So, help me, God!

There is nothing we do as Christians that is more important than prayer; yet few of us pray well. We ALL pray, but often only in times of sheer desperation or out of a feeling of duty. Craig Groeschel, in a book with a title that grabs attention, The Christian Atheist, (Zondervan, 2010) writes that “sometimes prayer simply bores us. Our minds wander. In the middle of a conversation with the creator of the universe, I sometimes remember that I haven’t shaved the back of my neck in over a week or that we’re running low on toilet paper. Once I’m bored and distracted, I feel so guilty I don’t want to keep praying. Admittedly, when prayer becomes an empty, meaningless ritual, it is boring.” Most of us, if we are completely transparent, would probably have to say that we can identify!

We say, “Prayer changes things,” because it sounds right and feels good, but we wonder why many of our prayers are so ineffectual. Here’s the answer! We pray poorly because we do not pray ‘in the Spirit.’ The deepest, truest form of prayer is actually a work of the Holy Spirit working IN US. The Word teaches that we must " pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:18, NIV) If you think that instruction only applies to charismatic or Pentecostal Christians, you have misinterpreted the instruction. It is not about ‘speaking in tongues’ or using a prayer language that bypasses our intellect.
Prayer in the Spirit is about entering into a place where God, the Holy Spirit, engages us and leads us to agree with Him and speak His will into this world.

Do your prayers rise primarily out of your mind, much like a conversation with your spouse, your child, or another person? When you pray, are you searching for words, like you would when making an argument? That’s how we most often pray. And it is one reason prayer is frustrating, for we - as Paul says - often ‘don’t know what we ought to pray for!’ He follows up on that by reminding us that when we pray in the Spirit, "But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will." (Romans 8:26-27, NLT)

Prayer in the Spirit is an agreement with the wisdom of God! Prayer in the Spirit is ‘seconding the motion’ that the Lord God has made!
When we go to prayer, we need to keep this truth present: The Spirit delights in helping us to pray! Jesus taught that the Spirit is our Helper, our Counselor (John 14, 16) Who is with us, in prayer, to give us assistance.
Our prayers are sometimes hindered by sin hidden away in our lives. He reveals it!
Our prayers are sometimes hindered by ignorance of the full situation. He knows it!
Our prayers are sometimes hindered by our physical body - sick or tired. He strengthens us!

Praying in the Spirit keeps us from focusing on the wrong things in prayer, too, for we are guided by the Mind of God. If we simply pray from our intellect, our prayers will have what I call ‘the aspirin effect.’ Aspirin is not healing. It deals only with symptoms, not with the issue causing us pain. If we only pray for what we can see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and discern with our own mind - we will be praying about symptoms in this world. If we ‘pray in the Spirit’ we will bring the power of God and His omniscience to bear on this temporal world.

I hope it is becoming clear as you think about this that such praying cannot be done ‘on the fly’ as we are doing a hundred other things, that it cannot be accomplished in 2 minutes as we are already getting our minds in gear for the day, that it cannot be achieved in the sleepy moments just before bedtime. It is both good and right to pray all the time! But, the deep, intimate, life-changing, world effecting prayer that is ‘in the Spirit’ will demand that we learn to wait in silence, that we work (yes, that is the word) with God to focus and discipline ourselves, and that we make seeking after Him a first priority of life.

Here’s His promise - "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:11-13, NIV) So, help me God and let us pray!

_________________

Be still, my soul;
The Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross
Of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God
To order and provide.
In ev'ry change
He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul;
Thy best, Thy heavenly Friend
Thro' thorny ways
Leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul;
Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future
As He has the past.
Thy hope, Thy confidence
Let nothing shake;
All now mysterious
Shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul;
The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them
While He dwelt below.
Be Still My Soul
Von Schlegal, Katharina / Borthwick, Jane L. / Sibelius, Jean

© Public Domain