The Prayers of Supplications and Praying in The Spirit

THEME: Pray Ye the Lord of The Harvest; The Believers’ Life of Prayer

LESSON: Five

TOPIC: The Prayers of Supplications and Praying in The Spirit

TEXT: Daniel 9:3-27; Genesis 18:20-33; 2Samuel 15:30-31; Hebrews 5:7; Philippians 4:6; 1st Timothy 2:1-2;

Mark 16 :15-16; 2nd Corinthians 5:17; Acts 2:1-4

MEMORY TRACK:

By God’s grace, in the last couple of lessons, we have considered to a degree the subject of prayers and praying from a number of sides, and how an effective prayer life of “a journeying/sojourning Believer” is important for their personal growth, and for the prosperity of our collective Christian faith. Also, we have looked at how an adjustment in our day-to-day lifestyle is imperative to having an effective prayer life. Hallelujah! It should be stressed that the reason for teaching each of these types of prayer is not to “just educate and or inform us”; rather, it is to stir and provoke a stronger desire in us, supported by accurate scriptural knowledge for prayer. Daddy and Mummy Egwuchukwu and Daddy and Mummy Olaniyan want us to pray, and we shall pray!

The Prayer of Supplication

Prayer of supplication defined: The prayers of supplication are a soul-deep and heartfelt prayer from the heart of Saints to the ears and heart of God (Daniel 9:23; Genesis 18:23-26). The prayer of supplication is a prayer that comes from a burdened heart to God. This kind of prayer has its own type of unique characteristics, below are some of them:

1. One of the biggest attributes of this type of prayer is the sincerity of the person praying. The person praying is expected to be as sincere and open-hearted as possible. The greatest rule of the prayer of supplication is to bear your heart to God the way it truly is (whether it is right or not so right) (Psalms 142:1-7; Psalms 130:1-9; Psalms 143:1- 12; Hebrews 5:7).
2. In the prayer of supplication, you do not come in your own righteousness and grounds of holiness (even though we now have righteousness and holiness in Christ – your spirit has it as a result of the finished work of Jesus Christ Our Lord). Rather, you come trusting God’s mercy to qualify You. Jesus, who in the days of His flesh, while standing before the tomb of Lazarus, said in faith that “God hears Him always when He prays” (John 11:41-42), was later described as “supplicating with strong crying and tears” because He was praying from the heart.
3. One can pray the prayers of supplication for oneself, family, or nation (as in the case of Daniel for the nation of Israel in Babylon, and Abraham for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah)
4. One will fare better and have better results if (and when) one has a good understanding of God’s word (Genesis 18:23-25; Daniel 9:2-5). If the heart does not have any understanding, then such a person would not know how to come and supplicate to God.

Some more things to note in the prayers of supplications:

1. The prayers of Supplications are the prayers of getting things from God! Reverend Kayode Oyegoke defines the prayers of supplication as the prayers of ‘getting our supplies from God (be it physical, material things or spiritual things) (2nd Corinthians 12:8-9).
   1. The prayer of supplication is also a prayer that triggers communion/fellowship! God’s voice is often provoked in response or in giving answers to the prayer of supplication (2nd Corinthians 12:8-9; Genesis 18: 23-33 [Abraham communed with the Lord])

Prayer of Praying with Our Spirit (1st Corinthians 14:14)

Praying in tongues or praying with our new creature spirit is probably one of the most potent kinds of prayer in the New Testament. While the prayers of supplication that we mentioned above are a heart or soul deep type of prayer, praying in tongues is a spirit deep type of prayer. It is we (Believers in Christ) praying with our spirit. Hallelujah!

Who is “the new man” that is praying?

1. The new man is Christ! So, when our newly created spirits pray, it is Christ who is praying. This new man is an entity of the world to come.
   1. The new man cannot pray amiss, because it speaks and prays from a storehouse of righteousness (righteous thoughts and ways)
   1. The new man always has the audience of God. As saints, we shortchange ourselves when we do not pray in the Spirit.

Some things to note about praying with tongues:

1. This type of prayer can be employed in almost all the other types of prayers. Our spirits can pray all the other types of prayers.
   1. Praying in tongues is a gateway into the realm of the spirit and Christ.

Conclusion: Let us pray!