Praying “in the Spirit” means praying according to God’s Word (as God’s Spirit and God’s Word are always linked--see John 6:63).
So we fill our hearts and minds with God’s Word and then we pray back His word to Him. We ask the Spirit to pray for us and we pray in Him.
When we study God’s Word our mind becomes renewed; in other words, our thoughts are literally swimming in Bible passages, in the gospel, in thoughts of Jesus, etc. And that’s the time to pray!
As an example, when studying Romans chapter 8, we could pray:
“Father in Heaven, thank you for sending your Son Jesus to take away my condemnation. I have sinned and deserve to be condemned but because of Jesus, there is now no condemnation for me. Thank you! Please help others to know that you sent Jesus to die for them too so they can be as free and happy as I am.”
And we are to pray “on all occasions”, meaning continually. We can pray as we work, or at home, as we ride in the car, during time with family and time alone. But always remember that praying the Scriptures, praying the gospel is the key to two-way communication from God.
And we are to pray for “all the Lord’s people.” Our prayers shouldn’t just be us pouring out our hearts to the Lord, praying for our requests, etc. we should also be praying for other people. That means we could find out what needs they have and then pray for them, and watch the Lord answer over time. Prayer such as “Jesus, you became the sacrifice of atonement for my sins, I pray just now for (insert name), would you please show them that you died for them too? (Romans 3:25)” Or “Father you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself at the cross, please show (insert name) that you did not count his/her sins against them but against your own Son (2 Corinthians 5:19), and please work in them to be reconciled to you.”
God has His time for answering so don’t’ give up praying if the answer doesn’t come immediately. Sometimes people pray for their children for their entire lives and go to their deathbeds still waiting to see God answer their specific prayer. But later, in God’s timing, that prayer is answered very clearly. God answers prayer, in His time and in His way.
When praying, we must remember that the Holy Spirit operates in the realm of “Christ crucified”. Remember the story of Moses striking the rock, and the water pouring from it? (Numbers 20:1-9). That story was designed to teach us that when Jesus was “struck” on the cross, out of His death flowed the Holy Spirit for all believers. And that the Holy Spirit flows from the crucified Christ to all who believe:
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (39) Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:38-39 ESV
Question 5. To what is the Holy Spirit compared in John chapter 7?
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