Praying in the Spirit

The phrase “praying in the Spirit” or “praying in the Holy Spirit” appears in both Ephesians and Jude, and is much misunderstood in Christian circles. Some associate it with a sensation of being caught up or carried along, like riding a bike down a slope instead of pushing uphill.

Maybe it’s just me, but I get edgy when anyone starts talking about feelings or sensations when we are discussing the faith and its practice.

A Special Kind of Praying?

Spiritual experiences are just a little too mystical sounding for my taste, not to mention near impossible to replicate on a daily basis. I’m looking for an interpretation that’s just a little more grounded.

Colin Anderson considered what Paul and Jude might have been referring to in a 1987 message:

“What does it mean to pray ‘in the Holy Spirit’? Is that some special kind of praying that we can attain to, that after we have come so far in our Christian experience, then we can learn to pray in the Holy Spirit?

I must confess that question puzzled me for quite a while. Of course, I was aware of the fact that there are some earnest Christians who believe that praying in the Holy Spirit is groaning, moaning and crying out to God, but I asked myself, ‘Is that really what it means to pray in the Holy Spirit?’

The Spirit and the Word

It’s very interesting — and it fascinates me, because I’ve noticed this again and again in my Bible study, and I couldn’t make a list of all the verses that would substantiate this — that whenever you read of the Holy Spirit’s activity in some way, you will usually find it connected with the word of God. The classic example is the new birth. We must be born of water and the Spirit, you remember, and it says in 1 Peter, “being born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible by the word of God”. Ephesians, you remember, tells us to ‘be filled with the Spirit’. If we go over to the parallel passage in Colossians, it says, ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly’, and the same results follow.

So it’s interesting to see that the activity of the Spirit is inevitably connected with the word of God, and the word of God — in its action upon us, its provocation in our spiritual lives, its awakening of certain things in us, the effect of the word of God upon us — is parallel to the Holy Spirit in us. So that when we read ‘praying in the Holy Spirit’, I begin to ask myself, ‘Is there something in the word of God that helps me to pray in the Holy Spirit?’ Look at this very verse. What does it say? ‘You, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith.’ Well, how can I do that but from the word of God?

Take the Book Back to God

So to pray in the Holy Spirit, as I understand it, is to take this precious book back to God claiming its promises, its teaching, saying, ‘Lord, you’ve committed yourself to this, and now I pray in the light of what you’ve said that you will graciously do this and that.’ And that, I believe, is praying in the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit never teaches us to pray beyond what is in the Book, never to go into some area that this book would not cover.

So to pray in the Holy Spirit is to pray to God in the light of what the scripture teaches in reference to our prayer.”

That works.