31 OCTOBER 365 Days with Calvin

Praying in the Spirit

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Ephesians 6:18

suggested further reading: John 16:17–28

Paul says we must pray at all times in the Spirit. That means all hypocrisy must be excluded in prayer.

We know that many people mumble when they come to God. It is their lips or the tips of their tongues that perform this duty, which is not the way that God wills us to pray and call upon him. He does not approve of such supplications; rather, he abhors them because when we pray senselessly to him in mere pretence, we commit a kind of sacrilege. It is necessary for our prayers not only to be made with our mouths but to come from the bottom of our hearts.

We do not have the power to pray rightly in ourselves, so it is necessary for the Holy Spirit to work in us. Therefore Paul uses the word Spirit to show that we must beseech God to govern us in such a way that he may thoroughly touch us so we may pray to him as we ought. He will accept our prayers when he sees in them the signs of his Holy Spirit.

We must always remember what Romans teaches, that we do not know what to pray for (Rom. 8:26), for it is something that exceeds our understanding. Though most of us fail in that respect, some imagine they perfectly know how and what to pray to God. Such opinion only shuts the door upon us unless we know our faults and infirmities and immediately resort to the remedy. Therefore it is most certain that we shall never be earnestly disposed to pray to God unless he governs us by his Holy Spirit.

for meditation: Our prayers are so imperfect that it is a great comfort to know that Christ is beside the throne, sanctifying our words and interceding for us. As Calvin says, we often pray with our lips and not our hearts. Oh, that God’s people would pray in the Spirit! Imagine what could happen with such a chorus of prayer like that.^[1]

 

^[1] Calvin, J., & Beeke, J. R. (2008). 365 Days with Calvin (p. 323). Leominster; Grand Rapids, MI: Day One Publications; Reformation Heritage Books.