I believe that this month’s newsletter is the last in the Prayer series that I want to cover. We looked in May how to have a Relationship with our Heavenly Father. In June, we looked at some of the different kinds of prayer, and last month we looked at how to pray effectively. This month, we will continue our study of effective prayer by looking more closely at the role of the Holy Spirit, how He helps us pray, and how to pray in faith. As I mentioned previously, the most effective way to pray is when we hook up with the Holy Spirit. Let me explain.
Many Christians love Jesus but have never learned how to pray in tongues. Some have been taught that this is not for us today, but that is not true, while others simply do not how to receive or begin. The good news is that God wants to give good gifts to His children, and He never makes receiving anything from Him difficult.
Praying in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the best way to communicate with our Heavenly Father beyond our understanding. Jesus promised that the Father would give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks. He told His disciples that it was to their advantage that he goes away so that the Helper would come. (John 16:7) He had to leave this earth in order to fulfill the prophecy of His life, death and resurrection, and He promised to send us someone that will NEVER leave us, the Holy Spirit.
John 14:16–17 (NASB)
16 “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you.
One of the most important things to understand is that the Holy Spirit gives us the words, but we have to do the speaking.
In Acts 2:4, it says that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The Holy Spirit did not force the them to speak. They had to speak out by faith. The same principle is true today.
When we pray in tongues, we are speaking to God, not to people. Your spirit communicates directly with God.
1 Corinthians 14:2 (TPT)
2 When someone speaks in tongues, no one understands a word he says, because he’s not speaking to people, but to God—he is speaking intimate mysteries in the Spirit.
Many times we don’t know how to pray about specific situations because we don’t know all the circumstances, but God has provided the way through the Holy Spirit.
When you pray in the Spirit, your mind is not leading you a certain way to pray because it doesn’t understand the words you are speaking. The Holy Spirit knows exactly how to pray according to God’s will.
Praying in the Spirit also means that we need to spend time with the Father and listen for His direction. The more time we spend with Him, the more sensitive we become to His leading and direction, not only for our own lives, but also for anyone you want to pray for.
Romans 8:26–27 (NLT)
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.
You may ask, “How do I begin?” First of all, speaking in tongues is an act of faitH, trusting that the Holy Spirit will help you. This has to be done in Faith or it will not work.
Follow these easy steps to help you get started:
- Be sure you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior. (Romans 10:9-10)
- Ask the Father to fill you with the Holy Spirit, then thank Him for answering your prayer.
- Open your mouth. That may sound silly, but the Holy Spirit will not open your mouth for you. You have to open your mouth.
- Begin to speak the sounds and words that rise up from your spirit.
- Do not speak English or another language that you know.
- Keep speaking by faith. As you continue, the language will become more fluent and easier.
Remember the Holy Spirit gives the utterance, but YOU have to do the speaking. You may say, “But I feel silly.” Everyone does at first. Walking by faith feels unfamiliar because we are so used to trusting our feelings instead of God’s Word. The more you pray in the Spirit, the more natural it becomes.
Here is an example of a simple prayer. Pray this prayer trusting the Father to help you.
“Heavenly Father, thank You for saving me through Jesus Christ. Your Word says You give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. I ask You now to fill me with Your Holy Spirit. By faith I receive. Holy Spirit, I yield myself to You. I open my mouth, and by faith I will speak the words You give me. Thank You for helping me pray according to the will of God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Spend time every day praying in the Spirit. As you do, you will become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, more aware of God’s presence, and you will become stronger in your faith.
Remember, God is faithful. He has already given His Holy Spirit to us. Our part is simply to receive it by faith and continue speaking as the Spirit gives utterance.
Pastor Wayne has written a wonderful book that goes into more detail than this newsletter does. It is called, How to Receive The Gift of The Holy Spirit. This book explains how important it is to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and how much He helps us. In addition, the best part is, you can be a new believer and still receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
He has written many wonderful books to help people see what belongs to them in Christ and how to have the Word work in your life.
You can get any of the books here at our church, or you can go to the website: https://heartofmanchurch.org and order any of his books and they can be mailed to you.
The best part is the books are all FREE!