Praying with The Holy Spirit
ICS Daily Devotions

1 Corinthians 14:14-15 (NKJV) For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.

The key to intercessory prayer is to learn to rest in God by having faith that He is working in the spiritual realm when we have prayed and continue to press on through praying in tongues. It is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises of God. We need patience because it is always a process until breakthrough comes. That’s why we need to engage faith the moment we start praying, and faith is believing even when we do not see it. There is a benefit of praying in tongues because it builds up the inner man and carries out the mediation in accordance with the will of God. The Holy Spirit intercedes through us, and we are assured that Jesus is also interceding on the right hand of the Heavenly Father. Intercessory prayer, or standing in the gap, is working and partnering with God to pray on behalf of certain individuals who are facing a crisis in their lives.

James 1:5 (NKJV) “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

We should start intercessory prayer by entering into praise and worship because praise and worship help us to focus on God’s awesomeness and greatness. Faith also arises through worship. We will flow with the Holy Spirit as He leads and guides us regarding what to pray. We listen to the Holy Spirit for targeted prayer for the person, organisation, company, or church. Intercessory prayer engages both praying in the understanding and in the Spirit. Therefore, we will interchange between praying in tongues and a known language as we listen to the Holy Spirit in our inner man while we pray. We engage our minds to pray based on what we know when we pray in the understanding, and we listen to the Holy Spirit in our hearts when we pray in tongues. We stop intercessory prayer when we have run out of items to pray based on what we know or when the burden in our hearts has been lifted.

Praying should not wear us out. It also does not have an easy formula, especially in intercession. Rather, prayer is a relationship and partnership with the Holy Spirit, who is the senior partner in the intercession process, guiding us to pray for someone or a situation. Intercession might not happen at the most convenient time, but we must make ourselves available whenever the need arises.

Let us rise to be a people of prayer, to pray for individuals, the church, the government, the company, or our loved ones. God moves when we pray and intercede. We will see changes in situations when we believers rise to intercede and stand in the gap.

Sermon Series: Intercession