CHAPTER XVII
Of Petitions
The soul should not be surprised at feeling itself
unable to offer up to God such petitions as it had
formerly made with freedom and facility; for now
the Spirit maketh intercession for it according to the
will of God, that “Spirit which 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”
(Rom. viii. 26).
We must co-operate with, and second the designs of God, which tend to divest us of all our own operations,
that in the place thereof His own may be substituted.
Let this then be done in you, and suffer
not yourself to be attached to anything, however good
it may appear; for it is no longer good if it in any
measure turns you aside from that which God willeth
of you: the Divine Will is preferable to all things
else. Shake off then all attachments to the interests
of self, and live on faith and resignation; here it is
that genuine faith begins truly to operate.
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