Praying in the Spirit

That our prayers may be odorous, they must have the sweet incense of the Spirit breathed into them. It is the prayer that the Spirit inspires that reaches the ear of God. Alas! the many formal prayers. They have their bounds, and when the person has gone his round he closes. He has gone over the same ground so often he wearies of it. Every prayer would be a new prayer if we prayed in the Spirit. This is the prayer that God answers. We are as ignorant of true prayer as the disciple who said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”* (Luke 11:1) We know not how to pray, but the Spirit will teach us and help us. When the Spirit in our heart talks to God, the answer is certain to follow. We build ourselves up on our most holy faith by “praying in the Holy Ghost,”* (Jude 1:20) We can have faith when the Spirit prays. It may be there is not enough acknowledgment of our dependence upon the Holy Spirit and waiting for Him. We have prayed so many times we know just how to pray, we may conclude; and so we go ahead, but the answer does not come. The language of Ephesians 6:18 teaches us that effectual prayer is made only in the Spirit. “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”* (Ephesians 6:18) Formal prayers are not heard by the Lord.

It is only when the Spirit comes into our hearts that we can cry, “Abba, Father.”* (Galatians 4:6) We can call God Father only by the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that draws us to God in prayer. He fills the heart with longing for God. Those who live in the Spirit find no difficulty in prayer. The Holy Spirit:rit gives us power in prayer. It is the Spirit that keeps us in such a frame of mind as makes prayer delightful. He gives us a keen appetite for converse with God and makes prayer enjoyable. To those who are filled with the Spirit, no hour is so hallowed and so heavenly sweet as the hour of prayer. It is by the Holy Spirit that we have power over the enemy of our souls. The devil fears a prayer in the Spirit. Cold, lifeless, Spiritless prayers do not alarm him. But

“Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees.”*

He will do all he can to hinder the children of God in their prayers. He will tell them that they have no time for prayer. But the Christian must take time to pray. No other religious exercise is so important as prayer; so the Christian must pray, if he does nothing besides. This temptation to leave off prayer because of not having time is a cunning device of the enemy of prayer. Satan endeavors to get us hurried in our prayers. But when praying in the Spirit, we shall not be hurried, but shall pray in calmness and deliberation. Those who are acquainted with the laws pertaining to physical health know that we should eat slowly, and that unless we do, we fail to get the full benefit of our food. This same law exists relative to spiritual health. Take time to pray and take time in prayer. The Spirit of God will not lead us hurriedly, and if we get in a hurry, we shall get ahead of the Spirit.

The whole of the Christian experience is to be filled with the Spirit. We are to worship God in the Spirit and in truth. Our bodies are to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. It is He who is to teach us and to guide us. It is He who anoints us that we may know God and the things of God. We get no true conception of God except by the Holy Spirit. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit.”* (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) Oh, how dependent we are on him! We cannot pray aright without Him; we cannot understand the truth of God without Him; we cannot know God without Him; we cannot love God without Him; we cannot have peace in the soul without Him; we can never get to heaven without Him. Then, let us be careful never to grieve Him nor quench Him; let us do nothing that He would not have us do, and let us do promptly all that He would have us do; let us honor Him; let us look to Him for guidance and for help; let us acknowledge our dependence on Him and seek His aid in prayer; let us have our whole life under His influence. A true, sincere Christian is one whose life is powerfully under the Holy Spirit’s influence.