The sad fact is that many believers don’t even know what it means to be “in the spirit.” Although they have access to that realm through the blood of Jesus Christ and the agency of the Holy Spirit, they have almost no idea how to take advantage of that access. As a result, they live their lives much like natural, nonborn again people. They stumble around living their lives and making decisions according to what they can see with their eyes, hear with their ears, or figure out with their minds. They never tap into the divine wisdom of the spirit that would lift them above this natural realm and enable them to live supernatural lives while they’re on this earth!
Actually, all of us are in that situation to one degree or another. None of us are living our lives in the spirit as fully as we could. But I can tell you this: we are stepping into a day when circumstances in this natural realm will be so confusing, so full of pressure and trouble (see 2 Timothy 3:1) that the only way we will be able to get through them in joy and victory will be by worshipping and praying and walking in the spirit. So we’d be wise to start right now living in the spirit more and more.
If you’re just getting started and you don’t yet know how to do that, let me assure you, it’s not complicated. On the contrary, it’s very simple.
Being in the spirit is just becoming more aware of God and the spiritual realm than you are of the natural things around you. It’s being more tuned in and responsive to His voice and the leadings of His Spirit in your heart than you are of the clamoring voices of the world and the external pressures of life.
Being in the spirit isn’t some kind of strange, unusual experience; it’s what I call bottom-line Christianity. And it’s something every believer can do.
Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:16, Romans 12:11
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!”