The Spirit Wants to Guide Your Praying

How often we see our immediate situation and think we know what we want Jesus to do for us. Perhaps He listens to our request and thinks, She means well, but she doesn’t see the whole picture.

A story borrowed from Dan Millman demonstrates that we often cannot judge things as being good or bad because we do not have access to all the information.

One day a man bought a stallion, and his friends said, “That’s good.” The next day the stallion ran away, and his friends said, “That’s bad.” Two weeks later the stallion returned with a herd of mares. His friends said, “That’s good.”

The next day his son broke his shoulder when the stallion threw him off. The friends said, “That’s bad.” The next month war broke out. Because the boy was injured, he could not go to war. The friends said, “That’s good.” (Told in Jesus CEO by Laurie Beth Jones).

This story could go on and on with people incorrectly judging events as being bad or good. Our prayers, when not guided by the Holy Spirit, can be equally short-sighted. We would quickly surrender our ideas of what we want if we could see the final outcome of some of our requests.

We have the Holy Spirit living within us, and He is the Spirit of truth. If we are quiet before Him, He will guide us into praying what He knows is the best request. Then our Father who sends, through the Spirit, what He wants us to ask, will answer the prayer He inspired.

Andrew Murray wrote, “Prayer is just the breathing of the Spirit in us. When we quietly believe that the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of supplication is dwelling within us, for the very purpose of enabling us to pray…our hearts will be filled with hope.”

Thank You, Father, for guiding our praying so we will receive what You see is best.

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert” (Ephesians 6:18).