Praying in the Spirit (2)

In the realm of property, Harold Samuel coined the phrase “location, location, location” as the three things that matter. In the realm of discipleship Edward Payson said: “Prayer is the first thing, the second thing, the third thing necessary to minister. Pray, therefore, my dear brother, pray, pray, pray.” You can try all kinds of strategies, develop programs, and reach out to the community, but without prayer these efforts won’t bring significant results.

Paul gave these instructions.

Ephesians 6:18 NIV84

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

This verse comes right after Paul’s command to put on the full armor of God. Prayer gives us the strength to wield it and the wisdom of how to use it. Prayer is the way that we as soldiers of Christ maintain communication with our commanding officer.

When are we to pray

On all occasions – Doesn’t come naturally or automatically. Needs to be practiced, become a habit.

Paul is reminding his readers and us that we are to persevere in prayer. It is not just saying a few words before a meal or at bedtime. It is an ongoing conversation with our Lord throughout the day.

Being able to be in close communion with our Creator and Lord is a great privilege. We are encouraged to bring our requests, to ask, seek, and knock, to cast all our cares on Him. How can we not take advantage of this amazing relationship that Christ sacrificed His life to make possible?

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray continually;

Thomas Kelley says in his Testament of Devotion:

There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we can be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings

What are we to pray

Prayers – general term, praising God

Requests – petitions, intercession

Thanksgiving

Philippians 4:6 NIV84

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Who are we to pray for

All the saints – we need to be praying for each other, we each need prayer.

How are we to pray

Be alert

Having our minds directed towards Christ’s coming

Luke 21:36 Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

In the Spirit

I think that usually when we pray we pray with our minds. We think about what we want to say, who to pray for, what to be thankful for, etc. The difficulty is that we do not always know what we should be praying for or how to pray. Our knowledge is limited. In 1 Cor. 14 Paul indicates that in addition to praying with his mind he will also pray with his spirit.

1 Corinthians 14:15 NIV84

So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

Praying “in the Spirit” means praying under the Spirit’s influence and with his assistance; prayer inspired, guided, and made effective through the Spirit. He alone knows exactly what we will need in the many different situations we will face in life, and so he enables us to pray to the Father, even when we are not sure how to pray.

Jude 20 NIV84

But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

Why in the Spirit

He intercedes for us

Romans 8:26–27 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

He gives us access to the Father

Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

He gives us the power to do God’s will

Acts 1:8 NIV84

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Dr. John Piper’s book Desiring God:

Unless I’m badly mistaken, one of the main reasons so many of God’s children don’t have a significant life of prayer is not so much that we don’t want to, but that we don’t plan to. If you want to take a four-week vacation, you don’t just get up one summer morning and say, “Hey, let’s go today!” You won’t have anything ready. You won’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned.

But that is how many of us treat prayer. We get up day after day and realize that significant times of prayer should be part of our life, but nothing’s ever ready. We don’t know where to go. Nothing has been planned. No time. No place. No procedure. And we all know that the opposite of planning is not a wonderful flow of deep, spontaneous experiences in prayer. The opposite of planning is the rut. If you don’t plan a vacation you will probably stay home and watch TV! The natural unplanned flow of spiritual life sinks to the lowest ebb of vitality. There is a race to be run and a fight to be fought. If you want renewal in your life of prayer you must plan to see it.

In my quiet time each morning I pray for our church, asking that God would fill us with Holy Spirit, pour out His love upon us, rekindle a fire within us, and use for His glory.

To this end we are starting to set aside the last Tuesday evening of the month at 7 PM for a gathering for prayer. If you can’t come to the church at least take some time wherever you are to open your heart to the Holy Spirit and pray for our congregation.