pray in the spirit

Learn what God’s will is for your life, and it will help your prayer life.

Sunday, June 13, 2021 – Jude – Persevering to the End is the title of today’s message. As we are getting into our final messages in our study of Jude we are encouraged to “build ourselves in the most Holy Faith” to persevere in our relationship with God thru the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit. Today we talk about four principles of how we do this. 1. Spend time in the Word of God, 2. Pray in the Spirit seeking God’s Will, 3. Keeping ourselves in the Love of God, and 4. Live with the expectation of the soon return of Jesus. As we do our part, the Holy Spirit helps us overcome all the false narratives of the end-time world we are living in. Worship with us and be blessed…

Sunday, June 13, 2021 – Jude – Persevering to the End is the title of today’s message. As we are getting into our final messages in our study of Jude we are encouraged to “build ourselves in the most Holy Faith” to persevere in our relationship with God thru the empowering grace of the Holy Spirit. Today we talk about four principles of how we do this. 1. Spend time in the Word of God, 2. Pray in the Spirit seeking God’s Will, 3. Keeping ourselves in the Love of God, and 4. Live with the expectation of the soon return of Jesus. As we do our part, the Holy Spirit helps us overcome all the false narratives of the end-time world we are living in. Worship with us and be blessed…

We have a powerful Helper and Prayer Partner, the Holy Spirit. Together with Him we form a Dynamic Duo, for as we call on His help in prayer and depend on Him, He fills us and empowers our praying. We are told to always 'pray in the Spirit' (Ephesians 6:18), so His help must always be available to us, as we trust in Him.

We have a powerful Helper and Prayer Partner, the Holy Spirit. Together with Him we form a Dynamic Duo, for as we call on His help in prayer and depend on Him, He fills us and empowers our praying. We are told to always 'pray in the Spirit' (Ephesians 6:18), so His help must always be available to us, as we trust in Him.

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Prayer should be ‘in the Spirit’ “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—” (Ephesians 6:18 NKJV) Although the scriptures refer specifically to praying in tongues as praying ‘in the spirit’, more generally it refers to all prayer. God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and must be addressed as such. All truly effective prayer proceeds from the heart (the spirit) of man, not the head. Intelligence is involved, but a purely ‘mental’ prayer will not affect the spiritual world at all. Our mind may conceive the request we desire to make to our Father, but when expressed it must come from our spirit, not just our head. In this way all prayer is ‘in the spirit’ because all prayer is essentially spiritual. Mary Alice Isleib says: “Praying in the spirit doesn’t mean to pray just in tongues. What does is mean, then? It means to pray out of your spirit, aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit. It means to pray all prayer – all the different kinds of prayer – in the presence of the Holy Spirit, in the realm of the spirit, out of your inner man.”

The Bible also highlights two major distinctions in prayer that apply to all kinds of prayer, and must be developed by every disciple. Paul highlights them in: 1 Corinthians 14:14,15: “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” (1Cor 14:14-15 NKJV) “For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays, but my mind is unproductive [it bears no fruit and helps nobody]. Then what am I to do? I will pray with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will also pray [intelligently] with my mind and understanding; I will sing with my spirit [by the Holy Spirit that is within me], but I will sing [intelligently] with my mind and understanding also.” (1Corinthians 14:14-15 AMP) Paul prayed both in tongues (in the spirit) and with his understanding (his known language). He says in 1 Corinthians 14:18 that he prayed in tongues much, more than all. He is not here comparing methods and saying one is better than another. Both aspects were very well developed in his life, and so they should be in ours. Mary Alice Isleib says of this area of praying with the understanding (with the aid o¬f the intellect): “Just as the Holy Spirit quickens your inner man, He also quickens your mind to pray. The Holy Spirit wants your mind involved in your prayers. Many Charismatic Christians love to pray in tongues, and they should, because tongues is emphasised for us in the New Testament. Yet when we look at the prayer life of many believers, you find that the side of praying with the understanding is weak.” (P34) “God wants your spirit and your mind to be built up so they can work together. When your mind becomes built up, enlightened, and empowered by truths from God’s Word, your mind and your spirit are flowing together and you will see powerful results.” (p40) We are encouraged to develop and exercise both of these aspects. Praying with our understanding, using the Word as our foundation; and to pray directly from our spirit using Spirit inspired utterance in tongues. Both are essential, and as we consider the different kinds of prayer we will touch upon both facets in more detail.

Questions 1. What is the responsibility of a church member regarding tithing when they are not able to attend church worship services? 2. Can Satan hear or know the prayers we say to the Lord if we don’t say them out loud? If he does not hear nor know silent prayers, are we not better off praying silently? Does the devil figure out how to mess with us by our behavior patterns and what we do say aloud? 3. How do we pray in the Spirit? Is it conscious prayer we do in union with the Holy Spirit or does the Holy Spirit intercede for us from the thoughts and prayers of our hearts? If I forget sometimes to keep praying for the lost, will the Holy Spirit continue to intercede for me?

Questions 1. What is the responsibility of a church member regarding tithing when they are not able to attend church worship services? 2. Can Satan hear or know the prayers we say to the Lord if we don’t say them out loud? If he does not hear nor know silent prayers, are we not better off praying silently? Does the devil figure out how to mess with us by our behavior patterns and what we do say aloud? 3. How do we pray in the Spirit? Is it conscious prayer we do in union with the Holy Spirit or does the Holy Spirit intercede for us from the thoughts and prayers of our hearts? If I forget sometimes to keep praying for the lost, will the Holy Spirit continue to intercede for me?