II. _The Holy Spirit inspires the believer and guides him in thanksgiving_ as well as in prayer. We read in Eph. v. 18-20, R. V., “And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; _giving thanks always_ for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” Not only does the Holy Spirit teach us to pray, He also teaches us to render thanks. One of the most prominent characteristics of the Spirit-filled life is thanksgiving. On the Day of Pentecost, when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance, we hear them telling the wonderful works of God (Acts ii. 4, 11), and to-day when any believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, he always becomes filled with thanksgiving and praise. True thanksgiving is “_to_ God, even the Father,” _through_, or “in the name of” our Lord Jesus Christ, _in_ the Holy Spirit.
III. _The Holy Spirit inspires worship_ on the part of the believer. We read in Phil. iii. 3, R. V., “For we are the circumcision, who _worship by the Spirit of God_, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Prayer is not worship; thanksgiving is not worship. Worship is a definite act of the creature in relation to God. Worship is bowing before God in adoring acknowledgment and contemplation of Himself and the perfection of His being. Some one has said, “In our prayers, we are taken up with our needs; in our thanksgiving we are taken up with our blessings; in our worship, we are taken up with Himself.” There is no true and acceptable worship except that which the Holy Spirit prompts and directs. “God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him _in Spirit_ and truth; for such doth the Father seek to be His worshippers” (John iv. 24, 23). The flesh seeks to intrude into every sphere of life. The flesh has its worship as well as its lusts. The worship which the flesh prompts is an abomination unto God. In this we see the folly of any attempt at a congress of religions where the representatives of radically different religions attempt to worship together.
Not all earnest and honest worship is worship in the Spirit. A man may be very honest and very earnest in his worship and still not have submitted himself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the matter and so his worship is in the flesh. Oftentimes even when there is great loyalty to the letter of the Word, worship may not be “in the Spirit,” _i. e._, inspired and directed by Him. To worship aright, as Paul puts it, we must have “no confidence in the flesh,” that is, we must recognize the utter inability of the flesh (our natural self as contrasted to the Divine Spirit that dwells in and should mould everything in the believer) to worship acceptably. And we must also realize the danger that there is that the flesh intrude itself into our worship. In utter self-distrust and self-abnegation we must cast ourselves upon the Holy Spirit to lead us aright in our worship. Just as we must renounce any merit in ourselves and cast ourselves upon Christ and His work for us upon the cross for justification, just so we must renounce any supposed capacity for good in ourselves and cast ourselves utterly upon the Holy Spirit and His work in us, in holy living, knowing, praying, thanking and _worshipping_ and all else that we are to do.