How Do You Pray in the Holy Spirit?

Paul tells believers to pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer (Ephesians 6:18). Many Christians read that and wonder what it asks of them. Is it a feeling? A special language? A level of prayer reserved for the very devout? The plain answer is simpler and more comforting. To pray in the Spirit is to pray with the Spirit's help and by his power, rather than on your own strength.

Start with what the Spirit does. In Romans 8:26-27 Paul says the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We often do not know what to ask, and the Spirit prays for us according to God's will. In Galatians 4:6 the Spirit moves our hearts to call God our Father. In Romans 8:34 Christ himself intercedes for us at God's right hand. So when you pray, you are never praying alone.

The Gospel Coalition's course on the doctrine of the Trinity puts the pattern in one sentence: "When we pray, we pray to the Father in the name of the Son and by the enablement of the Spirit and thereby worship the Triune God." The course adds that the Spirit gives us both the status and the experience of being God's children, so we come to the Father sure of his loving favor.

Scotty Smith, founding pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee, wrote a prayer on this verse for The Gospel Coalition. He names the alternative: "We would surely despair if we had to pray in the smallness of our strength, or on the basis of our godliness, or by the limitations of our perspective." Then he brings his requests "in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Spirit." He prays for children, for churches that need renewal and repentance, for friends with broken marriages and failing health, and last for himself.

Here is a simple way to practice it this morning. First, ask for help before you ask for anything else. Tell God you do not know how to pray as you should, and ask the Spirit to lead you. Second, pray to the Father in Jesus' name. Rest on Christ's finished work rather than your own record. Third, let Scripture supply your words. Read a psalm slowly and turn each line into a request. Fourth, follow Smith's order outward: your children and your friends' children, your church, your hurting friends, then yourself. Fifth, stay alert and keep praying for all the saints, as the verse says. Add a persecuted church to your list today.

You may feel nothing special as you do this. That is all right. Praying in the Spirit rests on dependence, whatever you feel. Smith praises God for the Spirit who has marked us as his own and makes us like Jesus. That same Spirit carries your halting words to the Father, and the Father hears every one.

Smith's prayer opens with thanks before it asks for anything. He praises God that nothing can separate us from his love, that nothing will disconnect us from his will, and that nothing is left up to chance. God will finish the good work he has begun in us and in his world, and he will do it by the power and presence of his Spirit. From that footing Smith asks God to do far beyond what we can ask or imagine, and adds, "We won't mind being embarrassed by our lack of faith if it will highlight the greatness of your love." For his children he asks that the gospel be made beautiful and believable to them, and that parents neither despair over their failures nor lean on their parenting for their children's salvation. For his church he asks to be freed from "our boring ingrown-ness, our paralyzing pettiness, and our predictable sameness."

The Gospel Coalition's course adds one more comfort. It says one of the first ways believers have communion with the Spirit is when he brings to mind what Jesus taught (John 14:26), and in that way he gives peace to their hearts. The course also notes that the Father knows the mind of the Spirit (Romans 8:27). So when you pray with the Spirit's help, the Father already understands what the Spirit is saying on your behalf.

Scripture: Ephesians 6:18, Romans 8:26-27, Galatians 4:6, Romans 8:34