David Diga Hernandez - The Holy Spirit and Prayer

If it isn’t through the Holy Spirit, then it isn’t truly prayer. The Holy Spirit is the key to an effective prayer life, and He wants to teach you how to pray. Hello, I’m David Deer Hernandez, and you are watching Spirit Church on Encounter TV. In this edition of Spirit Church, I will be in Matthew chapter 6, examining the Lord’s Prayer. As we explore the Lord’s Prayer, I will also show you how the Holy Spirit interacts with us and empowers us to pray in the way that Jesus taught us. This will transform your prayer life. If you’re currently in a place where you want to go deeper in prayer—whether you’re feeling frustrated or flowing faithfully—regardless of where you are, the Holy Spirit wants to take you deeper. He wants to show you how to pray.

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It’s not by power nor by might but by My Spirit, says the Lord. Everything that is spiritual can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Psalm 80:18 says, «So will not go back from Thee. Quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name.» The Lord had to quicken them before they could call upon Him. Prayer is by the Holy Spirit. I’m not saying that you cannot, by your own decision, reach out to your Father. I’m not saying there are times when God will ignore you, but what I am saying is that every desire in you that is spiritual, including the desire to pray, is from the Holy Spirit. Your flesh does not desire to pray; the enemy does not desire you to pray. Only the Holy Spirit can cultivate the desire within us to do things that are spiritual and connect us with the Heavenly Father. «Quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name, Lord.» Quicken me, and I will call upon Thy name. Quicken me, and I will seek Your face in prayer. That hunger, that desire, that passion to connect with something divine, to connect with Jesus, to know Him; that is from the Holy Spirit. He placed that desire within you. Every time you desire to pray, it’s because the Holy Spirit put that desire within your heart. It’s because the Holy Spirit is fellowshipping with your spirit and causing those desires from the inner man to manifest in your everyday life. Prayer is a spiritual act; it cannot be done in the flesh, it cannot be done by emotion, and it cannot be done by human effort. What begins in the spirit must remain in the spirit. You cannot begin by faith to pray and then continue in doubt; you have to continue in the spirit, by the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, «But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them, and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.» You and I, the children of God, are the only ones who can understand and receive from the Holy Spirit. And until that miracle of salvation takes place within us, until one is born again, he cannot truly pray; he cannot truly connect with God. We cannot rely upon our efforts; we cannot rely upon our intellect; we cannot rely upon our willpower or discipline. We must rely upon the Holy Spirit. It’s more than just discipline; it’s more than just willpower that brings about the consistency of prayer. It is total reliance and surrender to the Holy Spirit. Reliance upon and surrender to the Holy Spirit. Exodus 3:15 says, «Then Moses said, 'If You don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place.'» In other words, «Lord, if Your presence isn’t with me, I don’t want to go. If Your presence doesn’t lead me, I don’t want to follow.» You see, prayer keeps us on track, maintains our spiritual state, and helps us to avoid regression in the flesh, avoiding regression in the sin nature. Daily prayer, moment-by-moment prayer, living in a constant awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit, is what keeps us close to God. Jesus said, «I am the vine; you are the branches. Without Me, apart from Me, you can do nothing.» And so, prayer is that clinging to God; prayer is that dependence upon God. God is not as interested in using powerful methods as He is in using mighty men. God does not anoint programs; God does not anoint systems; God does not anoint denominations. God anoints people, and people of prayer become powerful people. We look to be effective through systems and strategies; we look to be effective through intellect and willpower. But God wants to use the spirituality of men. That’s how God moves within the earth. God’s choice is the surrendered life. God has chosen to accomplish His will in the earth through this surrendered life. There is no limit to what God can do with a life surrendered to the Holy Spirit. And so, prayer begins to transform us as we surrender. We must recognize that if we’re going to experience that transformation, prayer is by the Spirit. Prayer is dependence upon the Holy Spirit; it cannot be done without the Holy Spirit. Prayer is how we involve God and exchange our weakness for His strength. I want to say that again because I really want you to get this: prayer is how we involve God and exchange our weakness for His strength. You know that you’re not depending upon God when you don’t have a prayer life. Choosing to pray, choosing to respond to the desires that the Holy Spirit placed within you, is how you prove that you’re dependent upon God. So now, let’s go to Matthew 6. Now that we understand the importance of prayer and that prayer is by the Holy Spirit, let’s see what Jesus has to say regarding how we should pray. As I go line by line down each one of these points that Jesus makes in His sample prayer, I want to show you how the Holy Spirit is involved in each of those places. Jesus tells us to pray like this, and then I will show you from Scripture how the Holy Spirit interacts with us to enable us to truly pray as Jesus instructs. When I discovered this in Scripture, I became excited because I had never really considered it before. Now that I’ve been studying this and the Holy Spirit has shown it to me, I want to share it with you. I’m excited about it!