed-ly.”  It is a pictorial word and wonderfully expressive.  It represents the soul on a stretch of earnest and intense desire.  “Intensely” would perhaps be as close a translation as any English word.  It is the same word used to speak of our Lord in Luke 22:44, where it is said, “He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

We read in Hebrews 5:7 that “in the days of His flesh,” Christ “offered up prayers and supplication with strong crying and tears.”  In Romans 15:30, Paul begs the saints in Rome to strive together with him in their prayers.  The word translated strive means primarily to contend as in athletic games or in a fight.  In other words, the prayer which prevails with God is the prayer into which we put our whole soul, stretching out toward God in intense and agonizing desire.  Much of our modern prayer lacks power because it lacks heart.  We rush into God’s presence, run through a string of petitions, jump up, and go out.  If someone asks us an hour later what we prayed for, often we cannot remember.  If we put so little heart into our prayers, we cannot expect God to put much heart into answering them.  

We hear much in our day about the rest of faith, but there is no such thing as the fight of faith in prayer as there is in effort.  Those who want us to think that they have attained to some great height of faith and trust because they have never known any agony of conflict or of prayer, have surely gotten beyond their Lord.  They have even gone beyond the mightiest victors for God, both in effort and prayer, that the ages of Christian history have known.  When we learn to come to God with an intensity of desire that wrings the soul, then we will know a power in prayer that most of us do not know now. 

Prayer and Fasting

How will we achieve this earnestness in prayer?  

Not by trying to work ourselves up into it.  The true method is explained in Romans 8:26:  “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  The earnestness that we work up in the energy of the flesh is a repulsive thing.  The earnestness created in us by the Holy Spirit is pleasing to God.  Here again, if we desire to pray correctly, we must look to the Spirit of God to teach us how to pray.

It is in this connection that fasting enters in.  In Daniel 9:3, we read that Daniel set his face “unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.”  There are those who think that fasting belongs to the old dispensation.  But when we look at Acts 14:23 and Acts 13:2-3, we find that it was practiced by the earnest men of the apostolic day.

If we want to pray with power, we should pray with fasting.  This of course does not mean that we should fast every time we pray.  But, there are times of emergency or special crisis, when men of earnestness will withdraw themselves even from the gratification of natural appetites that would be perfectly proper under other circumstances, that they may give themselves up solely to prayer.  There is a mysterious power in such prayer.  Every great crisis in life and work should be met in this way.  There is nothing pleasing to God in our giving up things which are pleasant in a purely Pharisaic and legal way.  But there is power in that downright earnestness and determination to obtain, in prayer, the things of which we strongly feel our need.  This feeling of urgency leads us to put away everything, even things that are normal and necessary, that we may set our faces to find God and obtain blessings from Him.

Unity in Prayer

Another secret of proper praying is also found in this same verse, Acts 12:5.  It appears in the three words, of the church.

There is power in united prayer.  Of course, there is power in the prayer of an individual, but there is much more power in united prayer.  God delights in the unity of His people and seeks to emphasize it in every way.  Thus, He pronounces a special blessing upon united prayer.  We read in Matthew 18:19, “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.”  This unity, however, must be real.  The passage just quoted does not say that if two shall agree in asking, but if two shall agree as touching anything they shall ask.  Two persons might agree to ask for the same thing, and yet there may be no real agreement as touching the thing they asked.  One might ask because he really desired it, the other might simply ask to please his friend.  But where there is real agreement, where the Spirit of God brings believers into perfect harmony concerning that which they ask of God, where the Spirit lays the same burden on two or more hearts, there is absolutely irresistible power in prayer.

Worship Wednesdays: How to Pray, Week 2

autographed portrait of R.A. Torrey

How to Pray, by R.A. Torrey

Chapter 1:  The Importance of Prayer, continued

Freedom from Anxiety

Prayer with thanksgiving, in every care and anxiety and need of life, is the means that God has appointed for our obtaining freedom from all anxiety and the peace of God which passes all understanding.

“Be careful for nothing,” says Paul, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understand, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phillippians 4:6-7)  To many, this initially seems like the picture of a life that is beautiful but beyond the reach of ordinary mortals.  This is not so at all.  The verse tells us how this life of peace is attainable by every child of God:  “Be careful for nothing,” or as the Revised Standard Version reads, “Have no anxiety about anything.”  The remainder of the verse tells us how to do this.  It is very simple:  “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”  What could be plainer or more simple than that?  Just keep in constant touch with God.  When trouble or vexation, great or small, occur, speak to Him about it, never forgetting to return thanks for what He has already done.  What will the result be?  “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, will keep your hears and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (R.S.V.)  

That is glorious, and it is as simple as it is glorious!  Thank God, many are trying it.  Don’t you know anyone who is always serene?  Perhaps he is a very stormy man by nature.  Troubles and conflicts and opposition and sorrow may sweep around him, and the peace of god which passes all understanding will guard his heart and his thoughts in Christ Jesus. 

We all know such persons.  How do they do it?  Just by prayer, that is all.  Those persons who know the deep peace of God, the unfathomable peace which passes all understanding, are always men and women of much prayer.

Some of us let the hurry of our lives crowd prayer out and what a waste of time and energy and emotion there is in this constant worry!  One night of prayer will save us from many nights of insomnia.  Time spent in prayer is not wasted, but time invested at big interest.

Vehicle for the Holy Spirit

Prayer is the method that God Himself has appointed for our obtaining the Holy Spirit.  

The  Bible is very plain on this point.  Jesus says, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”  (Luke 11:13).

I know this as definitely as I know that my thirst is quenched when I drink water.  Early one morning in Chicago Avenue Church’s prayer room, where several hundred people had been assembled a number of hours in prayer, the Holy Spirit fell so manifestly that no one could speak or pray.  The whole room was filled with His presence so that sobs of joy filled the place.  Men left that room and went to different parts of the country, taking trains that very morning, and the effects of the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit in answer to prayer were soon reported.  Others went out into the city with the blessing of God upon them.  This is only one instance among many that might be cited from personal experience.  

If we would only spend more time in prayer, there would be more fullness of the Spirit’s power in our work.  Many men who once worked unmistakably in the power of the Holy Spirit now fill the air with empty shouting, beat it with meaningless gestures, because they have neglected prayer.  We must spend much time on our knees before God if we are to continue in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Be Ready for His Return

Prayer is the means that Christ has appointed so that our hearts will not be overcome with indulgence and drunkenness and the cares of this life, For the day of Christ’s return will come upon us suddenly as a snare.

One of the most interested and solemn passages on prayer in the Bible is along this line (Luke 21:34 - 36).  “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”  According to this passage, there is only one way in which we can be prepared for the coming of the Lord when He appears:  through much prayer.

The second coming of Jesus Christ is a subject that is awakening much interest and discussion in our day.  It is one thing to be interested in the Lord’s return, and to talk about it, but it is quite another thing to be prepared for it.  We live in an atmosphere that has a constant tendency to make us unsuitable for Christ’s coming.  The world tends to draw us down by its gratifications and cares.  There is only one way by which we can triumphantly rise above these things - by constant watching in prayer, that is, by sleeplessness in prayer.  Watch in this passage is the same strong word used in Ephesians 6:18, and always is the same strong phrase as pray at all times.  The man who spends little time in prayer, who is not steadfast and constant in prayer, will not be ready for the Lord when He comes.  But, we may be ready.  How?  Pray!  Pray!  Pray!  

We Need to Pray

Because of what prayer accomplishes.

Much has been said about that already, but there is also much that should be added.

Prayer promotes our spiritual growth as almost nothing else, indeed, as nothing else except Bible study.  True prayer and true Bible Study go hand in hand.

It is through prayer that my sin is brought to light, my most hidden sin.  As I kneel before God and pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.  Try me, and know my thoughts:  and see if there be any wicked way in me.”  (Psalm 139:23-24), God shoots the penetrating rays of His light into the innermost recesses of my heart.  The sins that I never suspected to be present are brought to light.  In answer to prayer, God washes me from my iniquity and cleanses me from my sin (Psalm 51:2).  In answer to prayer, my eyes are opened to behold wondrous things out of God’s word.  (Psalm 119:8).  In answer to prayer, I receive wisdom to know God’s way (James 1:5) and strength to walk in it.  As I meet God in prayer and gaze into His face, I am changed into His image from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18)  Each day of true prayer life finds me more like my glorious Lord.

John Welch, the son-in-law of John Knox, was one of the most faithful men of prayer this world has ever seen.  He counted any day in which seven or eight hours were not devoted solely to God in prayer and the study of His Word as wasted time.  An old man speaking of him after his death said, “He was a type of Christ.”  How did he become so like his Master?  His prayer life explains the mystery.

Prayer also brings power into our work.  If we wish power for any work to which God calls us, be it in preaching, teaching, personal work, or the raising of our children, we can receive it by earnest prayer.

A woman, with a little boy who was perfectly incorrigible, once came to me in desperation and said:  “What shall I do with him?

I asked, “Have you ever tried prayer?”

She said that she had prayed for him, she thought.  I asked if she had made his conversion and character a matter of definite, expectant prayer.  She replied that she had not been definite in the matter.  She began that day, and at once there was a marked change in the child.   As a result, he grew up into Christian manhood.

How many Sunday school teachers have taught for months and years and seen no real fruit from their labors?  Then they learn the secret of intercession, and by earnest pleading with God, see their students, one by one, brought to Christ!  How many poor teachers have become mighty men of God by casting away their confidence in their own ability and gifts and giving themselves up to God to wait upon Him for the power that comes from on high!  Evangelist John Livingstone spent a night, along with some believers, in prayer to God.  When he preached the next day, five hundred people were either converted or marked some definite uplift in their spiritual life.  Prayer and power are inseparable.  

Prayer avails for the conversion of others.  There are few converted in this world in any other way than in connection with someone’s prayers.  I previously thought that no human being had anything to do with my own conversion, for I was not converted in church or Sunday school or in a personal conversation with anyone.  I was awakened in the middle of the night and converted.  As far as I can remember, I did not the slightest thought of being converted, or of anything of that character when I went to bed and fell asleep.  But, I was awakened in the middle of the night and converted probably within five minutes.  A few minutes before, I was about as near eternal damnation as one gets.  I had one foot over the brink and was trying to get the other one over.  As I said, I thought no human being had anything to do with it, but I had forgotten my mother’s prayers.  Later I learned that one of my college classmates had decided to pray for me until I was saved.

prayer often avails where everything else fails.  How utterly all of Monica’s efforts and entreaties failed with her son!  But, her prayers prevailed with God, and the immoral youth became St. Augustine, the mighty man of God.  By prayer, the bitterest enemies of the gospel have become its most valiant defenders, the most wicked the truest sons of God, and the most contemptible women the purest of saints.  Oh, the power of prayer to reach down, where hope itself seems vain, and lift men and women up into fellowship with and likeness to God!  It is simply wonderful!  How little we appreciate this marvelous weapon!  

Prayer brings blessings to the Church. 

The history of the Church has always been full of grave difficulties to overcome.  The devil hates the Church and seeks in every way to block its progress; by false doctrine, by division, and by inward corruption of life.  But, by prayer, a clear way can be made through everything.  Prayer will root out heresy, smooth out misunderstanding, sweep away jealousies and animosities, obliterate immoralities, and bring in the full tide of God’s reviving grace.  history abundantly proves this.  In the darkest hour, when the state of the Church has seemed beyond hope, believing men and women have met together and cried to God and the answer has come.

It was so in the days of Knox.  It was so in the days of Wesley and Whitefield.  It was so in the days of Edwards and Brainerd.  It was so in the days of Finney.  It was so in the days of the great revival of 1857 in this country and of 1859 in Ireland.  And, it will be so again in your day and mine!  Satan has organized his forces.  Some people, claiming great apostolic methods, are merely covering for the rankest dishonesty and hypocrisy with their loud and false assurance.  Christians equally loyal to the great fundamental truths of the gospel are scowling at one another with a devil-sent suspicion.  The world, the flesh, and the devil are holding a merry carnival.  It is now a dark day, but now “it is time for Thee, Lord, to work:  for they have made void Thy law.”  (Psalm 119:126).  He is getting ready to work, and now He is listening for the voice of prayer.  Will He hear it?  Will He hear it from you?  Will He hear it from the Church as a body?  I believe He will.