Prayer in the Spirit

August 27, 2024

I’m back in Ephesians 6 tonight. We’re all suited up for battle with the armor of God. Now what? Paul tells us. We pray. Because that’s where spiritual battles are fought.

“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 

Here’s a question for you: Is it possible to pray outside the Holy Spirit? If Paul says to pray in the Spirit, I would imagine we can pray outside the Spirit, except it wouldn’t be much of a prayer. I suspect however, that a lot of prayers are said that have little to do with the Holy Spirit. 

I keep going back to Elijah. In 1 Kings 17, he is introduced as one who “stands before the LORD.” He did that for three years during the drought. In chapter 18, he challenges the priests of Baal to a contest: build and altar, lay the wood and sacrifice on it, and the god who answers by fire is the true God. Of course, they are unsuccessful, “and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.” (I Kings 18:36)

It’s those last three words that are important. He did this “at your word.” This is a prayer “in the Spirit” because he prayed according to the word he had heard from standing for three years in the presence of God. Too often we pray according to our word rather than God’s because we have failed to stand, listening to what God wants to do. Prayer in the Spirit is prayer that comes from having listened to God’s heart instead of our own.