Romans 8 and Ephesians 6:18
Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.
Ephesians 6:13-18
The NIV (reflecting the Greek text of v. 18 much more closely) says “Pray in the Spirit...” It is clear that we ought to pray constantly and pray for all followers of Jesus wherever they may be found: but what does it mean to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit?
I have friends who insist that prayer in the Spirit is the same as speaking in tongues. The problem with this interpretation is that the gift of tongues in not given to all believers but we are all exhorted to pray in the Spirit. So praying like this and speaking in tongues are two different things. Maybe it just boils down to 'pray when you are feeling very spiritual' – I suspect that most of us take this view. There are some moments in our lives when we sense the presence of God very close to us as we pray: could this be prayer in the Spirit? John of Patmos begins the descriptions of his visions in Revelation by telling us, “On the Lord's day I was In the Spirit and I heard behind me...” and so the Apocalypse begins. But can you be in the Spirit and not be feeling particularly Spiritual? Is this just down to the way we feel?
It is important, so we need to understand what is being said.
The new way of the Spirit
Think about it for a moment and you realise that, for the majority of the world's population, prayer is about reading or reciting words that someone else has written. There are precise rituals and liturgies, the words must be said in the right way and at the right time otherwise they are invalid. For most religious people prayer is most effective when it sounds right, looks right, smells right and when the ritual is performed right. Any made-up prayers that little old you could bring to the table are never going to be as powerful or as spiritual as those, right?
This was certainly true in the Judaism of Jesus and his followers. The Old Testament law specified what needed to be done and said – this was powerful and effective prayer – ordinary people could only stand and wonder at the beautiful buildings, the gorgeous robes, the heady smell of incense, and the ancient language.
Everything changed with the coming of Jesus – he would pray on a hillside as naturally as he prayed in the temple, he spoke to God in a refreshing and straightforward way, as though he were talking to a father. He taught us to pray in the same way, and he held up ordinary people as examples. “Two men went into the temple to pray”, he said, “One was a seriously religious and knew the drill, very confident, the other was a mess – he had no idea what to do and just stood at distance asking God to forgive him”. Guess which one Jesus picked out for praise?
When Jesus ascended into heaven the Holy Spirit came. God himself took up residence in his people – if you are a Christian you are a temple: God the Holy Spirit lives within you! So we are invited to pray; in a new way. A Christian can personally engage with God heart-to-heart, spirit to Spirit: this is prayer in the Spirit.
Romans 8 is a kind of handbook to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We are going to see what it tells us about this new kind of prayer.
Prayer in the Spirit is…
… focused on what the Spirit desires
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-5
Prayer in the Spirit is focused on the things that please the Spirit.
What do you make of those times the Bible tells us to “Wait upon the Lord”. It is an important theme in scripture and a powerful spiritual discipline. But waiting on God is not part of modern Christian culture: we want noise, not quiet waiting! I sometimes wonder if we are capable of the kind of quiet, reflective prayer that nourishes our souls deeply. It is very difficult in a culture that demands noise and constant movement! Prayer in the Spirit will require some listening and waiting, some time spent reflecting on the question “Just what does the Spirit want?”
This is one of the things that distinguishes old covenant prayer from the new (5). So Spirit empowered prayer will pause to reflect on what the Spirit wants: it will help you if you take some time to listen to Gods word and let it speak to you before you put into words what it is God has placed on your heart.
The Spirit wants people who will listen to him. That is where prayer in the Spirit begins.
… controlled by the Holy Spirit
So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
Romans 8:6-9
Prayer in the Spirit means allowing the Spirit to control our desires.
When we get to the end of the week we sometimes treat ourselves to a take-out meal, its great these days because you can have it delivered! We look at the menu and get on the ‘phone, the conversation goes something like this: “Hi, can I have a number 23, two portions of number 96, a number 17 and a number 40. Oh, and can we have extra mushrooms? Good, how long will it be?” Before long the food is delivered and we tuck in.
It struck me recently, listening to Cathie order a take-away, that this is how I pray most of the time. I talk to God as though I was on the ‘phone to a Chinese restaurant!
We are trained by our culture to think of prayer as a kind of technique we use to get things from God, and because we live in a demanding culture, we usually wind up wondering why our prayers have not been ‘answered’ (by ‘answered’ we mean getting what we want). When we don’t get what we want the analysis begins: did we pray long enough, did we pray hard enough, did I have enough faith? This is important, because it affects every one of us, when we get into this kind of analysis it can only lead back into the self-destroying legalism of old covenant prayer – we are not liberated, but enslaved and depressed by this sort of thing. Here is Paul again: “the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (6).
The purpose of prayer is not to control God but to let him rule us. You get this in the prayer that Jesus taught us: “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name”, our first focus in prayer is God. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”, Jesus set the agenda and the priority of Christian prayer is the kingdom of God’s. Only then to we say, “Give us…”
The reason we are so concerned when we don’t get what we want in prayer is that we are so deeply influenced by the consumerist culture in which we live and the consumerist Bible teachers who push their nab it and grab it philosophy. This is what Paul calls the sinful nature and it leads to death…of various kinds… but the way of the Spirit is life and peace!
It is often said that prayer changes things; this is true, but prayer in the Spirit is meant to change me!
… led by the Holy Spirit (8:14)
And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
Romans 8:10-14
Prayer in the Sprit is led by the Spirit.
I wonder if you occasionally get the urge to pray? Where would that desire come from, I wonder? I don’t think that the devil is that interested in getting you praying, and I am sure that my sinful nature is not that motivated. I am inclined to think that those kinds of impulse are the work of the Holy Spirit. So we ought to develop the habit of obey those urges and going to God in prayer when you feel so driven. This is being ‘led by the Spirit’ and it is a sign that you are a child of God: “Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear but you received the Spirit of son-ship and by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” (Romans 8:14-15).
‘Lead-ability’ is quite an important thing to cultivate. Sometimes you will get it right and other times you won’t, but as we learn to recognise the Holy Spirit’s prompting us we will learn to Pray as the Spirit desires. This is prayer in the Spirit.
Some years ago I got a phone call in the early hours of a Friday morning. It was a woman from our church in Leicester who was to be married on the Saturday, she was at the bedside of her father who had just had a massive heart attack and was not expected to survive the night. This lady and her fiancée wondered whether I would go in and marry them in the intensive care ward of Leicester Royal Infirmary. I agreed, on the way to the hospital I knocked Geoff Baker, my colleague, out of bet and he came with me. The father had been unconscious since arriving in hospital but the doctor reckoned that the ceremony was worth doing because there was a chance the man would hear us.
After pronouncing the couple ‘man and wife’ I felt it would be good to pray for the father. As I did so I felt a clear inner sense that I ought to pray for him to be completely healed, this is an urge I don’t often get but it was so clear and so urgent – and so specific – that I felt I had to pray for his compete recovery. It felt slightly ridiculous holding a prefect stranger’s hand, surrounded by his close family, asking God to do the impossible. The following day he was sitting up in bed, the following week he was discharged and within a month he was driving his car ‘round Leicester.
About four years ago we were singing the last hymn after a morning service at Bethany Christian Centre. I felt the urge again, clearly, urgently and specifically I felt God speak to me, “This is an important moment, do an appeal and ask people to come to the front. No-one will come and you will look foolish, but afterwards you will need some help”. I slipped off the platform to organise some back-up, and after the hymn was over we did an appeal. No-one responded and I felt silly, but afterward half a dozen individuals came to the front and it turned out to be a very important morning for all of them.
It will help you to pray in the Spirit if you take some the time to listen and wait upon the lord,you’re your Bible and let God’s word give you a steer. Learn to recognise the Lord’s prompting you, learn to distinguish it from mere wishful thinking or self-aggrandisement, respond to his prompting in your prayers. Never resist the prompting of the Holy Spirit.
All these will help, but we have yet to consider the most important thing.
… helped by the Spirit (8:26-27)
When all is said and done, our prayers boil down to a few weak words. Within a few feet of our lips their sound dissipates and the vast universe hears only silence. This is what the Holy Spirit does:
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
Romans 8:26-27
This is how it works: this microphone takes my small voice, sends it into an amplifier which makes the noise bigger before sending the signal to a speaker. Those guys on the sound desk, they have dozens of little knobs ans sliders to strip out the buzzes and crackles so that the sound you hear is crystal clear. The result is that you can all hear me. This is what the Holy Spirit does so that god hears your whispered prayers loud and clear.
What you say to God is of enormous significance. Don't believe me? Would you like to see the prayers you prayed last night? Here they are:
And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
Revelation 5:8
They started out on earth, destined for the great silent void of the universe, but then the Holy Spirit took them and now they are in heaven! It is easy to feel intimidated when we speak about prayer and of spiritual things in general. I suspect that one of the enemy’s goals is to convince most of us that effective prayer is an elite activity for a specially chosen squad of God’s favourites. This is a lie!
Listen to what God is teaching us here: as soon as you open your mouth to pray, you are already praying in the Spirit because the Spirit is helping you in your weakness (26). When you know you are weak, not one of God’s favourites, and you come to God leaning on his Holy Spirit to help you – you are praying in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told a story about two men who went into the temple to pray. The first was articulate, confident and religious: he saw himself as one of God’s elite. He strode into the presence of God and made a beautiful speech. This is how Jesus described it: “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself; ‘God I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get’”. Jesus description is withering, “He prayed about himself”.
The other guy in the story was quite different, Jesus said, “He stood at a distance and would not even look up to heaven”. It is clear that he felt like a second-class citizen in God’s eyes; he would never be a member of the elite. So “He beat his breast” Jesus said, and prayed, “God have mercy on me, a sinner”. He came as an ordinary person, and he saw that he needed all the help he could get. This is how prayer in the Spirit begins!