“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life”
— Jude 20-21

Jude isn’t the only one to speak about praying in the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul also tells us to “…pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests…” (Ephesians 6:18).

One of the keys to seeing prayer become an avenue for releasing God’s presence and power is to pray in the Holy Spirit.  What does it mean to pray in the Holy Spirit? I had this question for many years. I have come to see that praying in the Holy Spirit is supernatural co-operation with God. It means that I actively yield to the prompting of the Spirit by constantly keeping my heart and mind in a posture of seeking and listening to His voice and faithfully speaking out what He brings to mind. To pray in the Spirit means that He communicates and downloads His heart to ours, from His Spirit to our spirit, resulting in our declaration of His words.

I often experience the promptings and leadings of the Holy Spirit in one of three ways:

• Through a sudden conviction about a direction to pray.
• Through witnessing a change of tone and clarity in my words in the flow of my prayer.
• Through the urge and prompting to begin praying in tongues, outwardly when I am alone, and usually quietly when I am in the presence of others.

When I have entered into a time of praying in the Holy Spirit, my experience has become a surprising dynamic moment when I know I have been in the manifest presence of Jesus. There is nothing else like it!

REFLECTION
1. What do you feel are the greatest hindrances in your life to praying in the Holy Spirit?
2.  How often do you intentionally position your heart and mind to hear God’s promptings before beginning to pray? Consider making this a new pattern in your prayer life.

Shane Gould is Lead Pastor of Burlington Alliance Church, in Ontario. He and his wife, Linda, have three children and a passion to see God’s people live in the power of the Holy Spirit.