"O GOD, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; Mercifully grant, that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen."

They are words which form part of the collect (a prayer for the day) for the nineteenth Sunday after Trinity (the first Sunday after Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to believers).

I remember hearing these words said many times school morning assembly. It's only recently that their significance  has dawned.

Never was the priority of faith over and above works put so clearly. And the importance of having the Holy Spirit ruling our hearts.

I now realise that these were not some clever words put together from human thought. They come directly from the Bible. The book of Hebrews, Chapter 11 verse 6.

Here are the first 6 verses...

Faith in Action

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.

³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.”^[a] For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Here's a post by Martin Visser on Biblword.net that addresses this point very well...

Can non-Christians do good works?

The Bible teaches us that Christians are to do good works, even though we cannot do good works to earn salvation. But do you need to be a Christian to do good works? Can’t you do good without being a Christian? The answer is not straightforward... (more)

Non-Christians do right things

If you look at the life of any non-Christian, you will find he does many things that are right. E.g. speaking the truth, raising children lovingly, helping others, and giving money to charity. There are even non-Christians who can serve as examples to Christians through all the good things they do.... (more)

A right thing is not a good work

But now we need to take the next step. The Bible also says that when God looks down from heaven on the children of man, He says “there is none who does good, not even one”. This is written in Psalm 14:3, and repeated in Romans 3:12. So how is it possible that people can do the right things without God, but that He still says that they don’t do good?

This is where we have to bring in the intentions we have. Non-Christians can do the right things, even with the right intentions towards other people. But God is looking for another good intention before He considers something a good work: whether we do it to honour him. In Hebrews 11:6 we read: “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.”

This sounds pretty extreme, but you should be able to understand it when you compare it to this: a young man curses his parents, cuts off contact with them, and emigrates to another country. After a few years, the parents hear that their son has become very successful. He has become a wealthy and respected businessman. Are they now pleased with their son? No. They are still hurt, sad, and disappointed that their son does not want to have anything to do with his parents.

In the same way, all the right things that people do have no value for God if they do not love and honour him. Intentions are important. A right thing to do only becomes a good work in the sight of God if it is done to honour him.

You need the Holy Spirit for good works

If you don’t love God, you can’t do good things with the intention that God wants. But if you love God, you can often still fail to do good works. You need to be renewed through the power of the Holy Spirit to do good works. It does not start with your effort, but with your personality being changed... (more)

When the Holy Spirit lives in you, this is what happens: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). When this becomes your personality, good works will flow from it. People will see the power of God at work in you, in a way that is never possible for someone who does not believe in God, does not trust in Jesus, and does not have the Holy Spirit in his heart.

Read Marten's full post here