Praying In The Spirit

Q

What exactly does it mean to “pray in the spirit” as mentioned in the following scripture excerpts? But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Jude 1:20 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

A

Praying in the Spirit comes from Romans 8:26-27, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

As we bring our requests to God in prayer, the Holy Spirit within us, knowing what we really need, intercedes for us.

Some believe that Paul was making reference to this when he talked about praying in the tongues of men and angels (1 Cor. 13:1) but I think he was using an extreme example to show how useless his life would be, even if he could not only speak every human language but also the language of the angels, if he lacked love.