How to Pray in the Spirit (0520)
Ask God to teach you how to pray in the Spirit; let the Spirit minister to you, so that it might minister through you as you pray for others.

Sermon Overview
Scripture Passage: James 4:5

When we become Christians, God sends His Holy Spirit to dwell within us. This Spirit exists to promote the kingdom of Christ and uses us to do so. Therefore, we must learn how to pray in the Spirit.

Prayer is the greatest privilege and service a Christian could have. We have the opportunity to speak to God and serve Him through our communication. It is also, at times, the Christian’s greatest failure.

Is it sometimes difficult for you to pray? You love God, you believe in prayer, you know you ought to, but sometimes it’s the hardest thing in the world; why is that? There is something in you that is at war with God: your fleshly nature. And your fleshly nature does not want to pray; it is set against prayer.

Don't deny this weakness; accept it. Believe it or not, your weakness can be an asset. When you are weak, you are dependent upon God, who can do all things. Adrian Rogers tells us, “Praying in the Spirit will change prayer from a weary grudge to a delightsome privilege.”

Praying in the Spirit defeats the enemy of indifference. It defeats ignorance, knowing exactly what needs we ought to pray for. It defeats our inabilities; the Holy Spirit energizes, focuses and equips Christians as they talk to God. Praying in the Spirit overcomes interference from the devil.

The Holy Spirit guides us through our inexpressibility. Sometimes words fail. But the Bible says the Spirit groans and makes intercession for the saints. It knows how to take things that we cannot even utter and help us pray. Again, Adrian Rogers says, “I am the object of the Savior's intercession. He's interceding for me at the right hand of the father. But I am the vehicle of the Spirit's intercession. He is interceding through me on behalf of others.”

The Holy Spirit ministers to us, that He might minister through us. God wants to raise up a people that know how to intercede, so that this world might feel the impact of a holy church in the hands of a mighty God.

Apply it to your life
Spend some time today in prayer. Ask God to teach you how to pray in the Spirit; let the Spirit minister to you, so that it might minister through you as you pray for others.