Sermon Tone Analysis

Four Ways the Spirit Leads Us to Pray

1) Spirit-directed prayer.

Often, the Spirit directs us to pray - even at times when we are not already in prayer or planning to pray at that moment.

Spirit-directed prayer is when God, by His Spirit, draws us to come to Him in prayer at a specific moment or for a specific thing.

We see the example of Christ drawing Himself away - even in the midst of dynamic ministry - to pray.

God’s Word Translation:

2) Spirit-inspired prayer.

The word “inspire” comes from the same Latin root that means breath, breathe and spirit

The etymology for ‘inpsire’ tells us that it is an “adaptation of Latin inspīrāre to blow or breathe into, from in- + spīrāre to breathe.”

The Old Engish Dictionaryfor the word ‘spirit,’ informs us that it is “adapted from Latin spīritus breathing, breath, air, etc. related to spīrāre to breathe.”

It delves even deeper, telling us that the “earlier English uses of the word are mainly derived from passages in the Vulgate, in which spiritus is employed to render Greek πνεῦµα (pneuma in the NT) and Hebrew rūaḥ (ruach in the OT).

Both of these words in the Bible are translated as both “breath” and “spirit.”

It is illustrated in:

Spirit-inspired prayer is when the Spirit breathes into and through us as we pray connecting our spirit to His Spirit.

According to Paul, when the breath of God blows through the believer, the Spirit searches the both heart of the believer and the Heart of God for His will in the life of the believer.

Because the Spirit fully knows both the heart (inner workings) of individual and the Heart of God, this Spirit to spirit connection brings revelation, understanding, and surrender making our prayers fervent and effective.

‘Effectual fervent’ is one Greek word (energeo) that means, “to be operative, put forth power, to effect.”

It is the root for our word “energy.”

When the Spirit inspires us, our prayers are energized to have God’s desired effect.

Some Christians stop here but the Word of God shows us there is more for the child of God.

Some Christians stop here, but we believe that the Prophet Joel’s prophecy of the Last Days outpouring of the Spirit is for us:

When the Apostle Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost immediately after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he recounted Joel’s prophecy and went on to declare that the gift of the Holy Spirit as manifested in the Upper Room was for all those that Lord will call.

That includes us.

From what we see in the Scriptures, we understand that the indwelling Spirit of God enables us to pray at an even deeper level of Spirit-to-Spirit connection.

3) Spirit-empowered prayer (Praying in the Spirit)

Spirit-empowered prayer is what is commonly called “praying in the Spirit” or “using your prayer language” among Pentecostal and Charismatic believers.

The noun “groaning” in the Greek refers to a sigh or a groan.

The verb tense means to “sigh deeply, bemoan, bewail, grumble, complain strongly.

There is no indication from the original language that it is a non-verbal exercise, but, rather, that which the believer cannot put into words.

In these instances, the Spirit of God who has already searched the heart of the individual and know the will of the Father, prays the perfect prayer through verbal expressions that we do not understand.

When we pray in the Spirit we are speaking directly to God.

It is like an end-to-end, spirit-to-Spirit hot-line call to the Father, made by the Spirit Himself on our behalf.

Like the proverbial red telephone on the presidents desk, this hot-line bypasses channels where the enemy can eavesdrop on the believers innermost concerns.

This is probably the most powerful tool in a believer’s prayer arsenal.

Praying in tongues is also boot camp for the other verbal gifts of the Spirit because you are practicing saying what the Spirit is saying at the moment the Spirit is peaking it, without checking it in your human intellect first.

Understand the Paul’s cautions in 1 Corinthians 14 are about public prayer in the congregation rather than private prayer.

Paul was not discouraging praying in tongues in one’s prayer time.

Remember, Paul also said,

and

4) Spirit-informed prayer.

When we connect with the Spirit in prayer, the Spirit enlightens our human understanding with His understanding.

This may involve other Gifts of the Spirit such as Word of Wisdom, Word of Knowledge, Discernment, or even Interpretation if you are praying using the Gift of Tongues.

It is praying specific, targeted, prayers that go beyond any personal information about the subject of the prayer.

An example: Erin felt led to pray against oxygen deprivation and for good oxygen levels even before Chloe Caws was in labor.

There was no human way she could no that the cord was wrapped and that this was the main concern during delivery.

That was a Spirit-informed prayer.

If we are listening, the Spirit will speak to us as we pray:

As we learn to recognize His voice, we can proclaim with boldness the things the Spirit informs us in prayer.