Finding Our Center in a World of Chaos

Dwelling in the Holy Spirit

As United Methodists, we believe we are filled with the Holy Spirit, but what does that really mean?  What does the Holy Spirit have to do with daily prayer?

With a little research, I found that “praying in the Spirit,” is mentioned three times in Scripture. In 1Corinthians 14:15 Paul says, “So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.” Ephesians 6:18 Paul, again, says,  “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Then, finally, Jude 20 says, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.”

 Praying in the Spirit does not refer to the words we are saying. Rather, it refers to how we are praying. Praying in the Spirit is praying according to the Spirit’s leading. It is praying for things the Spirit leads us to pray for. Romans 8:26 tells us, “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 with groans that words cannot express.”

Of all the gifts given to mankind by God, there is none greater than the presence of the Holy Spirit. He works in the hearts of all people everywhere. Everyone has a “God consciousness,” whether or not they really understand it. We all know this—even very young children have “feelings” of right and wrong. We often call this a “conscience.”  The Spirit applies the truths of God to minds of people to convince them by fair and sufficient arguments that they are sinners. Responding to that conviction brings us to salvation.  Simply said--we do wrong, we know it to be wrong, we say we are sorry, and we are forgiven.   This is the Gift brought to us in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is our Guide and Comforter, helping us learn to use this Gift to bring love to others and ourselves.

The Holy Spirit constantly seeks to guide us to Truth.   The Spirit’s presence within us enables us to understand and interpret God’s Word.   Jesus told His disciples that “When He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).   We already know, too, this Truth, almost without thinking about it.  The fruit of the Holy Spirit brings us ever to Truth over and over each day.  As He dwells us, He begins the work of harvesting His fruit in our lives—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These are not works of our flesh, which is incapable of producing such fruit, but they are products of the Spirit’s presence in our lives.  When we look inward, the goodness we see is the Holy Spirit, so much a part of each of us, we may not even realize how well we know Him.

Therefore, as Christians, praying is like breathing. It is easier to do it than to not do it. Though we pray for a variety of reasons, prayer is always a form of serving God and obeying Him. Prayer should not be seen as our means of getting God to do our will on earth, but rather as a means of getting God's will done on earth.  We only need look to our inner Truth to see our needs. For situations in which we do not know God's will specifically, prayer is a means of discerning it. 
So, why do we pray? We pray because God commands us to pray, as Jesus prayed, as all who seek to know God, pray.  Praying in the Holy Spirit simply means to lean back in Him, safe and comforted, and confess our fears and mistakes--knowing we are encouraged and forgiven, loved and supported, in our daily worlds.  A Christian, then, cannot be “alone,” for all Christians dwell in the Father through the inner Spirit of Truth.