And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people
Ephesians 6:18
This verse exhorts us to pray in the Spirit. But how can we pray in the Spirit?. In order to pray “in the Spirit”, we must first be “in the Spirit”. Being “in the Spirit” and the connection with God, which we achieve through the Holy Spirit.
We can find a description of this type of connection in Romans 8:26-27
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
Romans 8:26-27
In this way the Holy Spirit guides us in prayer. In this way, our prayers will not be selfish, but consistent with the Father’s will. So the Father receives our prayers.
The Spirit guides us, influences us, makes us feel His power. We ask the Spirit for help to reach the throne of God.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship
Romans 12:1
True worship is possible only with the Holy Spirit. He resides in our bodies.
The Holy Spirit was the mediator of Jesus’ sacrifice. It is He who cleanses our consciences, through the sacrifice of Jesus.
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[a] so that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 9:14
If we pray, aware of the gospel, placing our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit is with us.
So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
Galatians 3:5
When we believe and are born again, the Spirit resides in us. So it is part of our life. Whatever we do we do in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is part of our Christian life. When we pray our prayer, it is guided by the Spirit, and carried all the way to the Father. The things we pray for are inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the great helper in our prayers.
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.[a] And by him we cry, “Abba,[b] Father.”
Romans 8:15
Sometimes we find ourselves praying for the wrong reasons. In this case, it is not the Spirit who is guiding us. Indeed, the Spirit helps us to ensure that we avoid praying for the wrong reasons, or for wrong things.
Ephesians 6:18 continues and exhorts us to pray at every opportunity, but we must keep in mind one thing. To understand this, we have to analyze the previous verses.
From verses 10 to 17, the presence of God in our lives is compared to armor. Verse 12 warns us that we are not fighting against something physical, but rather spiritual. In fact, there are invisible spiritual entities that constantly attack us. These are referred to as the dark world, or spiritual forces of evil. And, so this we must have in mind. Verse 18 tells us to pray for God’s people. Therefore, the purpose of our prayers must be to help our family in Christ in this spiritual warfare.
Devotional
We must be persistent in prayers. Many times God does not answer prayers right away. If he answered every prayer right away, it would be bad for us. Having more time, and repeating the same prayer several times, we think of it in the best way. As time passes, we have the opportunity to review our request, and understand if it is truly in line with God’s will.
Persistence tests our faith. when things don’t happen immediately, as we would like, we are tempted to become discouraged. Perseverance is evidence that we trust God to fulfill his promises.
We must always remember that God loves us and always wants to give us much more than what we ask for
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Ephesians 3:20