THE HOLYSPIRIT AND PRAYER

The Holy Spirit and Prayer

Anchor Scriptures: Gen 1:1,2, Isaiah 32: 12-18, Isaiah 44:1-5, Isaiah 64:4, Joel 2: 23-28, Romans 8: 1-30,1 Corinthians 2: 9-13, Galatians 4:19, Ephesians 6: 18, 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-25

The first sentence in the scriptures says ‘In the beginning God … (Genesis 1 vs. 1)’ and the truth remains for every perfect establishment of anything, any emergence of a new revival in the lives of Christians everything must begin with God. In Ephesians 4: 13, Paul the Apostle to the gentiles made us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that God is at work in us both in thought and in our action according to his good pleasures (emphasis by me). As Christians we must realize that no matter what God wants to on earth, scriptures made us to know from several witnesses that it also begins with the Holy Spirit. The earth was empty, there was darkness all over but until the Holy Spirit brooded over the face of the earth just like how planes moves over the earth during investigation creation work never began. Immediately after The Holy Spirit moved over the face of the deep waters God commanded light upon the Earth (Genesis 1: 1-3).  

   

Throughout scriptures I have come to realize that every time God want to begin a new course, be it revival or any crucial beginning He releases the Holy Spirit upon men. Let us look at some of these witnesses in the scriptures, for in the presence of two or three evidences a judgement is established.

Judg 3:10-11

And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the Lord delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim.11 And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died. KJV

1 Sam 10:6

6 And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. KJV

2 Sam 23:1-2

Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, 2 The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. KJV    

Isa 11:1-2

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; KJV

    

Isa 32:13-18

13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;   KJV

Isa 42:5-9

5 Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

8 I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.  KJV

    

Isa 44:3-5

3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.

5 One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. KJV

Isa 59:21-60:2

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.    KJV

All this scriptures and many more shows us that The Holy Spirit plays a strong role in every reawakening, even during the time of the Judges of Israel non could rise up for the course of Israel without the Holy Spirit. The presence of God is fully represented by the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, When the Spirit of God left King Saul he became a lunatic. Every supernatural action carried out by men having the calling of God upon their lives in the Old Testament was by the Holy Spirit upon. Thanks be to God that his Holy Spirit is within us and upon us in this generation. We as Christ like people cannot do anything without the Holy Spirit, doing anything outside his will and help means walking in the flesh; this brings condemnation “for there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh”.

It is very impossible for us to act in the Spirit always because we are in the flesh, when the perfect comes that which is imperfect will be done away with. That is reason for prayer. Our prayer lives must be Spirit controlled prayers not for a moment but throughout lifetime. When it comes to the issue of prayer it is a matter of necessity that we pattern our prayer life after that of Jesus (Mk 1:35, Heb. 5:7).

The prayer Life of Jesus

I remember the common song we sing as children which says prayer is the master key, Jesus started with prayers and ended with Prayers. In fact Jesus is still praying for us now (both Christians and the world as a whole) standing in the office of the Chief High Priest making intercession before the Father. 1 John 2:1 tells us that we are not to sin as Christians but perhaps anyone of us falls into sin, we have Christ standing in as an advocate on our behalf (this continues until we depart from the earth). Now let us look into the lifestyle of Jesus with Respect to prayers

1.     The success of Jesus ministry on earth was a function of his prayer life, if Jesus had failed in the area of praying he would have failed in the fulfilling God’s plan for his life, that is why Hebrew 5 vs. 8 says that ‘though he were a Son, yet learnt he obedience by the things he suffered.    

Heb 5:7-8

7 * In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death. Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him. Good News Translation

2.     Jesus prayed before receiving the Holy Spirit (Luke 3vs 21)

3.     Jesus prayed all night on a mountain  before choosing his disciples (Luke 6 :13-14)

4.     Jesus told his disciples that some of them are there with him that will not die before seeing the Kingdom of God (Jesus did not say some of his disciples are there with him that will not die before entering the kingdom of God. There is a difference between seeing and entering). Let us look at Luke 9 vs. 27-31 to confirm this    

Luke 9:27-31

27 ‎But truly I say to you, Some of those who are here now will have no taste of death till they see the kingdom of God.

28 ‎And about eight days after he had said these things, he took Peter and John and James with him and went up into the mountain for prayer.

29 ‎And while he was in prayer, his face was changed and his clothing became white and shining.

30 ‎And two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking with him;

31 ‎Who were seen in glory and were talking of his death which was about to take place in Jerusalem. Bible in Basic English Translation

But before Jesus transfigured into glory he was praying; Peter, James and John saw him in Glory. In the Old Testament Moses and Elijah saw the glory of God, they experienced his kingdom (the kingdom of God is full of glory, that is why Jesus taught his disciples to pray that the Kingdom of God come down upon the earth) I believe that we also can have this experience may be not up to His since 2 Corinthians 3 vs. 1 tells us

we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. KJV

5.     It was the culture of Jesus to go on vigils and even pray very early before morning (Mark 1:35), at times after a hectic day of ministering he still separate himself to pray to his father (Matthew 14:23-30)

Really we all have to follow the footstep of Jesus in prayer to experience same kind of glory, for to him that believeth all things are possible.

Having laid the foundation of the necessity of the Holy Spirit in whatever we want to do and looking at the prayer lifestyle of Jesus in the days of his flesh, let us go further into the art of prayer.

Just as there is the science of prayer (which is strongly by revelation knowledge of God), there is what we call the art of prayer.

The Art of Prayer

It is very important for us to know that for a successful Christian life (in ministry, career and daily living) we must develop the habit of prayer. Prayer is a basic foundational principle of the Christian Faith, scriptures says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16b)

As Christian our trees (life) must always be connected (via prayer) to water (God riches in glory) if we want be comprehensively fruitful (in our spirit, soul and body)

Christ as given to us the Holy Spirit as our comforter, advocate and helper so as not to struggle in our Christian life that is why we are exhorted in the scriptures to walk in the Spirit as much as we are already living by the Spirit (Gal 5:25) . Walking in the Spirit entails deep conscious fellowship with the Holy Spirit, for as many as are led by the Spirit are sons of God (Romans 8 vs. 14).

There are basic principles of prayer that Christ Taught during his lifetime on earth, at a time one of the disciples asked Jesus how they ought to pray(Luke 11vs. 13), the summary of that teaching on prayer by Jesus is as follows as it is in Luke 11: 1-13

     All prayers we make must be to the Father and must begin with thanksgiving and praise (Luke 11 vs. 2)

     Let your kingdom come down into our midst (just as the glory of God was with the Israelite as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night). This prayer is a prayer of the descending of the glory of God (Exodus 33 vs. 12-20)

     Give us our daily need (food, shelter, clothing and all basic need as you did to the Israelite in the wilderness)

     Forgive us of our sins (for we are frame and human, we should always receive our cleansing by the blood of Jesus on the cross. This is the covenant of mercy God has made with us. He said I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, we must always seek for God’s mercy at every moment which is encapsulated in the death of Jesus on the Cross (John 3:16). But we also must have mercy on others and forgive people who hurt us before we can receive the mercy of God)

     O Lord deliver us from temptations (from the fiery darts of the enemy that is aimed at making us fall from grace, let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he falls)

     Sufficient for the day are evils, accidents, bad occurrence and circumstances. It is very important for us to pray to God for protection and deliverance from every plan of the enemy against our lives. King David during the days of his trials wrote many Psalms of prayers asking God for protection, Psalms like Ps. 23, Ps 46 Ps 91 etc. are good for us as Christians they are our songs of warfare. It is very good for us as Christians to read out and meditate on Psalms until we have the soaked in our memory (Ps 1 vs. 1-2) )

     Our prayers of request from God must be by faith and must be persistent (Lk11:5-9)

     Ask (keep asking, don’t stop), Seek (Keep seeking don’t stop), Knock (keep knocking don’t stop) until you get your answers. It is not lack of faith but shows the evidence of faith and hope for answers from God.

There are 5 kinds of prayer recorded in Luke 11:1-5)

1.      Prayer of Worship and Thanksgiving

2.      Prayer of Consecration and Dedication

3.      Prayer of Supplication and Request

4.      Prayer for Mercy and Forgiveness

5.      Prayer for Protection and Redemption

THE RIGHT WAY OF PRAYING

1.     Pray to the Father and not to Jesus or the Holy Spirit: We are to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, we are to worship and exalt Jesus for his work on the cross dyeing for the sins of the world but our prayers must be to God. There is no confusion among the Trinity (1 John 5 vs7) (Jn16:13-14, Jn17:1)

We are to pray in the Name of Jesus not the Holy Spirit or the Father: for God has given him a name above every other name that at the name of Jesus, every knee must bow (both in the heaven, earth and underneath the earth) and every tongue confess that Jesus is LORD to the glory of the Father (Philippians vs. 10).  Praying in the Name of Jesus means that we are asking God for what we need through Jesus. We are joint heirs with Christ and are also seated with him in heavenly places far above principalities and power (this is in the spiritual realm). Jesus told us in John 16:23 saying At that time you won't need to ask me for anything, for you can go directly to the Father and ask him, and he will give you what you ask for because you use my name. TLB                  

VARIOUS TYPES OF PRAYERS

The Holy Spirit speaking through Paul spoke in Galatians 6:18 saying ‘Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;’ KJV

We are encouraged to pray always with all kinds of prayers, it is very important for us to know the kinds of prayers in the Scriptures with prompt understanding so as to receive answers from God at the right time.

1.      Prayer of Faith

2.      Prayer of Consecration and Dedication

3.      Prayer of Agreement

4.      Prayer of Intercession

5.      Travailing Prayers

THE PRAYER OF FAITH

James 5:14-15

Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.  KJV

The prayer of faith is the prayer connected to the promises made by God for us who are his children. The prayer faith must be connected to our faith in God. Many of the people who received their healing from Jesus during his three and half year ministry got it by their faith. They prayed asking Jesus for healing with strong faith, no wonder Jesus always tell them your faith has made me whole. The prayer of faith does not involve the word IF which is a word of doubt. God does not answer those who doubt him, in fact it is an insult on God to ask for his help with doubt; it is an act of reducing the sovereignty and greatness of God. Scriptures says that the Israelites could not enter their rest because of unbelief. When we are praying the prayer of faith we are to pray in line with the Holy Scriptures, praying outside scriptural instruction and promises is like putting God in a box, why should a Christian be praying to God to marry a Muslim or asking God to give you that which belongs to another.

Mark 11:23-24, John 7:7, Ephesians 6:18

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION AND CONSECRATION

This is a kind of prayer for sanctification and preservation of our body before the throne of God. It is consist of the following:

1.             Seeking for God’s mercy and

2.             Sanctifying our vessels through solitary experience and fasting

3.             Seeking for God’s will for our life (career, marital and other crucial matters that are not in the Holy Bible)

Whenever we want revival in our lives, church or even our country, two necessary factors are

i. Repentance           ii.  Baptism and Infilling of Holy Spirit

2 Chron 7:14    If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.  KJV

The Prayer of consecration and dedication is a prayer of thy will be done as Jesus Christ did in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22 vs. 41-45)

 41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. KJV

Praying of consecration is a prayer of agony, a prayer in strong emotions. It is a prayer to keep the body under subjection. Fulfilling God’s will for our lives is not a bread and butter thing, opposition and barriers will come from the flesh, the devil and dispensation so we must break through in the place of prayer; that Elijah did also

PRAYER OF AGREEMENT

Matt 18:16-20

16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. KJV

It is a type of prayer involving two or more people. It is a prayer of binding and loosing, a prayer of closing and opening doors. There are times when we cannot access what we want by praying the prayer of faith but if we agree in prayer we get our answer quickly for one shall chase one thousand and two ten thousand. The prayer of agreement brings the strong presence of God.

The following are favours of prayer of agreement

Ø  God’s presence is brought down (Matthew 18 vs.20)

Ø  Two are better than one

Ø  Paul and Silas praised and praise and an earthquake occurred

Ø  The church prayed in unity for the deliverance of Peter in the prison

Ø  Miracles, signs and wonders multiplies because Jesus is always present

PRAYER OF INTERCESSION

The word intercession is from the word intercede which means to plea to a higher person on behalf of another of lower rank. It is the ministry of the Advocate, scriptures makes us to know that JESUS CHRIST is our advocate pleading for us before the father, the Holy Spirit is also our advocate given to us He prays for us with groaning’s  that cannot be uttered with words of understanding (Rom 8 vs. 26).

Unlike prayers of faith, dedication and consecration that might be personal, the prayer of intercession is concerned about others might be our family members, friends, church of God, our communities or even the world at large. Christ interceded for Peter not to be sifted by the devil after his denial of Christ. He also prayed for the disciples and those that will later be that God will keep those whom HE has given to him (John 17). Paul the Apostle also had the habit of interceding for his children in Christ Jesus, Every of his epistles testifies how much he intercedes for the brethren, and also mentioned his fellow workers who have passion for intercession.

The prayer of intercession is a type of prayer that shows the love of God in our heart, Scriptures says love your neighbours as your selves. Intercession helps in moving God’s hand against the plan of the devil for people be it accidents, backsliding and other bad phenomenon. Prior to any revival in the Holy Scriptures and even during our dispensation, the prayer of intercession comes first.

In the actual sense it is difficult for anyone in the flesh (by this I mean Christians) to engage in the prayer of intercession that is one of the reason God gave us the Holy Spirit with the evidence of  speaking in tongues. Every time we speak or sing in tongues we speak mysteries to God part of the mysteries are prayers for people we know or do not know, the Holy Spirit prays through us for we do not know how to pray as God intended but the Holy Spirit speaks inexpressible words through us that we cannot understand. It is very essential that Christians spend time daily praying in tongues, often God place the urge in our heart but when the urge is not there we should have the culture of praying in tongues. We can intercede via praying in understanding based on our Christian maturity and the level of our love for God and for people.

There are two basic reasons why Christians may go into intercession, the first being a product of revelations either by dreams, vision or spiritual knowledge. Often when people come out of a dream where they see harm befalling someone they love, some become confused as a result of fear, others jump up praying as much as they can based on their understanding but the best way to tackle such a revelation is by praying in tongues as the Holy Spirit inspire you until you feel released in your heart. The second reason why we intercede is due to present physical situation or occurrence in our environment, when there is a continuous disaster people begin to raise their voice in prayer calling on God for change. The earlier we Christians realize that we live in a physical world controlled by the spiritual realm the better we begin to take authority over the works of darkness by praying. I do tell people that as far as I am concerned we live in a spiritual world just that our naked eyes cannot see thing going on around us, If the Lord open our eyes we will realize the reasons for several evil occurrence on the face of the earth. In one of my spiritual experiences, some years ago (year 2007 to be precise) after going out for my early morning prayers, I returned back to the hostel to rest before preparing for the day I was one of reading  Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin’s  books titled ‘He Gave Gifts Unto Men’. I haven’t finish the first chapter, when I saw myself living my body and was walking down the steps of the hostel. I began to fly into the sky crossing the earth till I got outside the earth, I saw things that still thrills my heart till now but the main point I want to make here is that on returning back to the earth I saw the earth from the sky as a refuse dump full of stampede situations, accidents happening everywhere. One vital truth God has taught me is that He has given the earth to the children of men we have the choice to allow whoever we want to act whether God or demons, if God opens our eyes we will see how demons are trafficking on the earth. This is a major reason for the prayer of intercession

 

There are more to look into as Holy Spirit Help us, but we will be stopping here. Watch out for volume 2.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL, AND MAY THE LORD RELEASE UPON US THE GRACE FOR PREVAILING PRAYERS for enquiries you can send me a message on www.facebook.com/ajide.a.oluwafemi or send me