The Holy Spirit and Prayer

“The Holy Spirit descending from Christ to us draws us up into the great stream of His ascending prayers. The Spirit prays for us without words in the depth of a heart where even thoughts are at times formless. He takes us up into the wonderful flow of the life of the triune God. Through the Spirit, Christ’s prayers become ours, and ours are made His. We ask for

what we desire, and it is given to us.”

The power of the Holy Spirit is a vital necessity in our prayers. There is so much to say about the Holy Spirit. He is such an important part of all that we do, that I feel that I am treading upon holy ground just to make an attempt to say just how important and glorious He is. The Holy Spirit is key to your life of intercession. You cannot attempt to pray great prayers without acknowledging His vital presence in your life. You cannot write a crafted prayer without the wisdom and understanding of the Holy Spirit. In my experience in prayer, both personally and corporately, I have experienced the spirit of prayer released in a most powerful way when the Holy Spirit enters the prayer meeting. Let us welcome Him daily, and pray, “Come, Holy Spirit. Lead me and guide me in my prayer time. Pray through me. Have your way in my life.”

I encourage you to study with extreme care the following about the Holy Spirit. It is time that we grab hold of the reality of who the Holy Spirit is and what He means to our lives, specifically our prayer lives. It will not work to have a hurried, microwave approach to the Holy Spirit. He wants your time. He wants to really show you who He is for you and what He can do through you in prayer. As the body of Christ, we have caused division over issues regarding the Holy Spirit. As the Church worldwide, we have not fully understood the power of the Holy Spirit. One day we will, and it will change everything we do because we will really know what it means to have God living in us! Take time to meditate. Be still and let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart the immense reality and beauty of these truths for you personally and for your life in prayer.

“The lack of reality, godliness, power, fruit in many Christian lives is due to the unbelief or improper understanding of the Holy Spirit.” Norman J. P.

The longer that I am a Christian, the more I am discovering the friendship of the Holy Spirit in my life and my desperate need of Him daily. Whenever I have been in deep distress or difficulty, I have cried out to God and have experienced the personal comfort of the Holy Spirit. I am sure you can agree. One of the first things we must acknowledge is that the Holy Spirit is a person, the third person of the Trinity, who lives within us. He is referred to as a person in John 16:13-14. This alone is a powerful reality to dwell on. We are not alone in our prayers. The Spirit is not an impersonal force, but a real person living inside of you. Awesome! This is life-changing if we could only grasp its significance. And He is God. He is the Spirit (pnuema) that means “wind, breath, spirit, immaterial, powerful”. He is holy which means “set apart, righteous, pure”. The Holy Spirit can be like the wind that is invisible, immaterial and powerful. The Holy Spirit has personal characteristics. He searches, works, grieves, talks, teaches, helps, etc. He is divine; He is eternal (Hebrews 9:14), everywhere present (Psalm 139:7-10), has foreknowledge (omniscience) (Acts 1:16), and was in creation (creator) (Genesis 1:2, Psalm 104:30).

“To overlook His personhood and divinity is to bypass God Himself and His great provision for the church on earth.” Norman J. P.

The Descriptions of the Holy Spirit

Credit for research into the truths of the above paragraph as well as the descriptions of the Holy Spirit goes to my husband Norman. Meditate on these wonderful descriptions of the Holy Spirit! Apply these descriptions personally to your own life. What does this mean to you? How should this affect your prayer life?

· The Spirit of life - Revelation 11:11.

· The Spirit of holiness - Romans 1:4

· The Spirit of wisdom - Ephesians 1:17, Isaiah 11:2.

· The Spirit of faith - II Corinthians 4:13

· The Spirit of truth - John 14:17.

· The Spirit of grace - Hebrews 10:29.

· The Spirit of supplication - Zechariah 12:10.

· The Spirit of adoption - Romans 8:15.

· The Spirit of power, love and discipline - II Timothy 1:7.

The river that flows from the throne of God is the Spirit, and Jesus said that out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. In John 3:8 and Acts 2:2 the Spirit is described as the sound of a violent, rushing wind.

Sometimes as intercessors or believers that just want more of God, we may feel alone or even abandoned. Very few might show up to the prayer meeting, we wrestle with our own personal trials, and few may understand how we feel. But realize that you are never alone; this wonderful Holy Spirit cares and is living within you. He knows every single detail of your life. He will never abandon you. You may grieve or quench Him, but He will not let you go. He is for you and so interested in blessing your life and helping you. Can you believe that? Can you begin to grasp how deeply He wants to help you to grow as a Christian and use you in His Kingdom purposes? Can you begin to know how deeply He feels for you in every joy or sorrow you face? The Holy Spirit is personal, and He is always available to you.

This is the beginning of a three-part series about the Holy Spirit. I am going to write about the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Spirit is working in those that do not know Christ. But for today, let me say that it is important for the Church worldwide to understand the person of the Holy Spirit. It is important for us personally to believe that He is alive within us and will help us in our prayer life. He will take hold of situations with us and add His strength to ours.

“In situations where we’re experiencing difficulty in obtaining results, the Holy Spirit wants to take hold of the situation with us, adding His strength to ours. He also wants to help or take hold with us by directing us how to pray ‘for we know not what we should pray for as we ought’ (Romans 8:26 KJV)… Realizing our weaknesses and our inability to produce results causes us to look to Him for help. If we allow Him to pray through us, He will take hold together with us. We just have to believe that when the Holy Spirit takes hold, something is going to move!” Dutch Sheets

A Prayer Regarding the Holy Spirit

“O my blessed Lord Jesus, teach me to understand this lesson: the indwelling Spirit streaming from You and uniting us to You is the Spirit of prayer. Teach me how, as an empty, wholly consecrated vessel, to yield myself to His being my life. Teach me to honor Him and to trust Him, as a living Person, to lead my life and my prayer. Teach me especially in prayer to wait in holy silence, giving Him time to breathe His unutterable intercession within me. And teach me that through Him it is possible to ‘pray without ceasing’ (I Thessalonians 5:17) and to pray without failing, because He makes me a partaker of the never-ceasing and never-failing intercession in which You appear before the Father.”

“The extent of our abiding is equivalent to our power in prayer. The Holy Spirit dwelling within us prays not always in words and thoughts, but in a breathing and a being that is deeper than utterance (Romans 8:26). There is as much real prayer in us as there is of Christ’s Spirit. Let our lives be full of Christ and full of His Spirit, so that the wonderfully unlimited promises to our prayers will no longer appear strange.” Unnamed quotes by Andrew Murray