How To Pray In The Spirit

You see, there are two ways to pray. One is for the ’ol flesh to try to pray, and that’s the reason why it’s so much work. The other way to pray is to pray the way the Bible teaches us to pray, admitting our weakness, casting ourselves upon God, no longer having a self-sufficiency in prayer, but praying in the Spirit.

1. Six Enemies that keep us from Praying

You see, God allows us to stay perpetually weak that we might be perpetually dependant upon the Holy Spirit of God. There are six enemies that keep us from praying. And, I want you to see how praying the Spirit is the answer to each of these six enemies.

a. Indifference

Now, first of all, there is the enemy of indifference—indifference—where we just don’t feel like praying. We have a spiritual lethargy. We have no real desire to pray. It’s sort of a spirit of bondage where we are just lethargic about the spiritual thing. Somebody said, “The greatest problem in America is apathy, but who cares.”

Now, I think that’s the way we feel about this matter prayer, sometimes we’re just really indifferent to pray. Do you want me to tell you why you don’t pray more than you do pray? Is you don’t want to? We find time to do what we really want to do. It’s not that we don’t have time to pray. There is just an indifference about us. The truth is that our flesh has no appetite for prayer whatever, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it indeed is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So quit trying to cover it up. Admit that the reason that you don’t pray is that you don’t want to. Just go ahead and admit it.

There’s something in you that doesn’t want to pray. That’s hard to say, isn’t it? ’Cause we all try to impress each other with our spirituality. But, I’ll be honest, there’s something in me that doesn’t want to pray. There’s something in me that absolutely rebels at going to the place of prayer. You say, “What? And, you’re a preacher.” Yes. And, you’re the same way. There’s something in you that doesn’t want to pray. There’s something in you that is indifferent to the matter of prayer. It’s that ’ol carnal nature.

Well, how does praying in the Holy Spirit help you to want to pray? Well, I want you to look here in Romans chapter 8, verse 15: “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). Who is it that’s crying, “Abba, Father” in us? It’s the Holy Spirit of God. You see, the Spirit of God loves to pray. He wants to pray. And, when you turn that Holy Spirit loose in you, He then gives you the energy and the desire to pray. It is the Spirit of God in you that is crying out, “Abba, Father.” Or, right along side that verse just jot down Galatians chapter 4, and verse 6. And the Bible says, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6). Because I’m a son of God, God put the Spirit of His Son into my heart, and it is the Holy Spirit in me that cries out, “Abba, Father.”