Romans 8 describes the life of the Spirit (It is well worth a slow read and reflection!)
"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit....For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God."
Christians are people of the Spirit. Notice two things about how the Spirit impacts on our prayer life:
1. By the Spirit we call God "Our Father..."
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as children, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ Romans 8:14-17
By the Spirit, we are adopted as children of God, we are invited to cry out to God as "our Father..." The Bible describes God as the Heavenly Father who longs to give good gifts to his children, so we approach God with confidence in prayer in our time of need?
The Spirit enables us to have this intimate prayer relationship with our heavenly Father.
How does this change the way you think about prayer?
How does this effect what you pray for?
2. The Spirit helps us to pray when we struggle to pray
Second the Spirit helps us when we struggle to pray. We all know this temptation.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
When prayers are a struggle for us the Spirit, as the counsellor, the helper, the advocate, speaks on our behalf and takes our feeble prayers to our Heavenly Father, who hears and responds.
As David Seccombe said "I don't know about you but when I hear this it makes me want to pray more!"
How does this encourage you when prayer is a struggle?
Paul encourages us to pray in the Spirit.
"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. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."
Keep praying!
Hear David Seccombe's Talk on this Subject:
GP
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