And pray in the Spirit …
Summary: People are like icebergs. What you “see” is the flesh and bones that make up our physical body. What you don’t see is the infinite range of emotions, thoughts and experiences in the invisible realm of the mind and spirit.
Paul has just finished describing the armor of God. Now he jumps to a command to “pray in the Spirit.” Are these two topics related?
What soldier goes off on his own without orders from his commanding officer? Does that make any sense? Of course not! A soldier, on his own, has no idea if what he is doing helps or hurts the situation. Communication is essential if a military operation is to succeed.
If we are to be a soldier in the army of the Lord, we need to report for duty. We need to know what our assignment is. Paul tells us to “pray in the Spirit” so we can know what our assignment is. So what does he mean by telling us to pray “in the Spirit?” Is that different than simply praying to God?
As Paul explains in another letter, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13: 12 KJV) It is as if we were on the deck of a boat floating next to an iceberg. We can see the ice on top of the water, but the eighty percent of the ice underwater is vague and obscure. We are very much like that iceberg. What we “see” in the visible realm is only a small percentage of who we are. There is much more that we cannot see.
Perhaps what Paul is talking about here is the part of us that God himself breathed into Adam to give him life (Genesis 2: 7). However, believers have another Spirit as well as the one they were born with. As Jesus explains to Nicodemus:
“I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8)
Somehow, when the Spirit is in us, we also can be “in the Spirit.” Because the Spirit is invisible to our physical eyes, we cannot “see” what Paul is doing when he prays. We just know he does, just as Jesus did, as did the disciples, and so many others.
Including us.
We get to pray in the Spirit, too.
Application: Spend some time alone probing the depths of who you are.
Food for Thought: How do you know if you are “in the Spirit?”
A good evidence of this would be the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5: 22 – 23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
Brother Rich,
You often bring this passage to our attention and I am grateful for that. It has helped me understand the power and truth of the Holy Spirit in us and what having God in us means for our lives.
Thank you!
Let’s us pray!”
Amen! 🙂
I like Rich’s comment. Along with that is the absence of fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
It doesn’t mean that fear doesn’t enter our minds, just that the Spirit gives us the power to take captive our thoughts and give our fears to Christ in faith. Faith disperses fear. In the absence of fear there is the peace that the Spirit brings.
Thanks, Chris!
Great verses and a great point. How can we be afraid if we are looking into the eyes of our loving Father?
Rich sometimes uses the illustration of they guy who used to walk a tightrope over Niagra Falls. People were impressed but no one wanted to be the one to get in the wheelbarrow that he pushed across the falls on the wire.
In the first case they are looking at the guy doing it. In the second they are looking at the falls and the “fall.”
11-07-2022, How do you know if you are “in the Spirit?”
Be still and know I am God. Psalm 46:10
The Spirit is Omnipresent, we exist in Him and He is in us, directing us to the degree we choose to listen and obey. To be in the Spirit means our attention is more sensitive to the things of the Spirit than the natural things around us. How often do we go to our Lord to listen to what He desires to communicate to us rather than asking Him to give us what we want.
Galatians 5:16, Revelation 1:9-10, Romans 8:1, Philippians 4:6
To be in the Spirit could simply mean that we are more conscience of God, and the things of God, than the things of this world. Our priority, objective should be to find our stability, peace, happiness as we live in the Spirit at all times, in all circumstances as we deliberately practice to consistently shift our focus from things of this world, onto the things of God.
Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Galatians 2:20, 1 Corinthians 16:14
Ron,
I am so glad you have reminded us of Psalm 46:10! So true! Often being in the Spirit is a matter of quieting everything else.
And thank you for the excellent collection of reference verses! I put a link here.
Thank You for pointing us into a very important truth!
Bless You Brother!
Ron