Day Two: How to pray?
Scripture: Romans 8:26-27
Principle: The Holy Spirit guides our prayers.
The second thing meant by praying in the Spirit is that the Spirit guides us in what to pray for. Spurgeon warns,
“Beware of hit-or-miss prayers. Never make hap-hazard work of supplication. Come to the throne of grace intelligently understanding what it is that you require. It is well with us in prayer when the Holy Ghost guides the mind. Are not all spiritual men conscious of this, that they feel themselves shut up as to certain matters, and only free in another direction; then let them obey the Holy Spirit and pray as he directs, for he knows what should be our petition.”6
Do not rush into prayer as if it is just another task to be completed before moving on to the next. We are weak, and if left to ourselves our prayers quickly become spent on our pleasures. We pray for new cars, bigger jewelry, bigger houses, better jobs and expensive vacations. Wait on the Spirit to guide your thoughts and prayers. He knows what our souls need. David Clark was led by the Spirit to pray:
Give me faith, Lord, or I die! I may live without friends, wealth, honors,
or pleasures, but I cannot live without faith. There is nothing but death for
me in unbelief. Lord, whatever you deny me, do not deny me faith. I am lost,
undone, I perish, I am a dead man without faith. It would have been better
if I had never been born, than to live in unbelief.7
The Spirit knew he needed faith more than health, wealth or prosperity.
“Well, what then? My dear brother, pray for that which God the Spirit moves you to pray for, and be very sensitive of the Holy Spirit’s influence.”8
Application: Before rushing into prayer, sit quietly and wait for the Spirit to guide you into what to pray for.
6C. H. Spurgeon, “Praying in the Holy Ghost,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 12 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1866), 619.
7David Clarkson, “Give Me Faith!,” in Piercing Heaven: Prayers of the Puritans, ed. Robert Elmer (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2019), 62.
8Spurgeon, 619.