But you know what? I've discovered over the years that most Christians aren't as thrilled about prayer as I am.
Bless their precious hearts. They wish they were. They want to be. Some even labor and strive to be faithful in prayer despite the fact that their prayer lives are dry and unrewarding. Other Christians stumble into times when prayer somehow comes alive...but soon they stumble out of those times and can't figure out how to recapture them.
What's the problem? Why do some Christians struggle in prayer while others soar?
I'll tell you why. It's primarily because some Christians expect the Holy Spirit to lead them when they pray...and others don't.
Give God the Responsibility
I'm one of those people who absolutely expects the Holy Spirit to help me every time. I learned to do that early on because many years ago when the Lord first called me to pray, I didn't have any clue about how to do it. I didn't know what I should be praying for or what kinds of prayers I should pray in which situations. In short, I had no idea what I was doing. What's more, there weren't many books, tapes and seminars on prayer like there are now. Nobody was talking much about it. I was on my own.
Glory to God! The Holy Spirit not only illuminated scriptural truth for me, He revealed to me other truths I needed to know in order to pray effectively!
Not Just Willing but Eager
Because I simply believed what God's Word said to me about the help of the Holy Spirit, I didn't strive to figure out how to pray. I didn't labor over prayer lists and follow man-made formulas for prayer. I just went to prayer expecting the Holy Spirit to lead me. And sure enough, He did!
It takes faith to flow in the Holy Ghost! And Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. I realize that may come as a surprise to some people. They think following the leadership of the Spirit is something that requires great spiritual maturity or special spiritual ability. No. It requires faith; and even baby Christians can do it if they'll just believe the Bible.
You see, although He is our helper in prayer, the reverse is also true. We are His helpers. Think about it. The Holy Spirit cannot get the work of prayer done without us. He needs our hearts and our lips. He needs our cooperation as surely as we need His.
So He is not only willing but eager to give us all the help we need in prayer. He wants to take us into the unseen realms of God because those realms are His responsibility. He wants to show us things in those realms because He needs us to pray about them.
I can tell you not just from the Word but also from experience, that if you want the Holy Spirit to dog your steps, to be constantly speaking to you, and revealing things to you that will help you pray, just ask Him - and then dare to believe He will.
I did that years ago about the matter of praying for lost souls. I'd read a book about a man who had a tremendous, burning desire for the lost to be saved - a desire that drove him to his knees in fervent prayer again and again. When I read about that man, I thought, I don't have that kind of burden for souls. I just don't have that much passion for them.
So I asked the Lord to give it to me.
At times since, I've wondered if I should have made that request. The Holy Spirit so opened that realm to me that at times it felt like my heart would break. Then, whenever my fire for souls would start to fade, He'd do something to stir me up again. He'd give me a vision or a dream. He'd do something to take me back into that place and get me praying again.
Seeing and Hearing
For that promise to work in your life, you have to believe it. That's what I did. When Jesus spoke to me about prayer 25 years ago, I had to believe that God was going to show me what I was to pray about. I had to trust with all my heart that He would somehow get me what I needed to know.
When you believe that, prayer starts to get exciting.
You see, the Holy Spirit wants to take you on a little trip every time you pray. He wants to take you into the realms of the spirit and give you things to pray about. He wants to give you revelations that will help you.
The problem is, we sometimes miss what He's doing because we are wanting a booming voice from heaven, a lightning bolt to strike. He rarely deals with us in that fashion. His leadings are usually much more subtle and often they come in simple steps.
Where people usually mess things up is by doubting that leading. Instead of being in a spirit of faith and expectancy that would cause them to assume that inner image is a prompting of the Spirit, they lie there in a spirit of doubt and unbelief and think, "Was that God, or just me? Oh, it was probably just me."
Don't let that happen to you. Start feeding yourself on God's promises about the Holy Spirit. Build your trust in Him. Develop your expectancy until you're not wondering if you can be led by the Spirit, you're certain that you can.
Have faith that you can flow in the Holy Ghost. Stop struggling, and start soaring, in prayer!
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A teacher and an author, Lynne publishes a newsletter called Prayer Notes, has written numerous books, and currently serves as the national prayer director for Daughters for Zion. Her passion for inspiring and leading others into the life of Spirit-led prayer continues to take her around the world to minister to believers whose heart cry, like hers, is “Lord, teach me to pray!”
