Sometimes we don’t know how to pray. We either don’t know the details of the situation in order to pray specific prayers or we don’t know how God wants us to pray in order for His will to be done on Earth.
This is the 4th in an 8 part series on Prayer. It’s best to read these lesson posts in order.
In a previous post, we talked about surrender being the ‘key’ to the Kingdom of God. Surrender to the Holy Spirit when we pray is the ‘key’ to releasing the power and provision of the Kingdom. We also talked about the ‘4 stages of maturity’ and how that affects our prayers and relationship with God. In the early stages of relationship with Him, we’re completely dependent on His Spirit to empower our prayers. In the latter stages (‘friendship’ and ‘sons/daughters), we are given increasing authority and power.
Scripture tells us that Jesus learned obedience by the things that He suffered (Heb 5:8). He learned complete obedience to the Holy Spirit. We do the same. He went from learning obedience to “all authority has been given to me in Heaven and Earth” (Matt 28:18). We do the same. It’s a journey of learning and it’s a journey of building a trusting relationship with God in this process of becoming. For more information about this process refer to the book “A Journey In The Wilderness” (see the right side bar of this site). It’s in this process of learning obedience to the Holy Spirit (surrender) that we gain spiritual power and authority and there are stages in this journey of becoming.
In his writing to the Ephesians (Eph 4:30), Paul warns us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. He then goes on to recite a long list of sins which would cause pain to the Holy Spirit. All of the sins originate out of our lack of surrender to Him; if we’re surrendered, we won’t offend, grieve and/or quench the power of the Spirit in our lives or prayers. Complete surrender of our lives to the Spirit is the highest act of worship possible. We think we’re worshiping God when we sing a few songs on a Sunday morning. Real worship is surrendering the most important thing we have – our life. It’s what Jesus did, and it’s why “all authority was given to Him”. He raised the dead, healed the sick, cast our demons, forgave sins, and walked on water. Through obedience He overcame all things.
Jesus said that the signs of a ‘believer’ are that they will cast out demons and speak in other tongues. Some parts of organized religion have rejected both of these signs using ‘theological gymnastics’. It has, however, been my personal experience that the Holy Spirit will often cause both of these signs to occur naturally in people who believe and who are surrendered to Him. In scripture, however, (throughout Acts 2) the apostles prayed for people to be baptized in the Holy Spirit (to surrender) which enabled them to speak in other tongues. It can happen both ways.
The greater questions about these “signs” are what are they for, and how do we use them?
The theologians in our audience may want to separate what is known as “prayer language” and “speaking in tongues”. Both, however, are speaking to God for the purpose of bringing His will to Earth. It may happen in different ways, but both are the essence of prayer.
The beauty of this tool or gift is that it bypasses our mind and operates in the spiritual dimension. When we don’t know what to pray or how to prayer, we can still pray. When the Holy Spirit prays through us, we then and only then, know that “perfect prayers” have been prayed.
We are told that God’s plan for us is beyond our imaginations (1 Cor. 2:9). He has things He would like to give us; things we’ve not even dreamed about. So how will He release these ‘dreams’ into the Earth? How will His will be done on Earth if we don’t know what “His will” is? Speaking in tongues is God’s provision to release His perfect will into the Earth using ‘perfect prayer’. It’s perfect because these are His prayers which we offer in faith, which bypass the limits of our understanding. These blessings of perfect prayer couldn’t happen any other way except by surrendering to the Holy Spirit our time and our understanding.
Perfect prayer is undervalued and under utilized among believers; however, the importance of ‘perfect prayer’ can not be overstated. For the last 10 years, I have daily dedicated specific time to praying in a language I don’t know, for things I have no idea I am praying about; it takes faith and trust, but I’m assured that it’s both powerful and productive. My perfect prayers have received a response from God. He has occasionally surprised me with an unexpected blessing for which I never prayed in words or even clearly articulated in my thoughts. They were “gifts” of kindness and love that fulfilled a deep desire in me proving that He has greater knowledge of me than I have of myself. They were also encouragement, affirmation, and assurance that these perfect prayers, though not understood by me, were building the Kingdom and bringing about His will. I consider these prayers ‘love offerings’ to Him.
Powerful prayer is prayer which originates out of the heart of God. It is the will of God communicated to us by the Holy Spirit so that we can expand His love, joy, and peace to every human being on the Earth through our actions and our words. That occurs when we completely surrender our lives to the Holy Spirit and in the case of perfect prayer, our understanding.
Your comments are invited……
This is the 4th in a series of 8 posts about prayer. Please invite your friends to join the conversation. The image below can be saved to your computer by right clicking and selecting “save image as” and then it can be “attached” or “inserted” in a email message. You can also become a “subscriber” and never miss a new post. Check out the “Meta” section “Entries RSS”on the side bar to the right.
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