“However, you are not [living] in the flesh [controlled by the sinful nature] but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God lives in you [directing and guiding you]. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him [and is not a child of God]. If Christ lives in you, though your [natural] body is dead because of sin, your spirit is alive because of righteousness [which He provides].” (Romans 8:9-10 AMP)
Recently I “happened” (does anything ever just “happen” when we are led by Holy Spirit?) upon a podcast by pastor and author Dr. John Piper.* The topic of the podcast “How do we pray in the Spirit?” caught my attention. I won’t recount all the points of this, but a couple of things were very noteworthy to me.
Firstly, that we should live all of life – not just prayer – “in the Spirit.”
- walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16)
- live by the Spirit, not the flesh (Romans 8:13)
- praise God by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 14:16)
- speak by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3)
- worship in the Spirit (John 4:24)
- pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18)
You get the idea: all of life is to be lived under the leading/empowering/guiding of Holy Spirit. Everything we do is to flow from that.
Secondly, when we pray it must be “in the Spirit” because if our flesh “prays” without the Spirit we are really not praying in faith. When we pray in the Spirit, we show a trust that God can help us because of our faith. We know that our prayers are guided by the Spirit.
Spirit and Truth,
Help us, your worshippers, to continually pray in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, speak, praise, and live all of life by your empowerment. We ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16 NIV)
“For if you are living according to the [impulses of the] flesh, you are going to die. But if [you are living] by the [power of the Holy] Spirit you are habitually putting to death the sinful deeds of the body, you will [really] live forever.” (Romans 8:13 AMP)
“Otherwise, if you praise God only with your spirit, how can outsiders say “Amen!” to your prayer of thanksgiving? They don’t know what you’re saying.” (1 Corinthians 14:16 GW)
“Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the [power and influence of the] Spirit of God can say, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is [my] Lord,” except by [the power and influence of] the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3 AMP)
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24 NIV)
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (Ephesians 6:18 NIV)
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al3-N_0ikc4