PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT

PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT… A GREAT BLESSING

                One of the great blessings of praying I the Spirit is that we can ask the Holy Spirit to awaken our spirit to worship in the Spirit. Praying in the Spirit moves us from the activity of the carnal mind and into the activity of our born again spirit, and of course on that note, Jesus said: “God is spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24

                Nicodemus sought to converse with Jesus on an intellectual level, but Jesus cut him off at the pass. He said emphatically: “Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again." The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from or where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

                How many of us seek a conversation with God on an intellectual level. We use our own carnal minds to tell God how we think He should run our lies and what He should do for us and how He should do it and when He should do it. But to us Jesus says the same thing that HE said to Nicodemus:

                “I gave you My Holy Spirit so that you can converse with me in the Spirit rather than in the flesh. Why are you trying to come to me on equal intellectual terms?

                “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 9:26, 27

                Paul makes it clear (contrary to what many teach) saying: “One who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.

                Two points can be made about the gift of tongues:

1.        IF it is only the gift of a known language as some claim, then there would not need to be an interpretation of tongues. In other words, if God gives me the gift of speaking Chinese, then I don’t need a Chinese interpreter.

2.       If the gift is done away, then so are the other spiritual gifts and the Gospel commission remains impossible to fulfill… neither can we do the works of Christ. Jesus lived a supernatural life and He has called us to do the same. But by its very nature, being supernatural, it cannot be produced by the natural. We need the Holy Spirit of Christ in order to operate in His supernatural realm and that is exactly what we have been commissioned to do.

                As with all biblical truth, we need to go deeper in these last days. We need to seek what is offered to us as it is made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus and His sending of His Holy Spirit to empower our lives.

                The truth is the tongue is the first thing that God must gain control of in us. Our tongue is the rudder that steers the ship. We must speak in agreement with the Word and by the power of the Word and while there is an intellectual element to studying God’s Word, the deeper reality is that of the Spirit of God inhabiting the spirit of man and transforming us into His image, not just as an intellectual exercise, but as a deep transformation of our heart and soul as we live by the Spirit rather than by the flesh.

                Today many religions actually snub and deny any supernatural aspects to the Gospel and that is what makes them into dead churches. They have a form, but not the power.

                In the Bible’s presentation of King Saul and King David we see this vividly pointed out. Samuel wanted to pick an impressive king to be king over Israel so he chose Saul. But Saul was not to be God’s man in the end. God had David, a man after His own heart in mind and so HE said to Samuel:

                “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”    1 Sam. 16:7

                Likewise today, there are many Saul type organizations that appear impressive with their great institutions and Cathedrals and infrastructure. Their schools and universities and hospitals and all may dazzle us, but God is looking for humble people with contrite hearts and a pride that has been brought to the place where they will accept the Spirit of God over their own intellectual prowess.

               

                 It was the Publican whose prayers God heard and not the Pharisee who brought his institutional credentials and good works before God. The best we can do is as filthy rags and we need to become more earnest and humble in our seeking that which only the Holy Spirit can do for us.

                If speaking in tongues has become a badge of pride for us, then we simply don’t understand that God has just told us that our intellect isn’t good enough. Like Paul we come to t realization that all of the credits we think we have built up with our religion are but rubbish (dung) compared with knowing Jesus Christ as our Lord. Like Nicodemus, we must be born again and we must now converse with Him by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is received by those who are humble and teachable.

                “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for those who come to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

                “If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Luke 11:13