Spirit-Led Prayer
A lesson on Spirit-Led Prayer and Spiritual Warfare by Chris Bunton
We are
to be Spirit led in our
lives. Our will is to be surrendered to Jesus. We confess Him as our
Lord, and the Holy Spirit resides in us, to teach us, guide us and work
through us.Many times I have heard Christians talking about being
distracted in prayer.
That all kinds of random thoughts run through their minds. The same
thing would happen to me;
I was constantly being distracted or led away into other thoughts.
I prayed to the Lord about this and
it came to me one day that perhaps I was not distracted, and that the random thoughts were not so random. Maybe the thoughts
were from the Holy Spirit, and I was to pray about and pray over these things. So,
that is what I did. I set aside my prayer list. I set aside my will and my desires, and I just
spent time with the Lord.
I immediately started to see changes
in my prayer life, and in the prayers being answered because I no longer
prayed my will, but God’s will. I did this, not only in my
prayer time, but also during the day or night, or anytime I felt a call
to pray.
Now do not get me wrong. I still
pray for things that are on the prayer list. Often, while I’m praying
there will be time to add these things in, God knows we need them.
But, as we draw closer to the Lord, our personal list gets smaller. We
trust His will.
When discussing this with people I
have often been told, “Well my thoughts sometimes are about what to feed the cat, or what to have for lunch.” I believe that
every thought is to be taken captive to Christ, and that we can look at these thoughts, and even
pray for or about them. Perhaps pray that God will help you to lose weight, or find a
proper diet for health, or to help you not to be a glutton, or help you to stay focused on Him,
or maybe pray for your cat’s health. Ask Him. “Lord are you showing me something in
these random thoughts that I need to pray for? If not, please help me to control them more.”
Sometimes we might have thoughts
that we know are demonic or sinful. Maybe we are under attack in our prayer life. For example, let us say you are fearful for
some reason and you cannot shake it. Pray about it as the Spirit leads and then cast the Demon
out in Jesus name. Say “Spirit of Fear, Be gone in
Jesus name.” Then, believe it occurs.
Believe in such things. This can be done with any sort of spirit. Spirits of lust, death,
infirmity, pain, doubt, laziness, confusion, are all common.
I have heard teachings on prayer
where it is said that we must continue in prayer for things and keep
praying. The example used is the parable of the unjust judge. ( Luke
18:1-8 ) Where the woman goes to the judge for justice for her son, and
gets none. So, she keeps
going back and going back until the judge finally relents.
However, Jesus plainly states at the
end of the parable that God is not like this judge. He will answer
speedily. It is our job to have faith that He is answering. The
perfect explanation of this occurs in the book of Daniel. Daniel is
praying and has
prayed for days with no response. But, when the angel arrives, he
explains to Daniel that he started
coming to answer the prayer the second Daniel began to pray, but was
delayed by demonic
forces. So, God hears our prayers and moves to answer the second we ask
Him. We do not
need to continue to badger Him about it. Have faith.
Now, that being said, if we are
talking about being Spirit led, then there are no rules. There are no
formulas. We are led in our prayers by God. I have prayed for
things one time and seen an answer quickly, I have prayed for things a
few times, and seen
nothing. I have prayed for things for years, and again seen nothing, but
at other times I
have seen great answers.
However, to be Spirit led is to give
it to Him, and let Him do it. The when and how, should not matter. But, of course, it matters greatly to us. This shows us our
level of growth. Do we really trust Him? I am not talking about salvation. You are not in trouble if you
discover that you don’t trust Him as much as you would like to. Just pray that He will help you.
The fact is that if you go from Adam, all the way to the end of the Bible, you will find all kinds of ways that people prayed. Adam walked with God in the coolness of the day, David wrote his prayers down, Daniel knelt, Nehemiah prayed short prayers, Jesus rose up early, Peter was prostrate. The examples are many, and all of them are true. They tell us that there are no rules. You cannot follow all these methods of prayer every time you pray. You cannot. We are to be Spirit led. Trust me; God can put you on your knees anytime He chooses. Let Him guide you in what you should do.
Think about rules for a second. Rules are religion. Now, let’s say you believe you should always pray, prostrate with your eyes closed. Are you going to do that at a restaurant? Some of you, who like to put on a show…I mean… be a good witness, might do it, but others won’t. You cannot close your eyes and fold your hands to pray, while driving. Driving in your car alone is a wonderful time to pray. Do not lose opportunities, to spend time with the Lord, because your rules won’t let you. Let God guide you.
The same goes for locations of prayer. Does God only hear your prayers if you face Jerusalem? Does God not listen if you pray somewhere other than your prayer closet?
He is everywhere. What about the altar at your church? Is that a special place of power? Does God live there? Do you need to go in front to pray, and be seen by men? Now, understand I’m not talking about going forward to pray to receive Christ. That is done, because Jesus said that “If you confess me before men, I will confess you before my father” So, your confession that Jesus is your Lord, must be public. Again, all of this is to be submitted to the Lord, and led by the Spirit. If the Lord calls you to go to the woods and pray you must do it. I do. But, it is not a rule. If He calls you to pray at the altar, then do it. But, it is not a law for everyone, every time.
Another thing about Spirit-led prayer is when you encounter a prayer need, or someone asks you to pray for them. You must realize that God had you there at that exact time, so you could hear this prayer need. There is nothing more Spirit-Led than that. Pray immediately.
Now, if the Spirit leads you to lay hands on the person and to bow heads with them and pray, then do so. But, sometimes when you see people, it is in public, or you both are on the run. Again, be Spirit led. Some people are not able to handle having two or three smiling Christians laying hands on them and singing hymns over them in the checkout line at the store. So, the good thing you sought to do, actually hurt the person. Be Spirit-led.
Many people are not as bold as others, and when we set down rules, that God never intended, we place our brothers and sisters in a position to fail God, fail themselves, and fail their families.
For example, when I go to a restaurant, and pray for my meal. I simply say “Lord, thank you for this food, and thank you for everything you’ve done. For it’s in Jesus name I pray amen.” There is not a soul in the restaurant who knows I prayed. I did not bow my head, fold my hands or close my eyes. I don’t need to. God hears. I do not force my table mates to pray. I do not require them to cross themselves or hold hands for twenty minutes while I thank God for the weather and the Presidents health.
I just pray as the Spirit leads. Jesus said to not pray to be seen by men. Christians will tell me. “I don’t pray at restaurants to be seen by men. I do it because it is a good witness” So, in other words, you do it to be witnessed. This means you do it to be seen by men. Here’s the fact. Jesus was speaking against the Pharisees of His day. The Pharisees were a group of Jewish believers who rose up, and obeyed the law publicly, and as best as they could privately. The whole purpose of this was to “Be a good witness”. They wanted to show the Jewish people that they could obey God’s Laws. By doing this, the Pharisees hoped that it would cause more Jews to obey God’s Laws as well. The Pharisees motivation was good. But, Jesus condemned it anyway. Often times, by doing public displays of holiness it led to earthly rewards, and those rewards became the whole motivation for many of the Pharisees. You might say, but that’s not my motivation. Okay, but what about the people watching? What do they think? What about the weaker brother? The one whose motivations are not as strong? Be Spirit led. No rules. Men do not follow rules well. By setting rules, you simply cause people to stumble, because they will find the rule hard and stop praying altogether. That is a bad thing.
The Bible says we are to be praying always. That we are to pray unceasingly. ( 1 Thess. 5:17 ) This can only be done by being Spirit-led. Trying to follow rules and your own desires, will make things hard, and you will quit praying. You cannot pull your car over, just so you can kneel facing Jerusalem every time you feel led to pray. Remember, it says to pray unceasingly. When will you work? You cannot unroll your prayer rug, and anoint yourself with oil, while at your desk or the construction site. Be Spirit Led.
Photo by the writer, Bald Knob Cross. Alto Pass, Illinois.
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