[Power of the Word] Praying in the Spirit--Part 3
Daniel Brady
“…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—“ --Ephesians 6:18
I previously told you that praying in Jesus’ Name means subjecting ourselves to His authority and asking that His will be done in our lives (and the lives of people we are praying for). Now we turn our attention to how we can apply this to the concept of praying in the Spirit.
The first thing I would say about this is that praying in the Spirit likewise means praying according to the will and authority of the Holy Spirit. Remember, the Holy Spirit is the Third Person in the Trinity. He is no less God than is Jesus Christ. He is no less sovereign than is Jesus Christ. He possesses no less authority than does Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, the will of the Holy Spirit is no different from the will of Jesus Christ or of the Father. In fact, it would be improper to differentiate the will of one from the will of another. It would even be wrong to speak of Three wills that perpetually in perfect harmony. Within the Trinity, there are not Three wills. There is only One will—the will of God. Each member of the Trinity always possesses the will of God because, of course, each is God.
So to pray in the Spirit is to pray according to His will and authority in our lives. Now, this often means saying, “Lord, my hope is that what I am praying for is according to Your will. However, I do not know Your will. Therefore, I subject myself to Your authority, asking You to do Your will in my life.”
I made the same statement last time. But now I would like to amend it just a little bit. What I should have written is, “I do not always know Your will,” or perhaps, “I do not perfectly know Your will.” Notice the drastic difference between either of those two statements and, “I do not know Your will.”
The point I am making is that, to an extent, we can know the will of God. And in fact, we ought to know the will of God. Furthermore, Jesus promised that if we would abide in Him and allow His Word to abide in us, then we shall know the will of God. Notice what He says in John 15:7, “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
What a tremendous promise! Now, the Word of Faith teachers like to key in on the second half of this verse, as if Jesus is writing a blank check. We can ask for anything in the world, and God is obligated to give it to us. While I wholeheartedly reject this teaching, this verse does contain a promise we can claim. If we meet the conditions set forth in the first half of the verse, then we can claim the promise found in the second half of the verse.
Now, how can we be confident that God will answer our prayers? He will always answer according to His will. Of that, we are certain. So what is Jesus saying about asking whatever we wish? He is saying that when we abide in Him and His Words abide in us, then our will is going to line up with His will. Therefore, in asking for what we wish, we will be asking Him to do that which He already wants to do.
This brings us to the second aspect of praying in the Spirit, as related to abiding in Christ and letting His Word abide in us. Abiding in Christ is synonymous with living in the Spirit. And I believe it actually begins with allowing His Word to abide in us. For it is first and foremost how the Holy Spirit leads and guides us.
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