Prayer is a powerful weapon in our Christian arsenal that helps us win the spiritual battles we face every day. Letting the Holy Spirit come alongside us in the fight gives us added power. Religion doesn’t understand Him, and it’s important not to minimize Him or dilute the effectiveness He brings. It’s impossible to live successful Christian lives without Him.
The Holy Ghost is the most precious gift heaven has ever extended to mankind, yet too many of us have forgotten Him. Walking around like poor, defeated Christians and not tapping into the supernatural partner we’ve been given leaves us vulnerable. We face an unseen enemy who wants to kill us, but we have infinite power from God at our disposal. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you…” (Acts 1:8). We have the same ability to get results as the believers received in the early church.
God gave the Holy Spirit even to the Gentiles; this astonished the people who thought it was only for a chosen few. “And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God…” (Acts 10:45, 46). God doesn’t discriminate when He hands out His power to His children. We can’t do anything to earn this, and we certainly don’t deserve it. We simply receive it.
Every successful endeavor in life is the result of successful prayer. It’s our way of responding to what Jesus finished for us on the cross. When we pray, we’re giving heaven permission to release the manifestations on earth of what has already been established in heaven. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Unlike Old Testament prayer that asks God to do something and take action, New Testament prayer acknowledges, affirms, and agrees with the action He already took through Jesus.
Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we just don’t have the right words to articulate what’s going on in our spirits. God has that covered. Paul wrote to the believers about praying in tongues, which requires trusting the Holy Spirit enough to give Him full control and let Him supply the words we pray. “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” (Romans 8:26). Paul was a strong proponent of this type of prayer. “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” (1 Corinthians 14:18).
Yielding our tongues to the Holy Spirit lets us speak secret truths and hidden things that aren’t obvious to our natural minds. We bypass our unproductive understanding to let our perfect spirit man communicate directly with the Father. This is how we shut down the devil and stop him from messing with us. We have authority over all the devil’s ability because our ability comes directly from God.
God loves us too much to leave us open to enemy attack. Praying in the Holy Ghost strengthens us for the battle and grounds us in the power we need to keep us standing firm. “But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20, AMPC). When we don’t understand the situation, prayer lets God elevate us and move us forward.
