Praying In The Spirit

1. 2014 National Training
NT 1408

3. INTRODUCTION
If any man be in Christ, old things including
his inconsistent, feeble, arbitrary, selfish
prayer life has passed away.
He is a brand new person born of the spirit
with a privilege of access to God the father.
The New Man needs to learn from Christ
how to communicate with the Father in the
same way that brought Jesus daily victory
and outstanding results.

4. INTRODUCTION
Jesus our example lived,
walked, prayed and
ministered in the Spirit.
We therefore join the
disciples of old in asking:
"Lord, teach us to pray,
just as John taught his
disciples." Luke 11:1NIV

5. Why do we need to pray?
Heb. 5:7 TLB
Yet while Christ was here
on earth he pleaded with
God, praying with tears
and agony of soul to the
only one who would save
him from [premature]
death. And God heard his
prayers because of his
strong desire to obey
God at all times.
Prayer is an
acknowledgement of
helplessness that
qualifies a man to
receive divine help.
Prayer enables a deep
communion with the
Lord.
Jesus set an example
of prayer for us to
follow and without
(apart from, outside of)
Him we can do nothing.
John15:5

6. Frequently Asked Petitions (FAPs)
• 2 Chron. 1:11
God said to Solomon,
"Since this is your heart's
desire and you have not
asked for wealth, riches
or honor, nor for the death
of your enemies, and
since you have not asked
for a long life…
• God’s analysis reveals
the following as man’s
most Frequently Asked
Petitions:
• 1. Wealth, Riches,
Honour.
• 2. Death of Enemies
• 3. Long Life.
• God commended
Solomon for “Praying in
the Spirit” - asking for
what would help him fulfill
divine ministry rather than
the usual FAPs.

7. Praying Amiss
James 4:2-3 NLT
• You want what you don't
have, so you scheme and
kill to get it. You are jealous
of what others have, but
you can't get it, so you fight
and wage war to take it
away from them. Yet you
don't have what you want
because you don't ask God
for it. And even when you
ask, you don't get it
because your motives are
all wrong—you want only
what will give you pleasure.
Our Prayers miss the
mark when they are built
on:
Evil Desires
Scheming
Jealousy
Independence from
God
Wrong Motive
Contradiction of His
will
Grumbling
Unbelief. James 1:6-
8

8. Praying Amiss
Matt 6:5KJV
And when thou prayest, thou
shalt not be as the hypocrites
are: for they love to pray
standing in the synagogues and
in the corners of the streets,
that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, They
have their reward.
But thou, when thou prayest,
enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to
thy Father which is in secret;
and thy Father which seeth in
secret shall reward thee openly.
Our Prayers miss the
mark when they are:
A Public Show seen
and applauded by men
Vain Repetitions
seeking to impress
God with words.
Not springing from a
Father Son
relationship. Matt 6:9
Not aimed at
hastening the
establishment of His
kingdom and His will.
Matt 6:10.

9. Praying in the Spirit – Our Helper
Eph 6:18 NLT
18 Pray in the Spirit at all times
and on every occasion.
Rom 8:26TLB
26 And in the same way — by our
faith — the Holy Spirit helps us
with our daily problems and in our
praying. For we don't even know
what we should pray for nor how to
pray as we should, but the Holy
Spirit prays for us with such feeling
that it cannot be expressed in
words.
You learn to Pray in the
Spirit by consistently
coming to God without a
shopping list and
seeking the help of the
Holy Spirit the Teacher.
The Spirit helps our
weakness in prayer by:
i) Teaching us what to pray
for.
ii) Enabling us to pray as
we should.
iii) Praying for us.
Prayer made in the Spirit
is accurate and effectual.

10. Praying in the Spirit – Our Helper
1 Cor 2:10-12 NLT
But it was to us that God
revealed these things by his
Spirit. For his Spirit searches
out everything and shows us
God's deep secrets. No one
can know a person's thoughts
except that person's own spirit,
and no one can know God's
thoughts except God's own
Spirit. 12 And we have received
God's Spirit (not the world's
spirit), so we can know the
wonderful things God has freely
given us..
The Holy Spirit knows
the mind of God.
The Holy Spirit
reveals Gods deep
secrets and His
counsel over any
matter when we seek
His help.
The Holy Spirit shows
us the things that God
has freely given to us
thereby assisting us
to ask aright.
Always ask for help
from our assigned
helper.

11. Knowing God’s will
1 John 5:14-15 NIV
This is the
confidence we have
in approaching God:
that if we ask
anything according
to his will, he hears
us. And if we know
that he hears us —
whatever we ask —
we know that we
have what we asked
of him.
Praying in the Spirit is praying
according to His will, backed
with a guarantee of 100%
answer.
His will is expressed in His
word which is empowered by
the Holy Spirit when spoken in
prayer.
Praying according to His will
is praying according to His
Written Word.
Praying according to His
specific will is praying
according to the instruction of
His Living word i.e. “What
Jesus Would Do” if He is in
a similar situation.

12. Praying in the Spirit - Tongues
Jude 1:20 (Message).
20 But you, dear friends,
carefully build yourselves
up in this most holy faith by
praying in the Holy Spirit,
1 Cor 14:2 (NIV)
For anyone who speaks in
a tongue does not speak to
men but to God. Indeed, no
one understands him; he
utters mysteries with his
spirit.
1 Cor 14:4 (NIV).
He who speaks in a tongue
edifies himself,
Capacity to pray in the
Spirit is built as a man
abides intimately with
Christ.
Praying daily in
tongues
edifies(charges, builds
up) the life of the
believer
Praying in tongues
enables us to
commune with God in
the coded unhindered
prayer language
empowered by the Holy
Spirit.

13. Praying in the Name of Jesus.
• John 14:13-14NIV
And I will do whatever you
ask in my name, so that
the Son may bring glory to
the Father. You may ask
me for anything in my
name, and I will do it.
Prayer made in the
name of Jesus is
borne out of the
privilege of
exercising His Power
of Attorney as his
agents/representativ
es on the earth.
2Cor5:20;
Matt 18:18.
It is prayer that
bears the full
authority and power
of Jesus. Acts 4:24-
31.

14. Praying in the Name of Jesus.
• John 16:24KJV
Hitherto have ye
asked nothing in
my name: ask,
and ye shall
receive, that your
joy may be full.
Repeated usage of the phrase
“In Jesus Name” does not
necessarily make that prayer to
be In the Name of Jesus.
Prayer that is made in the
name of Jesus is one that is
made In the will of Jesus as
expressed in His
i) i) Character,
ii) ii) Nature,
iii) iii) Desire,
iv) iv) Purpose,
v) v) Mission,
vi) vi) Motive,
vii) v) Life.

15. Praying in the Name of Jesus.
John 14:6NIV
"I am the way and
the truth and the
life. No one comes
to the Father
except through
me”.
The name of Jesus is the only
access point to God the Father and
it always attracts His immediate
attention.
 The authority (power of attorney) to
use that name is made available to
those who abide IN HIM. John 1:12;
15:7,16.
The name of Jesus should not be
trivialized as an exclamation nor
abused by putting it on any prayer
that contradicts His life. Such usage
amounts to asking “nothing”.
Jesus wouldn’t seek to destroy
those He came to save, so no
“malice” or “unforgiving” prayers can
ever be in the name of Jesus.

16. Group Activity
Discuss hindrances
to praying in the
Spirit.
Pray In Tongues for 5 Minutes. Help
any member of the group who may
have difficulty in doing this.

17. Finally
How terrible it is that heaven
would weigh your hours of spiritual
labour in the place of prayer and
conclude that “ Hitherto you have
asked nothing….”.
,
God is Spirit and those that
worship (fellowship, commune)
with Him must do so in the Spirit.
May the Lord teach us in His
school of Prayer, baptize us with
the Spirit of Prayer and ultimately
help us to build an effective Prayer
Life.