The Holy Spirit’s Help in Prayer: God’s Gift for This Dispensation (The New Covenant Church)
Romans 8:26-27 (AMP) 26 So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance. 27 And He Who searches the hearts of men knows what is in the mind of the [Holy] Spirit [what His intent is], because the Spirit intercedes and pleads [before God] in behalf of the saints according to and in harmony with God's will.
Even though Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come to dwell in all who accepted Him as their Savior (John 14:16, 17, 23, 26), and He promised them they would be baptized in the Holy Spirit after He ascended to the Father (Luke 24:29; Acts 1:5,8), He didn’t teach on praying in the Spirit because it was all future tense. In other words, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues is only for the born-again people under the New Covenant. It is only for this new Church-age dispensation.
Luke 24:49 (AMP) 49 And behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from on high.
“Clothed,” I love that, remember in our study of the Armor of God how we have to take off (put off) the old man, and put on the new? We have to consciously, take action to put on “the new Man” by looking into the The Perfect Law of Liberty (The Word).
Acts 1:5 (AMP) 5 For John baptized with water, but not many days from now you shall be baptized with (placed in, introduced into) the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:8 (AMP) 8 But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.
We must remember that in the New Testament it was the norm, not the exception, for believers to be Spirit filled. So Paul in his epistles was writing to born-again, Spirit-filled people. He was writing to the Church, the New Testament body of believers.
The Indwelling Presence vs. The Infilling Power of the Holy Spirit
Two Separate Experiences
Acts 8:5-8 (AMP) 5 Philip [the deacon, not the apostle] went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ (the Messiah) to them [the people]; 6 And great crowds of people with one accord listened to and heeded what was said by Philip, as they heard him and watched the miracles and wonders which he kept performing [from time to time]. 7 For foul spirits came out of many who were possessed by them, screaming and shouting with a loud voice, and many who were suffering from palsy or were crippled were restored to health. 8 And there was great rejoicing in that city.
Acts 8:12-17 (AMP) 12 But when they believed the good news (the Gospel) about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) as Philip preached it, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed [he adhered to, trusted in, and relied on the teaching of Philip], and after being baptized, devoted himself constantly to him. And seeing signs and miracles of great power which were being performed, he was utterly amazed. 14 Now when the apostles (special messengers) at Jerusalem heard that [the country of] Samaria had accepted and welcomed the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, 15 And they (Peter and John) came down and prayed for them that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit; 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them, but they had only been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then [the apostles] laid their hands on them one by one, and they received the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the believer receives a measure of the Holy Spirit in the work of the new birth, but receives the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Having explained that, let us realize that when Paul wrote the Book of Romans, he was writing to a body of believers that had not only been born again, but that had received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The promise of the Holy Spirit’s help in prayer in Romans 8:26 can only be fully realized in a believer’s life after he is baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.
So, we find that the Holy Spirit is our Helper in prayer.
Praying Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs
Let’s look in Ephesians chapter 5 to see something else Paul said about prayer.
Ephesians 5:18-20 (KJV) 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Praying, singing, worshipping, praising, and thanking God all go together. All of these elements should make up our individual prayer life.
Earlier in this same chapter of Ephesians, Paul said, “Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient; but rather GIVING OF THANKS (Eph. 5:4). If our prayer life and our fellowship with God through prayer is as it should be, we should be full of thanksgiving.
We have been at the study of negative and positive words, blessing and cursing long enough that it’s like my negative and cursing filters are always on standby now! And, my radar is up for when people are speaking words of faith, and positive words of blessing. It’s fun, but there is a lot of negativity in the world. Oh my, do we ever need the Holy Spirit’s help just to get through each day. So much so that it is even more important that we follow Paul’s direction in our private devotions to “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:18-19)
As we keep ourselves built up in faith to where we are overflowing from our hearts with the Love of the Lord then when we come together as believers we have something to bless others with as Paul talks about in Colossians.
Colossians 3:16 (KJV) 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Acts 13:2 (KJV) 2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said . . .
They were “ministering” to the Lord by their thankfulness, their songs, their hymns, their worship . . . He is so worthy of our worship, our devotion, our love. “Making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
If you want to hear the Holy Spirit speak, you have to put yourself in the place spiritually where He speaks. You are in a position to hear the Holy Spirit speak when you are ministering to the Lord in praise and worship – in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Romans 8:26 (KJV) 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
1 Corinthians 14:2 (KJV) 2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
1 Corinthians 14:14-15 (KJV) 14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
The Peace of God: A Result of Prayer and Obeying the Word
Philippians 4:6-8 (AMP) 6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God. 7 And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 8 For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].
Do you see it? In order to have the peace of God which transcends all understanding, we first have to “Do not fret or worry about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.” Then God’s peace which transcends all understanding. . . It follows with instructions for how to not fret and worry, by keeping our mind stayed on truth, things worthy of reverence (God’s wonders), things that are honorable and seemly, things that are just and pure, lovely, and lovable kind, winsome, and gracious. . .
It doesn’t do any good to pray for someone to have peace if they are not taking the necessary first step found in Philippians 4:6. The peace of God is a result of heart faith, it’s a result of what you believe in your heart apart from your circumstances or apart from what your mind may be trying to tell you. If we have heart faith we can “fret not,” we can “be not anxious,” because we have faith that it’s all going to work out. I think we all probably know at least one person in our circle of friends or family that seems to live to fret . . .
1 Peter 5:7 (AMP) 7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
Remember from our previous study that to cast is an action. We must do it. It’s not passivity.
Isaiah 26:3 (AMP) 3 You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.
Watch your thoughts; for they become your words. Watch your words; for they become your actions. Watch your actions; for they become your habits. Watch your habits; for they become your character. Watch your character; for it becomes your destiny.
Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:"
Philippians 4:6 (KJV) 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Paul’s instructions for obtaining God’s peace are simply this: REFUSE TO WORRY
You remember we talked about Paul and Silas in earlier lessons (Acts 16:25,26). Paul and Silas had been put in jail. This incident in jail may be what Paul was referring to in Philippians 4:6 where he wrote, “. . . IN EVERY THING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Paul wrote this letter to the Church at Philippi while he was in prison.
Paul and Silas were in jail and their feet were in stocks. Their backs were bleeding because they had been beaten. But the Bible says, “. . . at midnight Paul and Silas prayed . . .” (Acts 16:25). That scripture doesn’t stop there though. That would be the story of some people, but not these disciples. It says that Paul and Silas prayed “. . . AND sang praises unto God . . .” (Acts 16:25).
You see, it was after they prayed that they sang praises to God. It goes on to say, “. . . and the prisoners heard them.” God heard them too! You know the story. God wrought great deliverance for Paul and Silas as they praised Him.
Then writing to the church at Philippi, Paul wrote, “. . . with THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known unto God” (Phil. 4:6). Then it says, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7).
If you will do what verse 6 says to do — pray with thanksgiving — then verse 7 will be a reality in your life. I really don’t know of any other way to get this peace, except to follow the instructions God has given us in His Word. Then the peace of God which passes understanding, or natural human reasoning, shall keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus.
We must fight the fight to THINK ON RIGHT THINGS.
When we keep our minds focused on thinking on right things, it is EASY to maintain a thankful attitude.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (KJV) 16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Notice the sandwich, just like the lesson from Jesus’ lesson on “The Lord’s Prayer” it has the same format. When we rejoice, we are praising and honoring God. Then verse 17 says pray without ceasing, followed up with give thanks for everything, for this is the will of God.
Remember tests and trials are not from God, so we don’t thank God for a test or trial, but while we’re in the midst of them we should still be praising and thanking Him. There are always promises in His Word that we can stand on to be in a thankful spirit.
Paul also tells us that we are to pray for those in authority.
1 Timothy 2:1-7 (AMP) 1 FIRST OF all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men, 2 For kings and all who are in positions of authority or high responsibility, that [outwardly] we may pass a quiet and undisturbed life [and inwardly] a peaceable one in all godliness and reverence and seriousness in every way. 3 For such [praying] is good and right, and [it is] pleasing and acceptable to God our Savior, 4 Who wishes all men to be saved and [increasingly] to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the [divine] Truth. 5 For there [is only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 Who gave Himself as a ransom for all [people, a fact that was] attested to at the right and proper time. 7 And of this matter I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (special messenger)—I am speaking the truth in Christ, I do not falsify [when I say this]—a teacher of the Gentiles in [the realm of] faith and truth.
People who are in authority include, our pastors, and the hierarchy of the denominational groups within the “church” (the body of Christ). Chapter 1 of 1 Timothy goes into great length on this very thing. Teachers and preachers of the gospel can fall in to an area of unbelief, and begin to spread that as truth.
We should always be praying for our leaders, political, and religious to be operating within the full truth of the gospel. By doing this, and also by allowing God to speak through us as so led, when God opens doors for this to happen, we can change our nation and our world.
In 1 Timothy 2:8 Pauls says something else about prayer:
1 Timothy 2:8 (AMP) 8 I desire therefore that in every place men should pray, without anger or quarreling or resentment or doubt [in their minds], lifting up holy hands.
Paul said, to the New Covenant church to pray “lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Tim. 2:8). This starts us on the thought process of our instructions to “Rightly Divide New Testament Scriptures,” because we don’t find anywhere that Jesus taught to lift up holy hands while praying but we do find in the Psalms:
Psalm 134:2 (AMP) 2 Lift up your hands in holiness and to the sanctuary and bless the Lord [affectionately and gratefully praise Him]!
Psalm 119:48 (AMP) 48 My hands also will I lift up [in fervent supplication] to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes.
The commentators agree that it is an act of surrender and submission unto God. Going back to rightly dividing the New Testament, we have to remember that while Jesus walked upon the earth, He was teaching us of what was, is, and is to come, and He was loving us. But, the things that Paul was teaching of was primarily about Jesus sacrifice for us at Calvary, which in Paul’s teachings was a past tense event, and in Jesus’ teaching was still a future event. Paul was most usually also teaching these lessons to Christians who had already received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 2:15 (AMP) 15 Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.
When we read our lessons from Old Testament scriptures we, as New Covenant believers, have to keep in mind that the writers, and the people, were looking forward to the savior, looking forward to redemption, but were living from Moses through Calvary under the law. Before the law, sins were not being imputed unto men.
Romans 5:13 (AMP) 13 [To be sure] sin was in the world before ever the Law was given, but sin is not charged to men's account where there is no law [to transgress].
The KJV uses the word imputed, and the NLT uses the phrase counted against, so there are arguments even that as we read the Old Testament, that especially in the cases of Noah, and Sodom and Gomorrah which was pre law, that the people who died in these cases did go on to heaven. Killing them off from the earth was much like a doctor cutting off a gangrene limb from a patient with infection, it is done to save the persons life. Cutting away the extreme evil was done in order to save humanity, because the time for the savior had not yet come.
Even after the law was given to the Israelites, there are arguments that when God commanded whole cities to be wiped out (every man, woman, child, and beast) because of evil, if they were not Israelites and had not been taught, or given, the law of Moses that this verse may also apply to them. Because we know from 2 Peter 3:9.
2 Peter 3:9 (AMP) 9 The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people's conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance.
Jesus was sent unto the whole world.
John 3:16 (AMP) 16 For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
Now that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross of Calvary has already occurred, every person must now look back to the cross and believe and accept (appropriate) all that He has done for us. To me the saddest verse in the Bible is “my people are perishing for a lack of knowledge.” Especially when it applies to even Christians who are not appropriating all that Christ did (which just means they get to heaven faster). But those who perish without saving knowledge of Christ are lost forever.
We are also admonished to sanctify our food by the Word and Prayer.
1 Timothy 4:1-5 (AMP) 1 BUT THE [Holy] Spirit distinctly and expressly declares that in latter times some will turn away from the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach, 2 Through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared (cauterized), 3 Who forbid people to marry and [teach them] to abstain from [certain kinds of] foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and have [an increasingly clear] knowledge of the truth. 4 For everything God has created is good, and nothing is to be thrown away or refused if it is received with thanksgiving. 5 For it is hallowed and consecrated by the Word of God and by prayer.
I believe in these verses that Paul is admonishing us first and foremost again to keep our minds focused on the Love of God and His perfect law of liberty, not getting entangled into arguments that can take our purpose down a sideroad and divide the body of Christ. But, that we are to keep our mind also in His truth and not let the deceit of the devil have a foothold, he uses the examples of extreme forbidding to marry, and extreme (must) stay away from certain foods. He then says that all food that God created is good if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is then hallowed and consecrated by the Word of God and by prayer.
So, our overall message from Paul, be and remain thankful always, by being and remaining in the Word always, and by walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, and by praying in the Spirit.
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