Praying in the Spirit

      Prayer is our relationship with God.  It is our means of conversing with Him. Through prayer we seek to know the mind of God concerning us and those or what we pray for. When we pray we should pray in the spirit.

Praying in the Spirit is not endearing ourselves to God or relentlessly trying to get something from Him, which could be considered begging. Prayer in the spirit is our natural response to who we are—the children of God and therefore by the spirit we call out to God “Abba Father.” The spirit bears witness in our spirit that we are indeed the children of God and if children then heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. (Rom 8:15-17) This understanding frees us from any form of anxiety or fear so that we may approach God with boldness and assurance.

It is on the basis of this truth that Jesus told us not to keep babbling as pagans do, because they think they will be heard because of their very many words.” Jesus said “don’t be like them for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him (Matt 6:7). So when you pray, Jesus said pray this way, “our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven….”

Since we are already His children we call Him Father and recognize how hallowed His name is. By this name He has the capacity to move what ever needs to be moved in order to meet whatever needs that we have. On the basis of sacredness of His name and our relationship with Him as His children, we have the foundation upon which to build trust. As a father He cannot give us stone when we ask for bread, neither would He give us a serpent when we ask for fish.  He will move on our behalf to make available what we need.

Prayer in the spirit is interested with the extension of His Kingdom. We call upon His kingdom to come into the new realm of our experiences and exploits. We are not renegade sons who are self-serving but true sons who want to exalt their father and see His kingdom continue to expand beyond the current borders. We want to see His will done where we are as it is done in heaven. We tell the circumstances, things, the environment and whatever else to align themselves to be as we have seen in heaven. When we pray like this we are responding to who we are –spiritual—sons of God and heirs of God and of Christ. We are not begging but seeking the allocation of His resources to meet the kingdom needs in the areas he has allocated us as sons to rule and govern on His behalf.

Prayer in the spirit is an internal communication within the kingdom which is based on the understanding that we are part of the kingdom and that the father is the overall king. When we pray we are asking him to meet the needs of the kingdom according to the promises he has made to us and according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). We have responded to his heart and are assured of His provision. 

          So as we pray today, lets take heart, our heavenly Father knows what we need and is more than eager to avail all that you need to empower you to do His will. Nothing should excite us more than extending His kingdom and our passion to see His will done where we are as it’s in heaven. We do not act like aliens neither are we beggars when we come to Him. He know us , he anticipates our needs, He is aware of our coming to  Him and He is the one who has moved us by the spirit to ask those things that we feel so strongly are needed for our welfare and furtherance of His purposes in our areas of jurisdiction.