Romans 8:26-27"Praying in the Spirit." on this week's Word of Grace Devotion with Pastor Joe Marquez.

​The Word of Grace Devotion for the Week of July 24, 2017
Praying In The Spirit

Romans 8:26-27,“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Beloved, you may have heard of the phrase, “praying in the Spirit,” and have always wondered what it meant. You are not alone. Truthfully, there are numerous interpretations as to what an actual experience of praying in the spirit may look like but the bottom line is this: sometimes we do not know how or what to pray for, but we know that we need to pray and the Holy Spirit is there to help us pray.
For example, God may place someone on our hearts and though we do not know what specifically to pray for, we know that we need to pray for them. Maybe it is for our personal situation but the pain of the circumstance brings us to our knees and all we can do is utter, “help!”
Whatever the situation, we can be thankful that the Holy Spirit, who lives inside of each believer, is there to help us pray! Praying in the Spirit is praying according to the Spirit’s leading. It is praying for things the Spirit leads us to pray for.
One question that I am often asked is this: Is praying in the Spirit, praying in tongues? The answer is: it could be. However, because not all believers speak or pray in tongues does not mean that they are not praying in the Spirit. That is not true. You can pray in the spirit without praying in tongues.
Praying in the Spirit is asking the Holy Spirit to lead us in our prayers and the Spirit even, “intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Beloved, when God leads you to pray, then pray. Even if you do not know what or how to pray because the Holy Spirit will help us to pray!
I pray that you will have a blessed week! I love you and I will be praying for you!
 
In Christ,
Pastor Joe