The following is an excerpt from our daily devotional series Seven Conditions for Answered Prayer.

Editor’s Note:

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*Let us make it clear from the outset of today’s devotional that there are many godly believers who are filled with and led by God’s Spirit, but who do not share Brother Prince’s position in every detail with regard to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. To differ in certain particulars, primarily the place of the gift of tongues, is perfectly acceptable across evangelical and charismatic lines. Some readers will recognize Brother Prince’s Pentecostal “flavor” (his personal experience predated the Charismatic Renewal), whereby he places a very strong emphasis on speaking and praying in tongues. For most charismatic believers today, praying in tongues (as a “prayer language”) is available to all but not necessary as evidence that one is baptized in the Spirit. However, those who knew him as a teacher of biblical truth acknowledged the “anointing” and compassion that accompanied his ministry.    

The next important condition for answered prayer is that we be directed by the Holy Spirit.  Look at Romans 8:14. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” That’s the continuing present tense in the Greek. “As many as are regularly led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God.” Being continually led by the Spirit of God is the only way you can live as a child of God in this world.

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Later on in Romans 8, the Apostle Paul applies this truth specifically to prayer. In verses 26 and 27 he says this. “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

Paul says the Holy Spirit comes to help our weaknesses. Our weakness is that we do not know what to pray for as we ought. We do not know what to pray for, and we do not know how to pray. The Scripture is always right. This is a weakness which is shared by every one of us. You might know that your son needs prayer, or your husband (or wife) needs prayer, but you still don’t know exactly how to pray. So, you have a weakness, but the Spirit of God comes to help. How? He takes over and makes intercession through you, and He prays according to the mind of God. We say, “Holy Spirit, you take over and pray through me.”

The Holy Spirit gives the believer a language to speak*, which he or she does not know, because at this point the believer has yielded himself for the Holy Spirit to pray through him. “The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

It is wonderful to know that when you cannot adequately pray in your own language, you may invite the Spirit of God, and He prays through you in an unknown tongue. Then you are praying the right prayer, because it’s the Holy Spirit who is giving you that prayer, and He prays according to the revealed mind of God. That’s God’s glorious provision for every believer in Christ. Paul does not suggest that this is just for a few. He indicates it’s for every believer who asks – this privilege of letting the Holy Spirit take over our vocal cords, our inner nature, and hold a prayer meeting inside us, praying through us.

I thank God for a praying wife. I’ve prayed with Lydia for over 25 years, and I know a certain moment when she turns over to the Holy Spirit and her prayer is prophetic. It isn’t my wife praying; it’s the Spirit of God praying through her. I’m also astonished at what she prays. It doesn’t come from her mind; it was given by the Holy Spirit. My wife’s favorite text on prayer is Psalm 81:10. “Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Just give the Holy Spirit a mouth and let Him fill it. He’s longing to do it. When you’ve come to the end of your limited understanding and your own limited mental and physical resources, turn the situation over to the Holy Spirit. He’s equal to the task.

The Bible says “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Can any of us, in our own natural strength and understanding pray without ceasing? Absolutely not! But when you let the Holy Spirit in and turn over to Him, He can conduct a prayer meeting 24 hours a day. You can even pray in your sleep. Many, many people have been heard speaking in tongues hours on end, lying in sleep.

Do you understand the answer to our prayers depends on the power that’s working in us? “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” (Ephesians 3:20) It is the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. That passage is fascinating. Paul seems to run out of language, so he says that God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” I’d like to illustrate it this simple way. Think of the highest you could ever ask from God, and then think about something that is “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”  How does He do it? Through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.

When we’ve reached the limits of our natural thinking and reasoning as to what God can and should do, then let the Holy Spirit in and you move on to a higher plane in prayer. And that is the “prayer plane” that every child of God has got a right to experience – by grace, through faith. The plane of supernatural praying in the Holy Spirit is a power that’s able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we could ever ask or figure or reason or think with our natural mind.

Points to Ponder:

• Today’s devotional speaks of our weakness but emphasizes God’s supernatural power. However you understand the Holy Spirit’s ministry in your life, take comfort that God knows all the weaknesses of all His children. Let that lead you to seek Him for greater clarity in knowing how to pray.
• Continue to add to your prayer journal the names and requests of those you are praying for. You may never know the full depth of their needs, but you can trust the Holy Spirit to guide you. Give thanks that God providentially arranges our lives, and that the Holy Spirit is allowing you to “bear one another’s burdens.” (Galatians 6:2)
• Christians are exhorted to seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit every day. The Bible’s instruction is that we are to “continually be filled [again and again] with the Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18, expanded translation) This supersedes all denominations. Then, as “Spirit-filled” followers of Jesus Christ, we are best equipped to pray as He leads us.

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(Derek Prince was one of the founders of Intercessors for America. Photo Credit: doidam10 via Canva Teams)