Praying In The Spirit Series

Title: Praying in the Spirit

Theme: What happens when a person prays in the Spirit.

Text: Acts 16:16 - 33

Introduction

If you would please turn in your bibles to Acts 16. Acts chapter 16 we will begin looking at verse 16. Acts 16 and verse 16.

I have preached on this passage many times. There have been so many angles that I have come from. Paul and Silas in prison and praising through the prison doors. Paul not letting the enemy control his testimony as he would not let them “put him out the back door, to hide him”.

It was recently in hearing a message that God pricked my heart again. Verse 16 begins with the context of the story.

(Act 16:16) Now it happened, as we went to prayer,

This is they key to the passage. What were they doing? They were going to pray. Where? In the temple.

This was their routine, but it was important to them. They had learned from Jesus the importance of prayer. He would often “go to prayer”. It could be late at night or anytime throughout the day. Sometimes even praying until His sweat became as blood.

So where did they go after seeing such growth in the church. Where did they go after experiencing the many miracles in the New Testament church? They went to prayer.

that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation."

This is an interesting part of the story. As they were “going to pray” they are met by a young girl who has “a spirit of divination”. She was possessed by the devil.

She would follow them around and proclaim, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”

Why would she do this? To discredit them. The devil knew that he couldn’t beat them so he was trying to discredit them. As the old saying goes, “everything that glitters is not gold” it is the same here. Paul and Silas did not want her credit.

(18) And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed (grieved, toiled, he knew this girl was under the influence of something else), turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out that very hour.

They allowed this for many days until finally Paul looked at her and said enough, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of here.” She was delivered. Right then. It really was not about Paul or Silas it was about the name of Jesus.

James 4:7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

(19) But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. 20) And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, "These men, being Jews, exceedingly trouble our city; 21) and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe."

Notice a couple of things here. What were they going to do? They were going to pray. What happened? The enemy attacked them and the town rose up against them. Why? They were just going to the temple to pray and then was accosted by this demon.

Their reasoning was that they “teach customs, which are not lawful to us”. The customs they teach: 1) prayer 2) deliverance. They teach the importance of prayer and setting people free. This is not what they wanted.

(22) Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23) And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. 24) Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Why? Because they were going to pray. All this happened when they were going to pray in the temple.

Here is the Key!

(25) But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,

So they were beaten, thrown into the inner prison, put in stocks. Why? Because they were going to pray.

They thought they were going to pray in the temple but wound up praying in the prison.

When we pray the key is letting the Spirit lead us in our prayers. Spirit filled praying is being led by the spirit on what and who to pray for.