Don’t Know How to Pray About It? … Pray in the Spirit

At times, I may not be confident I know how to pray about something effectively. But if I can engage smart prayer, knowing what to do will come … and then all bets are off.

Google isn’t all that. The greatest search engine of all is the Holy Spirit … Infinite Intelligence.

Memo to Humanity: We Don’t Know Everything with Our Natural Mind

Can we admit that our understanding of things is incomplete?

At this time we know in part … now we see in a mirror dimly (1 Corinthians 13).

When Christ comes again, we will experience the fullness of His Kingdom, and we will see Him face to face. We will have a much more complete understanding of everything. And our understanding will increase forever.

Until then, we have access to an extraordinary resource—we can pray in the Spirit:

The Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He (the Father) who searches the hearts (our hearts) knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints (that’s us in Christ) according to the will of God (Romans 8:26-27, parenthesis are my emphasis).

Partnering with the Holy Spirit is an opportunity without limits!

  • Our weakness is often that we don’t know what to pray about. And we don’t know how to pray effectively to get results. It’s really an “infirmity.”
  • When invited, the Holy Spirit comes to our side. As we pray in the Spirit, we touch that situation or issue in faith. We target it together with the Holy Spirit. He helps us.
  • The Holy Spirit shows us what to reach for in prayer and how to pray about it. Even more, He energizes and empowers our prayer!

And then we have this big promise in the next verse in Romans 8 …

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:29).

Elevate the Ceiling Over Your Life

As we pray in the Spirit, we elevate to higher frequencies with God.

I encourage you to fix your gaze upon Christ, and as you pray, raise that person, situation, challenge, opportunity, etc. before Him. Yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to pray with you and through you.

Remember, praying in the Spirit is Christo-centric … we fix our eyes upon Christ. After all, the Spirit glorifies and amplifies Christ. Praying in the Spirit is also set within the truth and tone of the inspired Scriptures.

Jesus said, “These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues … (Mark 16:17 ESV). Paul wrote that he prayed with his spirit (heavenly prayer language) and with the mind (native prayer language) (I Corinthians 14:15, parenthesis are my emphasis).

As you pray in the Spirit, note any impressions and promises that surface in your understanding.

As the Holy Spirit gives you understanding, you can begin to pray about your concerns with the mind as well (native prayer language).

Pray in the Spirit to Project Your Prayers into the Future with Accuracy

The Holy Spirit partners with us and addresses things we don’t even know about. We may be praying about things in the near, immediate, or distant future!

I believe it’s wise to advance our prayers further out in the future—several weeks, several months, even several years from now.

This dynamic form of prayer was prevalent in the lives of those who were closest to Christ and the source of the church. It has also surfaced at times since then.

In the past 120 years, praying in the Spirit has exploded across the earth.

Today, the most accelerated spiritual awakening and church growth are happening on the continents of South America, Africa, and Asia where praying in the Spirit is widely experienced by believers.

Have you explored this powerful form of prayer? Have you been held down by a theological or denominational bias?

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  1. Thank you so much for divinely inspired teachings. Does speaking in the Spirit mean to speak in tongues, not languages, but a heavenly language that no one can understand, not even the speaker herself? I was told by some believers that I needed to practice until my speaking in tongues became real. My feedback: If I have to practice this heavenly language then it is not real to me. I have been a Christian for many years, yet there has always been what it seems to be a wall between the Lord and me, and I feel very sad and guilty about it. I welcome your insight on this issue.
    Marvy

    1. Hi there, Marvy … thanks for the comment.

      We’re all questing in our understanding and experience. My thinking is that praying in the spirit can included praying in our language of birth or a learned language as well as praying in heavenly prayer languages.

      With our native language, we can pray in the Spirit if our prayers are Word-shaped and prompted and energized by the Holy Spirit.

      I think praying in unknown languages can include praying in languages which people groups understand, as on the Day of Pentecost in Acts. It can also include praying in heavenly prayer languages which are not known my humans.

      There is nothing in the New Testament or in the experience of millions of believers to suggest that heavenly prayer languages have ceased with the first-generation church or when the New Testament canon was complete.

      I’m with you in that I don’t think you need to “practice” until speaking in tongues becomes real. I do think we need to be free with worship and focus upon the one who baptizes and continues to fill us with the Holy Spirit: Jesus Christ. There is something to be said, too, for the release of the spirit (the human spirit). The Holy Spirit “breaks out” from our spirit and fills the parts of our soul (mind, will, emotions), and even into our body. Of course, this includes what the Bible refers to as the part of our body most prone to evil … the tongue.

      I’m sorry you feel there is a “wall” between you and the Lord. Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35, 37). God is for you and not against you (Romans 8:31). I think there are some process things we can intentionally do … some spiritual disciplines like various types of Scripture-intake, meditation, journaling, affirmation, etc which can help. If you’d like to contact me more privately, please feel free to email me at brian@truenorthquest.com. Or if you’d like to dialogue more on this thread, that’s great too!

      Recommended read: The Beauty of Spiritual Language by Jack W. Hayford

      Hope this helps some. Appreciate you!

  2. Thanks Brian for your response and suggestions. I will purchase the book on spiritual language you recommended. And yes, I need to become more disciplined on praying and a more in-depth of the Scriptures.
    May the Lord continue to richly bless you personally and your meaningful ministry.
    Marvy

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