Praying the Bible Way - in the Spirit
Ephesians 6.10-20
Years ago somebody wrote in the Trinity visitors’ book:
‘May the Holy Spirit come and blow through this church.’
That was a bit cheeky but it may have been on target:,
did they sense that we were going through the motions of worship
singing hymns, saying prayers, waiting for it all to be over
to go and do something more interesting?
I would love to meet the person who wrote that
and see if they would still say the same today
for I get a sense that the Holy Spirit is blowing through the church,
maybe only a breeze
but, thank God there is the sense increasingly of the Holy Spirit
as the ‘something more’ that makes a difference.
We are not just singing hymns, we are praising God;
It’s not just a reading and a sermon; God is speaking to people;
there’s a growing sense of being more than a Church member
a sense that we belong to each other as living parts of the body of Christ;
And in regard to prayer
we go beyond ‘saying prayers’ into what we looked at last week
prayer as a conversation, a communion with God our loving heavenly Father.
Another way of looking at this is to say that we are ‘to pray in the Spirit’.
But what does that mean?
In what he says about the spiritual battle in Ephesians 6
Paul sets the standard high. (v 18)
' … 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 saints.'
As well as having the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation
and the sword of the spirit, the word of God
we are always to be praying in the spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests.
This is a vital part of the spiritual battle, a vital part of living as a Christian.
What does it mean to pray in the Spirit?
Let me try to answer that by telling you first what it does NOT mean.
It does not mean that there is one right way to pray
and all other ways are unspiritual or not so spiritual.
That phrase about praying ‘with all kinds of prayers and requests’
struck me with new force while preparing for this sermon.
There are many different ways of praying, talking to God
and different ways of asking of God
and the Bible does not prescribe
that one is the only one or superior to the others.
We are to pray in the Spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests.
We are of course each of us more comfortable with certain kinds of praying
and less comfortable with other kinds.
Some people find set prayers in a prayer book helpful;
others find them restrictive.
Some can pray freely in a prayer meeting, others are very quiet.
Some shout out loud and stretch their hands up towards heaven:
others bow their heads and clasp their hands tight
and probably think that loud prayer isn’t very Presbyterian.
Maybe our ‘mystery worshipper’ those years ago was mistaken.
He or she perhaps thought that there was only one way to worship
and our style which was not his style was therefore unspiritual,
or maybe he went deeper than the styles
and sense that, whatever about the worship patterns,
God was not in the building in any close intimate way…
The point is
not that you are required to pray in a certain style
and certainly not that you should condemn other styles
but that in whatever way you pray you are in touch with God,
praying in the Spirit.
But how do we know we are really praying in the Holy Spirit?
We can’t tell by where people put their hands
nor whether they shout or whisper
so how can we know?
We may know by the fragrance and the fruit of their prayers and their lives.
Is there a good smell, a good taste?
Where we do most of our shopping
there’s a large supermarket and there’s also a smaller fruit and veg shop.
The interesting thing is that
often there’s better quality and a better price in the smaller shop
but I prefer it for another reason:
there’s a better smell
the oranges and apples and tomatoes and everything else are open to the air
and you get that lovely fresh healthy smell.
In the supermarket, it’s all clean and hygienic and wrapped in plastic
and you can’t tell if it smells fresh or smells off.
The tests for praying in the Holy Spirit
are the same as the tests or signs of life in the Holy Spirit.
I’ll give them to you quickly
and if you want to check out the Bible references
you can do that from the information sheet or the email later.
When we pray (or live) in the Holy Spirit we pray (or live)
with conviction not condemnation John 16. 7-11 Romans 8.1-2
humility not self promotion Philippians 2.1-4
with joy not negativity Romans 14.17
with freedom not fear 2 Corinthians 3.17,
with love not indifference 2 Timothy 1.7 2 Timothy 1.7
with purity not impurity Ephesians 5.3-20
with healthy fruit not poisonous weeds Galatians 5.19-23
We pray to build up not just to demolish 1 Corinthians 14.26,31
Sometimes of course we struggle in prayer:
we are angry and upset, we are heavy and in tears
as we get a deeper sense of our own sin and others’ sin.
Those prayers can be prayers in the Holy Spirit -
or sometimes we are praying in our own strength
by what the Bible calls the ‘flesh’ and not the Spirit.
If you find your prayers are becoming a bit of a nag towards God
or a nag upon yourself as well as a proud dismissal of others
then check your praying out.
To pray out of guilt, to pray with condemnation and negativity
is to pray in the flesh not the spirit, in the shadow, at best, not the light of God.
But angry and passionate prayers in time of trouble
may be in the Spirit
God is not afraid of strong heart felt emotion.
Our prayer times which are stormy and difficult
if they are times of prayer in the spirit,
there will be a sense of the light and the smile of God:
in the words of an old hymn we ‘trace the rainbow through the rain’
we pray on in hope, in grace, in peace
we are clear in our relationship with God and other people
especially with those we are praying with.
But how are we to pray at all times in the Spirit
with all sorts of prayers and requests.
Surely we cannot always be on our knees
We have to work and eat and sleep.
Our loving Father God
knows that we cannot always be in an attitude of settled prayer
but there is such thing as practising the presence of God
seeing him and celebrating him in everyday things
being aware of him as a background presence all the time.
Thomas Browne was a doctor in England in the 1600s.
Here is what he wrote about praying all the time.
(in an updated form)
His pattern was every day to call upon GOD ‘in a solemn formed prayer‘
seven times a day, in the morning, and at night, and five times between;
quoting the example of David (Psalm 118 v.164) and Daniel (6.v.10)
noting with shame the Muslim custom of praying five times in the day.
.
If he could not sleep at night he would utter short prayers when awake
and when he was awakened by a bell at 4 in the morning or by first light
to say a set prayer for the beginning of the day in the Anglican prayer book,
His aim during the day was to pray anywhere where there was privacy.
He claimed that there was no street or passage in this City
which may not witness that I have not forgot GOD and my Saviour in it;
and that no parish or town, where I have been, may not say the like.’
Every time he saw a church on his journeys he would pray.
Since as a doctor he could not always attend church
yet he took all possible care not to miss the Lord’s Supper
when it was being celebrated.
He resolved:
‘to pray daily and particularly for sick patients, and in general for others, wheresoever, howsoever, under whose care soever;
and at the entrance into the house of the sick,
to say The peace of GOD be in this place.’
After a sermon, to make a thanksgiving, and a desire a blessing,
and to pray for the minister.
In stormy weather, lightning and thunder, either night or day,
to pray for GOD’S merciful protection upon all men,
and His mercy upon their souls and goods.
When he saw ‘beautiful persons‘,
he would bless GOD for his creation work
and ‘pray for the beauty of their souls,
and to enrich them with inward graces to be answerable unto the outward.;
When he saw ’ deformed persons‘ he prayed God
to ‘send them inward grace, and enrich their souls,
and give them the beauty of the resurrection.’
None of us is a busy doctor riding around 17th century England
but can we not too be as creative and spiritually sensitive
seeking God in sorts of places and in all sorts of ways.
Is there anything that happens to us
whether we meet beautiful people or not so beautiful people
whether we are with the sick or the healthy, the happy or the sad,
which cannot be turned into either a prayer of thanksgiving
or a prayer for help and mercy whether for ourselves or others?
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