Day 16: Praying in the Spirit
As you begin to spend time with God, settle yourself somewhere quiet and comfortable. Take a few deep breaths. Spend a few moments gathering your thoughts, becoming aware of God’s presence with you and in you.
Journal for 5 minutes on yesterday’s experiment of praying for healing. What did you notice and learn? What challenged you? Did God say anything to you throughout the day?
Then, begin today’s devotional.
Read: Romans 8:26-27, Ephesians 6:18, 1 Corinthians 14:14-15b
The Scriptures call on us time and again to “pray in the Spirit,” and as 1 Cor. 14:15 indicates, Paul understood the phrase to involve speaking in tongues. Many Christians have understood the phrase to mean praying as one is led by the Holy Spirit. Neither of these understandings is wrong. Certainly, the Holy Spirit leads us to pray with our conscious mind. But Paul clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit can pray through us in words we do not understand.
If you have experienced the gift of tongues, use it to pray—especially when you don’t know how you should pray! (Rom. 8:26-27). As Paul counsels us in Ephesians 6:18, do it“at all times and on every occasion.” Tua Tagovailoa, the freshman quarterback of the 2017 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, told ESPN he prays in tongues on the field, and was doing so when he threw the winning touchdown in the 2018 National Championship Game. That certainly counts as “every occasion.”
Prayer: Holy Spirit, lead me in prayer and give me every good and perfect gift to aid me in “all kinds of prayers and requests” (Eph. 6:18). Amen.
Today’s Experiment: If you have never spoken in tongues, open your heart and your mouth and ask the Holy Spirit to pray through you. Pray with whatever words the Holy Spirit may give you—in your native language or in whatever words the Spirit may inspire.
By Dr. Joseph Castleberry, President