Praying in and with the Holy Spirit
Prayer is potent. It can accomplish much. But while prayer can certainly affect the world around you, it is most effective on the one who prays.
Prayer is a force that can change the outer world, but it is most trans-formative toward the inner man. Prayer causes you to become its own answer.
There are many things for which we can pray, but I want to help you focus your prayer on your friendship with the Holy Spirit. We will focus our prayers on these areas:
Pray to hear His voice…
Pray to obey His leading…
Pray to receive His power…
Pray to understand His revelation…
Believe His Truth…
Embrace His Gifts…
Be Aware of His Presence…
Bear His Fruit…
Hear His Voice
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” – John 10:27
If you belong to Him, you can His voice. You just have to spend enough time seeking Him to recognize that voice. Don’t fall for the commonly accepted myth that the believer must struggle to hear the voice of God. Did the prophets, the apostles, or early Christians struggle to hear God? Certainly not! You can hear His voice with confidence and clarity. The question is not, “Can I hear God?” The question is, “Am I a sheep?”
Pray this prayer:
Holy Spirit, help me to find your voice in the sacred place of silence and stillness. I commit myself to quietness. Speak to me; I’m listening. Thank you that I don’t have to struggle to hear you. Thank you for speaking with absolute clarity. Help me to hear your voice on a moment-by-moment basis. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Obey His Leading
“And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” – Ephesians 4:30
We all have things in our past of which we are ashamed. Disobedience can be quite damaging to not only your mind and emotions – but also to your life and those around you. But God’s mercies are renewed every morning. There’s no reason or benefit to be found in beating yourself up over your sin. Instead, renew your commitment daily to obeying the leading of the Holy Spirit and avoiding grieving His vulnerable heart. From this moment on, commit to a lifestyle of repentance and obedience.
Others cannot pray for you to be obedient to God. God inclines the heart of those who approach Him in humility. You must seek the obedience of the Lord for yourself personally and willingly. Even if you struggle in certain areas, you can ask the Lord to make you willing to obey. In other words, you can be willing to be made willing. He’ll meet you right where you are.
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.” – Psalm 51:12
“Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.” – Psalm 119:36
Pray this prayer:
Holy Spirit, I want to be more like Jesus. I want to obey your leading and walk in righteousness. Give me the grace and the power to live holy, and help me to keep going when I falter. Thank you for dwelling within me and supplementing my lack, for placing your strength where I am most weak. Thank you for making up the difference. I renew my commitment to a lifestyle of obedience and repentance. Give me your empowering grace. In the merciful name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Receive His Power
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere–in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:8
The Lord gives us His power to accomplish His purposes. The primary reason for which God will give you power is the spreading of the gospel. Grace empowers you to live holy, but the kind of power being talked about by the Lord in Acts 1:8 is the power to fulfill the great commission, to participate in the divine and global mandate of world evangelism. You can’t do it without the power of the Holy Spirit. We need a fresh infilling of power.
“Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit…” – Ephesians 5:8
The phrase “be filled” in that portion of Ephesians, in the original language, means to be filled “continually”. For example, when you plug your phone into its charger and it reaches a 100% charge, it is both charged and being charged. We must live in the states of both “filled” and “being filled”. We must walk in a fresh empowering through daily surrender.
Pray this prayer:
Holy Spirit, I can’t be an effective witness without your power. Help me to focus on the task of global evangelism, and then give me the power to do it. I want to live in a constant charge of your power. Remind me constantly to plug into the source. Thank you for your power that makes me a soul-winner. In the powerful name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Understand His Revelation
“But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true–it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.” – 1 John 2:27
The natural man cannot receive the things of the spirit. Only spirit can understand spirit. We cannot receive God’s revelation by the flesh – by intellect or human wisdom. We can only come to truly understand God’s Word by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit without the Word brings only inspiration. The Word without the Spirit brings only information. But, together, the Word and the Spirit bring revelation.
“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative–that is, the Holy Spirit–he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” – John 14:26
Pray this prayer:
Holy Spirit, be my Teacher and my Guide. I can’t truly know God or the things of the spirit without your help. Make the Word come alive for me. Make Jesus real to me. Vivify the Master! Reveal Jesus, the Word, to me in a way I never knew possible. Thank you for being so patient with me. Thank you for being such a masterful Teacher. I love you with all of my heart. In the wonderful name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Believe His Truth
Perhaps the most important work of the Holy Spirit, of course outside of His participation in the miracle of salvation as the Father’s seal of promise, is His convincing the believer to think according to truth.
“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
The Holy Spirit stirs faith within the soul, enabling the believer to exchange the fear that comes with deception for the joy that comes with truth. While we live with the constant need to resist temptation and rebuke demonic powers, for the mature believer, the greatest battle isn’t against sin or the demonic realm. For the mature believer, the greatest battle is the fight of faith – the simple battle to believe God’s truth over every lie.
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” – 1 Timothy 6:12
And this is where the Holy Spirit commits to that vital role of convincing you according to God’s truth. He is the One Who gives us the unction to cry “Abba Father”! He bestows upon us the boldness to believe in the completeness of salvation. He helps us to identify as God’s, securing forever in our hearts the assurance of God’s blessed salvation.
If ever we are to do, become, and have all that God desires, we must choose to believe His truth. Even when our own flesh – by which I mean emotions and doubts – tells us convincing and powerfully persuasive lies, we must, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, cast down those thoughts which contradict truth.
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” – 2 Corinthians 10:5
Believing His truth is in part an act of faith and in part an act of discipline. We must allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us and cause us to dispose of those thoughts that drag us toward deception. We must believe His truth to know victory.
Pray this prayer:
Holy Spirit, help me to believe your truth, even when the lies seem so convincing. When I am confronted with deception, help me to recognize it and defeat it with your Word. Reveal to me the areas in which I am being deceived in my own life. I commit to casting down imaginations and everything that would contradict what you say and think about me. Holy Spirit, thank you for helping me to think according to your truth. In the saving name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Embrace His Gifts
Paul the apostle taught the Corinthian Church about the special abilities that the Holy Spirit distributes to each individual believer. He emphasized that He did not want them to be ignorant about these abilities.
“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.” – 1 Corinthians 12:1
In his letter, Paul continued to teach on the spiritual gifts by distinguishing the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit from the pagan abilities of the occult.
“Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” – 1 Corinthians 12:2-3
Paul did not want the Corinthians to confuse the spiritual gifts with their former pagan power displays. He gave them this “test” to help them distinguish between pagan power and God’s power: The spirits that don’t point to Jesus as Lord are not spirits of God. Only the Holy Spirit points to Jesus as Lord.
By giving them that clear instruction, Paul the apostle gave to the Corinthians a safety net that would keep them from venturing again into idolatry.
Despite this clear distinction given by Paul the Apostle, many believers still to this day have trouble identifying the work of the Holy Spirit through His gifts. Instead of confusing occult power for the power of the Holy Spirit, most believers today confuse the power of the Holy Spirit with demonic activity. In other words, many portions of the Church are labeling the Holy Spirit’s work as heretic activity. This is sad, indeed. For we know that the source of the spiritual gifts is truly divine.
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.” – 1 Corinthians 12:4-6
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each played a role in assigning to each believer a spiritual gift. And Paul the apostle gave us a clear standard by which we can discern all displays of power: if the power is backed by the message of the gospel and points to Jesus as Lord, it is of God. Again, despite this very simple standard, many, likely out of paranoia, reject the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When we do so, we stifle the effectiveness of Christ’s bride.
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” – 1 Corinthians 12:7
We must not be so afraid of error that we rush to the extreme of powerlessness. The safety net is Jesus Himself, and we can have confidence in that safety, confidence in the fact that if we keep Him as the focus, we are safe.
Whether you are adamant or apathetic and whatever your hesitation may be, there is no good reason to reject the gifts of the Holy Spirit. When explaining such rejection, many often point to some bizarre display that they witnessed at some church service. They will cite that display as their reason for rejecting the gifts of the Spirit. They will say something like, “Well, I once saw a man barking like a dog” or “I saw people acting out of order.” And they, for some odd reason, think that the existence of the counterfeit is a good reason to reject the genuine. Odd, isn’t it?
But why would you want any less than all for which Christ died to give you? Don’t punish the Church or the Holy Spirit for something foolish someone else did. Fear not. The Holy Spirit is not silly or senseless. He is classy, elegant, regal, and beautiful.
Open yourself to embrace His gifts today.
Pray this prayer:
Holy Spirit, I’m sorry for rejecting your gifts. Forgive me for being so suspicious of you when you did no wrong. I receive anything you want to give to me. Without hesitation or reservation, I embrace my spiritual gifts. Thank you for them. In the generous name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Be Aware of His Presence
Sometimes, it can feel as though God is a million miles away. But I ask you this: how can God come any closer than within you?
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” – 1 Corinthians 6:19
The key to experiencing a moment-by-moment closeness with the Holy Spirit is not emotions. Who cares if you feel Him or not? Feelings change all the time. The key is not in getting the Holy Spirit to come close to you; the key is becoming aware of the presence that is already within you. This presence is, of course, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
You may not always see Him at work in your life. You may not always feel Him close to you. However, believer, you must not live by feelings, but by faith. Your faith is based on the unchanging Word of God.
If you will commit to simply keeping the Holy Spirit in mind as often as possible, you will strengthen your daily walk with the Lord. You can experience His presence all throughout your day, and you can begin to walk in this awareness as soon as this very moment!
Pray this prayer:
Holy Spirit, I know that you dwell within me. I know that you are ever-present and that you are always with me. Help me to accept the fact of your nearness despite what I feel. I commit to moment-by-moment fellowship with You. Help me to be aware of you at all times. In the unchanging name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Bear His Fruit
The greatest sign of having been filled with the Holy Spirit is the way you live your life.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” – Galatians 5:22-24
Speaking in tongues is not the primary evidence of having received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Neither is the gift of healing, the gift of prophecy, or any other supernatural display of power.
The primary evidence is the fruit of the Spirit. These fruits, when they are displayed in your life, make you look like Jesus. And Christlikeness is our goal. Don’t be dull, bitter, angry, impatient, or lifeless. Let the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit flood your being and make you a magnetic witness for Christ.
Let His fruit grow in your life.
Pray this prayer:
Holy Spirit, I want to be like Jesus. I want You, in the place of my image, to bring about the lovely and majestic countenance of Christ. Help me to bear Your fruit. Give me Your peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, humility, and temperance. Thank You for Your work in my life. In the life-giving name of Jesus I pray. Amen.
Originally posted by daviddigahernandezministries.com
