Praying In The Spirit

“Pray without ceasing” was the written command to the Thessalonians but very much applies to the modern day believer.

Hello dear reader. Thank you for joining me again today. Did you have a wonderful week? I know you have beautiful plans for the weekend and I hope it includes spending quality time praying and studying. I pray this post will bless you.

Today, “praying in the Spirit” is a common expression used among believers although many times misused. By the grace of God, today, we will be talking about the matter of praying in the Spirit from all visible angles shown in the scripture.

Ready to roll?

There are over 60 bible passages that expressly tell us to pray. Prayer is important and God expects it to be done in a certain way… In the Spirit.

Praying in the Spirit is simply praying in the Holy Spirit or praying by the Holy Spirit. It is not enough to just pray you see, for the prayers to be prevailing, they have to be done by or in the spirit (“by” and “in” basically meaning the same thing).

Now you’re probably wondering, is prayer not prayer? Oh no… Prayer is only effective when it is done by the Spirit. Let me show you something Jesus said in Matthew 6:5…
“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”

Did you see that though the hypocrites prayed, their prayer was of no use. It had no spiritual weight. Listen, hypocrisy, pretension, should not be found in the place of prayer (I personally think you’re mocking God), the desire for vain glory will rob you of the impact your prayers could have. Oh no doubt, men now have an esteemed impression of you… Oh listen, maybe you’re even the man you put up the show for… Oh yes! you can hypocritically pray for hours just to make yourself feel good and know that you can and to talk about it… You have had an impact on man’s impression but your prayer weighs zero where it matters… In the courts of heaven.

So then let’s stop wasting this precious and available medium the Lord has given us to manifest His supernatural life into our natural lives.

Why not begin by acknowledging, even to yourself and to God that you are unable to pray and truly, you need the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:26)

Ephesians 6:18A
“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…;“

Often times, when the expression “pray in the spirit is used”, it is erroneously assumed it means to speak in tongues. This is not completely correct. Speaking in tongues is one of the ways to pray in the spirit… But pay attention to this… You must be led by the Spirit of God to be said to be praying in the Spirit… The reason I said this is because many think that tongues is the purest form of prayer… Well, this is also not correct.

There are generally three ways I have seen that a believer can pray in the spirit. They are:

◾Praying in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:15)

◾Groanings that cannot be uttered(Romans 8:26-27)

◾Praying in understanding. That is with the mind.

The last is my focus… And yes, you can pray with your mind, in the language you understand and still be praying in the Spirit.

Now the first two are commonly believed to be the purest forms of prayer but like I said, this is not true. We are expected to pray with our understanding sometimes (I believe until the Spirit of God takes hold on our spirit and we begin to pray with tongues and groaning)… We see Jesus in Matthew 6:7 say when you pray, you shouldn’t just use vain repetition… For you won’t be heard by the multiple words… Meaning we are expected to pray with our minds and yet do it in the Spirit. Paul said I’ll pray in tongues and also pray with my mind… Definitely in the Spirit.

Side track— you might want to read Jude 1:20 again with this understanding.

How then can I pray in the spirit with my mind?

I want to come from a different perspective on this matter.

The mind and the heart of a person are filled with ideas and thoughts that could have been picked up from anywhere and have probably formed strongholds , the basis of decision making and relating with everything and everyone in the world. The Bible speaks of guarding the heart because it releases through words and actions what it holds. You naturally pray what’s in your heart and mind.

So imagine a brother comes to pray about finding a wife and he begins to ask for a lady that is beautiful, “figure eight”, light skinned, iced with polished etiquette and all the physical things a guy can dream of… or a lady who prays for a rich, tall, dark and handsome man (and probably bald with 28 packs… Ahahah). They have these thoughts because the society teaches it to them subtly or they’ve learnt it somewhere.

Now when they pray like this they are not praying by the Spirit… No matter the “tongues” they claim to be speaking in that “direction”… They’re praying by the society and the spirit of the age… Ahahahah

A man who comes to God must come by His word (who is Spirit)… His word must be the propellant… So if that brother is concerned about a wife and he comes and says “Oh Lord, your word says charm is deceitful and beauty is vain But a woman that fears God is worthy of praise… Lord give me a woman that fears you”… The sister says “Lord I grew up with desire that is not consistent with what your word wants me to desire, today I accept your word concerning the kind of husband I should desire and I pull down this stronghold ”

Kaaaaiiiiiii…. Aaaaahhhhh…. This is a spirit filled prayer… Coming to God having been yoked with the word of God… Having drank of the Spirit of the word of God. This is not just a mindless repetition of words… Listen, it’s not about quoting the scripture.. It’s about coming to declare the will of God to Him that has now become your will and you’re convinced of.

Do you want to pray in the spirit? Give yourself to understanding the will of God through his word.

Brethren, you cannot judge a Spirit-filled prayer by the surge of emotions. How you feel is not what leads your prayer, it may be an effect of your prayer especially when you have a passion to see His will done and the Spirit causes you to groan or gives you utterance to speak in unknown tongues but emotions should not be the initiator of your prayer.

I have seen people pray in tongues because of how it makes them feel… Do you want to know something? Just like the Pharisees, they’ve received their reward in full.

There must be something that brings you to pray, and if it is the submission to the understanding of the will of God, the mind of God, the counsel of God and His Spirit, it is a Spirit-filled prayer.

A prayer that is by faith from His word communicated by the help of the Holy Spirit is a Spirit-filled prayer.

Don’t forget, as you pray, He searches your heart and knows the mind of the Spirit. What have you filled your heart with?

Let me close with the word of the Lord. He said in John 15:7
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

I believe the scripture above explains and summarizes the point I am passing across.

I believe that whatever kind of prayer, in whatever way, at whatever time, for it to avail much, it must be by the Holy Spirit… Initiated by Him and sponsored by Him.

Give yourself then to praying spirit filled prayers… Search what the mind of God is concerning that matter then submit yourself to the Holy Spirit and pray.

Thank you for joining me today. I’d like to talk to you about living by faith next week. I’ll write to you then. God bless you.

Don’t forget to share, like and comment today. Thank you.

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