Praying Victoriously In The Spirit: Romans Series #18

Prayer is the greatest Christian privilege and the grandest Christian service. Prayer is greater than singing, preaching, soul winning, testifying, and teaching. Prayer is our greatest success and also our greatest failure. I believe that more than 80 percent of Christians would say, “I am not satisfied with my prayer life.” Is this true for you?

What is the answer to this? Praying in the Spirit is the key to a victorious prayer life. It is the answer to our indifference, when God seems far away. It is the answer to our ignorance, when we don’t know what to pray for. It is the answer to our weakness, when we don’t seem to be able to concentrate. It is the answer to our inability, when we are not able to articulate the things that we’d like to say when we pray.

We read in Romans 8:26-27:

²⁶ Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; ²⁷ 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.

The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:18, encourages us to be “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.” In Jude 1:20 we read, “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.”

The first-century Church has so little and did so much and often we have so much and do so little. Why? The difference is in the prayer life of that early Church and in the prayer life of the modern Church.

In Romans chapter 8, Paul mentions the weaknesses of the saints. In verse 26 we read, “the Spirit also helps our weakness.”  The weakness that each of us have is not unique. I have it. You have it. It is not an inferiority complex. It is an inferiority. I have it. You have it. Paul had it. It is a great encouragement to me that the Apostle Paul did not say, “The Spirit helps your weakness.” I am grateful that the Apostle Paul said, “The Spirit helps our weakness.” Let us admit it but also rejoice in it because it is not a liability; it is an asset.

We read 2 Corinthians 12:9: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” You see, God makes us weak, that we might depend upon Him and be stronger than we could ever be. The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness—that’s the way He helps us.

If we were not weak, we would not have His help. Additionally, God wants to deliver us from the peril of self-sufficiency. One of the worst things that could happen to us would be for us to be strong enough to be sufficient upon myself. Therefore, I could never know the help of the blessed Holy Spirit. He has made me perpetually weak, that I might be perpetually dependent; and, therefore, that I might be perpetually powerful. Let us move from complaining about our weakness and begin to thank the Lord that through Him and Him alone we can be strong.  

The Holy Spirit will help us in our weakness. The word “help”, means “take hold of.” In other words, “to lay hands to, in order to help.” The only other time this word is used in the entire New Testament is when Martha complained about Mary, who was sitting at the feet of Jesus, and Martha came out of the kitchen and said to Jesus, “Tell her to help me” (Luke 10:40).

What Martha was saying is, “Let her come into the kitchen, and lay hands on these matters, and get them done.” This word is preceded by a double prefix. The first part of the prefix means “together with.” The other part means “instead of.” The Holy Spirit helps together with us, and the Holy Spirit does it instead of us. The Holy Spirit brings “together with” and “instead of” kind of help.

The Holy Spirit of God does the work, but He will not do it apart from us—a “together with” and “instead of” kind of help. What a glorious partnership! The Holy Spirit wants to think, but He wants to think through our mind. The Holy Spirit wants to speak, but He wants to speak through our lips. The Holy Spirit wants to weep, but He wants to weep through our eyes. The Holy Spirit wants to groan, but He wants to groan through our spirit. He does it instead of us. He does it together with us. The Holy needs us and we need Him. He wants to minister through us. In order to minister through us, He ministers to us. He helps our weakness. God uses our lives as instruments of intercession, that the great purpose of God would be fulfilled in this world. When we pray in the Spirit, there is mighty power for us.

I. The Spirit Inspires Our Prayer

We read in Romas 8:5, “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.”

There are two propensities in us—the flesh and the spirit. These two propensities are warring together, in our hearts and in our minds. Paul continues with, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh”—that is, they who are carnal—“cannot please God” (Romans 8:5–8).

Do you know why it is that it’s so hard for us to pray, if you’re not in the Spirit? The flesh doesn’t want to pray. The flesh is indifferent to prayer. The flesh is completely apathetic to prayer. If we are carnally minded, we are not going to want to pray. Look again: “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit [mind] the things of the Spirit”

If the Spirit of God is alive and active in us, then we are going to want to pray, because prayer is a fundamental of the Spirit. So many of us are apathetic about prayer, and it is because we’re in the flesh and we’re not in the Spirit. You see, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit in us energizes our prayer life.

In Romans 8:15, Look, we “For ye have not received the of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” When the Holy Spirit comes into you, and you are adopted into the family of God, the Holy Spirit comes into you, praying. The very nature of a newborn child is to mimic those simple words, and the easiest two syllables for a baby to say are “ahh” and “bah”—“ah bah, Ahbah.” This is an Aramaic term that a baby would speak. I want to tell you that the birth cry of a newborn baby is prayer: “Abba, Father”; the Spirit in us is crying, “Abba, Father,” as Jesus taught us to pray “Our Father.”

When we are in the Spirit, we are going to find the Spirit crying, “Abba, Father.” In Galatians 4:6 we read, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” “God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts.” Who is God’s Son? Jesus. Who is the supreme example of prayer? The Lord Jesus is the supreme example of prayer. There is no prayer life like the prayer life of the Lord Jesus, for “he ever lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25).

II. The Spirit Informs Our Prayer

The Holy Spirit not only encourages us to pray, but the Holy Spirit enlightens us to pray.

In Romans 8:26, we read, “for we know not what to pray for as we should.” There are times when it is hard to know what to pray. We would find it hard to pray about everything. When people tell me that I am on their prayer list and they pray for me every day, it moves my heart deeply.

If we tried to pray for every possibility of every need of all of the people—all of the countries, all of the nations, all of the problems, all the lost people—our prayer, rather than being a mighty river, would become a stagnant swamp, and our prayer would cease to be powerful. In order for our prayers to be effective and powerful, they must be selective.

In addition to not knowing what to pray, there are many times, we’re asking for the wrong thing. Sometimes, someone gets sick, and we’re praying, and pleading, and saying, “God, heal that person,” when God might have a higher plan. We might be praying, “God let them stay,” but God’s will and all of Heaven is saying, “Let them come.”

In our churches, so many times, many of our prayer requests are for the sick, rather than for the lost. We’re praying for sick saints rather than lost sinners. We’re more interested in keeping the saints out of Heaven than we are the lost out of Hell.

It’s hard to know how to pray at times. Your grandmother becomes sick. She’s been serving the Lord for decades, and now, her body’s old and worn out. We’re saying, “How do we know whether to pray that God will cure them or God will take them home?” It’s not easy. We the Holy Spirit to guide us.

What about if a person in the church is causing problems? How do you pray about that person? Think of the Apostle Paul—the Apostle Paul, who was making havoc of the Church. I’m sure there were a lot of Saints praying about him, and some of them were probably praying, “Lord, strike him dead.” God had a better plan: He struck him alive, made a great apostle out of him.

In Romans 8:14: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). The Holy Spirit can take our prayers and make them effective because they’re selective. He can make them powerful because He takes our ignorance and makes intercession for us, and leads us in our praying, and shows us how to pray, in spite of our ignorance.

“We know not what we should pray for as we should” (Romans 8:26). But, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). How important it is, therefore, that we abide in the Holy Spirit!

Though the power lines normally under the ground these days, there is great electrical power surging through those lines. However, if these lines were to come into your home and be connected to your television or refrigerator, without going through a transformer, it would just blow everything up. You would have fuses blowing throughout your home. However, there is a transformer. The power comes from the great generators, and it comes into the transformer; and, that transformer changes that electrical energy into a form that is acceptable, that can be used.

In like manner, the Holy Spirit is the Great Transformer. I originate these prayers with His help and the Holy Spirit takes those prayers, and He transforms them and makes intercession according to the will of God.

God knows that you’re praying and He knows that you desire the will of God. Yet, it so wonderful that the Holy Spirit is there—that Divine Transformer, who is taking that prayer energy and making it acceptable to the heart and the mind of the Father. We read in verse 27: “And he that searches the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

III. The Spirit Invigorates Our Prayer

In Romans 8:10-11, we read, “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken”—that means enliven—“your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”

I believe that the Holy Spirit of God in you is there to enliven you, to give you spiritual quickening and spiritual life that you need to pray. We need energy to pray. It takes spiritual strength to pray.

Jesus illustrated this when He said to those sleepy disciples, “The spirit…is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Now, Jesus would not have commanded them and encouraged them to pray, had they truly needed to sleep. They did not need to sleep. I’m saying those disciples did not need to sleep at that time. There was sufficient strength for them to pray. You’ll never convince me that the Lord asked of them an impossibility.

Did you know that sleepiness is, many times, an attack of the devil? Did you know that laziness, many times, is an attack of the devil? Did you know many times, your inability to concentrate is an attack of the devil?

Now, there is a legitimate tiredness. There is a legitimate need for sleep. We need to rest. Yet, the devil can make you sleepy. It is a work of the flesh. “The spirit…is willing, but the flesh is weak.” In Matthew 26:40 we read, “And he cometh unto the disciples, and found them asleep, and he said unto Peter, Could you not watch with me one hour?” Peter was asleep. It was the work of the flesh.

You see, there is a divine dynamo—the Holy Spirit, who enlivens us. I depend upon the Holy Spirit to give me strength when I preach. I honestly do not believe that I would have the physical stamina to preach, without the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe that the Holy Spirit quickens my body when I preach. I believe that the Holy Spirit of God quickens our bodies.

When we pray we should use some common sense in our prayer life. I mean, you ought to save the best time for prayer. I encourage you not to let devil give you an attack of the sleep-eases. Don’t you let that devil give you an attack of the lazies. Many times, that is not a legitimate need for rest. It is an attack of the devil. The Holy Spirit will enliven us to pray, as you pray in the Spirit.

IV. The Spirit Indicates Our Prayer

The Holy Spirit gives expression to our prayers. In Romans 8:26, we read, “Likewise the Spirit also helps our weakness: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit [himself] maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” “Groanings which cannot be uttered” means “sighs that are too deep for words,” a form of wordless praying.

Who is doing the groaning? Is it the Holy Spirit, or is it you? It is both. He is groaning instead of us. He is groaning together with us. It is that partnership that I wrote about when God the Holy Spirit, in the human spirit, enables you to pray what is, sometimes, an inarticulate prayer.

This word groaning is the word that is used of the pains at childbirth. Look, if you will, at Romans 8:22: “For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.”

Just like a mother travails in pain, giving birth to a child, the groans, the sighs, the pain—that’s the idea of the Holy Spirit of God in us making that deep intercession—those things that you feel so deeply about; those hurts, those wounds, those sorrows, those pleas, those sighs. It is in those times when you say, “God, I don’t know how to say it. Spirit of the living God, help me to pray.” In those times, He prays for us, instead of us, together with us, just as a woman in travail has pain.

V. The Spirit Infuses Our Prayer

The enemy of your soul, the devil—doesn’t want us to pray. Prayer is warfare. Paul is asking in Romans 8:31, “What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” When you go to prayer, and the devil lets loose with all of the artillery of Hell, the Holy Spirit is there. He’s saying, “My child, I’m for you.” “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

And, I want to remind you, again, that the devil is very clever. The Bible says that he’s more subtle than any beast of the field (Genesis 3:1). The devil is so clever that he will encourage you to witness, if it will keep you from praying. The devil would even encourage you to study the Word of God, if that becomes a substitute for your prayer life. There is no substitute for prayer—not enthusiasm, not eloquence, not energy—no substitutes for intercession and prayer.

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, and powers…and spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). We wrestle in prayer. When we put on the armor, then we show up to the battle. And, the battle is prayer, for he says, in Ephesian 6:18: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). Satan is no match for the Holy Spirit. Only prayer in the Spirit can overcome the interference of the devil. We need the power of the Spirit to endure in spiritual warfare and to over the devices of the devil!

 

 

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