Spirit-guided Praying

Doris wrote that one day in prayer God asked her if she would be willing for Him to use her prayer time according to His choosing. She surrendered to Him, and allowed the Spirit to pray through her. He burdened her to pray earnestly for a family problem. Later the Lord answered and totally resolved her family situation.

In prayer, as in all of our spiritual life, God declares it is "not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit" (Zech. 4:6). Biblical scholar Richard Trench wrote, "We must pray in the Spirit...Do not address yourselves to prayer as to a work to be accomplished in your own natural strength."

When we request what we think is needed and don't trust the Spirit to teach us what to pray, it is as though He says, "You mean well, but I have a higher desire." So before we trust Him to answer our prayer, we trust Him to teach us what to ask. Our prayer may then simply be a heartfelt, "My deepest desire is for You to be glorified in this situation."

If we say our own words, He will let us pray on our own, but if we trust Him to give us His desires, He will do that. The Holy Spirit will deepen our desires when we are asking for what He wants us to request. Then we can pray with faith knowing He will give what we are asking.

Dear Jesus, I trust the Holy Spirit to guide me into the specific prayers that express Your desires. Now as I submit my requests, I trust You to answer in whatever way gives you the greatest glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.

"Pray in the Spirit on all occasions"" (Eph. 6:18).
"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. 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." (Rom. 8:26, 27).