Pray in the Spirit by Arthur Wallis

Author:Arthur Wallis
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781936143450
Publisher: CLC

13

With Words Understood

WHEN we “pray with the mind,” as Paul expresses it, we must of necessity use words that we understand, even though the prayer may be inaudible. In the next chapter we shall speak of the second kind of praying in the Spirit, with words that are unknown. For the moment we are concerned to know how the Holy Spirit girds our minds and guides our thinking as we pray with our understanding.

We have no right to expect a special leading of the Spirit here if we are not submitting to His leading in other realms. In Romans 8, where we find the theme verse of this book, Paul reminds us that the leading of the Spirit is a mark of sonship (8:14). The leading of the Spirit in the realm of prayer is nothing more than a development of this general principle.

Paul speaks at the commencement of that same chapter of what God has done to free us from the domination of the flesh (8:3). Walking according to the Spirit is contrasted with walking according to the flesh. Walking according to the Spirit is basic to praying in the Spirit. We must have the waters to the ankles before we can know waters to the knees (Ezek. 47:3–4). Can we really conceive of someone who walks after the flesh and yet prays in the Spirit? Can carnal living and spiritual praying go together? Whatever spiritual praying this is, it is not the New Testament variety, the product of an ungrieved Holy Spirit. It is foolish to expect to be led into these deeper realms of Spirit-led intercession if we are not submissive to our Guide in the practical issues of daily life. An uncondemned heart is essential (1 John 3:21–22). As we move on in the path of intercession we shall find that the Holy Spirit will require more implicit obedience and greater sensitivity to His will.

The matter of the Holy Spirit directing our thoughts in prayer takes us to the basic fact that all prayer begins in the heart of God. Matthew Henry said, “When God intends great mercy for His people He sets them a-praying.” Indeed, when God wants anything accomplished in His kingdom He moves men to pray. God is always the initiator. All effectual prayer was moving in the heart of God before ever it began to move in the heart of man. What Kepler said as he unlocked the secrets of the starry heavens could well be said by the man who prays in the Spirit: “O God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee.”

Some have used the electric circuit as a helpful illustration of this truth. If there is to be a flow of electricity, then there must be a source of power. In the circuit of prayer, the power supply proceeds from God, but the power itself is the Spirit who is ever proceeding from the Father (John 15:26). The intercessor is like an electric lamp wired into the circuit. God wishes to work in a certain situation, and so He moves upon a believer by His Spirit.

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