weekly thoughts on prayer: 20.12.2009
THE SPIRIT AND SOUL IN PRAYER
With my soul I have desired you in the night, yes by my spirit within me I will seek you early. Isaiah 26:9a
When prayer is concerned, one’s entire being is involved: the spirit soul and body. In the first instance, it is our spirit that enables us to reach out to God. This is because God is Spirit and spirit communicates better with spirit. That was why it was imperative that God put up a salvation plan that involves the coming into people of God’s Spirit. After receiving God’s Spirit at salvation, we need to also live our lives by the influence of the Spirit in every thing, including prayer. Walking by the Spirit ensures that our prayer is always accurate, to the point and effective. This is because the Holy Spirit given to us, which have become our own renewed spirit at salvation, constantly points us in the direction of God’s fullest will in the place of prayer.
The soul, composed of the emotion, mind and will, is also vital in prayer. The words we choose, whether of natural understanding or to speak in tongues, are all decided by the faculties of the soul. The soul quality in prayer reveals our individually unique approach to the truth on prayer and its practice. This makes nonsense of praying by copying what others do, since God made us different so that he can to enjoy our full individuality. But note that this individuality must be in conformity with the image of Christ and it’s also not anti-unity-of-the-church. Our emotion carries our passion in prayer; the will is in charge of setting the time, place and purpose of the praying; and the mind (thinking centre) controls the prayer approach.
All the above do not exist in isolation, but function as a cohesive whole under the influence of God’s Spirit, dedicated to making us have a great prayer experience on this side of eternity. Under that influence, our will synchronises with God’s will, our emotion expresses the spirit’s passionate intensity, while our mind synthesizes the very thoughts of God helping us pray with his very words. The result advances our lives and God’s kingdom and its totally devastating to Satan’s domain. Have a lovely prayer life!
Further reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Galatians 5:16, 25, Ephesians 3:19, Romans 8:26-34.
When prayer is concerned, one’s entire being is involved: the spirit soul and body. In the first instance, it is our spirit that enables us to reach out to God. This is because God is Spirit and spirit communicates better with spirit. That was why it was imperative that God put up a salvation plan that involves the coming into people of God’s Spirit. After receiving God’s Spirit at salvation, we need to also live our lives by the influence of the Spirit in every thing, including prayer. Walking by the Spirit ensures that our prayer is always accurate, to the point and effective. This is because the Holy Spirit given to us, which have become our own renewed spirit at salvation, constantly points us in the direction of God’s fullest will in the place of prayer.
The soul, composed of the emotion, mind and will, is also vital in prayer. The words we choose, whether of natural understanding or to speak in tongues, are all decided by the faculties of the soul. The soul quality in prayer reveals our individually unique approach to the truth on prayer and its practice. This makes nonsense of praying by copying what others do, since God made us different so that he can to enjoy our full individuality. But note that this individuality must be in conformity with the image of Christ and it’s also not anti-unity-of-the-church. Our emotion carries our passion in prayer; the will is in charge of setting the time, place and purpose of the praying; and the mind (thinking centre) controls the prayer approach.
All the above do not exist in isolation, but function as a cohesive whole under the influence of God’s Spirit, dedicated to making us have a great prayer experience on this side of eternity. Under that influence, our will synchronises with God’s will, our emotion expresses the spirit’s passionate intensity, while our mind synthesizes the very thoughts of God helping us pray with his very words. The result advances our lives and God’s kingdom and its totally devastating to Satan’s domain. Have a lovely prayer life!
Further reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Galatians 5:16, 25, Ephesians 3:19, Romans 8:26-34.