HOW DO YOU PRAY IN THE SPIRIT?

Praying in the Spirit is a wonderful experience that comes from having a relationship with God's Holy Spirit. Jude 20-21 "But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit." NIV

Praying in the Spirit is a wonderful experience that comes from having a relationship with God's Holy Spirit.

Jesus' words of encouragement to His followers:
John 4:24 ²⁴ "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

We are to worship God in Spirit!

Jesus also promised a counselor to His followers, One that would always be with them and in them.

John 14:16-18 "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you." NIV

Praying in the Spirit is Biblical and is encouraged to be practiced on all occasions.

Eph 6:18 ¹⁸ "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." NIV

But now, how can you pray in the Spirit?

There are two (2) ways to pray in the Spirit - My opinion:
Both ways will fill a person with divine peace and awe for God's majesty and care for us.

1. In the Bible, praying in the Spirit mostly refers to praying in tongues.

The apostle Paul made a clear distinction between praying in the mind (intelligence) and praying in the Spirit:

1 Cor 14:14-19 "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind." NIV

The apostle Paul explains it this way: 1 Cor 14:2 "For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries." NAS

In other words praying with the mind means you pray not only to God, but also for other people around you to understand you, while praying in tongues is directed directly to God only.

This is why the apostle Paul encouraged Christians to pray with the mind in church:
1 Cor 14:19 "But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue." NIV

Unless someone could interpret what was prayed in tongues:

1 Cor 14:13-15 "Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful." NKJV

Now does praying in the Spirit only mean to pray in tongues? Not at all!

1 Cor 12:29-31 "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?" NIV

It is clear from this text that the apostle Paul expects a no for an answer. Not every Christian speaks in tongues. It is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but it is not THE gift of the Holy Spirit.

If not every Christian receives the gift of speaking in tongues, how could the apostle Paul encourage all Christians to pray in the Spirit, if praying in the Spirit means to pray in tongues? This would not make any sense at all.

In other words, praying in the Spirit does not only mean praying in tongues. The following text will give us more clarity, although it also refers to speaking in tongues:

Rom 8:26-27 "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." NIV

2. Letting God Control our prayer life, by praying through us (Praying in the Spirit) as an instrument of His thoughts and wisdom (own language).

We do not know what we will be praying when we pray in the Spirit, but God's Spirit takes charge. He knows our burdens and our needs and He knows as well God's will and what is best for us.

Both prayers (tongues and with our minds letting God control our words, emotions, and actions).
Both are useful and bestow great blessings. The Greek word for mind in this text is "nous" and means the intellect, i.e. mind.

It is clear here (Jude passage) that praying in the Spirit means praying in tongues, while praying with the mind is praying in your own language.

Fruitful prayer always requires our response...by our yielding to God's will and actions he expects us to complete.

Ps 37:7 "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him." NIV

God wants you to pray in the Spirit!
He desires for you to yield to Him...with your mouth, your mind, your emotions, and your actions....
          Yield to Him today!

Note:
Praying in the Spirit should not cause controversy.
Remember...if it is not in the Word, don't believe it.
If it is, give heed to it. It is truth!