Praying in the Spirit

And then, there is what Paul called: praying in the Spirit. The second offensive weapon against Satan. Martin Luther said: Prayer is a strong wall and fortress of the church. It is a goodly Christian’s weapon. John Bunyan said the greatest weapon in the storehouse of God is the weapon of prayer. He said you can do more than pray after you prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you prayed. Prayer is critical. Prayer is like oil. As every part of an engine is useless without oil, so every part of Christian warfare is vain without prayer. The way to begin the fight with Satan is to pray. The way to continue the fight is pray. The way to conclude the fight is with prayer. Pray! Pray! Pray always. Pray with prayer and supplication, says Paul. Pray with all prayer, he says. Pray in all your ways. Pray in all your paths. Bring all your needs, great and small. Mary Winslow told her son Octavius, Tell the Lord everything about you. As if he knew nothing about you. Yet knowing he knows everything about you. And pray in the Spirit, Paul says. Let the Spirit groan within your groanings that are unutterable.

You know there was once a small boy, who was being taught by his father how to steer a ship. So, this boy began to steer. His father stood directly behind him. The father knew, if he did not help the son, the boat would crash on a rock, or get swept away in a swift current. So, he did not push his son aside, but he put his arms around his son and he put his hands on his son’s hands. He helped him steer that boat. That is how the Holy Spirit grips our hearts and guides our thoughts and steers us in the course that he has charted for us. As the boy cannot do it on his own, so we cannot do it on our own. But when we pray in the Spirit, he comes and joins us. He guides us. He makes us lean on Christ. And oh, what a sweet thing this is.¹

Joel Beeke