There’s a war on, and Paul says you’ve got to pray.
“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.”
Ephesians 6:18
What on earth does it mean to pray in the Spirit?
That phrase might raise questions for us, but I think it’s safe to assume that, whatever it is, praying in the Spirit was common practice in the early church, otherwise Paul would surely have explained what he meant by it. I would guess too that those first believers were able to discern when they were praying in the Spirit and when they were not. And, since Paul says, you must pray in the Spirit there must be some control over whether or not you do it..
Here are my thoughts.
Mainly, I think that praying in the Spirit has to do with the Holy Spirit helping us to pray.
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:26 – 27
The Holy Spirit puts godly desires in our hearts, stirs them up, gives us words to express them and gives us confidence to bring them to God. (For more on those verses, check out the podcast link below.)
But it can’t be totally passive. If you’re going to pray in the Spirit then, at the very least, you should be living in close fellowship with God’s Spirit: not quenching or grieving the Spirit but walking in obedience to God. And I think you should also be striving to discern God’s ways and pray prayers that are in line with His word.
I think too that there has to be a subjective side to praying in the Spirit: an element of experience. Maybe that will show in an inner assurance that you are communicating with God; maybe a sense of peace and joy, or even of acceptance and contentment or maybe a sense of power and liberty as you pray. Maybe it’s related to what people meant in the old days when they talked about “praying through”: persevering in prayer until that sense of liberty, power, peace and contentment comes.
Those are some of my thoughts. I’d be interested to hear yours, so feel free to add a comment.
Is what I have described your usual experience when you pray? When you pray, are you conscious of God’s Spirit coming alongside and helping you?
Don’t be satisfied with cold, heartless, mechanistic prayers. If your prayers are like that, get down to praying until things change, for praying in the Spirit is the kind of praying that this war you are fighting in calls for.
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
Jude 20 – 21
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