Feeling troubled, overwhelmed, or burdened by discouraging thoughts about your future? This excerpt is from: Feeling Troubled? Start Praying In The Spirit! (06 Sep 2020)
I just want to share
something with you
that will help you so much
in walking in the Spirit.
And that is actually
a New Covenant prayer.
I call it Prayer 2.0.
What prayer is that?
It’s praying in the Spirit,
praying in tongues.
Today, in the evangelical fields,
they use the term
“praying in the Spirit”
but many a times they mean:
“I’m praying by the
leading of the Spirit.”
What does that mean?
Praying in the Spirit?
How about other prayers?
Is it saying that they’re
not led by the Spirit?
Obviously, when the Bible
says: “praying in the Spirit”,
it must be translated
and interpreted by the Bible.
And 1 Corinthians 14 says:
“For if I pray in an
unknown tongue,”
there’s no escaping this.
“my spirit prays.”
Notice that?
“When I pray in an
unknown tongue,”
“my spirit prays.”
Which part of you prays?
“my spirit prays.”
But remember this:
Praying in the Spirit is
praying in tongues.
But praying in tongues
is something that was
never given to the
Old Testament saints.
When they were under
the law, it was something that
was never given to them.
No one prayed in tongues.
It was unique for
this dispensation.
It was unique for
the New Covenant.
Now, ask yourself this.
Why is this prayer,
Prayer 2.0, so unique?
It only came into being,
into existence on the
Day of Pentecost.
Well, it is a prayer that
can only come forth from
your Spirit and it denotes that
the Holy Spirit is in you.
It denotes that you are now
so clean on the inside
by the blood of Jesus
that the Holy Spirit
has taken residence in you.
Did you know that even
for all the prophets of
the Old Testament and
the righteous kings—
when the Holy Spirit
came on them,
that’s what happens.
The Holy Spirit comes on them
and then leaves them
and comes on them
to prophesy,
to cause them to prophesy
and then leaves them.
Just like Jesus said in
the upper room
to His disciples:
“…the Holy Spirit,
who is with you,”
The word ‘with’ means
to be with you like
in the Old Testament,
“shall be in you.”
“And He will be in you forever.”
How long is the
Holy Spirit in you?
Forever.
Amen.
So because of that,
we have this prayer language.
And friend, we are not
tapping into it.
One of the ways
we walk in the Spirit
and be led by the Spirit
is to pray in tongues,
to pray in the Spirit.
And if you’re telling me
that the early church needs
all the gifts of the Spirit,
whereas for us, it all petered out
when Peter petered out.
Then friend, are you saying
that we are living in
better times than them?
On the contrary, we
are living in worse times.
That was the church
in its infancy.
And they needed the
power of the Holy Spirit,
yes nonetheless.
But in the times that
we are living in,
we need it even more,
my friend!
We’re living
in the last days!
And nowhere in the Bible
does it say that all the
gifts of the Spirit have ceased.
That’s why in the 7th article of
the spiritual armor
found in Ephesians 6,
that a believer ought to have,
it tells you that first,
you have the loins
girded with truth.
Then you have the
breastplate of righteousness.
You have your feet shod
with the preparation of
the gospel of peace,
your shoes.
Amen.
Then you have
the shield of faith.
You have the
helmet of salvation.
Have we counted?
1,2,3.
4.
Amen.
Helmet of salvation, 5.
And the sword of the Spirit, 6.
6th item now.
Now God never stops at 6.
6 is the number of man.
Goliath has three 6s
stamped upon him.
If you study the story of
Goliath and David
in the battlefield,
you find that Goliath was
stamped with 666.
So God doesn’t end with 6.
What is the 7th one?
The next verse tells us.
Let’s go to it right now.
This is from the
Young’s Literal translation.
“and the helmet
of salvation receive,”—
it’s the imperative mood
in the Greek.
“receive and the
sword of the Spirit.”
“receive the helmet,
the hope of salvation”
“and receive the
sword of the Spirit,”
which is the
‘rhema’ of God
In the Greek,
it is the ‘rhema’,
the saying of God.
How?
“Through all prayer
and supplication.”
Now, this is so good because
in Verse 18, it starts with
the word ‘dia’
and ‘dia’ always means
“through the channel of,
by the means of.”
Unfortunately, in other
translations, in the King James,
the word ‘dia’ is
not even there.
It just starts off with
“praying at all times.”
But it’s not praying at all times.
It doesn’t start with that.
In the Greek, it starts with ‘dia’
and Young’s is the only one
I see that translates that.
The New American Standard Bible (NASB)
has a footnote translating that.
But here, it uses
the word ‘through.’
How do you receive the
helmet of salvation
to cover your head
from all the mental attacks?
From depression,
from all the fiery darts.
That’s where it always lands.
Usually in your mind.
How do you have
the hope of salvation?
As you look at the future,
is your mind looking at
something dark, dreary,
or are you looking at
something bright?
Amen.
The hope, the positive expectation
of good is a helmet.
How do you receive that?
And how do you
receive the sword?
“the helmet of the salvation
receive and the”
“sword of the Spirit receive,
which is the saying of God,”
The ‘rhema’ of God.
“the sword of the Spirit,
which is the ‘rhema’ of God.
How?
“through all prayer and supplication
praying at all times in the Spirit.”
The word ‘times’ here
is the word ‘kairos.’
There are two basic words
in the Greek for the word ‘times.’
One is ‘chronos’, which is
where you get the
timing in your watch.
‘Chronos’, ‘chronological order’
is referring to ‘time’
in its purest sense.
Time.
But the other word ‘kairos’
is actually an opportune moment.
One Greek scholar says
it like this: ‘favorable season’.
Favorable season.
So “through all prayer and supplication,
praying at all times in the Spirit,”
I believe it is going to cause
a favorable season to happen.
When you’re praying the Spirit,
you are never in a bad situation.
Even though the circumstances
are dark, but when you
pray in the Spirit,
there’s a favorable
opportune season around you.
Hallelujah.
So how do you receive
the helmet of salvation?
How do you receive the
‘rhema’ of God, which is the
sword of the Spirit?
“through all prayer and
supplication in the Spirit.”
One thing about
speaking in tongues is
I’m telling you, church,
it is going to bless you
if you realize this truth.
Sometimes you do not
know what to pray.
Let’s say the doctor has
given you a bad prognosis
and maybe it has
got to do with your liver.
So what you do?
You can say: “Holy Spirit,
I do not know how”
“to pray as I ought.
I’ve had hands laid on me.”
“I’ve received prayer.”
”But Holy Spirit, you know
how to pray best.”
Don’t forget, Romans 8
tells us: “Likewise, the Spirit”
“also helpeth our infirmities”
And the word ‘infirmities’
is the same word used for
the diseases that Jesus
healed in the gospels.
Amen.
So it says: “By making
prayers for us.”
The Holy Spirit intercedes for us.
So you can say:
“Lord, I don’t know how
to pray for my heart.”
“I do not know how to pray
for my blood pressure.”
“But Holy Spirit, you do.
“And Father, let your
Holy Spirit in me right now,”
“pray for my heart,
pray for my liver.”
You can pray for
any area of your life.
And then you go like this.
(praying in tongues)
Under your breath and
undertones the whole day.
And it doesn’t mean you got to
stop doing what you need to do.
We need to understand grace
because all the
teachings on prayer—
many a times,
we have this idea
growing up in the church.
When I was growing up
in my teenage years
in the church, the church
always give the impression
that praying in tongues has
got to be in one place,
one location.
Now that’s great.
If you can do that,
that’s great.
But there are people
who are working.
There are people who are busy.
There are mothers who have
little mouths to feed,
homework to help them with.
And responsibilities to execute.
They are busy the whole day.
So God has designed,
under grace, a prayer
that you can pray
while you are busy.
Your Holy Spirit knows how
to pray for His perfect healing.
Your Holy Spirit knows how
to pray against this headache.
“I’ve been having it
for a few days.”
Your Holy Spirit knows.
And then you just let loose.
(praying in tongues)
It might be one day.
It might be two days.
There might be
a spiritual attack even,
on the first day you are doing it.
But I’ll tell you this.
As you persevere.
It says: “Watching with
all perseverance.”
As you persevere and
keep on praying in the Spirit,
there’s going to come a time when
it’s like something broke loose.
The dam is broken and the
refreshing liberating waters
of God’s Spirit just
flows into your life.
Hallelujah.
“Lord, I don’t know how
to pray for my son”
“or my daughter.”
“I don’t know what’s
troubling them but you know.”
“Holy Spirit, pray through me.”
(praying in tongues)
Are you willing to
pray in undertones the whole day?
Even if more days are needed?
Until, you know the answer
comes or feel a release?
Something happens while
you’re praying in tongues.
You know that Someone
greater than you, Someone
more powerful than you,
Someone who loves you
is praying for you.
When you come to a
man of God and you tell him
to pray, you feel
a bit assured.
But none is as therapeutic
and as life-giving as
the Holy Spirit praying for you.
And while you’re praying,
psychologically, mentally,
you’re having a peace
because you know that
the One who has all power
is working on it.
And you are praying
perfect prayers because
you cannot circumvent
your prayer with ignorant words
or with words that
are not on point.
It transcends all that.
Grace transcends all that.
It is a prayer that was birthed
only in the New Covenant.
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