(Gal. 5:25)
In the spirit. The Lord has been speaking that phrase again and again to my heart in recent times. It’s a familiar phrase to me. Over the years, I’ve studied and preached a lot about the importance of being in the spirit. Yet, the Holy Ghost has been putting such emphasis on it lately that I got my Bible and began to look up scriptures about it again.
I’ve read in John 4:23 where Jesus said the Father is seeking people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. I’ve read in Acts chapter 17 how the apostle Paul was stirred in spirit and preached the Gospel in the city of Athens—the cultural center of the world at that time. In reading about Paul, I’ve been reminded how completely his ministry came forth from his spirit. Amazing things happened when he was pressed in spirit (Acts 18:5) or fervent in spirit (Acts 18:25) or when he purposed in the spirit (Acts 19:21) or when he was bound in the spirit (Acts 20:22).
No wonder Paul wrote the church at Rome and said that he served God not just with his hands or with his mouth but with his spirit (Romans 1:9). It seems he lived in the spirit almost all of the time!
That kind of in-the-spirit living is so unfamiliar to most of us today that we would be tempted to think it’s only available to ministers like Paul; but in his New Testament epistles, he told us otherwise. Writing to ordinary believers like you and me, he instructed them to:
- Be led by the Spirit.
- Pray always in the Spirit.
- Walk in the Spirit.
- Be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.
Obviously, if we’re going to obey those instructions, we need to be in the spirit a lot! So let’s accept the challenge. Let’s make up our minds to successfully live the Christian life by making it our aim to live every waking moment of our life in the spirit.
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:4, Ephesians 6:18
Excerpt permission granted by Lynne Hammond Ministries
On the chilly March night in 1972 when Lynne Hammond took her first step into a life of Spirit-led prayer, she had no idea what was about to happen. All she knew was the hunger in her heart for God wouldn’t let her sleep. In the few short months she’d been born again, her desire to fellowship with Him had grown so strong she could hardly contain it. “Help me, God!” she cried. “I want to know you. I want to be able to talk to you. Please, teach me to pray!”
Suddenly, a heavenly presence flooded the room. Lynne sensed waves of spiritual fire sweeping over her and a beautiful language began to flow like a river from within her. Although she’d never heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, she knew instantly, without a doubt—this was God!
What began that night soon blossomed into a life of prayer that ultimately became a ministry of prayer when, in 1980, Lynne and her husband, Mac, founded Living Word Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Under Lynne’s leadership, the prayer ministry at Living Word has become an internationally recognized model for developing effective pray-ers in the local church.
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!”