Praying by the Spirit (Repost)
I currently live in Franklin, TN, where E. M. Bounds used to preach in the Civil War era, and he wrote this book a long time ago about prayer. He would talk about people who would pray two hours and four hours or even all day. But for me—three minutes was an ordeal. I would go to pray, and the next thing I knew, I was bombarded by thoughts. I wondered, “How come prayer is so hard?” If it’s that important—and it is—then why is it so difficult? And why is it so hard to discipline? After a while, I simply told myself to just serve God by getting out there and getting busy; I just struggled with prayer.
And I came across a little book called The Life of Prayer and the Power of Stillness by Albert Simpson who wrote it fifty years ago or so. He really defined prayer well. He said, ”A friend of mine placed a little book into my hand that became a turning point in my life; it was called True Peace. It was an old, medieval message, and it had one thought. And it was this, ‘That God was waiting in the depths of my being to talk to me if I would only get still enough to hear his voice.’ I thought this would be a very easy matter, so I began to get still. But I had no sooner commenced when a perfect pandemonium of voices reached my ears. A thousand clamoring notes from without and within until I hear nothing but their noise and dim. I was pushed and pulled and greeted with noisy acclamations and unspeakable unrest. It seemed necessary for me to listen to some of them and answer some of them, but God said, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’”
Well that pretty well described my prayer life as well, but that all changed one night. It was my first ministry. I was still in seminary. I was invited to be the college pastor at a large baptist church. It was a part time job, and I loved it to be honest with you. But when I first started in the summer time, I had about 150 college students, and I had just read this book by R. A. Torrey, Praying by the Spirit. And I thought, “I want to teach that this summer.” It was a busy summer, and the last chapter was titled “Praying by the Spirit.” It was late on a Saturday night, I read the chapter, and to be honest… I didn’t get it. I was sitting alone feeling bankrupt—this became a great moment with God as I asked God for help (almost to my own surprise).
I just started to think, “If you want to pray by the Spirit, you should be filled with the Spirit.” So I went to a very familiar passage: Ephesians 5:18-20, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
There are many parallels to this passage in Colossians. For Paul, prayer and thanksgiving were together—all the time. In addition, Psalm 95:1–2 says, “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!” Then in verse 7–8 it says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Why would this be the follow up?
I want you to think about this: right now you have two members of the trinity praying on your behalf. The idea is that the Holy Spirit bears you up. Any prayer the Spirit prompts you to pray will always be answered by God the Father. And Jesus makes intercession for us as well. So why are we struggling so much with prayer when our body is the temple of God, and we have the mind of Christ, and there are two members of the trinity helping us?! So I began to get quiet before God and listen. I spent an hour in prayer for the first time in my life. And I actually heard from God why I was struggling all that time.
God already knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. So why not be honest with Him? We are God’s children, it’s a relationship we have with Him. It’s a lot more about listening than it is talking. You’re already forgiven; God already loves you. If you want to make it two-way, take time to listen and don’t harden your heart.
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.